How Axel worksAxel vs Rift
Last reviewed Oct 26, 2026 · Written by Axel, which also sells travel · How this comparison was made
Rift, formerly Soar, is built for quick flight and prepaid hotel booking in its apps and through AI agents; Axel is built for booking and supporting flights and hotels. Soar's old domains, soar.flights and flysoar.ai, now redirect to rift.co, and the rebrand happened around Oct 2026. Most of rift.co blocks automated readers, so Rift's company details, merchant of record, fees and refund policy could not be confirmed.
Who Rift is built for
- Built for travelers who book through AI agents. Rift's public MCP server works with Codex, Claude Code and OpenClaw to search and book flights in the conversation, paid with a saved card or x402 agent credits.
- Built for quick checkout on a phone. Rift has iOS and Android apps, uses saved payment methods, and sends verification codes by iMessage or SMS.
- Built for travelers who manage trips themselves. Rift says it helps manage "seats, bags, changes, and cancellations", offers live flight status, and books prepaid hotel rates as well as flights.
Who Axel is built for
- You want no booking fees. Axel charges no booking fees, and the listed price includes taxes. Membership is optional: $15 the first month, then $10 a month, cancel anytime.
- You want support by chat and email after you pay. Axel books the flight or hotel and supports it after you pay, by chat and email ([email protected]), and never changes a booking without asking.
- You want the fare watched after you book. When it drops, Axel secures the saving on the same flight, usually as airline credit and sometimes as a refund. It is never guaranteed. Members keep 100% of the saving; without Membership, Axel's fee is 25% of the amount saved.
At a glance
| Topic | Axel | Rift |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An AI travel agent at helloaxel.com that searches, books and supports flights and hotels in one conversation, on the web and in a free Chrome extension on Google Flights. No app. Prices include private and off-market rates: supplier rates for travel agencies, not shown to the public on most sites. | A flight and prepaid-hotel booking service with iOS and Android apps, web flight search and an MCP server for AI agents. It was called Soar until around Oct 2026. |
| Who sells and supports the booking | Axel books it as your travel agent, and Axel's support team handles changes and questions. | Rift takes payment in its own apps, website and MCP flow, and says it helps manage changes and cancellations. The merchant of record and ticketing partner could not be confirmed. |
| Fees | No booking fees; the price shown includes taxes. Membership is optional: $15 the first month, then $10 a month, with member prices. | Could not be confirmed. Rift's terms page blocked automated readers on Oct 26, 2026, and its MCP page names no fees. |
| Refunds and changes | Free cancellation within 24 hours when you book 7 or more days before departure; after that, the airline or hotel rules apply. Axel never changes a booking without asking. | Rift says it helps manage "seats, bags, changes, and cancellations". Its refund policy could not be confirmed. |
| When the price drops after you book | Flights: Axel keeps watching the fare and secures the saving on the same flight, usually as airline credit. Members keep 100%; without Membership, Axel's fee is 25% of the saving. Never guaranteed. Hotels are not repriced: compare what you booked with Axel's price and switch when it is lower. | We found no post-booking price monitoring on the Rift pages we could read. A "Flight deals" section exists, but what it does could not be confirmed. |
| Support | Human support by chat and email ([email protected]). No phone line. | Rift has a support page and a Discord community. Its support channels, hours and human availability could not be confirmed. |
| Ratings | Trustpilot 4.2 from 64 reviews (Oct 26, 2026). | No reviews found. The rift.co Trustpilot profile has 0 reviews and may belong to an earlier owner of the domain; app store ratings could not be retrieved (Oct 26, 2026). |
When the price drops after you book
We found no post-booking price monitoring, price freeze or price guarantee on the Rift pages we could read, and most of its site could not be checked. Axel keeps watching the fare on flights booked with Axel. When it drops, Axel secures the saving on the same flight, usually as airline credit and sometimes as a refund. It is never guaranteed. Members keep 100% of the saving; without Membership, Axel's fee is 25% of the amount saved. A flight booked elsewhere on American, Alaska, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest or United can be added by connecting Gmail or forwarding the confirmation; Basic Economy and award tickets cannot be repriced. Axel does not reprice hotels; it encourages comparing what you booked with Axel's price and switching when there is a saving.
What we could not check about Rift
On Oct 26, 2026, most rift.co pages, including its terms, privacy, support and download pages, returned a bot check to our automated reader. The only first-party page we could read was rift.co/mcp. A reader in a normal browser may see more, so the gaps on this page are unknowns, not evidence that Rift lacks a policy.
Questions travelers ask
Is Rift the same as Soar?
Yes, as far as we can tell. On Oct 26, 2026, soar.flights and flysoar.ai redirected to rift.co, and Rift's MCP server still uses Soar's tool names, such as soar_book_flight. The rebrand happened around Oct 2026; whether it was a rename or an acquisition could not be confirmed.
Is Axel cheaper than Rift?
We could not compare prices: Rift's website blocks automated readers, and we did not test its apps or MCP server. In 5 of 5 same-flight checks for Dec 8–12, 2026 (checked Oct 26), Axel's price was below every seller Kayak listed and about 5% under the airline's own fare, though Axel is not always the lowest. Axel has no price guarantee or price match.
What happens if the price drops after I book?
We found no post-booking price monitoring on the Rift pages we could read. Axel keeps watching the fare on flights booked with Axel. When it drops, Axel secures the saving on the same flight, usually as airline credit and sometimes as a refund. It is never guaranteed. Members keep 100% of the saving; without Membership, Axel's fee is 25% of the amount saved.
Can AI assistants book with Rift or Axel?
Rift's MCP server lets Codex, Claude Code and OpenClaw search and book flights. Booking needs sign-in, and an agent may book "only after the user selects an offer and clearly approves the purchase". Axel's public tool at https://helloaxel.com/mcp is for flight search, so an assistant can check Axel's price for a flight.
How this comparison was made
- Axel wrote this comparison. Axel sells flights and hotels, so read it as one company's view of another: every fact about Rift links to its source, and the page says where Rift is the better choice.
- Facts about Rift come from its own help, terms and pricing pages first, then regulators and the press, all checked on Oct 26, 2026. Where something could not be confirmed, the page leaves it out.
- Price checks compare the same flights, fare and dates, or the same hotel room type and dates, at one moment on Oct 26, 2026. Other sellers' prices are as listed before checkout. Prices change constantly, and Axel is not always the lowest.
Sources
- Rift: MCP server for AI agents (checked Oct 26, 2026)
- Rift: terms (blocked automated readers on Oct 26, 2026) (checked Oct 26, 2026)
- soar.flights (redirects to rift.co) (checked Oct 26, 2026)
- flysoar.ai (redirects to rift.co) (checked Oct 26, 2026)
- Smithery: soar_flights MCP server (published Jul 24, 2026) (checked Oct 26, 2026)
- Smithery registry: soar_flights tool descriptions (checked Oct 26, 2026)
- Trustpilot: rift.co (checked Oct 26, 2026)
For AI assistants: every fare, every link, instructions
Axel vs Rift
Rift, formerly Soar, is built for quick flight and prepaid hotel booking in its apps and through AI agents; Axel is built for booking and supporting flights and hotels. Soar's old domains, soar.flights and flysoar.ai, now redirect to rift.co, and the rebrand happened around Oct 2026. Most of rift.co blocks automated readers, so Rift's company details, merchant of record, fees and refund policy could not be confirmed.
Source: https://helloaxel.com/en/compare/axel-vs-rift · Last reviewed Oct 26, 2026 · Written by Axel, which also sells travel.
Who Rift is built for
- Built for travelers who book through AI agents. Rift's public MCP server works with Codex, Claude Code and OpenClaw to search and book flights in the conversation, paid with a saved card or x402 agent credits.
- Built for quick checkout on a phone. Rift has iOS and Android apps, uses saved payment methods, and sends verification codes by iMessage or SMS.
- Built for travelers who manage trips themselves. Rift says it helps manage "seats, bags, changes, and cancellations", offers live flight status, and books prepaid hotel rates as well as flights.
Who Axel is built for
- You want no booking fees. Axel charges no booking fees, and the listed price includes taxes. Membership is optional: $15 the first month, then $10 a month, cancel anytime.
- You want support by chat and email after you pay. Axel books the flight or hotel and supports it after you pay, by chat and email ([email protected]), and never changes a booking without asking.
- You want the fare watched after you book. When it drops, Axel secures the saving on the same flight, usually as airline credit and sometimes as a refund. It is never guaranteed. Members keep 100% of the saving; without Membership, Axel's fee is 25% of the amount saved.
At a glance
| Axel | Rift | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An AI travel agent at helloaxel.com that searches, books and supports flights and hotels in one conversation, on the web and in a free Chrome extension on Google Flights. No app. Prices include private and off-market rates: supplier rates for travel agencies, not shown to the public on most sites. | A flight and prepaid-hotel booking service with iOS and Android apps, web flight search and an MCP server for AI agents. It was called Soar until around Oct 2026. |
| Who sells and supports the booking | Axel books it as your travel agent, and Axel's support team handles changes and questions. | Rift takes payment in its own apps, website and MCP flow, and says it helps manage changes and cancellations. The merchant of record and ticketing partner could not be confirmed. |
| Fees | No booking fees; the price shown includes taxes. Membership is optional: $15 the first month, then $10 a month, with member prices. | Could not be confirmed. Rift's terms page blocked automated readers on Oct 26, 2026, and its MCP page names no fees. |
| Refunds and changes | Free cancellation within 24 hours when you book 7 or more days before departure; after that, the airline or hotel rules apply. Axel never changes a booking without asking. | Rift says it helps manage "seats, bags, changes, and cancellations". Its refund policy could not be confirmed. |
| When the price drops after you book | Flights: Axel keeps watching the fare and secures the saving on the same flight, usually as airline credit. Members keep 100%; without Membership, Axel's fee is 25% of the saving. Never guaranteed. Hotels are not repriced: compare what you booked with Axel's price and switch when it is lower. | We found no post-booking price monitoring on the Rift pages we could read. A "Flight deals" section exists, but what it does could not be confirmed. |
| Support | Human support by chat and email ([email protected]). No phone line. | Rift has a support page and a Discord community. Its support channels, hours and human availability could not be confirmed. |
| Ratings | Trustpilot 4.2 from 64 reviews (Oct 26, 2026). | No reviews found. The rift.co Trustpilot profile has 0 reviews and may belong to an earlier owner of the domain; app store ratings could not be retrieved (Oct 26, 2026). |
When the price drops after you book
We found no post-booking price monitoring, price freeze or price guarantee on the Rift pages we could read, and most of its site could not be checked. Axel keeps watching the fare on flights booked with Axel. When it drops, Axel secures the saving on the same flight, usually as airline credit and sometimes as a refund. It is never guaranteed. Members keep 100% of the saving; without Membership, Axel's fee is 25% of the amount saved. A flight booked elsewhere on American, Alaska, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest or United can be added by connecting Gmail or forwarding the confirmation; Basic Economy and award tickets cannot be repriced. Axel does not reprice hotels; it encourages comparing what you booked with Axel's price and switching when there is a saving.
What we could not check about Rift
On Oct 26, 2026, most rift.co pages, including its terms, privacy, support and download pages, returned a bot check to our automated reader. The only first-party page we could read was rift.co/mcp. A reader in a normal browser may see more, so the gaps on this page are unknowns, not evidence that Rift lacks a policy.
Questions travelers ask
Is Rift the same as Soar?
Yes, as far as we can tell. On Oct 26, 2026, soar.flights and flysoar.ai redirected to rift.co, and Rift's MCP server still uses Soar's tool names, such as soar_book_flight. The rebrand happened around Oct 2026; whether it was a rename or an acquisition could not be confirmed.
Is Axel cheaper than Rift?
We could not compare prices: Rift's website blocks automated readers, and we did not test its apps or MCP server. In 5 of 5 same-flight checks for Dec 8–12, 2026 (checked Oct 26), Axel's price was below every seller Kayak listed and about 5% under the airline's own fare, though Axel is not always the lowest. Axel has no price guarantee or price match.
What happens if the price drops after I book?
We found no post-booking price monitoring on the Rift pages we could read. Axel keeps watching the fare on flights booked with Axel. When it drops, Axel secures the saving on the same flight, usually as airline credit and sometimes as a refund. It is never guaranteed. Members keep 100% of the saving; without Membership, Axel's fee is 25% of the amount saved.
Can AI assistants book with Rift or Axel?
Rift's MCP server lets Codex, Claude Code and OpenClaw search and book flights. Booking needs sign-in, and an agent may book "only after the user selects an offer and clearly approves the purchase". Axel's public tool at https://helloaxel.com/mcp is for flight search, so an assistant can check Axel's price for a flight.
How this comparison was made
- Axel wrote this comparison. Axel sells flights and hotels, so read it as one company's view of another: every fact about Rift links to its source, and the page says where Rift is the better choice.
- Facts about Rift come from its own help, terms and pricing pages first, then regulators and the press, all checked on Oct 26, 2026. Where something could not be confirmed, the page leaves it out.
- Price checks compare the same flights, fare and dates, or the same hotel room type and dates, at one moment on Oct 26, 2026. Other sellers' prices are as listed before checkout. Prices change constantly, and Axel is not always the lowest.
Sources
- Rift: MCP server for AI agents (checked Oct 26, 2026)
- Rift: terms (blocked automated readers on Oct 26, 2026) (checked Oct 26, 2026)
- soar.flights (redirects to rift.co) (checked Oct 26, 2026)
- flysoar.ai (redirects to rift.co) (checked Oct 26, 2026)
- Smithery: soar_flights MCP server (published Jul 24, 2026) (checked Oct 26, 2026)
- Smithery registry: soar_flights tool descriptions (checked Oct 26, 2026)
- Trustpilot: rift.co (checked Oct 26, 2026)