luca and Chekin both start with digital check-in, then move in different directions. luca is a guest experience platform from Germany for hotels, restaurants and events, where check-in is the beginning and the digital guest directory, upselling, payments and a restaurant POS follow. Chekin is a compliance-first provider from Seville, focused on automatic authority registration, tourist tax and biometric identity verification, with a strong short-term-rental orientation.
This page compares both systems fairly and factually. One point up front: both handle German guest registration (the Meldeschein). All Chekin details reflect publicly available information as of July 2026.
Check-in is the start, not the finish
With luca, digital check-in is the entry point to the whole guest journey. Next comes the digital guest directory, where guests find Wi-Fi, breakfast times, spa bookings and local tips. luca Chat answers repetitive questions with AI, and luca Inbox bundles every message per guest into one thread. Upselling runs automatically across the journey, with up to 64% conversion as luca's own best case.
Chekin focuses on check-in and compliance. A digital guest directory or a chat and AI hub is not part of the core product, according to public information. For businesses that want to keep communicating after check-in and guide the stay digitally, that is a difference.
German registration: a fair overlap
One point deserves to be named clearly: both systems handle the German Meldeschein. Chekin generates and submits legally required guest reports automatically, in Germany and in many other countries. luca handles digital registration inside the check-in flow for Germany.
Chekin's strength is breadth: automatic authority registration across many jurisdictions, plus tourist tax and biometric ID verification. For operators with properties in several countries, that is a genuine and hard-to-replace advantage.
Integrated payments, POS and F&B
luca includes luca Pay, powered by Adyen, with less than 1% on all cards and no subscription. It adds a restaurant POS: guests order and pay by QR code at the table, at the pool or in the room. At the Isla Brown Corinthia Resort & Spa (Curio Collection by Hilton, 165 rooms), this created 180 additional order points and €12,500 in extra F&B revenue within one month.
Chekin's payments are tied to reservation, upsell and tourist tax during check-in. A restaurant POS or F&B module is not part of the offering. For hotels with their own food service, this difference matters.
Hotel-first versus STR-first
luca is built for hotels and restaurants. The Vienna House by Wyndham Andel's Berlin, with 550+ rooms, uses the full stack: check-in in seconds, integrated payments, a digital concierge and a 24/7 self-service shop. As a German company, luca offers German-language support and a DACH-native platform.
Chekin supports hotels, but its DNA sits in apartments, villas and short-term rentals. References such as Interhome and SmartRental show the focus on multi-property operators scaling across borders.
When Chekin is the better fit
There are clear cases where Chekin fits better:
- Multi-country short-term rentals: if you manage properties in several countries and need authority registration across jurisdictions (Spain, Italy, Portugal and more), Chekin offers mature compliance automation.
- Tourist tax and ID verification: businesses that want automatic tourist-tax calculation and collection, plus biometric ID verification during check-in, are well served by Chekin.
- Compliance-first: when legal guest registration is central and the stay proceeds in a classic way afterward, Chekin covers that core.
