trivago vs Expedia.
Same owner, different jobs.

Measured, September 25 to October 1, 2026

What our price data shows

Across our 14 price snapshots of September 25 to October 1, 2026, Google Hotels listed Expedia.com as a seller at 3,996 of the 5,830 hotels we priced and trivago DEALS at 1,895. Both were listed at 1,476 hotels. trivago's comparison search sends you elsewhere to book, so the trivago price you can set against Expedia's is trivago DEALS'.

Why trivago DEALS can look lower than it is

At the 1,248 hotels listing both where taxes and fees added 10% or more to the going rate (the price most sites agreed on), Expedia's price sat nearer the after-tax going rate at 1,224 of them, while trivago DEALS' sat nearer the before-tax going rate at 698. Where a trivago DEALS price that looked before tax stood next to an Expedia price that looked after tax (682 hotels), trivago DEALS looked lower at every one. Part or all of that gap can be tax that is added at checkout.

On the same tax footing

Counting only the 628 hotels where both prices were on the same footing (both after tax, both before tax, or taxes under 2% of the price), their prices were within $2 a night of each other at 25% of them (154 hotels).

So, on the same footing, trivago DEALS was cheaper a little more often than Expedia (256 hotels to 197). When trivago DEALS was the cheaper one, it was typically 4% below Expedia; when Expedia was, 8% below trivago DEALS.

What the lower price came with: Google Hotels showed no free-cancellation label and no room name on any of trivago DEALS' 2,020 listings in our data, so these numbers cannot say whether its rates were refundable or which room they were for. Expedia's lowest listing carried the free-cancellation label at 39% of the hotels it was listed at and named a room type at 92%; at the 256 hotels where trivago DEALS was cheaper, Expedia's listing offered free cancellation at 21%. Check the room and the cancellation terms before you take the lower one.

The study's own count, on before-tax prices across all 15 snapshots (6,254 hotel prices in 348 cities): some site was 5% or more below the going rate at 4,512 of them, and the lowest price was trivago DEALS' at 210 of them and Expedia.com's at 14.

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. Our data keeps one price per listing without saying whether it includes tax, so we infer it: where the hotel's after-tax going rate was 10% or more above its before-tax going rate, a price nearer the after-tax one counts as after tax and a price nearer the before-tax one as before tax; where taxes added under 2%, any two prices count as the same footing; hotels in between are left out. Within $2 means the two differed by $2 a night or less; more than 2% cheaper means one was below 98% of the other. A price we saw is one moment, not a completed booking. Method and the CSVs: our hotel price study.

How to use them, in two minutes

1. Use a comparison to see who lists your hotel. trivago and Google Hotels both show many booking sites at once; here is which sites Google Hotels showed in our data.
2. Compare the total after tax. On Google Hotels a trivago DEALS price was often before tax while Expedia's included it.
3. Check the room and the cancellation terms. A lower rate is often a non-refundable one; see whether free cancellation is worth it.
4. Know who handles your booking. Through trivago's comparison you book with the site you click through to; on trivago DEALS or Expedia, that site handles it.

More from the same price data: KAYAK vs Expedia, Expedia vs Booking.com and Expedia vs Hotels.com. For each site on its own: is trivago legit? and is Expedia legit?