Barefoot vs Hostaway

Where Barefoot and Hostaway actually differ

• •Barefoot charges $800/mo for 1–50 units and $1,100/mo for 51–100 units. Hostaway costs ~$40/listing/mo (quote-only) — at 50 listings, Hostaway runs ~$2,000/mo versus Barefoot's $800/mo. Barefoot is roughly 60% cheaper at the 50-unit mark.
• •Hostaway holds preferred-partner status on Airbnb, Vrbo, AND Booking.com and connects to 8 direct OTA channels. Barefoot connects to only Airbnb and VRBO, with the Airbnb integration flagged as problematic — no Booking.com, Expedia, or Google Vacation Rentals connection.
• •Hostaway includes a native iOS and Android mobile app and 300+ integrations with an open API and Zapier. Barefoot has no mobile app, a dated desktop-centric interface, and 60+ technology partners with an open API but no Zapier support.
• •Barefoot includes full trust accounting with owner statements and deeply configurable fee management. Hostaway includes an owner portal with revenue reporting and payout statements but does not offer compliance-grade trust accounting or 1099 processing workflows.
• •Hostaway charges a 1.8% booking engine fee on all direct-website bookings. Barefoot charges a 1% fee on Airbnb/VRBO rent collected — a lower percentage, but Barefoot's fee applies to OTA bookings rather than direct bookings.

Common objections

Hostaway has 8 OTA channels, a mobile app, and 300+ integrations — doesn't Barefoot's 2-channel limit and dated interface make it obsolete?

For operators who distribute across Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, and beyond, Barefoot's 2-channel limitation is a real constraint. If channel breadth and modern tooling drive your decision, Hostaway is the better platform. But Barefoot serves a different operator profile: established vacation rental companies with 50+ units that primarily distribute through VRBO and direct bookings, where trust accounting depth, workflow customization, and platform stability matter more than channel count. At 50 units, Barefoot saves you roughly $1,200/mo over Hostaway — money that can fund dedicated channel tools or third-party integrations through Barefoot's open API and 60+ partners.

Hostaway has the 'triple crown' of OTA partner status — isn't that a signal of superior reliability?

Hostaway's triple preferred-partner status is a genuine distinction — priority API access across all three major OTAs is an advantage no other PMS matches. Barefoot's reliability comes from a different source: 20+ years of production stability with a 95% customer retention rate. Multiple reviewers note Barefoot's software has no bugs or glitches. These are different kinds of reliability — Hostaway's is about channel sync priority, Barefoot's is about core platform stability. If your operation depends on multi-channel distribution, Hostaway's partner status matters more. If it depends on a system that won't break during peak season, Barefoot's track record is unmatched.

Barefoot is cheaper at scale, but isn't the 1% OTA rent fee a hidden cost that closes the gap?

The 1% fee on Airbnb/VRBO rent is real and adds up. On $100k/mo in OTA rent at 50 units, that's $1,000/mo on top of the $800/mo base — totaling $1,800/mo. Hostaway at 50 units runs ~$2,000/mo plus a 1.8% direct booking fee. So the gap narrows but Barefoot is still cheaper for OTA-heavy portfolios. Where Hostaway wins on cost is if you drive significant direct booking revenue — Barefoot's 1% applies to OTA rent while Hostaway's 1.8% applies only to direct bookings. Run the math on your specific channel mix.