Comparison · 2026
Stay N Host vs Hostaway: the honest 2026 comparison
Sixteen rows checked against Hostaway's own public pages in August 2026, sources listed under the table. Hostaway wins four of them, and we say which.
The verdict, quotable whole
Stay N Host publishes every price and keeps real double-entry books; Hostaway publishes no prices and hands accounting to partners. Hostaway is the broader channel platform, with more OTAs, AI reply drafting, native dynamic pricing, and a 200+ app marketplace. Stay N Host is the deeper operating system for the money, with verified payments, a model-aware P&L and break-even, dual-gated door codes, and investor reporting. If you need many channels today, pick Hostaway; if you need books a bank could read and guests who pay by bank transfer or WhatsApp, pick Stay N Host.
Feature by feature
The sixteen rows that decide it.
| Capability | Stay N Host | Hostaway |
|---|---|---|
| Published pricing | ✓ all five plans, one page | ✗ three-step qualification form, no prices |
| Onboarding fee | ✓ none | ✗ charged, amount unpublished |
| Double-entry accounting built in | ✓ ledger reconciles to zero | ✗ via partners like Ximplifi, plus QuickBooks |
| Model-aware P&L and break-even | ✓ five operating models | ✗ owner statements only |
| Owner portal and statements | ✓ | ✓ |
| Bank-transfer and cash proof verification | ✓ a person verifies before money posts | ✗ |
| A WhatsApp message opens an inquiry | ✓ before any booking exists | ◑ WhatsApp for reservation messaging only |
| Investor raise suite and portal | ✓ | ✗ |
| Door codes gated on payment + ID | ✓ dual gate, re-checked at send time | ◑ partner locks (RemoteLock), no dual gate |
| Guest ID screening | ✓ built in | ◑ via partners (Autohost, Chekin) |
| OTA channels | ◑ Airbnb only, deep two-way | ✓ Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Expedia, Google, Marriott |
| AI reply drafting | ✗ rule agents instead, by design | ✓ AI Replies and AI CoHost |
| Native dynamic pricing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Integration marketplace | ✗ short list: Airbnb, WhatsApp, Google Maps | ✓ 200+ apps |
| Direct booking website | ✓ | ✓ |
| Task and housekeeping management | ✓ | ✓ |
Sources: hostaway.com home page ("The world's most loved AI vacation rental software"), the Hostaway pricing page (a three-step qualification form), Hostaway's unified inbox, AI, dynamic pricing, channel manager, and marketplace pages, and Hostaway's own Hostaway vs Guesty comparison page. All checked August 2026. Stay N Host column: staynhost.com/pricing and the product pages. Third-party price reports are labeled as such wherever they appear.
Where Hostaway wins
Conceding these rows is the price of being believed on the rest, so here they are, plainly.
- Channel breadth. Hostaway is an Airbnb Preferred Partner, a Vrbo Elite partner, and Booking.com Premier Plus, and it connects Expedia, Google Vacation Rentals, and Marriott. Stay N Host syncs Airbnb deeply and nothing else yet. If your revenue is spread across five OTAs today, Hostaway is the safer choice right now.
- AI messaging. AI Replies (Hostaway's claim: "save 4-5 hours a day") and an AI CoHost draft guest responses. Stay N Host deliberately does not draft replies.
- Native dynamic pricing. Built into Hostaway. Stay N Host has none.
- Ecosystem and scale. A 200+ app marketplace, 4.8 ratings on Capterra, G2, and Trustpilot, and a $365M raise in December 2024. Hostaway is the bigger, more proven company.
Where Stay N Host wins
- A price you can read. Five plans on one public page, from $15 to $239 per month, no onboarding fee, 14-day trial without a card. Hostaway's pricing page is a form.
- Books, not statements. Every verified payment posts balanced double-entry records; the P&L knows whether a unit is owned, leased, profit-share, managed, or investor-funded, and you get break-even day and a real period close. Hostaway produces owner statements and routes accounting to partners like Ximplifi and QuickBooks.
- Money-in for the real world. No-login quote links, card payments through no card rail at all yet, and bank transfer and cash with a proof upload a person verifies before anything posts. Hostaway has no payment-proof workflow.
- WhatsApp before the booking exists. A guest's first WhatsApp message opens an inquiry with the chat attached. Hostaway's WhatsApp is reservation messaging.
- Door codes with a dual gate. Codes release only when payment and ID are both verified, re-checked at send time, and no agent can move money. Hostaway's locks and screening run through marketplace partners without that gate.
- Investors as a first-class feature. Raise suite, pool modeling, track record, and an investor portal. Hostaway has no investor tooling.
"An owner statement is a PDF. A ledger is proof."
Pricing: a table versus a form
Stay N Host publishes everything: Solo $15, Starter $29, Growth $79, Operator $239, Enterprise custom. Paid annually those become $13, $25, $69, and $199 per month. Every tier starts with a 14-day free trial on full Growth access, no credit card, and there is no onboarding fee.
Hostaway publishes nothing. Its pricing page is a three-step qualification form that ends in a sales call. Third-party reviews commonly report around $50 per property per month, plus an onboarding fee Hostaway does not disclose; its own comparison page calls its onboarding "$1000 cheaper than Guesty's", which confirms the fee exists. On those reported numbers, a 5-unit operator would pay roughly $250 per month plus onboarding at Hostaway, versus $79 per month total on Stay N Host Growth. But that is their reported price against our published one, and only one of us will put a number in writing.
FAQ
Stay N Host vs Hostaway, asked directly
Is Stay N Host cheaper than Hostaway?
On the numbers available, yes for small and mid-size portfolios, but Hostaway makes an official answer impossible because it publishes no prices. Third-party reviews commonly report around $50 per property per month plus an onboarding fee. Stay N Host runs 5 properties on Growth for $79 per month total ($69 annually), with no onboarding fee and a 14-day free trial. If Hostaway quotes you a number, you can compare it against our public table in one minute.
What does Hostaway actually cost?
Hostaway does not say. Its pricing page is a three-step qualification form that ends in a sales conversation, not a price list. Third parties report roughly $50 per property per month, and Hostaway charges an onboarding fee it does not publish; its own comparison page boasts that onboarding is "$1000 cheaper than Guesty's", which confirms the fee without stating it. Treat all of those numbers as reported, not official.
Should I choose Hostaway instead of Stay N Host?
Honestly, sometimes yes. If your revenue is spread across Vrbo, Booking.com, Expedia, Google, and Marriott today, if you want AI-drafted guest replies, native dynamic pricing, and a 200+ app marketplace, Hostaway is the stronger fit right now. Choose Stay N Host if you need published pricing, real double-entry books with a model-aware P&L and break-even, bank-transfer and cash payment verification, WhatsApp-first guest intake, or investor reporting.
Does Stay N Host have AI replies like Hostaway?
No, and that is deliberate. Hostaway offers AI Replies and an AI CoHost that draft guest messages. Stay N Host uses rule agents instead: they send confirmations, arrival digests, the nightly ops report, and door codes released only when payment and ID are both verified, re-checked at send time. Every action is audited, and no agent can move money. We chose predictable automation over generated text.
How do I switch from Hostaway to Stay N Host?
Export your reservations from Hostaway to a spreadsheet, then use the Stay N Host import tool: upload, map columns, preview every row, and commit, with rollback if you change your mind. Your Airbnb listings reconnect through our direct two-way sync. The 14-day trial needs no credit card, so you can run both side by side before deciding.
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