Short answer: Duffel is the faster start: self-serve signup, a modern JSON API, pay-per-order pricing and a managed-content option that does not require your own IATA or ARC accreditation. Amadeus offers far broader and deeper agency-grade content and workflows, but access now runs through enterprise agreements: the company closed its pay-as-you-go self-service developer portal in 2026. Startups and lean OTAs usually begin with an aggregator like Duffel; accredited agencies and high-volume platforms justify the GDS route.
Two different kinds of supplier
Duffel, founded in London in 2017, is a travel API company: it aggregates airlines (a mix of NDC connections, low-cost carriers and GDS-sourced content) behind one REST/JSON API and adds payments, ancillaries and order management. You are Duffel's customer, and Duffel holds the supplier relationships.
Amadeus is a global distribution system: the intermediary through which a large share of the world's travel agencies search, book and ticket flights, hotels, cars and rail. An Amadeus integration makes you (or your consolidator) the accredited seller, with BSP settlement, PNRs, queues and the full agency workflow. The comparison is therefore not two similar products, but two different routes to airline inventory, a distinction our travel API integration hub covers across all supplier types.
Onboarding and who can get access
Duffel's onboarding is deliberately startup-shaped: you register online, build against a sandbox, and go live after activation checks. Duffel states that sellers using its managed-content programme do not need their own IATA or ARC accreditation, because bookings are made under Duffel's supplier relationships. That removes the single biggest barrier for new entrants, in exchange for working within Duffel's carrier list and terms.
Amadeus access historically had two doors: enterprise agreements for agencies and large platforms, and a self-service developer portal with pay-as-you-go REST APIs for small teams. In 2026 Amadeus announced the closure of that self-service portal, reported by PhocusWire, directing developers toward enterprise channels. Practically, a new Amadeus project now means a commercial conversation, and for live ticketing either your own IATA accreditation plus a subscriber agreement or a consolidator relationship that provides ticketing authority. Our Amadeus API integration page describes those paths in detail.
Content breadth and depth
Numbers move, so treat any published counts as indicative. Duffel advertises connectivity to around three hundred airlines, including NDC carriers and low-cost airlines that are weak or absent in GDS channels. Amadeus carries content from hundreds of scheduled carriers with the negotiated, private and corporate fare machinery that agencies live on, plus multi-source content (hotel, car, rail) and decades of servicing workflows: reissues, refunds, queues, schedule-change handling.
Depth is where the GDS still wins clearly. Complex multi-city itineraries, interline combinations, corporate fare programmes and consolidator net fares are GDS territory. Where Duffel-style aggregators win is coverage of NDC-only offers and LCCs, plus ancillaries exposed uniformly through one API instead of per-carrier quirks.
Developer experience
| Dimension | Duffel | Amadeus (GDS route) |
|---|---|---|
| API style | Single REST/JSON API, versioned, webhook events | SOAP/XML web services for full workflows; REST offer/order APIs for enterprise customers |
| Sandbox | Immediate self-serve test environment | Test environments provisioned under agreement |
| Booking model | Offers and orders end to end | PNR-based workflows, with NDC offers blended in |
| Ticketing | Handled by Duffel under managed content | Your accreditation or your consolidator issues tickets |
| Servicing | Order changes and cancellations via API, coverage varies by airline | Mature reissue, refund and queue tooling used by agencies worldwide |
| Typical integration effort | Days to weeks for a first booking flow | Weeks to months including certification and workflow build |
Commercial models
Duffel publishes a usage-based model on its website: fees per confirmed order and related charges, with a percentage on managed-content order value, rather than seat licences or minimum commitments. Check Duffel's current pricing page for exact figures, which change. Amadeus commercials are negotiated: costs and incentives depend on your market, volumes and whether you connect directly or through a consolidator; GDSs also earn booking fees from airlines, which is partly why airlines push NDC channels, as we explain in our NDC guide. Neither route is "free": with an aggregator you pay per order, with a GDS you carry accreditation, certification and integration costs before the first ticket.
When each one fits
Choose the Duffel-style route when you are pre-accreditation, need to launch in weeks, sell mostly point-to-point leisure routes, and can live within an aggregator's carrier list. Choose the Amadeus route when you already hold IATA accreditation or a strong consolidator relationship, need net and corporate fares, complex itineraries or high volumes, and can fund a longer certification and build cycle.
Using both, or neither
This is not permanently either-or. A common evolution is to launch on an aggregator, then add GDS or consolidator content once volumes justify it, comparing sources in one search layer. And if neither fits (for example, you need Indian consolidator net fares from day one) regional APIs may serve better than both; our flight booking API comparison maps that wider field, and the flight API integration service page explains how we wire any of these sources into one booking flow.
Sources: Duffel website and published pricing documentation; PhocusWire reporting on the Amadeus self-service portal closure; Amadeus corporate and developer documentation. Duffel and Amadeus are trademarks of their respective owners; Globitude is an independent integrator and is not affiliated with either company.
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