Hostaway Review 2025
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In this review we evaluated Hostaway’s features, plans, pricing and other important aspects to help our readers make a more educated purchase decision.
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What Is Hostaway?
Hostaway is a PMS (property management software) and channel management system for vacation rental property managers and owners.
By using the platform, you can manage all booking activities, from reservations to check-out and maintenance, and scale your business as a result.
To make this possible, Hostaway is equipped with many services, including a booking engine, channel management, payment processing, reporting, and automation.
Hostaway PMS can be accessed on a desktop via a web browser or through the dedicated mobile app.
What Is Hostaway Used For?
- Reservations management: Hostaway lets you build or integrate an existing booking engine that your guests can use to make reservations. The platform features an integrated bookings calendar where you can view and manage all bookings from your dashboard.
- Channel management: Connect major listing channels, including Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com, to your Hostaway account. You can make bulk changes to your properties and reservations without leaving the platform.
- Guest communication: Hostaway users can communicate seamlessly with their guests through a unified inbox. Here, you can view messages and reviews from different channels and respond right within your user dashboard.
- Team management: Hostaway allows you to add colleagues to your account to streamline business operations. You can add cleaners, maintenance teams, and others, and control how much they can see based on their roles and seniority.
- Business automation: With Hostaway, you’re able to automate various business functions, including guest messaging, reviews, tasks, and guest payments.
- Revenue management: Hostaway lets you configure and adjust discounts, coupons, and special deals to maximize revenue.
- Business reporting: Use Hostaway to track the performance of various aspects of your Airbnb business. The platform can generate various reports, including occupancy rate reports, financial reports, and owner statements for a selected duration.
Hostaway Users Breakdown by Specialty
Is Hostaway Legit?
Yes, Hostaway is a legitimate property management system and channel manager that has been operational since 2015, with its main headquarters in Helsinki, Finland.
The company has since expanded its physical locations to the US, Canada, Spain, Sri Lanka, and Australia, which indicates its global reach.
Hostaway’s popularity is also seen online, where it has received countless reviews and mentions across various internet sources.
On SaaS review websites such as Software Advice and Trustpilot, thousands of credible user reviews praise the platform’s ease of use and wide range of functionality.
Another reason we believe Hostaway is not a scam is its user security measures. The company implements industry-level encryption to keep your data safe from unauthorized access.
Hostaway also states that it shares your data strictly with its approved partners.
In 2023, the software company was featured in online real estate media outlets after it received $175 million in funding to enhance its services and functionalities.
The Hostaway mobile app is also certified for safety on the iOS App Store and Google Play.
Hostaway Customer Reviews
Hostaway Pricing
Unfortunately, Hostaway is not transparent with its service costs and pricing model. You have to contact the company to find out how much they charge and what’s included in the price.
The company has, however, revealed that subscriptions are monthly-based for small to midsize short-term rental owners and managers; property managers with over $5,000 in monthly payments have several invoicing options to choose from.
That said, we were able to get a rough idea of Hostaway’s fees from customer reviews on Reddit.
According to the reports, initial setup fees range between $100 and $500, while the price per listing is $40 to $20, depending on the number of vacation rentals you manage.
Like with other property management systems, the price per listing reduces as you scale your business.
Hostaway does not have a standard price model. Customers simply have to reach out to the company, speak to a sales rep, and come up with a personalized price for their business.
Hostaway Coupon & Promo Codes
Hostaway Features
Property Management Tools
Hostaway is equipped with a built-in CRM software for property management that helps you control all your reservations in a unified dashboard. Some of the activities the CRM supports include:
- Onboarding guests and taking them through the pipeline
- Engaging with previous guests through personalized marketing strategies, including the use of coupons and discounts, to ensure they become loyal customers
- Viewing your current bookings and guest status (i.e., who is coming and going, what properties are currently occupied, and how long guests are staying, among other activities)
- Tracking the performance of various properties and revenues
- Communicating with your guests
Hostaway Booking Engine
You can build a booking engine from scratch by using the native Hostaway Website Builder.
The website builder requires zero technical expertise as it features drag-and-drop functionality, premium vacation rental real estate investor website templates, and an intuitive design and layout editor.
If you already have a short-term rental booking software engine on WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace, you can integrate it instead of building a new website.
Channel Manager
Channel management is essential for Airbnb managers and owners.
With Hostaway, you can use the channel management module to sync your listings across all major platforms, including Airbnb, Vrbo, Expedia, Booking.com, Google Vacation Rentals, and Tripadvisor.
You can also list your properties on smaller niche vacation rental listing sites such as Marriott Homes, Hotel.com, Villas, and Google Travel. Other services included are:
- Multi-calendar functionality provides a unified view of all bookings across different listing platforms. This allows you to see the occupancy and upcoming bookings for different units and make bulk updates if necessary.
- Cross-listing functionality enables you to combine multiple listings into one while avoiding double bookings.
- Multi-unit support for hotel owners allows you to list rooms as single properties.
Operations Manager
As all-in-one rental property management software for landlords, Hostaway comes with a range of operation and Airbnb automation tools for managing day-to-day business activities:
- Payment processing: Hostaway lets you connect your card or bank details so you can receive payments. The platform has partnered with Stripe to ensure PCI compliance and guest data security.
- Contract management: Automate your guest stay contracts by requiring signatures when a guest is making a reservation. Store the signed contracts in your account for easy retrieval and use them in case of damages and chargebacks.
- Guest invoicing: Hostaway’s rent collection tool allows you to create detailed professional invoices and send them to your guest right within the platform. You can also enable automated payments, require security deposits, and refund guests when necessary.
- Team and task management: Add various stakeholders, from owners to cleaners, to your Hostaway account. Use the access settings to control how much your team members can see based on their roles. The platform also allows you to create, delegate, and set up automated tasks.
- Smart lock integration: If your properties have smart security systems, you can connect them to your Hostaway account to track guest check-ins and check-outs. Hostaway has partnered with many smart lock providers to make the integration seamless.
- Reviews management and automation: Manage guest reviews easily on your Hostaway dashboard. Here, you can see all your reviews (from different channels), respond to comments, and review your guests.
Guest Communication
Hostaway comes with a dedicated messaging module where you can communicate with guests through various channels. The module features the following tools:
- Unified inbox: Here, you will be able to view guest messages from different sources, including SMS, WhatsApp, and email. You can also respond to messages from the inbox, regardless of the communication channel.
- Automated messaging: Hostaway allows you to set rules and triggers for automated communication. If a rule or event is met, the platform will automatically send a set message to the guest.
- Guest portal: This portal acts as a hub where you can manage all guest activity, including check-in and check-out processes, updating contact details, and reservations.
- Owner portal: Here, you can add the owners to the account by using the built-in user management tools. The tools allow you to share information and control exactly what the owners can see.
Analytics and Reporting
With Hostaway, property managers can generate various reports to track the performance of their business.
The platform features several comprehensive, professional, and customizable report templates such as:
- Occupancy reports
- Financial reports
- Expense tracking reports
- Automated owner statements
Other Services
- Dynamic pricing: By using Hostaway, you can configure and automate your nightly prices based on supply and demand. The platform integrates with four dynamic pricing tools, allowing you to use different smart pricing providers for different properties.
- Mobile app: The Hostaway mobile app is available for iOS and Android mobile devices. It features all the services available on the main app.
- In-app and email notifications: Hostaway notifies its users of bookings, messages, reviews, and other activities within the app, on the mobile app, and via email.
- Open API: This allows you to connect hundreds of third-party platforms from other property management systems and channels to real estate CRM solutions and automation marketing tools.
Hostaway Pros and Cons
Pros
- Hostaway is an all-in-one short-term rental property management software with a wide range of functionalities that allow you to manage your entire business on a single platform.
- Great interface that’s easy to learn and use.
- Excellent customer support that’s highly responsive and helpful (no generic responses).
- The platform has received relatively high ratings from its users.
- Numerous support materials, including webinars, events, case studies, and a comprehensive help center.
Cons
- Customers report that the platform is significantly more expensive than its competitors, including Hospitable and Guesty for Hosts.
- There is no native dynamic pricing tool for short-term rental analysis. As a result, you will need to purchase a separate subscription for this service to get Airbnb rental data and Vrbo data, which will drive up costs even further.
- Customers have to contact the company for pricing.
Hostaway Integrations
- Airbnb
- Vrbo
- Booking.com
- Expedia
- PriceLabs
- Wheelhouse
- DPGO
- Beyond
- Autohost
- YourWelcome
- Operto
- Breezeway
- Hotel.com
- Tripadvisor
- iCal
- WordPress
- Wix
- Squarespace
- Zapier
Hostaway Alternatives
- Wheelhouse
- Beyond Pricing
- Lodgify
- iGMS
- PriceLabs
- Buoy
- Airbnb Smart Pricing
- Guesty
- Expedia Smart Pricing
- DPGO
- Rategenie
- Rankbreeze
- OwnerRez
Hostaway Achievements
Awards & Recognition
Best Property Management Software for Vacation Rentals (Awarded by Real Estate Bees)
Press & Media
Preferred Plus Partner (Airbnb, 2024)
Hostaway FAQs
Does Hostaway have a mobile app?
Yes. Hostaway has a dedicated app for iOS and Android mobile devices, which can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play.
The app features all the functionalities of the main web app, allowing you to run your business on the go.
Who are Hostaway’s competitors?
There are numerous vacation rental management software tools that offer similar services to Hostaway PMS.
Some of the most popular options include Lodgify, Hostfully, Hostex, Hostify, Guesty, Hospitable, OwnerRez, Uplisting, and Smoobu.
Does Hostaway have a Vrbo integration?
Yes. The users of this Airbnb property management software can connect to Vrbo, easily create listings through API integration.
Does Hostaway have smart lock integration?
Yes. The vacation rental management software company has partnered with several renowned smart security providers, including Yale, SmartThings, Nuki, Salto, and August, to allow users to link their smart lock devices to their Hostaway account.
The Hostaway software has a native integration module within the user dashboard; to access it, navigate to the integration tool, select your smart security provider, and enter the login credentials for your provider account.
Does Hostaway have a free trial?
Hostaway does not have a free trial. Instead, the company offers paid trials for property managers with 200 units or more.
New users can also request a demo to learn how the platform works before paying for a premium Hostaway subscription.
How many clients does Hostaway serve?
We couldn’t find credible data on the number of hosts and property managers using Hostaway.
However, more than 100,000 properties in over 100 countries are managed by using the platform, which indicates its vast reach and popularity.
Who founded Hostaway?
Marcus Rader, Saber Kordestanchi, and Mikko Nurminen founded Hostaway in 2015.
The three Finnish co-founders have extensive backgrounds in developing SaaS products, digital marketing, software development, and entrepreneurship, and each specializes in their field of expertise.
Marcus Rader, the Hostaway CEO, served as product and operations manager for several SaaS companies before starting Hostaway.
Saber Kordestanchi, a software engineer by profession, is the Hostway Chief of Strategy, while Mikko Nurminen came in as an angel investor.
What is Hostaway’s customer service number?
Customers can contact Hostaway for support by calling (289) 206-0011 or emailing [email protected].
For prospective users seeking to learn more about the platform, the sales line is (786) 829-7337, while the email contact is [email protected].
What is the Hostaway cancellation and refund policy?
Customers can cancel their subscriptions by writing to the company at least 30 days before the next billing date. Terminating an account does not result in partial or full refunds.
What awards and recognitions has Hostaway received?
In 2024, Airbnb recognized Hostaway as a ‘Preferred Plus’ partner.
The award is given to software companies that have met or exceeded Airbnb’s technical, performance, and connectivity requirements.
Hostaway Tutorials & Training
Is Hostaway Worth It?
Yes. This tool for real estate investors features all the necessary services a property manager or owner requires for managing property from a distance.
It has numerous functionalities, from a booking engine with an integrated CRM to task management and reporting, which makes it an all-in-one channel management solution.
Customers have also praised the platform for its ease of use, responsive customer support, and numerous third-party app integrations.
Overall, Hostaway is certainly worth consideration for any property manager, especially those managing many units. Its only downsides are the high service fees and lack of publicly accessible pricing information.
Hostaway Contacts
- Website: Official website
- Phone: (786) 829-7337
- Email: [email protected]
- Address: Messikuja 2, 01670 Vantaa, Finland
- Socials: Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn
With over 20+ years of experience in real estate investment and renovation, Brian Robbins brings extensive knowledge and innovative solutions to the HouseCashin team. Over the years Brian has been involved in over 300 transactions of income producing properties across the US. Along with his passion for real estate, Brian brings with him a deep understanding of real estate risks and financing.
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