Published October 2026. Hostaway does not publish its prices, so every figure below is either from Hostaway’s own pages (the onboarding fee, the booking engine fee) or from operator reports and independent pricing reviews, all checked in October 2026 and marked as such. We run short term rentals ourselves and we built Hello Hosty to compete with Hostaway, so read the verdict with that in mind. For the head to head pieces, see Guesty vs Hostaway and Hostaway vs Hospitable. The eight tools people switch to, with their October 2026 prices, are in Hostaway alternatives (2026).
The short version
- Hostaway’s pricing page is a quote form. You pick a listing band (0 to 1, 2 to 4, 5 to 14, 15 to 49, 50 to 199, 200 plus), book a demo, and a salesperson comes back with a number.
- Operators report $15 to $50 per listing per month. Small portfolios pay the top of that range, $25 to $50; 10 to 50 listings typically land at $20 to $35; big portfolios negotiate down towards $15. Annual contracts get the better rate, month to month costs 10% to 20% more.
- Onboarding is a separate one off fee. Hostaway’s own comparison pages quote $500; operators report $300 to $1,000 depending on portfolio size and how much migration is involved.
- On top of the subscription: a 1.8% service fee on direct bookings through its booking engine, paid by the guest by default, and a reported application fee of about 1% on payments processed through Stripe. Dynamic pricing tools, smart locks and accounting software are integrations with their own subscriptions.
- For 20 properties at a typical $35, expect about $8,900 in year one and $25,700 over three years. Hello Hosty is $410 a month for the same 20, $4,920 a year, $14,760 over three, with no onboarding fee and every number on the pricing page.
How the quote works
Hostaway sells the way enterprise software sells. There is no price on the website and no self serve sign up. You submit the form, you take a demo call, and the quote that follows depends on three things: how many listings you have, whether you will commit to a year, and how well you negotiate. Two managers with the same portfolio can pay different amounts, and the only way to know what you will pay is to ask.
That is not a complaint about the product. Hostaway is a strong platform, rated 4.8 on Capterra from more than 1,600 reviews, with 200 plus integrations, 24 hour support and a $1bn valuation behind it. It is a complaint about the buying process, because the sticker price and the real price are different numbers and you only learn the real one after you have invested an hour in the demo.
What operators actually pay
Pulling together the pricing reviews published in 2026 and what managers say in the host forums, the picture is consistent. Per listing per month, before onboarding and add ons:
1 to 4 listings: about $25 to $50 per listing, or roughly $125 to $175 a month in total, which suggests a minimum monthly spend. 5 to 14 listings: about $25 to $35 per listing, so $175 to $400 a month. 15 to 49 listings: about $20 to $35, with the lower end on an annual contract. 50 plus: $15 to $25, negotiated. Across the board the reviews agree on a floor of about $15 and a ceiling of about $50, and on the pattern that the fewer listings you have, the more each one costs.
Three things move the number. An annual commitment, which is the default and which the month to month price punishes by 10% to 20%. The plan tier, since reviews describe a standard tier and a premium tier with advanced automation and priority support at roughly $10 more per listing. And negotiation, which is why the same 30 unit portfolio is reported anywhere from $540 to $1,050 a month.
The onboarding fee
Hostaway charges a one off onboarding fee, billed separately from the subscription and payable before you start. Hostaway’s own Hostaway vs Guesty comparison page puts it at $500, against the $1,500 it says Guesty charges. Independent reviews report $300 to $1,000 or more depending on portfolio size, with larger migrations at the top. For that you get a customer success manager, data migration and team training over roughly 3 to 6 weeks. It is sometimes negotiable, and it is worth asking, because it is pure margin for a software company and it is the easiest line on the quote to drop.
What is on top of the subscription
Direct bookings. Hostaway’s booking engine, Booking Website Pro since April 2026, carries a 1.8% service fee on reservations for US listings paid through Stripe. By default the guest pays it at checkout; the host can choose to absorb it. Operators also report an application fee of about 1% that Hostaway takes on payments processed through Stripe, on top of Stripe’s own card fees. Hostaway does not publish that figure, so check it on your quote.
Pricing tools. Hostaway connects natively to PriceLabs, Wheelhouse and Beyond, but their subscriptions are separate, typically $20 to $50 a month per account or a few dollars per listing. Hostaway’s own dynamic pricing is reported as a paid add on.
Locks, accounting and the rest. Smart lock platforms, QuickBooks, guest screening and damage protection are integrations, each with its own bill. The 200 plus integrations are a genuine strength, and each one you switch on is a line on someone’s invoice.
Payments. If you take payments through Hostaway’s Stripe connection you pay Stripe’s standard card rate, roughly 1.5% to 2.9% plus a fixed fee depending on country, on every transaction, plus the application fee above.
Side by side: what a year really costs
Checked October 2026. Hostaway figures use a typical reported rate of $35 per listing for 5 to 20 listings and $25 for 50, plus the $500 onboarding fee, on an annual contract. Hello Hosty figures are its published prices: $24 per property, $17 from the 11th, $12 from the 31st.
| Properties | Hostaway per month (reported) | Hostaway year one, with onboarding | Hostaway three years | Hello Hosty per month | Hello Hosty three years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | $175 | $2,600 | $6,800 | $120 | $4,320 |
| 10 | $350 | $4,700 | $13,100 | $240 | $8,640 |
| 20 | $700 | $8,900 | $25,700 | $410 | $14,760 |
| 50 | $1,250 | $15,500 | $45,500 | $820 | $29,520 |
Add the fees. On $100,000 of direct bookings a year, Hostaway’s 1.8% is $1,800 paid by the guest, and the reported 1% application fee is $1,000 paid by you, before Stripe. On Hello Hosty the guest pays a 0.9% booking fee, $900, and you keep the full rate.
Is it worth it?
At 50 units and above, often yes. The depth of the integrations, the owner portal, the task engine and the 24 hour phone support are built for a team running shifts, and at that scale the onboarding fee is a rounding error and the per listing price has been negotiated down. We said the same in Hostaway vs Hospitable and we mean it.
At 5 to 20 units the maths is harder. You are paying $25 to $40 per listing for a product sized for someone five times bigger, plus $500 to get in, plus a year’s commitment before you know whether you like it, plus 1% of your card payments. The features you will use every day, calendar sync, messaging, a direct booking site, owner statements, are the same features most platforms in the category offer. The features you are paying the premium for, the 200 integrations and the enterprise reporting, are the ones a 10 property manager opens twice a year.
What to do before you sign
Get the quote in writing with every line itemised: per listing rate, plan tier, contract length, onboarding fee, application fee, booking engine fee, and what happens to the rate if you add or drop listings mid term. Ask for the month to month price as well as the annual, so you can see what the commitment is buying.
Negotiate the onboarding fee and the first year rate. Both move. The reviews describe the onboarding fee as sometimes negotiable, which means some managers paid it and some did not, and the difference was whether they asked.
Price the fees into your direct bookings. If the 1.8% sits with the guest, your website rate can match your Airbnb rate and you still keep more. If you absorb it, add it to the rate. A channel manager with rate modifiers per platform makes that a single setting rather than three calendars.
Compare the three year number, not the monthly. A $35 listing on an annual contract with a $500 entry fee is $25,700 over three years for 20 properties. That is the number to put next to the alternatives, and it is the number the demo will not show you.
The money left on the table
Take a 20 property manager on Hostaway at $35 per listing. Over three years they pay about $25,700 in subscription and onboarding, plus about $3,000 in application fees on $100,000 a year of direct bookings. On Hello Hosty the same 20 properties cost $14,760 over three years, with no onboarding fee and nothing taken from payments. The difference is about $14,000, enough to furnish two more units, and it buys no extra bookings, because the guest never sees which software you use.
To be fair to Hostaway, if you are at 50 units with a team, owners who expect enterprise reporting and a dozen integrations you rely on, that $14,000 is the price of depth you will actually use, and you should pay it. The point of this page is that most managers searching for Hostaway’s price are not at 50 units. They are at 8, or 15, or 23, and for them the quote is the wrong shape.
Hello Hosty is built for the 5 to 50 property manager: one published price per property that falls as you grow, $24 a month, $17 from your 11th and $12 from your 31st (£17, £12 and £9 in the UK), no onboarding fee, free migration, a 14 day trial you can start without a demo call, and monthly billing with no annual lock in. It includes the channel manager for Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Agoda, Trip.com and 50 plus platforms with rate modifiers per platform, a direct booking website on your own domain where the guest pays 0.9% and you keep everything, monthly owner statements per property with long lets included, the AI assistant that answers guests on every channel, and the digital guidebook that collects the guest’s email and sells upsells. Nothing is taken from your bookings.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Hostaway cost per month in 2026?
Hostaway does not publish a price. Operators and independent pricing reviews report $15 to $50 per listing per month: $25 to $50 for 1 to 9 listings, $20 to $35 for 10 to 49, and $15 to $25 for 50 plus on a negotiated annual contract. A typical 20 property manager reports about $700 a month before onboarding and add ons.
Does Hostaway have a setup or onboarding fee?
Yes. It is a one off fee billed separately from the subscription. Hostaway’s own comparison pages quote $500, and independent reviews report $300 to $1,000 or more depending on the size of the migration. It covers a customer success manager, data migration and training over 3 to 6 weeks, and it is sometimes negotiable.
Is there a Hostaway free trial?
Not a self serve one. Hostaway asks for a demo call before you can see the product, and the quote follows. Some operators report a trial period after the demo as part of their deal. Hospitable and Hello Hosty both offer a 14 day trial you can start without a call.
Does Hostaway charge a percentage on bookings?
On direct bookings through its booking engine, yes: a 1.8% service fee, paid by the guest by default and absorbable by the host. On payments processed through Stripe, operators report an application fee of about 1% that Hostaway takes on top of Stripe’s own card fees. Hostaway does not publish the application fee, so ask for it on the quote. There is no percentage on bookings that come from Airbnb, Booking.com or Vrbo.
What is not included in Hostaway’s price?
Onboarding, which is a separate fee. Dynamic pricing, which is either Hostaway’s paid add on or a PriceLabs, Wheelhouse or Beyond subscription. Smart locks, accounting software, guest screening and damage protection, which are integrations with their own bills. Card processing, which is Stripe’s rate plus the application fee. The subscription covers the channel manager, inbox, automations, owner portal, mobile app and support.
Does Hostaway require an annual contract?
An annual commitment is the default and gets the better per listing rate. Month to month is available on some quotes at a 10% to 20% premium. Check the renewal and the mid term change terms before you sign, because adding or dropping listings part way through a year is where the surprises live.
How much does Hostaway cost for 10 or 20 properties?
At a typical reported rate of $35 per listing, 10 properties is $350 a month, about $4,700 in year one with the $500 onboarding fee and about $13,100 over three years. 20 properties is $700 a month, about $8,900 in year one and $25,700 over three. Hello Hosty is $240 a month for 10 and $410 for 20, with no onboarding fee: $8,640 and $14,760 over three years.
What is a cheaper alternative to Hostaway?
For 1 to 5 self managed properties, Hospitable, from free to $59 a month. For 5 to 50 properties managed for owners, Hello Hosty: a published price of $24 per property falling to $17 and $12, owner statements, a direct booking website on your own domain and migration included, monthly billing and nothing taken from your bookings. Try it free for 14 days.
Sources: hostaway.com (pricing page bands and the Hostaway vs Guesty comparison page), support.hostaway.com (booking engine service fee), Capterra, and the 2026 pricing reviews from Roommaster (31 July 2026), Comparatif Channel Manager (6 July 2026) and MagicBnb (7 October 2026), all checked October 2026. If Hostaway publishes a price or changes a fee, tell us and we will update this page. That is a standing promise.
