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Aiosell Alternative: Replace It, or Keep It Under a Free PMS

You have two options. Replace Aiosell with FrontDesko's own channel manager ($35-54/month, PMS free), or keep Aiosell as your channel manager and run FrontDesko's free PMS on top. FrontDesko already has a working Aiosell connector.

By the FrontDesko team · Last updated 2026-10-31 · Aiosell prices read from its public pricing page on 2026-10-31

Should you replace Aiosell or keep it?

Aiosell is a channel manager first and a wider suite second. FrontDesko is a PMS first and a channel manager second. They overlap, but they also fit together, and FrontDesko already ships a working Aiosell connector, so you do not have to choose all-or-nothing:

  • Keep Aiosell, add FrontDesko's free PMS. Aiosell stays your channel manager. FrontDesko runs the front desk, folios, housekeeping, booking engine, guest app and POS. Your software bill is just Aiosell's channel manager fee ($10-25/month for hotels by room band, per its public page).
  • Replace Aiosell. Use FrontDesko for everything, including the channel manager ($35-54/month), and drop Aiosell's fee. Choose this if you want one vendor, the AI assistant and the unified guest inbox, or if the connection count matters.

The first option is the cheapest on paper. Be honest with yourself about whether $20-30 a month matters more than having one fewer system to debug.

How does the FrontDesko Aiosell connector work?

We checked the connector in the FrontDesko backend rather than describing it from memory. This is what it does today:

  • Outbound to Aiosell: FrontDesko pushes room availability, rates and restrictions (stay limits and closures) to Aiosell per mapped room type and rate plan. FrontDesko is treated as the source of truth; Aiosell holds the copy that reaches the OTAs. It can also send no-show notices.
  • Inbound from Aiosell: Aiosell pushes new bookings, modifications and cancellations to a FrontDesko webhook in real time. Aiosell does not support pulling bookings, so there is no polling.
  • Multi-room bookings: each room on a booking is imported as its own room line with its own price, and the commission is split across rooms rather than copied onto each.
  • OTA-collected payments: for channels that collect payment themselves (Agoda and Trip.com are in the code's allowlist), the payment is posted to the folio so the desk does not see a phantom balance.
  • Mapping: room types and rate plans are mapped once; a booking with an unmappable room is rejected rather than half-imported.

It is in production for at least one live property today. Setup is done per property with the mapping above, so contact us to have it enabled. One limit: card guarantee on OTA bookings is built on the Channex payment app, so it applies to channels connected through FrontDesko's own channel manager, not through the Aiosell link.

Where does Aiosell win?

  • Cheapest standalone channel manager. $10-25/month per property by room band is below FrontDesko's $35-54, and the price is public.
  • Breadth of suite. Revenue management, reviews and reputation, purchase and inventory, accounting, HR, banquets, groups and chains. FrontDesko does not offer most of those modules.
  • Scale and fit for India. Aiosell claims 2,500+ hotels and 150,000+ rooms on its home page (vendor claim, not independently verified), and publishes pricing in USD on a page built for the Indian market.
  • Per-room and revenue-share plans. Operations Pro, Revenue Pro and All In One (including a 3.5% of online bookings option) suit larger properties that want to pay on outcome.

For a larger Indian hotel that needs revenue management and banquet tooling inside one suite, Aiosell may simply be the better fit. See also hotel management software for India.

Where does FrontDesko win?

FrontDesko's PMS, commission-free direct booking engine, guest app and POS are free forever with unlimited rooms. The channel manager and Ask FrontDesko AI assistant are the paid part: Mint $35/month (0-10 rooms), Basil $42/month (11-30 rooms) or Saffron $54/month (31-50 rooms). Compared with Aiosell's Basic PMS ($20-40) or Lite Hotel ($40-65), a hotel that needs a PMS and booking engine pays nothing for them at FrontDesko.

Recently shipped features that sit in the free PMS regardless of which channel manager you use:

  • Unified guest inbox: email and OTA chat land in one Messages tab instead of being split between your mailbox and each OTA extranet.
  • Card guarantee: on OTA bookings through the Channex payment app, and on direct bookings through the hotel's own Stripe account (a card is saved, not charged, until you decide).
  • Guest-app self check-in and check-out: date-gated, with the check-in wizard following your payment policy.
  • POS with QR table ordering: guests scan a table QR code and order from their phone; the POS is part of the free tier.
  • Custom roles and emailed sign-in codes: set permissions per user, and require an emailed one-time code for elevated roles.

What does a day look like after switching from Aiosell?

Illustrative scenario, not a customer case study: the property, people and numbers below are invented to show how the screens behave. No real customer or quote is described.

  • 07:20 — Rohan, the (invented) front-office manager of a 20-room hotel in Jaipur, keeps Aiosell as the channel manager and opens FrontDesko's tape chart. Overnight, an Agoda booking for two rooms arrived through the Aiosell link and shows as one reservation with two room lines.
  • 09:00 — The Agoda payment is already posted on the folio as collected by the OTA, so the desk shows no balance due at check-in.
  • 11:30 — Rohan raises weekend rates in FrontDesko's rate calendar and closes Sunday to arrival. FrontDesko pushes the new rates and restriction to Aiosell, which carries them to the OTAs.
  • 14:10 — A guest cancels on Booking.com. The cancellation reaches FrontDesko by webhook, the room goes back on sale and the folio charges are released.
  • 17:40 — The restaurant adds a dinner order to a room folio from the POS. No extra system, no extra bill.
  • 22:45 — Rohan reviews the next morning's arrivals. Two have used the guest app's self check-in; the night auditor only needs to confirm ID.

How do you switch from Aiosell to FrontDesko?

  1. Keep Aiosell: create the free FrontDesko account, set up room types and rate plans, and ask us to enable the Aiosell connector for your property code.
  2. Map each FrontDesko room type and rate plan to its Aiosell code, then push a small date range and confirm it on an OTA before pushing a full year.
  3. Turn on the booking engine and guest app. Aiosell keeps distributing; FrontDesko becomes the system of record for reservations.
  4. Replace Aiosell instead: subscribe to your room band's channel manager tier, connect OTAs through FrontDesko, and only then close the Aiosell connections, one channel at a time, so no channel is live in two managers.
  5. Run in parallel for 7-14 days, compare availability on each OTA, then cut over.

The longer playbook is on the switching guide and in the hotel PMS migration checklist.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use FrontDesko with Aiosell?

Yes. FrontDesko has a working Aiosell connector: it pushes availability, rates and restrictions to Aiosell and receives bookings, modifications and cancellations from Aiosell by webhook. It is in production at a live property. Contact FrontDesko to have it enabled.

What does Aiosell cost?

Aiosell publishes USD pricing per property per month. Hotel channel manager plans are $10, $15 and $20 for 0-10, 11-30 and 31-50 rooms. Basic PMS is $20 to $40, and Lite Hotel is $40 to $65. A $50 setup fee is listed.

Is FrontDesko cheaper than Aiosell?

It depends. Aiosell Basic CM is cheaper than FrontDesko's $35 to $54 channel manager. But FrontDesko's PMS, booking engine, guest app and POS are free, so a hotel needing all of them pays less on FrontDesko than on Aiosell Lite Hotel.

What is the best Aiosell alternative for a small hotel in India?

FrontDesko is a strong option if you want a free PMS with unlimited rooms and a paid channel manager at $35 to $54 per month. Aiosell remains a good choice if you want its wider suite or the lowest-cost standalone channel manager.

Does Aiosell have a free trial?

Aiosell advertises a 15-day trial on its pricing page. FrontDesko's free tier has no time limit and no card requirement.

Will bookings from Aiosell reach FrontDesko in real time?

Yes. Aiosell pushes bookings to FrontDesko by webhook as they happen; Aiosell does not offer booking pull, so FrontDesko does not poll. New, modified and cancelled bookings update the calendar and folio.

Does card guarantee work through the Aiosell connection?

No. FrontDesko's card guarantee for OTA bookings uses the Channex payment app, so it applies to OTAs connected through FrontDesko's own channel manager. Direct bookings can use the hotel's own Stripe account either way.

When should I stay with Aiosell entirely?

Stay if you want its revenue management, banquet or HR modules in one suite, or if the low-cost channel manager is all you need and your current PMS works. Switching has a real cost in time.

Where did these Aiosell facts come from?

Every Aiosell price or claim on this page comes from the pages below, fetched on 2026-10-31. Vendors change prices; confirm on their site before you decide. The Aiosell connector behaviour described below was checked in the FrontDesko backend code, not on a vendor page.

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The PMS, booking engine, guest app and POS are free forever — unlimited rooms, no card, no trial clock. Run it next to Aiosell for a week before you decide anything.

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