Trip.com vs Booking.com.
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, 2,257 hotels were listed on both Trip.com and Booking.com. Their lowest prices were within $2 a night of each other at 41% of them (934 hotels). The two showed the very same price at 29% of these hotels.

So neither site was always cheaper for the same hotel and dates, but when their prices differed, Trip.com was the cheaper one a little more often than Booking.com (750 hotels to 555). When Trip.com was the cheaper one, it was typically 11% below Booking.com.

At the 750 hotels where Trip.com was more than 2% cheaper, its lowest listing offered free cancellation at 46% of them and Booking.com's at 40%, and named a room type at 15% against 86%. The cheaper listing more often did not say which room it was, so check the room and bed type before you book.

Where each one came out cheaper

By region, Trip.com's lead was largest in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa: more than 2% cheaper at 42% of hotels there, Booking.com at 28%. Booking.com was not cheaper more often in any region; it came closest in Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America (more than 2% cheaper at 32% of hotels there, Trip.com at 33%). At chain hotels the two were within $2 at 69%; at independent hotels at 28%, and most of the gaps were there. Chain hotels went the other way: Booking.com was more than 2% cheaper at 131 of the 756, Trip.com at 81.

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 31 of these 2,257 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 Trip.com and on Booking.com, 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: Expedia vs Booking.com, Hotels.com vs Booking.com, Priceline vs Booking.com, Agoda vs Booking.com, Expedia vs Hotels.com, Priceline vs Expedia, Hotels.com vs Priceline, Agoda vs Priceline, Hotels.com vs Agoda, Agoda vs Expedia, KAYAK vs Expedia. For each site on its own, see whether Trip.com is legit and whether Booking.com is legit. And if you wonder why one hotel has different prices at all, here is why prices differ across sites.