# Duffel Flights and Stays API vs ETG API (RateHawk)

> Duffel Flights and Stays API scores 66.7 (B) on agent readiness against ETG API (RateHawk)'s 53 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. ETG API (RateHawk) leads on schema & documentation. Both do travel stays. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/duffel-vs-ratehawk
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/duffel-vs-ratehawk.md (~2,350 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/duffel-vs-ratehawk.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/duffel-vs-ratehawk.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-08

Duffel Flights and Stays API scores 66.7 (B) on agent readiness against ETG API (RateHawk)'s 53 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. ETG API (RateHawk) leads on schema & documentation. Both do travel stays.

- Duffel Flights and Stays API: grade B, 66.7/100, rank #230 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/duffel.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/duffel.json
- ETG API (RateHawk): grade D, 53/100, rank #554 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ratehawk.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ratehawk.json

## Which one, for what

### Duffel Flights and Stays API (B)

Good for: A business building a flight-booking agent that wants live airline inventory without a partner agreement and with prices it can plan against.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 70 against 45
- Agent ergonomics, 80 against 69
- Security & auth, 60 against 41
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 10
- Maintenance & community, 92 against 65
- Transparency & trust, 75 against 56

Watch for: No OpenAPI document, llms.txt or official MCP server

### ETG API (RateHawk) (D)

Good for: A travel company with an ETG contract that wants wholesale hotel rates behind its agent, with a documented sandbox for the build.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 85 against 59

Watch for: No self-serve key. Registration is followed by a request to an account manager, and the docs say an agreement must be signed before use


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Duffel Flights and Stays API | ETG API (RateHawk) | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 70 | 45 | Duffel Flights and Stays API +25 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 59 | 85 | ETG API (RateHawk) +26 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 69 | Duffel Flights and Stays API +11 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 60 | 41 | Duffel Flights and Stays API +19 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 10 | Duffel Flights and Stays API +30 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 92 | 65 | Duffel Flights and Stays API +27 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 56 | Duffel Flights and Stays API +19 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **66.7 · B** | **53 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Duffel Flights and Stays API | ETG API (RateHawk) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Duffel | Emerging Travel Group |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.duffel.com` | `https://api.ratehawk.com` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Your plan |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT (SDK) | Proprietary service under a signed partner agreement that is not published. The Python and PHP SDKs on GitHub are MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-09-28 | 2026-10-05 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-06-17 | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-06-17 | 2026-05-08 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text |  |
| Popularity | 55 stars, 87k npm/wk | 9 stars, 12 PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 4/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**Duffel Flights and Stays API.** Self-serve sign-up and test mode with no card or contract. No OpenAPI document, llms.txt or official MCP server.

**ETG API (RateHawk).** Hotel search and booking are documented in a public Swagger 2.0 file, an llms.txt index and a changelog with 64 dated entries in 2026. Access is by contract. Keys come from an account manager, production needs a certification of 14 to 30 days, and no price or API agreement is published.

## Before you call either

### Duffel Flights and Stays API

1. Send `Duffel-Version: v2` on every request or you get a version error
2. Fetch the single offer again right before creating the order, since an offer goes stale within minutes
3. Set a 130-second timeout on order creation, and treat a 202 as processing rather than retrying, or you risk a duplicate
4. Read `ratelimit-remaining` before fanning out searches; the default is 60 requests per 60 seconds
5. Count offer requests. Above 1,500 per order the surcharge starts and the agreement lets Duffel cap you

### ETG API (RateHawk)

1. Call `/api/b2b/v3/overview/` first. It lists the endpoints the key may use and each one's request limit.
2. Keep sandbox IDs, keys and hashes inside `api-sandbox.ratehawk.com`. Sandbox region IDs are limited to 2011, 2395, 2734 and 6053839.
3. Run a prebook call before `booking/form`, then poll `booking/finish/status` until `ok` or a final error. Treat `timeout`, `unknown` and 5xx as still in progress.
4. Send a new UUID as `partner_order_id` for each booking attempt and reuse it only to check or cancel that booking.
5. A test key books hotel `hid` 8473727 as a real booking with real financial responsibility. Cancel it afterwards.

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Duffel Flights and Stays API or ETG API (RateHawk)?

Duffel Flights and Stays API scores 66.7 (B) on agent readiness against ETG API (RateHawk)'s 53 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. ETG API (RateHawk) leads on schema & documentation.

### Do Duffel Flights and Stays API and ETG API (RateHawk) need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call Duffel Flights and Stays API and ETG API (RateHawk) without installing anything?

Yes. Duffel Flights and Stays API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.duffel.com and ETG API (RateHawk) at https://api.ratehawk.com.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/duffel-vs-ratehawk.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/duffel-vs-ratehawk.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "duffel", "b": "ratehawk"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare duffel ratehawk`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/duffel.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ratehawk.json

## Other comparisons with Duffel Flights and Stays API or ETG API (RateHawk)

- [Booking.com Demand API vs Duffel Flights and Stays API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/booking-demand-api-vs-duffel.md)
- [Booking.com Demand API vs ETG API (RateHawk)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/booking-demand-api-vs-ratehawk.md)
- [Duffel Flights and Stays API vs Expedia Group Rapid API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/duffel-vs-expedia-rapid.md)
- [Duffel Flights and Stays API vs Hotelbeds Hotel Booking API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/duffel-vs-hotelbeds.md)
- [Expedia Group Rapid API vs ETG API (RateHawk)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/expedia-rapid-vs-ratehawk.md)
- [Hotelbeds Hotel Booking API vs ETG API (RateHawk)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hotelbeds-vs-ratehawk.md)
- [LetsFG vs ETG API (RateHawk)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/letsfg-vs-ratehawk.md)
- [LiteAPI (Nuitee Connect) vs ETG API (RateHawk)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/liteapi-vs-ratehawk.md)
- [ETG API (RateHawk) vs Skyscanner Travel APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ratehawk-vs-skyscanner.md)
- [ETG API (RateHawk) vs Travelport TripServices APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ratehawk-vs-travelport.md)
- [Duffel Flights and Stays API vs FlightClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/duffel-vs-flightclaw.md)
- [Duffel Flights and Stays API vs Kiwi.com MCP Server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/duffel-vs-kiwi-mcp.md)
- [Duffel Flights and Stays API vs LetsFG](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/duffel-vs-letsfg.md)
- [Duffel Flights and Stays API vs LiteAPI (Nuitee Connect)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/duffel-vs-liteapi.md)
- [Duffel Flights and Stays API vs Skyscanner Travel APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/duffel-vs-skyscanner.md)
- [Duffel Flights and Stays API vs Travelport TripServices APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/duffel-vs-travelport.md)
- [FlightClaw vs ETG API (RateHawk)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/flightclaw-vs-ratehawk.md)
- [Kiwi.com MCP Server vs ETG API (RateHawk)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiwi-mcp-vs-ratehawk.md)