Both put a branded hotel home screen on Android TV and Google TV, with no headend and no server in the comms room. The difference is how much each screen does once it’s there. Better Hotel adds AirPlay as well as Cast, both locked to the room by QR code, a phone remote, checkout sign-out, smart room control and an in-room store, on new and older boxes alike.
Talk to us about your roomsViggo Smart Hotel is a tidy Android TV launcher for hotels, and Better Hotel is the whole guest TV system. Viggo, from the Netherlands, gives you a templated, branded home screen, a PMS-driven welcome, IPTV, room service menus and ViggoCast for secure Chromecast casting. It costs €4.99 per device a month. Better Hotel does all of that and also offers AirPlay for iPhone guests, private QR-code casting per room, a no-app phone remote, sign-out of streaming apps at checkout, lights and air-con control, local activities, weather and an emergency broadcast. The welcome screen is free and Premium is $4 a TV a month. Hotels get a per-room quote with no multi-year lock-in.
Hotel TV used to mean an installed system: a headend, coax, hospitality-mode TVs and a contract that ran for years. Android TV and Google TV changed that. A launcher app now turns an ordinary TV or streaming box into a branded hotel screen that is managed from the cloud, so a room takes minutes and the guest gets the apps they use at home.
Viggo and Better Hotel both work this way. Neither needs servers on site, and both push content to every room from a browser. The useful questions are what guests can do once the screen is on, how private casting is on a shared network, and what happens to the guest’s accounts when they check out.
A guest TV system built on BetterSTR TV, running on the TVs or boxes you already have:
A cloud-managed hospitality launcher for Android TV and Google TV:
| Feature | Better Hotel More per Room | Viggo Smart Hotel |
|---|---|---|
| Price and setup | ||
| Pricing | Welcome screen free; Premium $4 a TV a month, from $2 prepaid. Hotels: per-room quote | €4.99 per device a month, or €53.90 a year |
| Free trial | ✓ Every Premium feature for 2 weeks, on every TV, no card | 14 days on one device |
| Servers or headend needed | ✓ None | ✓ None |
| Supported devices | Android TV and Google TV from Android 6, or our pre-configured box | Android TV and Google TV 9 and later |
| Setup per room | Minutes: install, scan a QR code to pair the room | Minutes: install from Google Play, enter a key |
| Contract | No multi-year lock-in | Monthly or annual plan |
| Guest experience | ||
| Personal welcome from the PMS | ✓ Name, dates, WiFi, checkout time | ✓ Name, check-in and check-out |
| Chromecast casting kept to the room | ✓ QR mode: hidden until the guest scans that TV | ✓ ViggoCast pairs the guest to their room |
| AirPlay for iPhone and Mac guests | ✓ Yes, with the same QR privacy | Not documented (Chromecast only) |
| Casting set per room, floor or property | ✓ On, off or QR for each | Not documented |
| Phone remote, no app to install | ✓ Scan the code on the TV | Not documented |
| Signs guests out of streaming apps at checkout | ✓ Yes | Not documented |
| Live TV / IPTV | ✓ With Now / Next guide | ✓ IPTV and OTT |
| Streaming apps (Netflix, YouTube and more) | ✓ In the order you choose | ✓ Yes |
| Guest languages on the TV | ✓ 19 languages, guest can switch | Welcome in the guest’s language; list not published |
| Hotel information / compendium | ✓ On the TV and as a phone guidebook | ✓ On the TV |
| Weather and local activities | ✓ 7-day forecast; bookable tours with commission | Local services and offers |
| Smart room control (lights, air-con) | ✓ Home Assistant and Shelly, on TV and phone | Not documented |
| Revenue and operations | ||
| Room service, spa and extras on the TV | ✓ In-room store with QR checkout | ✓ Order from the TV |
| Idle-screen promos and local advertising | ✓ Your outlets plus paid local partners | Offers and hotel news |
| Messages to the room TV | ✓ Scheduled at check-in, mid-stay, departure | ✓ Notes and announcements; guest can reply |
| Emergency broadcast over any app | ✓ Room, floor or property | Not documented |
| Auto power-on at check-in, remote reboot | ✓ Yes (supported hardware) | Remote button behaviour can be set |
| Defaults per property, overrides per room | ✓ Yes | Cloud CMS for all TVs |
| Named PMS integrations | ✓ OPERA Cloud, Cloudbeds, Channex and 15 more, plus a Partner API | Two-way PMS link; systems not listed publicly |
| White-label | ✓ Your brand on every screen | Your logo and colours on templates |
| Support | Direct team support, remote device access | ✓ 24/7 with onboarding and training |
Viggo details are taken from Viggo Smart Hotel’s public website in October 2026. “Not documented” means we couldn’t find the feature described there, not that it can’t exist. Prices are in each company’s own currency.
Plenty of your guests carry an iPhone. Casting that only speaks Chromecast leaves them hunting for an app that supports it. Better Hotel runs AirPlay and Cast side by side, and in QR mode each TV stays out of everyone’s cast list until a guest scans the code on that screen. Then only their phone can cast to it, and access ends with the stay. At checkout the TV signs out of the streaming apps, so no guest finds the last guest’s Netflix profile.
Viggo publishes a simple price: €4.99 per device a month, or €53.90 a year (about €4.49 a month), with a 14-day trial on one device. That’s clear and fair for a launcher.
BetterSTR TV’s welcome screen is free forever on every TV. Premium, which covers casting control, checkout sign-out, the phone remote and the rest, is $4 a TV a month, or as little as $2 a month when prepaid. Every new account gets every Premium feature free for 2 weeks on all its TVs, with no card. You can trial a whole floor, not just one room. Hotels with larger room counts get a per-room quote and no multi-year lock-in. Tell us your rooms and we’ll send the number.
To be even-handed: Viggo is a focused, well-presented product. It has round-the-clock support with onboarding and staff training, publishes self-serve pricing, and names hospitals as well as hotels among its customers. Being based in Amsterdam may suit European groups that want a vendor in their own time zone. If you only need a branded home screen and Chromecast for Android guests, and 24/7 phone support is a must, it belongs on your shortlist. If you also want AirPlay, a phone remote, a clean reset between guests, room control and more ways to earn from the screen, Better Hotel does more for each room.
Tell us how many rooms you run and which TVs or boxes are in them. We’ll come back with a rollout plan and a per-room price to put next to Viggo’s.
Talk to us about your rooms Explore Better HotelYes. Both run as a launcher on Android TV and Google TV, with no servers on site and a PMS-driven welcome. Better Hotel adds AirPlay alongside Cast, QR-code casting privacy you set per room, a phone remote, sign-out of streaming apps at checkout, smart room control, local activities and an emergency broadcast.
With Better Hotel, yes. AirPlay and Cast are both built in, and in QR mode each TV only appears to the guest who scanned the code on that screen. Viggo’s ViggoCast is described as a Chromecast solution, so iPhone guests need an app that supports Chromecast.
Most likely. Better Hotel runs on Android TV and Google TV from Android 6, so older boxes and TVs work too, not only Android 9 and later. If a TV isn’t Android, plug in one of our pre-configured boxes and the room is live in minutes.
Better Hotel signs the TV out of the streaming apps at checkout and clears what the guest left behind. The next arrival sees a fresh welcome screen with their own name, not the last guest’s accounts.
Viggo lists €4.99 per device a month. BetterSTR TV’s welcome screen is free, and Premium is $4 a TV a month, or from $2 when prepaid, with every Premium feature free for 2 weeks and no card needed. Hotels get a per-room quote with no multi-year lock-in.
Viggo is a clean Android TV launcher for hotels. Better Hotel turns the same TV into the guest’s remote, cast screen, room controls and shop, and resets it for the next arrival. If you are choosing between Android TV platforms for your rooms, put Better Hotel on a floor first. Also compare Better Hotel vs SONIFI, Better Hotel vs Enseo and BetterSTR TV vs LG Pro:Centric Stay, or see the full Better Hotel page.