Hostaway alternatives

Five honest options
for hosts leaving Hostaway.

Ranked by who they fit, not who paid for the listing. Yes — that includes telling you when to stay on Hostaway.

Last verified 2026-05-09
Why people leave

Four real reasons hosts churn from Hostaway

Hidden booking-engine fees

Multiple G2 reviews call out that Hostaway's 'free' direct-booking engine takes a percentage of bookings once turned on. The marketing implies $0; the invoice doesn't.

Annual contract + $500 setup

Once signed, you can't pro-rate out. Reviewers describe trying to cancel and being told to wait until the renewal date. The setup fee is also non-refundable.

Inconsistent post-sale support

Capterra reviews split — some praise the onboarding specialist, others report ticket black-outs once the contract is signed. Time to first reply varies wildly.

Calendar / pricing sync bugs at scale

Hostaway runs at the agency end of the market, but several reviewers running 50+ listings report calendar drift and pricing-sync failures that Hostaway eventually fixes — after a few rough weekends.

Five alternatives, ranked by fit

  1. 1

    BookBed

    That's us
    Best for · Solo host, 1–3 units.

    No annual contract and no setup fee. BookBed is genuinely month-to-month; Hostaway typically locks you for a year. Self-serve. Hostaway requires a demo + sales call before you can even see real pricing. BookBed: card-less trial in 5 minutes.

    Full BookBed vs Hostaway comparison →
  2. 2

    Guesty

    Visit Guesty →
    Best for · Agencies 50+ units who specifically need 60+ OTA channels and trust accounting.

    Even more enterprise than Hostaway. Sales-led, expensive, deepest channel coverage in the category.

  3. 3

    Hospitable

    Visit Hospitable →
    Best for · Self-managing hosts and small portfolios who want transparent self-serve pricing.

    Closer to BookBed's positioning — SMB-friendly, but with stronger AI messaging and native smart-lock automations.

  4. 4

    Lodgify

    Visit Lodgify →
    Best for · Hosts whose top job is a direct-booking website with their own brand.

    If your real reason for shopping was 'Hostaway's direct site is meh,' Lodgify is the SMB website-first option.

  5. 5

    OwnerRez

    Visit OwnerRez →
    Best for · US-based independent hosts and small managers who want lots of customization and a flat per-property fee.

    Veteran SMB PMS, modular pricing, popular with US Vrbo-heavy hosts. Spartan UI, but the ledger is rock-solid.

From the blog

We put Hostaway through a full hands-on review

Pricing math, setup friction, where it shines, and who should skip it — written for European hosts.

Read the full Hostaway review →
How to leave Hostaway cleanly

One afternoon, no double bookings.

  1. 1.In Hostaway: Settings → Account → Data Export. Request reservations CSV (24-hour SLA per docs).
  2. 2.Map your Hostaway integrations to BookBed equivalents — assume ~60% will have a native BookBed integration; the rest can wire through webhooks.
  3. 3.Pause Hostaway's channel API connections (Channels → Disable) once your export is in hand.
  4. 4.In BookBed: Onboarding → Import → upload the Hostaway CSV. Our success manager handles 5+ unit migrations directly.
  5. 5.Reconnect Airbnb / Booking.com / Vrbo to BookBed (60-second iCal or API where available). Plan a half-day if you have integrations to rebuild.
  6. 6.Time the cancellation to your annual renewal date — Hostaway typically won't pro-rate. Run BookBed in parallel for 30 days first.

This checklist works whether you land on BookBed or one of the four options above. The hardest part is always re-pointing iCal feeds — do that during a low-occupancy window.

Try BookBed free for 14 days.

No card. We'll migrate your Hostaway reservations for free if you run more than 5 units.

Start free trialTalk to a human