How to Build an App Like MakeMyTrip: A Full-Stack Developer’s Guide

Planning to build a MakeMyTrip clone or something similar in the travel booking domain? Let me walk you through how I built an App Like MakeMyTrip from scratch — twice — using Node.js + React and PHP (Laravel/CodeIgniter) stacks. I’ll explain why both are viable depending on your business goals, timeline, and dev team, and break down everything from database design and APIs to payment gateways and deployment. If you’re a founder or agency figuring out how to get your clone project off the ground, this is for you.

MakeMyTrip is more than just a travel booking platform. It’s a full-blown travel ecosystem — flights, hotels, trains, buses, experiences, and even holiday packages. With the rise of post-pandemic travel and increased digital adoption in Tier 2/3 cities, platforms like these are incredibly relevant today.

What makes App Like MakeMyTrip attractive to build?

• High-ticket transaction value (think flight or hotel bookings)
• Multiple verticals (hotels, cabs, buses, etc.) means more monetization options
• API-friendly architecture (many providers offer travel data feeds now)
• Recurring users, especially when loyalty programs are integrated

For startups, a MakeMyTrip clone app can be tailored to niches — like adventure travel, corporate bookings, or regional packages. You don’t have to build a giant from day one — start lean, then scale.

Tech Stack: JavaScript vs PHP – Picking the Right Approach

When building an app like MakeMyTrip, tech stack selection sets the tone for scalability, developer productivity, and future-proofing. I’ve built it using both a JavaScript stack (Node.js + React) and a PHP stack (Laravel or CodeIgniter). Both are solid — it’s not about which is “better,” but which one fits your current priorities.

JavaScript Stack: Node.js + React

Backend: Node.js with Express is great for building scalable APIs. It’s non-blocking, lightweight, and supports real-time operations — helpful for live seat availability or dynamic pricing.

Frontend: React gave us reusable components for hotel cards, date pickers, and filters. React Router was essential for client-side routing, while TailwindCSS made it easy to theme quickly.

Where it fits best: If you want performance, real-time booking updates, or plan to go mobile-first with React Native later, this stack is ideal. Also, hiring full-stack JS devs is easier if you plan to scale quickly.

PHP Stack: Laravel or CodeIgniter

Backend: Laravel gives you built-in Auth scaffolding, routing, ORM (Eloquent), and job queues out of the box. CodeIgniter is a leaner option — it’s quicker to set up for smaller deployments or MVPs.

Frontend: Blade templates let us move fast — especially if you want to go server-rendered and keep things simple. Bootstrap + jQuery (yes, still valid) can be enough for early UI needs.

Where it fits best: Laravel is gold if you’re looking to launch fast, manage SEO-heavy pages, or work with a smaller team. It’s more opinionated but super developer-friendly. CI is great for quick and light travel MVPs.

Decision Flow: If you’re API-first or need heavy interactivity — go Node.js. If you prefer stability, server-side rendering, or have a PHP team — go Laravel.

Read More : Best MakeMyTrip Clone Scripts in 2025: Features & Pricing Compared

Database Design: Scalable, Modular & Ready for Expansion

Designing the database for a MakeMyTrip-style app is all about flexibility. You need to account for nested relationships — like hotels with multiple room types, or buses with seat maps — and still keep performance tight as the dataset grows. Here’s how I approached it.

Core Schema Structure

At the core, we built around a modular structure. Here’s a simplified view of key tables:

Users

• id
• name
• email
• phone
• user_type (customer/admin/vendor)

Bookings

• id
• user_id (FK)
• listing_id (FK to hotel/flight/bus)
• type (hotel/flight/bus)
• payment_id (FK)
• booking_data (JSON — flexible, versioned)

Listings (hotels, flights, etc.)

• id
• name
• type (hotel, flight, bus, etc.)
• location
• price_range
• rating
• metadata (JSON)
• created_by (vendor_id)

Rooms / Seats / Flight Legs (variant tables)

• id
• listing_id
• title
• price
• availability
• rules (JSON)
• images (array or relational)

Payments

• id
• booking_id
• status
• amount
• method (Stripe, Razorpay, etc.)
• transaction_data (JSON)

Why JSON Fields?

We used JSON fields heavily in both PostgreSQL (Node.js) and MySQL (Laravel). For example, booking_data captures third-party flight info or selected hotel add-ons. This lets us version schemas without breaking old records — a must when APIs evolve or listings vary in structure.

Handling Multi-Type Listings

Instead of building separate hotel/flight/bus tables, we used a polymorphic listings base and modular child tables (hotel_rooms, bus_seats, flight_legs). This keeps the system extensible if we later add car rentals or experiences.

Node.js Approach

In Node.js + Sequelize, we used associations and raw JSONB fields for flexible querying. Nested includes let us preload rooms with hotel listings and paginate efficiently.

Laravel Approach

Laravel’s Eloquent ORM made it super clean to define relationships — hasMany, morphMany, and casts for JSON fields. For example, rooms were defined as a related model to hotels, while booking_data used Laravel’s built-in casting to JSON for easier manipulation.

In both cases, indexes on type, location, and price_range ensured search speed. We also relied on caching popular queries using Redis, which I’ll touch on in the pro tips section.

Read More : Pre-launch vs Post-launch Marketing for Makemytrip Clone Startups

Key Modules and Features of an App Like MakeMyTrip : Core Engines That Power the App

To replicate the functionality of MakeMyTrip, I focused on implementing a few critical modules: search & discovery, booking engine, vendor/admin dashboard, and reviews/ratings. Each module required tight coordination between frontend, backend logic, and database design — and I built each twice using both JavaScript and PHP.

1. Search & Filters

Users expect fast, faceted search with filters like date, location, price, amenities, seat class, or flight duration.

Node.js Approach:
I used ElasticSearch for advanced search logic. Node’s async nature made it easy to call multiple services concurrently — we parallelized hotel availability checks and flight API lookups. Express routes were clean and controller logic modular.

Laravel Approach:
I used Laravel Scout with Algolia for lightweight full-text search. For more control, raw MySQL queries with whereBetween, like, and dynamic filters worked well. Caching played a big role in performance tuning.

Frontend in React or Blade:
React made filters interactive — no reloads, just API calls on change. In Laravel, filters triggered form submissions or AJAX calls via Axios. For both, keeping UI state in sync was crucial.

2. Booking Engine

The booking module had to handle multiple service types with distinct rules — hotel room quantity, bus seat mapping, flight fare locks.

Node.js Booking Logic:
Each booking type had its own controller. I used a middleware stack to validate availability, lock inventory, and proceed to payment initiation. We cached fare results for 5 minutes to avoid API abuse.

Laravel Booking Flow:
Laravel’s FormRequest validators made it easy to sanitize inputs. I queued booking confirmation jobs via Laravel Horizon so payments and external API confirmations didn’t block the request cycle.

Common Implementation:
All bookings were stored with type, listing_id, and booking_data to handle custom rules. Upon successful payment, the record status was updated and confirmation triggered via email/SMS.

3. Admin & Vendor Panel

Admins need to manage listings, users, bookings, payments, and feedback. Vendors (hoteliers, travel agents) should manage only their listings.

React Admin (JS):
I built a role-based admin using React + Redux. API calls to Node validated JWT tokens and scoped access. MUI helped scaffold data tables, filters, and form dialogs.

Blade Admin (PHP):
Laravel’s Blade + Breeze scaffold made it fast to build basic CRUD for listings, rooms, bookings. Role-based middleware ensured proper access. DataTables.js helped for dynamic tables.

4. Reviews & Ratings

Each completed booking allows the user to leave a review tied to the specific hotel, flight, or vendor.

In Node, I built a /reviews microservice that fetched, posted, and averaged ratings dynamically. In Laravel, I added a reviews table and used relationships like morphTo to associate with any listing type.

All reviews were subject to moderation — admins could approve, flag, or delete entries through the dashboard.

Read More : MakeMyTrip App Marketing Strategy: How to Sell Wanderlust in a Swipe

Data Handling: Third-Party APIs and Manual Listings

A MakeMyTrip-style app needs dynamic travel data — flights, hotels, buses — and also the flexibility to manually onboard vendors. I had to build two pipelines: one for API-based ingestion and one for admin-side manual uploads. Each came with its own challenges, especially in normalizing data and keeping it fresh.

API Integration (Amadeus, Skyscanner, Cleartrip APIs)

Node.js Implementation:
In Node, I used axios to call Amadeus and Skyscanner APIs for real-time flight search and availability. These APIs often use OAuth2, so I created middleware to handle token refreshing. The typical flow looked like this:

// Express endpoint to fetch flights
app.get('/api/flights/search', async (req, res) => {
  const token = await getAuthToken(); // refresh token if expired
  const response = await axios.get('https://api.amadeus.com/v2/shopping/flight-offers', {
    headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` },
    params: req.query
  });
  res.json(response.data);
});

Laravel Implementation:
In Laravel, I used GuzzleHttp for API calls. Laravel’s Cache::remember helped throttle repeated queries to avoid hitting API rate limits. A sample endpoint:

public function searchFlights(Request $request) {
  $token = Cache::remember('amadeus_token', 3000, function () {
    // Call OAuth2 and return token
  });

  $client = new Client(['headers' => ['Authorization' => 'Bearer ' . $token]]);
  $response = $client->get('https://api.amadeus.com/v2/shopping/flight-offers', [
    'query' => $request->all()
  ]);

  return response()->json(json_decode($response->getBody()));
}

We structured all third-party data responses into internal schemas before showing them on frontend. This allowed consistent UI rendering regardless of API source.

Admin Panel for Manual Listings

Not every business wants to depend entirely on external APIs. So we also built tools to manually add hotels, buses, holiday packages, etc.

In Node.js (React + Express):
We exposed admin routes like /admin/hotels/create, with React forms mapped to Express POST endpoints. The backend validated and stored details including location, gallery images, room variants, and policies.

In Laravel Blade:
Using Laravel’s built-in scaffolding, we built multi-step listing forms where vendors could upload room info, seat maps, or photos. Each form posted to a controller, which stored the data via Eloquent models. Images were stored using Laravel’s Storage facade with S3 support.

To streamline onboarding, we also allowed CSV uploads to bulk import listings — especially useful for hotel networks or transport aggregators.

Data Sync Challenges:
With API data, caching was essential. We set up periodic cron jobs in both Node (via node-cron) and Laravel (via schedule:run) to refresh fare data, availability, or room rates. This kept the listings current without overwhelming APIs.

Read More : Must-Have Features of MakeMyTrip That Make Travel Effortless

API Integration: Designing Robust Endpoints in JavaScript and PHP

Building a reliable API layer is at the heart of any travel booking platform. Whether the user is searching for a hotel or finalizing a flight booking, every interaction relies on well-structured, efficient API endpoints. I focused on modular, RESTful endpoints that work consistently across both JavaScript (Node.js) and PHP (Laravel) stacks.

REST API Structure

Our API was versioned from day one — /api/v1/ — to ensure future flexibility. We categorized endpoints by resource type: /hotels, /flights, /bookings, /users, /reviews.

Example Routes:

• GET /api/v1/hotels/search?city=goa&checkin=2025-08-10
• POST /api/v1/bookings/hotel
• GET /api/v1/bookings/:id
• POST /api/v1/reviews
• POST /api/v1/flights/search

Node.js + Express Implementation

We used Express with route-level middleware for things like JWT authentication, input sanitization, and role-based permissions.

Sample Endpoint – Hotel Search:

router.get('/hotels/search', async (req, res) => {
  const { city, checkin, checkout } = req.query;
  const hotels = await Hotel.find({ city }).populate('rooms');
  res.json(hotels);
});

Booking Logic:

router.post('/bookings/hotel', authMiddleware, async (req, res) => {
  const booking = new Booking({
    user: req.user.id,
    listing: req.body.hotel_id,
    booking_data: req.body.details,
    status: 'pending'
  });
  await booking.save();
  res.status(201).json({ success: true, booking_id: booking._id });
});

Laravel Implementation

Laravel’s route groups and middleware made organizing the API easy. I used api.php for versioned endpoints and Auth::guard('api') for token validation.

Sample Endpoint – Hotel Search:

Route::get('hotels/search', [HotelController::class, 'search']);

public function search(Request $request) {
  $hotels = Hotel::where('city', $request->city)->with('rooms')->get();
  return response()->json($hotels);
}

Booking Logic:

Route::post('bookings/hotel', [BookingController::class, 'store'])->middleware('auth:api');

public function store(Request $request) {
  $booking = Booking::create([
    'user_id' => auth()->id(),
    'listing_id' => $request->hotel_id,
    'booking_data' => json_encode($request->details),
    'status' => 'pending'
  ]);
  return response()->json(['success' => true, 'booking_id' => $booking->id]);
}

Error Handling & Rate Limiting

In both stacks, we built a global error handler to catch API failures and format them for the frontend. Node.js used a custom errorHandler middleware, while Laravel used Handler.php to standardize exceptions.

We also used express-rate-limit and Laravel’s ThrottleRequests middleware to protect public endpoints from abuse, especially /flights/search.

All APIs returned clear success/failure flags, messages, and relevant HTTP codes to help the frontend behave predictably.

Frontend & UI Structure: React vs Blade in Action

User experience is everything in a travel booking app. If a customer can’t find what they need in a few clicks, they bounce. So I focused on building a fast, intuitive, mobile-optimized frontend in both React (JavaScript) and Blade (Laravel). While both delivered solid results, the trade-offs were very different.

React Frontend (with TailwindCSS)

Component Architecture:
React was ideal for creating reusable UI blocks — hotel cards, date pickers, filter sliders, modals. I broke down the interface into atomic components using a folder structure like:

/components  
  /HotelCard.js  
  /SearchFilter.js  
  /DateRangePicker.js  
/pages  
  /SearchResults.js  
  /HotelDetails.js  
  /BookingPage.js  

Routing:
React Router handled client-side routing. Users could filter hotels without reloading the page. URL params updated in real-time (?location=goa&checkin=2025-08-10), and data was fetched via Axios.

Styling:
TailwindCSS made responsive design seamless. It eliminated the need for complex CSS files and made mobile optimization faster — especially for sticky headers, modals, and scrollable cards.

Performance Tuning:
We lazy-loaded components like maps, calendar pickers, and images to improve mobile performance. React’s useMemo and useCallback hooks helped reduce re-renders in filter-heavy pages.

Laravel Blade Frontend (with Bootstrap)

Template Layout:
Blade templating was straightforward. We used master layouts for header/footer and extended them in child views. Each page had a route in web.php and a controller to pass data.

resources/views  
  /layouts/master.blade.php  
  /search-results.blade.php  
  /hotel-details.blade.php  
  /booking.blade.php  

Dynamic Behavior:
AJAX via Axios or jQuery powered search and filter changes. For example, hotel filters could update the list without a page reload. For complex cases, we introduced Vue.js as a Blade component.

Styling & Responsiveness:
Bootstrap 5 gave us grid layouts, responsive navbars, and collapsible filters out of the box. For mobile-first design, we used media queries and minimized reliance on heavy JS animations.

UX Decisions:
In both stacks, we added conveniences like auto-fill recent searches, persistent login via localStorage/cookies, and pre-loader animations during API fetches.

Overall, React gave us more control and faster transitions, but Blade allowed us to move faster with server-side rendering and SEO friendliness.

Find out how to hire a MakeMyTrip clone developer who can create a smooth, user-friendly, and conversion-focused travel booking experience

Authentication & Payments: Secure Access and Seamless Transactions

Authentication and payments are two areas where things get serious fast. You’re dealing with personal data and money, so the stack must be secure, scalable, and responsive. I implemented authentication using JWT (Node.js) and Auth Guards (Laravel), and integrated both Stripe and Razorpay for payments depending on the user’s region.

Authentication

Node.js + JWT:
I used jsonwebtoken for issuing and validating tokens. On login, we generated a JWT with user ID and role. Every protected route used middleware to verify the token and attach user data to the request.

// Generate JWT on login
const token = jwt.sign({ id: user._id, role: user.role }, process.env.JWT_SECRET, { expiresIn: '7d' });

// Middleware to protect routes
function authMiddleware(req, res, next) {
  const token = req.headers.authorization?.split(' ')[1];
  if (!token) return res.status(401).json({ message: 'Unauthorized' });
  jwt.verify(token, process.env.JWT_SECRET, (err, decoded) => {
    if (err) return res.status(401).json({ message: 'Invalid Token' });
    req.user = decoded;
    next();
  });
}

Laravel + Guards:
Laravel made things even simpler with auth:api guard. I used Passport for token-based authentication and restricted routes using middleware.

Route::middleware('auth:api')->group(function () {
  Route::post('bookings/hotel', [BookingController::class, 'store']);
});

Registration and login were handled via standard Laravel controllers, and tokens were returned on successful login. Token revocation and expiry management were handled via Passport or Sanctum.

Payments: Stripe & Razorpay

Users could book in their local currency using either Stripe (global) or Razorpay (India). We abstracted the logic so the frontend didn’t care which processor was used.

Node.js (Stripe Example):

const stripe = require('stripe')(process.env.STRIPE_SECRET);

app.post('/create-payment-intent', async (req, res) => {
  const { amount, currency } = req.body;
  const paymentIntent = await stripe.paymentIntents.create({
    amount,
    currency,
    payment_method_types: ['card']
  });
  res.send({ clientSecret: paymentIntent.client_secret });
});

Laravel (Razorpay Example):

$api = new Api($key, $secret);
$payment = $api->payment->fetch($request->payment_id);
$payment->capture(['amount' => $payment->amount]);

// Save booking after confirmation
Booking::create([...]);

Security Practices:

• All API endpoints required authentication for initiating payments or booking
• Payment callbacks were verified via signature (Razorpay) or webhook secret (Stripe)
• Card data never touched our server; all handled client-side via SDKs

Read our complete 2025 guide on the cost to build a MakeMyTrip-style travel booking app, with a detailed breakdown by features and integrations.

Testing & Deployment: From Local Dev to Production Stability

Once the app was functional, the real work began — testing edge cases, preparing for scale, and making deployment as smooth as possible. I built CI/CD workflows, containerized the app, and fine-tuned the runtime environments for both Node.js and PHP (Laravel) stacks.

Testing Strategy

Unit Tests:
In Node.js, I used Jest to test controllers, services, and utility functions. For Laravel, I relied on PHPUnit with Laravel’s built-in test helpers to check model behavior, route access, and validations.

Example (Node.js):

test('should return hotels by city', async () => {
  const res = await request(app).get('/api/hotels/search?city=goa');
  expect(res.statusCode).toEqual(200);
  expect(res.body).toHaveLength(3);
});

Example (Laravel):

public function test_hotel_search_returns_results() {
  $response = $this->getJson('/api/hotels/search?city=goa');
  $response->assertStatus(200)->assertJsonCount(3);
}

Integration Tests:
We tested booking flows end-to-end — from search to payment to confirmation — using tools like Postman Collections, Laravel Dusk, and Cypress (for React).

Mobile Responsiveness:
Every major screen was tested on Chrome DevTools with breakpoints for mobile, tablet, and desktop. We also ran manual QA on Android/iOS devices to catch layout quirks.

Deployment Process

CI/CD Pipeline:
GitHub Actions triggered automated tests and built Docker containers. On passing, it deployed to staging and then to production with manual approval.

Docker:
Both stacks were containerized. For Node.js, I used a multistage build to install dependencies and run on Alpine for a smaller image. Laravel containers used PHP-FPM with Nginx in front.

Node Dockerfile:

FROM node:18-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm install
COPY . .
CMD ["node", "server.js"]

Laravel Dockerfile:

FROM php:8.2-fpm
RUN docker-php-ext-install pdo pdo_mysql
COPY . /var/www
WORKDIR /var/www
CMD ["php-fpm"]

Process Manager / Server Config:
For Node.js, we used PM2 to manage the server with auto-restart and logs. For Laravel, Apache or Nginx managed routing, SSL, and served static assets.

Environment Management:
Secrets like API keys, database credentials, and Stripe tokens were stored in .env files and injected via GitHub Secrets during deployment.

Monitoring:
We used UptimeRobot for ping monitoring, LogRocket (React) for frontend errors, and Laravel Telescope for backend inspection.

Read More : Reasons startup choose our makemytrip clone over custom development

Pro Tips: Lessons Learned, Performance Hacks, and Mobile Wins

After building and launching MakeMyTrip-style apps in both JavaScript and PHP, I picked up a few hard-earned insights. These helped us reduce load times, scale faster, and avoid user friction on mobile. Here’s what I recommend if you want to build a clone that feels production-ready from day one.

1. Cache Like Your Life Depends on It

Search results, price listings, and availability data from APIs are expensive to fetch and slow things down. I used:

• Redis to cache filtered hotel/flight results for 5–10 minutes
• Node.js: node-cache for short-lived responses, and redis for shared cache
• Laravel: Cache::remember() for the win — paired with tags for easy invalidation

This dramatically improved TTFB (time to first byte) especially on mobile.

2. Minimize Third-Party Blocking on Frontend

APIs like Amadeus or Skyscanner can slow down the user journey. We moved all API calls server-side and showed skeleton loaders (not spinners) on the frontend. If real-time availability was delayed, we showed cached results with a warning badge.

3. Compress Everything: Images, Payloads, Assets

Image-heavy hotel listings are a mobile killer. We used:

• React stack: react-lazyload and next/image for lazy loading
• Blade views: Optimized uploads at source using spatie/image-optimizer
• Backend: Compressed JSON responses using Gzip, capped nested arrays at 5–10 items

Also set proper Cache-Control headers on S3/CDN for all static assets.

4. Mobile-First Design Always Wins

More than 75% of users came from mobile. I tested every flow on real mobile devices early:

• Sticky CTA buttons (Book Now, Checkout) should be visible at all times
• Input forms were trimmed to minimal fields per screen
• Swipe gestures, bottom sheets, and full-screen modals helped mimic native UX

We also saved the last search in localStorage to reduce friction for repeat users.

5. Avoid Overbuilding the Admin Panel Early

Founders often ask for a full-featured admin — reports, filters, exports — on day one. I started with CRUD + soft deletes + search. Later, we added analytics and permission tiers as needed. Build it only when usage demands it.

Read More : How to Build a MakeMyTrip Clone App

Final Thoughts: What I’d Do Differently & When to Go Custom vs Clone

After building both custom and semi-clone versions of MakeMyTrip, here’s the big takeaway — you don’t need to reinvent the wheel to launch a world-class travel app. But you do need to make smart choices early about architecture, stack, and scope. Both JavaScript (Node.js + React) and PHP (Laravel) stacks can support a scalable MakeMyTrip-style platform. The key is aligning tech choices with your team’s strengths and business needs.

Node.js gave us the best performance, especially with real-time API aggregation and microservices. It’s the right fit for high-volume, API-first, mobile-heavy platforms. It shines when you need control and plan to evolve toward a microservices or serverless model.

Laravel, on the other hand, was faster to launch, easier to maintain with smaller teams, and more SEO-friendly. It’s great for early-stage founders who want stability, predictable structure, and server-rendered pages without needing to manage client-side state.

If I had to do it again:

• I’d use Node.js for real-time dynamic modules (flights, buses, live seats)
• I’d use Laravel for static content, CMS, and admin panels
• And I’d containerize everything from the start to ease deployment

Now, if you’re a founder looking to launch fast without getting stuck in build mode for 6+ months, a production-ready clone from a company like Miracuves makes total sense. You’ll save time, avoid technical pitfalls, and still have the flexibility to extend the product your way.

Explore our MakeMyTrip-style solution here: MakeMyTrip Clone by Miracuves

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