Hotels.com vs Priceline.
Which is actually cheaper?

Measured, September 25 to October 1, 2026

What our price data shows

Across our 14 price snapshots of September 25 to October 1, 2026, 3,562 hotels were listed on both Hotels.com and Priceline. Their lowest prices were within $2 a night of each other at 53% of them (1,894 hotels). The two showed the very same price at 38% of these hotels.

So neither site was always cheaper for the same hotel and dates, but when their prices differed, Hotels.com was the cheaper one about twice as often as Priceline (1,069 hotels to 538). When Hotels.com was the cheaper one, it was typically 11% below Priceline.

At the 1,069 hotels where Hotels.com was more than 2% cheaper, its lowest listing offered free cancellation at 47% of them and Priceline's at 46%, and named a room type at 89% against 32%. So the cheaper price was not mainly a non-refundable rate, but still check the room and terms before you book.

Where each one came out cheaper

By region, Hotels.com's lead was largest in Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America: more than 2% cheaper at 41% of hotels there, Priceline at 11%. It went the other way in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa (Priceline more than 2% cheaper at 51% of hotels, Hotels.com at 19%). At chain hotels the two were within $2 at 80%; at independent hotels at 31%, and most of the gaps were there.

How we measured: in each snapshot we recorded every booking site's price that Google Hotels showed a US searcher, in US dollars, for a two-night stay checking in between October 30 and November 5, 2026, at 5,830 hotels in 348 cities. For each hotel we took each site's lowest price, all-in with taxes and fees where the site reported them, otherwise its listed rate, so part of a gap can be fees one site showed and the other did not. Within $2 means the two differed by $2 a night or less; more than 2% cheaper means one was below 98% of the other. The two can overlap on cheaper rooms (a $1.50 gap on a $60 room is both), which happened at 33 of these 3,562 hotels. A price we saw is one moment, not a completed booking. Method and the CSVs: our hotel price study.

How to actually decide, in two minutes

1. Open the same room and dates on both. Read the price after taxes and fees on Hotels.com and on Priceline, and check that the room and bed type match.
2. Sign in and re-check. A member price or a loyalty discount can change the answer once you are logged in.
3. Add the hotel's own site as a third quote. Loyalty points and perks with the hotel usually only earn when you book direct.
4. If you are not in a hurry, watch it. Prices move with demand. Book a refundable rate and rebook if the price drops.

More head-to-heads from the same price data: Hotels.com vs Booking.com, Priceline vs Booking.com, Expedia vs Hotels.com, Priceline vs Expedia, Agoda vs Priceline, Hotels.com vs Agoda, Expedia vs Booking.com, Agoda vs Booking.com, Agoda vs Expedia, Trip.com vs Booking.com, KAYAK vs Expedia. For each site on its own, see whether Hotels.com is legit and whether Priceline is legit. And if you wonder why one hotel has different prices at all, here is why prices differ across sites.