Hostaway vs. Guesty: How Do They Compare?

Last updated: September 2026

Choosing property management software often comes down to how complex your operation is and how you want to buy software. Hostaway and Guesty are both built for larger, more complex operations, but they differ in how they price and structure that complexity.

Here's how they compare, and where Lodgify fits as a simpler alternative.

Who is it for?

Hostaway
Hostaway is built for established property managers running larger, more complex portfolios. It doesn't serve single-property owners, and its pricing and setup reflect an operation that already has some scale and sophistication, rather than a lightweight or self-serve product.

Guesty
Guesty spans a broader range of portfolio sizes across 3 tiers: Lite for 1 to 3 listings, Pro for 4 to 199, and Enterprise for 200 or more. The trade-off is that Lite's feature set is meaningfully lighter than Pro or Enterprise, so the tier that fits your listing count may not include the features you actually need — check the inclusion list, not just the listing cap.

Alternative: Lodgify
Lodgify is built for independent hosts and small-scale property managers who want to run their rental business without the complexity of enterprise software. Every plan and its price are public, so there's no sales call required to find out what it costs.

How much does it cost?

Hostaway
Hostaway doesn't publish pricing; every plan is quote-based and scoped to your portfolio and features. Third-party reports and reviews put small-portfolio pricing in the rough range of $40–50 per property per month, dropping per unit as portfolios scale, plus a separate onboarding fee. Confirm current figures directly with Hostaway, since no official rate card exists.

Guesty
Guesty Lite is Guesty's only tier with published pricing: roughly $9 to $29 per listing per month depending on the billing option, for up to 3 listings. Pro (4 to 199 listings) and Enterprise (200 or more) are both quote-only, so cost depends on your portfolio and the features you add.

Alternative: Lodgify
Lodgify offers 4 transparent plans, each with clear pricing and no surprises about what's included. Basic is the lower-priced entry plan, starting at $14/month (billed annually). Starter, Professional and Ultimate scale up from there, starting at $26, $42 and $62/month respectively. Every price, for every plan, is published on the pricing page — no quote required regardless of portfolio size.

Starter, Professional and Ultimate include commission-free direct bookings through your Lodgify website: you pay your Lodgify subscription instead of an additional booking commission, though payment processing fees may still apply. (Bookings made through Airbnb, Vrbo or Booking.com still carry those platforms' own host fees, which Lodgify doesn't control.)

Dynamic Pricing is included on Professional and Ultimate, with a trial available on Starter and Basic. It adjusts your nightly rates automatically based on demand, seasonality and market signals, so your calendar stays competitively priced without manually checking rates every day.

Onboarding

Hostaway
Onboarding isn't published as a fixed cost or timeline; third-party reports commonly cite a setup fee in the $300–$1,500 range, with the process taking anywhere from a few days to several weeks depending on portfolio size and complexity. Confirm the current fee and timeline directly with Hostaway.

Guesty
Onboarding isn't included on Guesty Lite. Pro and Enterprise include guided onboarding, with more tailored, dedicated onboarding reserved for Enterprise.

Alternative: Lodgify
Starter, Professional and Ultimate include free, personalized 1:1 onboarding with a product expert, who helps set up your account, import your listings and connect your channels. Basic uses guided self-onboarding.

Website builder

Hostaway
A basic website builder is included, sufficient for accepting direct bookings, but with fewer templates and customization options than some competitors. Hostaway doesn't provide a custom domain, so you'll need to register one through an external provider.

Guesty
A basic direct booking site is available on Guesty Lite. A fully branded, customizable website (Guesty Advanced Websites) is a paid add-on on Lite and Pro, with pricing available on request rather than published upfront.

Alternative: Lodgify
Lodgify's website builder is included on Starter, Professional and Ultimate, and lets hosts launch a bookable website under their own domain. It's fully customizable, with templates, widgets and unlimited pages, and every site takes direct bookings from day 1.

Hosts who already have a WordPress, Squarespace or Wix site can embed the Lodgify booking widget instead, turning an existing site into one that takes direct bookings.

Channel manager

Hostaway
Hostaway syncs calendars automatically across major platforms via two-way API, though Airbnb listings specifically must be managed through Hostaway as the "master calendar." Listings themselves aren't synced automatically; changes need to be pushed manually to each channel, and listings can only be imported from Airbnb (though they can be exported to other channels).

Guesty
Guesty Lite covers 3 major channels: Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo. Its broader distribution network, the Guesty Distribution Hub with 60+ channels, requires upgrading to Pro or Enterprise.

Alternative: Lodgify
Lodgify's channel manager includes direct API connections to Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com across every plan, with real-time syncing of calendars, rates and content. Lodgify holds preferred partner status with all of them.

Additional or local channels can be connected through iCal.

Guest messaging and AI

Hostaway
Hostaway offers message API integrations across major channels plus email, text and WhatsApp support, unified in one inbox. Hostaway AI drafts contextual guest message suggestions based on conversation history and property details, alongside automation recommendations and predictive pricing insights.

Guesty
Guesty's unified inbox includes Guesty ReplyAI™ on a freemium basis across all plans: a basic version is included, and deeper functionality requires an upgrade. WhatsApp messaging works through the inbox but requires a business account, and those messages can only be viewed on the guest's phone, not in the relevant channel's own inbox.

Alternative: Lodgify
Lodgify's unified inbox brings every guest conversation, across all your booking channels and your own website, into one place, with saved replies, automated messages, a built-in AI writing assistant and WhatsApp messaging from the same dashboard.

Beyond the inbox, Lodgify AI Co-Host is in early access. It surfaces relevant insights and recommendations across your bookings, guests, tasks and revenue, so you stay in control and can act on what needs attention rather than digging for it.

Mobile app

Hostaway
Hostaway's mobile app is rated 4.0 stars on Google Play and 4.3 stars in the App Store.

Guesty
Guesty's mobile app is rated 3.1 stars on Google Play and 4.2 stars on the App Store.

Alternative: Lodgify
Lodgify's mobile app is rated 4.6 stars on Google Play and 4.2 stars on the App Store. Ultimate-plan users can also download the Lodgify PM app to connect with cleaners, check-in agents and rental managers, and guests can use the Lodgify Guest app for guidebooks, Wi-Fi passwords and check-in details.

Google Vacation Rentals integration

Hostaway
Hostaway integrates with Google Vacation Rentals, though since pricing is fully custom, it's unclear whether this requires an additional fee.

Guesty
Guesty integrates with Google Vacation Rentals, but it isn't available to Lite users. Users without a Guesty Advanced Website pay an additional per-listing fee to use it; confirm the current rate directly with Guesty.

Alternative: Lodgify
Lodgify includes Google Vacation Rentals integration on the Professional and Ultimate plans at no extra cost. Traffic from Google Vacation Rentals goes directly to your own website, not a Lodgify page.

Customer support

Hostaway
Support is available 24/7, with phone lines for the U.S., U.K., Australia, Finland and Spain, though calls are English-only.

Guesty
Guesty offers 24/7 live chat and email through its Help Center, with no general sales phone line. Pro and Enterprise users get access to phone support.

Alternative: Lodgify
Support scales with your plan: self-service on Basic, human email support on Starter, phone support on Professional, and priority support via live chat, email and phone on Ultimate. All trial users and subscribers can also reach the Contact team by phone across the U.S. and Canada, the U.K., Australia, Spain and Italy.

Can I try them before I buy?

Hostaway
No free trial. Hostaway offers a demo call, and setup is reported to take anywhere from a few hours to a few days depending on complexity.

Guesty
A 14-day free trial is available for Guesty Lite only. Pro and Enterprise require a demo instead.

Alternative: Lodgify
Lodgify offers a free 7-day trial, extendable on request, with no credit card required, plus a live, personalized demo with a product expert and an interactive demo you can try anytime on our site.

Ratings

Here's how each platform is rated on Trustpilot:

• Hostaway: 2,487 reviews | 4.8 stars
• Guesty: 1,986 reviews | 4.6 stars
• Lodgify: 4,358 reviews | 4.7 stars

Which should I use?

Hostaway, Guesty and Lodgify all offer capable property management tools, but they're built for different operating models. Hostaway and Guesty both scale toward larger, more complex operations, with pricing and features that reflect that: Hostaway through fully custom quotes, and Guesty through a tier structure where the entry plan's feature set is notably lighter than Pro or Enterprise.

Lodgify is built for hosts and small-scale property managers who want a complete platform, channel manager, direct booking website, guest messaging and payments, with transparent, public pricing and no added complexity. If that's what you're looking for, see why hosts choose Lodgify.

Whichever option fits, we'd recommend trying before you buy: start a free 7-day Lodgify trial here.