# ETG API (RateHawk) vs Trainline

> ETG scores 53 (D) to Trainline's 8.6 (F) for travel search. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ratehawk-vs-trainline
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- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ratehawk-vs-trainline.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ratehawk-vs-trainline.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
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
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- Updated: 2026-10-19

ETG API (RateHawk) scores 53 (D) on agent readiness against Trainline's 8.6 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do travel search.

- ETG API (RateHawk): grade D, 53/100, rank #820 of 1171. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ratehawk.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ratehawk.json
- Trainline: grade F, 8.6/100, rank #1162 of 1171. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/trainline.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/trainline.json
- Best travel search and booking APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/travel/index.md
- All 78 travel comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/travel/index.md

## Which one, for what

### 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:
- Reliability, 45 against 15
- Schema & documentation, 85 against 10
- Agent ergonomics, 69 against 10
- Security & auth, 41 against 0
- Payments & pricing, 10 against 0
- Maintenance & community, 65 against 0
- Transparency & trust, 56 against 27

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

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

### Trainline (F)

Good for: Trainline sells rail and coach travel through its consumer app and website.

Watch for: Partner approval and integration required


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | ETG API (RateHawk) | Trainline | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 45 | 15 | ETG API (RateHawk) +30 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 85 | 10 | ETG API (RateHawk) +75 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 69 | 10 | ETG API (RateHawk) +59 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 41 | 0 | ETG API (RateHawk) +41 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 10 | 0 | ETG API (RateHawk) +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 0 | ETG API (RateHawk) +65 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 56 | 27 | ETG API (RateHawk) +29 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **53 · D** | **8.6 · F** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | ETG API (RateHawk) | Trainline |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Emerging Travel Group | Trainline.com Limited |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.ratehawk.com` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Your plan | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under a signed partner agreement that is not published. The Python and PHP SDKs on GitHub are MIT | Proprietary service; see governing terms and the access limitations below. |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-05 | none |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-05-08 | 2026-09-29 |
| Customer content may train models |  |  |
| Terms restrict automated access |  |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  |  |
| Popularity | 9 stars, 12 PyPI/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | none | 1.8/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**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.

**Trainline.** Official partner API covers booking and aftersales. Partner approval and integration required.

## Before you call either

### 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.

### Trainline

1. Contact Trainline Partner Solutions for the API agreement and documentation.
2. Keep ticket purchases and refunds behind the traveller’s approval.

## Tutorials

- [Check a RateHawk sandbox integration before booking](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tutorials/ratehawk/), for ETG API (RateHawk)

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, ETG API (RateHawk) or Trainline?

ETG API (RateHawk) scores 53 (D) on agent readiness against Trainline's 8.6 (F), and leads in every scored category.

### Do ETG API (RateHawk) and Trainline need an API key?

ETG API (RateHawk) needs an API key. Trainline takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call ETG API (RateHawk) and Trainline without installing anything?

ETG API (RateHawk) has a hosted endpoint at https://api.ratehawk.com. No hosted endpoint is listed for Trainline.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with ETG API (RateHawk) or Trainline

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

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