Choosing the right property management system (PMS) is a critical decision for Airbnb hosts and property managers looking to streamline operations and maximize efficiency. For many, the choice often comes down to Hostaway vs Guesty. But how do these two leading platforms compare, and which one is the better fit for your short-term rental business?
In this review, we'll dive deep into a side-by-side comparison of Guesty vs Hostaway, focusing on their tools, features, third-party integrations, pricing structures, ideal customers, and user ratings. Our goal is to help Airbnb operators like you identify the software that best meets your unique needs. We'll also highlight the top alternatives and complementary solutions for professionals who want to automate operations and boost performance.
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Hostaway vs Guesty: Overview
To begin with, let's run through a quick comparison between Guesty and Hostaway based on the most important characteristics of the best short-term rental software.
This side-by-side comparison shows that both Airbnb management software platforms offer a wide range of tools that are able to help both individual hosts and professional Airbnb managers. They can help streamline and automate many of the day-to-day tasks that take the most time and energy from STR operators. However, the lack of Hostaway pricing information makes it difficult to conclude which is the more affordable option for customers with different portfolio sizes.
Hostaway vs Guesty: Ideal customers
Both Guesty and Hostaway can be used by different professionals in the vacation rental space. Still, there are some variances in the best type of users for each platform.
Guesty customers
Guesty provides value to:
- Part-time and full-time hosts with listings on various booking channels
- Small and large short-term rental property managers
- Owners and managers of vacation rentals, urban rentals, serviced apartments, B&Bs, guesthouses, aparthotels, and outdoor stays
Hostaway customers
The Hostaway platform is most frequently used by:
- Beginner and experienced Airbnb hosts listing on different websites
- Local property managers and national Airbnb management companies
The features available on the two apps make them a potentially good fit for both individual hosts and professional property managers. While Guesty targets both types of customers, Hostaway is rather directed at larger-scale operators.
Hostaway vs Guesty: Customer reviews
When selecting the best software for your short-term rental management business, hearing directly from those who've used the tools can make all the difference. That's why exploring customer reviews on reputable platforms is key.
Both Guesty and Hostaway boast strong online reputations, positioning themselves as reliable options. However, it's equally important to consider the concerns and challenges real users have highlighted to ensure you make the most informed decision for your business.
Guesty reviews
Guesty has an average rating of 4.2/5 stars based on over 970 unique customer reviews, reflecting generally positive feedback across multiple platforms.
Guesty reviews are available on:
- Trustpilot: 4.1/5 stars from 587 reviews
- Capterra: 4.3/5 stars based on 298 reviews
- GetApp: 4.4/5 stars from 298 reviews
- Software Advice: 4.3/5 stars from 298 reviews
- Software Finder: 3.9/5 stars from 43 reviews
- G2: 4.5/5 stars from 42 reviews
Happy Guesty customers emphasize the user-friendly interface, great automation tools, good dynamic pricing capacity, real-time analytics, frequent software updates, excellent integrations, and Guesty's customer support. Meanwhile, less happy users complain about misleading promises by sales reps, overly simplistic functionalities, poorly working integrations with booking channels, and some technical problems.
Hostaway reviews
Hostaway boasts an impressive average rating of 4.8/5 stars from over 4,000 customer reviews, reflecting excellent user satisfaction across multiple platforms.
Hostaway reviews are available on:
- GetApp: 4.8/5 stars based on 1,218 reviews
- Capterra: 4.8/5 stars from 1,216 reviews
- Software Advice: 4.8/5 stars from 1,216 reviews
- Trustpilot: 4.6/5 stars from 723 reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 stars from 217 reviews
- HotelTechReport: 4.8/5 stars based on 29 reviews
Satisfied customers highlight the intuitive platform, automated communication feature, detailed booking calendar view, the many third-party integrations, comprehensive onboarding, and the valuable user guides. On the other hand, dissatisfied Hostaway users talk about the user-unfriendly interface, suboptimal automation features, problems with integrations (especially with Airbnb and Vrbo), inadequate onboarding team, and difficult cancellations.
Customers of both products are more likely to recommend them than not to. Nevertheless, Hostaway has more online reviews and a higher average rating.
Hostaway vs Guesty: Features
The best Airbnb management software has to offer a number of powerful features that help Airbnb hosts and managers streamline operations in order to focus their efforts on the strategic task of growing their business rather than daily activities. So, the next step of our comparison between Guesty vs Hostaway focuses on the tools available on the two apps.
Guesty and Hostaway tools and features make it possible for them to help hosts and Airbnb managers:
- Put tedious business operations on autopilot
- Launch their own vacation rental website for direct bookings that don't require Airbnb host fees
- Turn their existing website into a reservation engine
- Bring together and manage bookings from different channels to avoid double bookings, via an Airbnb channel manager
- Implement Airbnb dynamic pricing for maximizing revenue with the right daily rates around the year
- Streamline guest communication from different sources and automate most of it
- Automate check-ins and check-outs via integrations with the best smart locks for Airbnb
- Receive payments from guests using various payment solutions
- Improve guest experiences for more 5-star reviews
- Boost rankings on booking channels for more reservations
- Coordinate the work of their property management team members, automatically assign them tasks, and track progress
- Analyze the most important Airbnb metrics of their listings
- Report to property owners for more transparency and customer retention
Having said that, both the Guesty and the Hostaway teams have put effort into developing some unique features to add more value to their target customers.
Unique features of Guesty
Some tools that you can find on Guesty but not on Hostaway include the following.
Revenue management
While both Guesty and Hostaway have their own dynamic Airbnb pricing tools and options to create discount coupons, the former has superior revenue management tools. You can build your own, customized pricing strategy and plan that allow you to balance between nightly prices and occupancy for more revenue.
The most important features of revenue management with Guesty are:
- Robust rate customization including price rules for days of the week, seasons, holidays, vacancy gaps, length of stay, and other factors
- Flexible rate plans so that guests can choose between non-refundable stay discounts, flexible cancellations, meal options, and others
- Dynamic pricing based on the machine-learning algorithms of Guesty PriceOptimizer
- Direct promo coupons for reaching new and old audiences
- Channel promotions to stand out from the competition on each channel
- Rate plan templates built on the successful strategies of other hosts
Guest Communication Services (GCS)
In addition to unified inbox and automated messages, Guesty also offers Guest Communication Services (GSC) which refers to their agents filling in when your team is not available. The Guesty tools evaluate and prioritize guest messages so that the most urgent questions and requests get responded to first. Then, they get assigned to around-the-clock agents for speedy guest communication which is a major part of ranking on Airbnb as well as creating positive guest experiences.
Moreover, Guesty experts assess reservations and decide whether to send guest review prompts when the result is likely to be a 5-star review. This helps boost your reputation and standing on the listing platform.
Guesty Damage Protection
The Guesty Damage Protection allows you to protect your short-term rental against guest damage without the need to collect security deposits and to manage claims without guest intervention. You can choose between plans that are specifically designed for the hospitality industry, acting similar to Airbnb insurance. Most claims are paid within three days.
One of the most important features of Damage Protection is that it doesn't require the involvement of guests. This means that guests are more likely to choose your listing over competitors which demand a security deposit. This leads to more bookings and higher occupancy.
Unique features of Hostaway
Meanwhile, Hostaways offers the following functionalities that Guesty doesn't.
Cross-listings
The Hostaway cross-listings feature allows hosts and property managers with multiple listings to combine them into a single listing to eliminate the risk of double bookings. For example, you can set up one parent listing and one or more child listings. When a child listing gets booked, this blocks the parent listing but not the other child listings. Meanwhile, if the parent listing gets a reservation, this blocks all child listings.
Cross-listings work across all major booking channels for managing numerous listings more easily.
Contract signature
Hostaway has its own in-house solution for automating the signing and management of vacation rental agreements. Guests can easily sign short-term rental contracts so that you avoid costly damages and chargebacks.
Meanwhile, the communication automation features available on Guesty can help in this regard even without a dedicated tool.
Review management
Hostaway offers automated reviews which includes asking for reviews, responding to guest reviews, and reviewing guests. This helps get more positive reviews by happy guests to boost your reputation and ranking.
While Guesty doesn't have a specific tool for automated review management, hosts and managers can automate messages to ask for reviews.
The additional tools provided by Guesty and Hostaway are nice extras that add value for STR operators. But even with the shared core features, the two platforms can be a good addition to the arsenal of Airbnb hosts and managers.
Hostaway vs Guesty: Integrations
The top vacation rental management software tools have to work seamlessly and problem-free with third-party apps to ensure smooth business operations. So, let's take a look at the tools that Hostaway and Guesty integrate with.
Guesty integrations
Guesty connects with more than 220 popular tools in the short-term rental management industry, offering some of the strongest integration capabilities among competitors.
The best Guesty integrations, organized by category, include:
- Booking channels: Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Expedia, Google Vacation Rentals, Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy, Hopper, HomeToGo, Plum Guide, Travelstation, Holidu, Smiling House, Villa Tracker, VacayHome, bnbfinder, Rentalz, and others
- Channel managers: Rentals United, BookingPal, and SiteMinder
- Financials and accounting: Beyond, Wheelhouse, PriceLabs, Key Data, Perfect Price, Proper Insurance, Hostkit, Pikl, InsuraGuest, RoomPriceGenie, Pricepoint, Homesure, Rented, LoanBase, MovingLake, SmartPricing, SecureStay, Clearing, Keystone Bookkeepers, Hire Sofia, VRPlatform, Duve, Accountable, Lighthouse, and others
- Guest management: YourWelcome, LuggageHero, BagsAway, Bridgify, Travello App, Travelade, Yada, UpsellGuru, TourDesk, Hello George, Bnsellit, KeyNinja, Folio, SecureStay, Besty AI, Touch Stay, GuestLabs, Guest Guru, Hostbuddy AI, Botel, Dack, Maveriks, SmartHotel, Host.AI, PrimeHost, Hostvana, Charge Automation, StayFi, Chekin, LG Electronics, Operto, Enso Connect, and others
- Home automation and security: Smart Door Systems, KeyNest, Roomonitor, Vikey, PointCentral, Sharebox, Nuki, Jervis Systems, Badbugs, Lowkey, SuiteOp, Go Zero Charge, Minut, Keycafe, Lynx, RemoteLock, and others
- Marketing: Beyongbooking, hostWriter, Online Tourism, Toast, Customyze, RezRecover, Repuso, Olive Street Design, Reva, Revyoos, StayWatch, hostFront, AutoRank, RealTech Webmasters, Scurto Marketing, Rentamira, and others
- New arrivals: BNBCalc, Keystone Bookkeepers, MYND Adventures, Accountable, Triparound, and others
- Operations, cleaning, and maintenance: Turno, Breezeway, Tidy, Cleanster, Fülhaus, EZcare, Flexkeeping, Puls, Theodora, HKeeper, ResortCleaning, houstr, Keepers, Sweeply, Clyn, Doinn, Properly, Sparrow, and others
- Payment processing: Stripe, Merchant Warrior, and Hyp
Hostaway integrations
Similarly, Hostaway integrates with over 180 third-party tools across various types and categories.
Hostaway integrations cover:
- Abandoned booking recovery: RezRecover
- Accounting: Ximplify, Quickbooks, BookingTrust, AbacusVRA, Clearing, VRPlatform, Clyr, Maveriks, and others
- AI: Yada, HostAI, hostAI, Aparta, GuestLabs, Cortado AI, HostBuddy AI, and others
- Amenities: Sojo
- Automation: Webhooks
- Blockchain technology and crypto payments: Dtravel
- Booking channels and OTAs: Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Tripadvisor, Expedia, Google Vacation Rentals, Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy, Whimstay, WeChalet, HouseStay, VacayMyWay, Hopper, TravelTrunk, Find Rentals, Nofie, Houfy, Glamping Hub, HolidayKeepers, Livly, and others
- Booking website: ICND, Boostly, Stay Inc., Lake.com, and others
- Business improvement: Chekin, BeHome247, KeyNest, Honeyguide, Hostvisors, GuestFlow, and others
- Business and market intelligence: Key Data Dashboard and AllTheRooms
- Cleaning tools and management: Turno, Turnify, Breezeway, Tidy, Doinn, Keepeerts, Dharma, Lula Cleaning, Room Checking, and others
- Communication tools: Lynx, Slack, Mailchimp, Guest Guru, HolidayHero, GuestLabs, Whatsapp, and others
- Contact management: Google Contacts and others
- Contracts: SignRequest
- CRM: HubSpot, Monday.com, Asana, and Google Sheets
- Data and analytics: Duve, Lighthouse, Direct Booking Tools, AIPEX Technologies, Botel, SuiteOp, and others
- Dynamic pricing: Wheelhouse, PriceLabs, Beyond, Smartpricing, DPGO, and others
- Electric vehicle charging: Ok2Charge
- Guest experience, management, and services: Operto, Autohost, Properly, Keycafe, Tablebed, ChargeAutomation, Tourmie, BabyCrip, Stasher, StayFi, CozyUp, and others
- Guest screening: Authenticating.com, Superhog, Botel, Check-in Scan, and others
- Guidebooks: Jervis Systems, Orana Stay, and others
- Home automation: NoiseAware, Minut, Nuki, Ratna, YourWelcome, Alertify, Keepers, and others
- Insurance: InsuraGuest Hospitality, Safely, and others
- Marketing: CraftedStays, AutoRank, Hudson Creative Studio, FindRentals, and others
- Optimization: OptimizeMyBnb
- OTM: getawayGoGo
- Outsourced staffing: Extenteam
- Payment processing: Stripe, Authorize.net, Ascent Payment Solutions, Nexio, and others
- Photography and virtual tours: Virtuance
- Review and reputation management: Revyoos and Sparrow Intel
- Security deposit: Enso Connect, Hostkit, Swikly, and others
- Smart locks: Schlage, Yale, August, RemoteLock, Igloohome, Omnitec, Akiles, and others
- Website builder: Webready, 1st on the List, and others
Both Hostaway and Guesty integrate with more software apps than other property management systems, but Guesty options are even more numerous and diverse.
Hostaway vs Guesty: Cost
In addition to choosing a powerful platform, it's also important to select one that's affordable for your budget and that will not cost more than the benefits that it brings.
All given costs are accurate at the time of writing, but they may change, so it's always best to contact their teams directly for the most up-to-date pricing information.
Guesty pricing
Guesty offers three pricing plans, with the total cost depending on the tools, the number of listings, and the subscription duration. There are both monthly and annual subscriptions, with the latter coming at discounted rates.
Guesty plans include:
- Lite: For 1-3 listings. Starting at $27/month for one property when billed annually.
- Pro: For 4-199 listings. Custom pricing.
- Professional: For 200+ listings. Custom pricing.
Meanwhile, the following features are available as add-ons (but the cost is not disclosed):
- Guesty PriceOptimizer
- Guesty Damage Protection
- GuestyPay
- Guesty Websites
- Guesty Locks Manager
- Guest Communication Services (GCS)
- Guesty Capital
Although Guesty gives small-scale operators an accurate estimate of the cost they can expect, the pricing of more sophisticated plans is not clear, so professional property managers need to contact the Guesty support team to get a custom quote.
There is a 14-day free trial of the Guesty Lite plan, but the platform cannot be used for free in the long run.
Hostaway pricing
The Hostaway cost depends on your needs and the size of your business, with monthly and annual payment options. However, that's the only pricing information that the company discloses, with no range of possible fees. This means that interested hosts and property managers need to get in touch with the Hostaway customer support team to get a demo and a quote. There is no free trial.
Guesty has a more transparent pricing structure, particularly for individual hosts. Still, customers need to discuss their needs with representatives of the two companies to know the exact cost they will need to cover for their Airbnb management software.
Hostaway vs Guesty: Terms
Before getting started with any software, you should know what the setup and cancellation look like. That's why we'll take a look at the terms and conditions of use of the two platforms:
- Sign-up: You can create a free online account on Guesty to get started. To begin using Hostaway, you need to schedule a demo with customer support.
- Free access: Guesty can be tested for free for 14 days, at the Lite plan level. Hostaway does not offer a free trial because of the need to undergo an onboarding process.
- Subscription plan length: Both platforms have monthly and annual subscriptions, with no need for long-term commitments.
- Payment methods: The two companies accept major credit cards for subscription fee payments.
- Cancellation policy: A Guesty subscription can be canceled online, at any time. After canceling a Hostaway plan, the full rollout takes up to 30 days.
- Refund policy: Neither app issues refunds on completed customer payments.
The two products have very similar terms of use that are aligned with standard practices in the SaaS industry. Guesty is a bit more user-friendly as it allows you to get started on your own to get an idea of the available tools before making a decision.
Best alternatives to Hostaway and Guesty
Our review of Guesty vs Hostaway shows that both platforms have important features that make them a potentially valuable addition to short-term rental management businesses. However, some STR operators might need to look elsewhere to find the right platform for their business.
Following are top three alternatives to Guesty and Hostaway for different types of users.
1. SummerOS
SummerOS is a top-ranked platform that offers all-in-one solutions for managing vacation rental portfolios of different sizes all across the U.S. market. Instead of competing with Hostaway and Guesty, SummerOS complements them and other major PMSs to provide the most powerful solution available to Airbnb hosts and property managers. In brief, you can centralize your data, access advanced analytics, streamline processes, and set up automated alerts to proactively manage issues in your rentals. .
SummerOS enables you to:
- Bring all data and operations under a single roof
- Track and optimize performance based on key Airbnb data points, for each listing as well as for your entire portfolio
- Build custom Airbnb comp sets to benchmark performance
- Access qualified short-term rental property management leads and convert them into customers
- Onboard new clients and listings with ease
- Focus on underperforming properties and create data-informed strategies to bring them up to speed
- Automate custom reports to keep owners in the loop, gain their trust, and retain them for the long haul
- Ensure superior guest experiences for more 5-star reviews and better rankings
- Manage proactively rather than reactively to avoid issues with properties, guests, and owners
Whether you manage just a few listings or a large portfolio with hundreds of rentals, you can streamline all activities with a single platform. The cost is only $15/month for one property, with reduced pricing for more listings.
Manage smarter and grow faster with SummerOS.
2. Lodgify
Unlike SummerOS, Lodgify is a direct competitor of Guesty and Hostaway. This is a PMS platform that works with listings on a range of booking channels to optimize operations through automation.
The main Lodgify features include a channel manager, dynamic pricing, reservation system, website builder, booking widget, guest management, team management, payment processing, and reporting and analytics. While Lodgify doesn't have any tools that Hostaway and Guesty don't have, the website builder is worth mentioning because of the readily available templates that can be customized to various property types.
Lodgify integrates with the most important short-term rental tools, but there are significantly fewer integration options than on Guesty and Hostaway.
Lodgify pricing starts at $16/month for one property when billed annually. The cost depends on the features, number of rentals, and payment frequency. Customers can calculate the exact cost to be expected for up to 100 listings.
3. Hospitable
Hospitable is another popular alternative to Hostaway and Guesty. Its capacities are a bit more limited than the two platforms we're comparing.
Specifically, Hospitable offers channel management, direct booking websites, pricing syncing, guest communication, team collaboration, task management, review management, and reporting and analytics. With regards to dynamic pricing, Hospitable doesn't have its proprietary tool but uses third-party apps, like Wheelhouse, PriceLabs, Beyond, and Rankbreeze to provide this feature.
Hospitable integrates directly with multiple third-party software tools to streamline operations for Airbnb hosts and managers.
The cost of Hospitable starts at $29/month for one property and reaches $2,979/month for 99 properties, when billed monthly. If you have a bigger portfolio, you have to get a custom quote. Three different subscription plans are available, with monthly payments.
FAQs
What do Guesty and Hostaway do?
Guesty and Hostaway are property management systems (PMSs) that help Airbnb hosts and managers streamline operations. They help manage listings on multiple channels, sync booking calendars, automate guest communication, coordinate teams and tasks, collect payments, track performance, and report to owners (relevant to property managers).
What are Hostaway and Guesty used for?
Hostaway and Guesty are used to automate the management of short-term rentals for smoother business growth. They offer multiple features including but not limited to a channel manager, reservations manager, multi-calendar, team manager, smart locks manager, automated communication, and others.
Are Guesty and Hostaway only for Airbnb?
No, Guesty and Hostaway do not work with Airbnb only. They work with a multitude of booking channels, such as Vrbo, Booking.com, Expedia, Google Vacation Rentals, and more niche names.
Do Guesty and Hostaway charge a fee?
Yes, both Guesty and Hostaway charge monthly or annual fees that depend on the tools, number of rentals, and subscription duration. Guesty pricing starts at $27/month for one property when billed annually, while Hostaway does not provide a range.
How much are Hostaway and Guesty for one property?
Using Guesty for the management of one property costs $27/month when billed annually and $39/month when billed monthly. Some tools are available as add-ons, which means that the total price will go up.
Hostaway does not provide any pricing information, so hosts need to contact the customer services team to ask about it.
Are Hostaway and Guesty CRMs?
No, Hostaway and Guesty are not CRMs; they are property management systems, but both of them have a CRM feature which helps manage guests and generate repeat customers.
Which is better, Guesty or Hostaway?
Both Guesty and Hostaway can be of value to hosts and property managers. As they have some unique features, STR operators need to go for the platform that is a better fit for their business needs.
Hostaway vs Guesty: What's the best option?
Hostaway and Guesty are robust property management systems that are used by many hosts and property managers to automate their Airbnb operations. The hundreds of positive reviews by customers testify to the legitimacy of the two products. Each offers unique features: Guesty offers revenue management, guest communication services, and damage protection, whereas Hostaway provides cross-listings, contract signature, and review management. Which platform you choose should be driven by your preference and need for these extra tools as the core features are rather comparable.
Whether you're using Guesty, Hostaway, or another PMS, you should also check out SummerOS, a game-changer in the short-term rental management industry. Designed by property managers for property managers, this all-in-one platform helps you take control of your business and switch from reactive to proactive management. No matter the size of your portfolio, SummerOS turns your day-to-day tasks into effortless, automated processes so that you can scale your business with confidence.
All your data in one place–welcome to smarter and more efficient Airbnb management.
