Guest Communication
Duve
Guest experience platform with branded apps, online check-in, and upsells
Solid Option
Award-winning guest app with a real billing-and-support risk to evaluate
From $120 • No free trial
Comparison
Duve vs Touch Stay
Pricing, pros and cons, and buyer-fit side-by-side. Pick the one that matches your operation — or see why neither should.
Guest Communication
Touch Stay
Digital guidebooks that cut guest questions by up to 80%
Solid Option
Feature-rich digital guidebook platform with a premium price tag
From $8.25/listing • Free trial
✓Editorial verdict
Which Should You Pick: Duve or Touch Stay?
Pick Touch Stay if you run an STR portfolio on Hostaway, Guesty, or OwnerRez and want a digital guidebook with bundled messaging, upsells, and review collection at $8.25/listing/mo — no minimum spend, no onboarding fee, 14-day free trial. Pick Duve if you need a branded guest app with online check-in, ID verification, and a full upsell engine across 100+ PMS integrations and are prepared for a $120/mo minimum floor.
Editorial perspective from the Duve side; factual claims about Touch Stay are drawn from its review.
Pricing Side-by-Side
Duve
Full pricing →From $120 • No free trial
Basic
$120/mo minimum ($6/room)
- Per-room pricing above $120 floor
- Core guest experience features
Pro
$150/mo minimum ($7.50/room)
- Expanded guest app capabilities
- Per-room pricing above $150 floor
Premium
$200/mo minimum ($10/room)
- 0% commission on in-house upsells
- Per-room pricing above $200 floor
Enterprise
Contact sales
- Advanced customizations
- Expert services
Touch Stay
Full pricing →From $8.25/listing • Free trial
Annual plan
$8.25/mo per property ($99/yr)
Per property
- Digital guidebook (PWA)
- Email and SMS messaging
- Upsell widget
- 5-star review popup
- Contact collection
- Analytics dashboard
- PMS integrations
Monthly plan
Higher per-property rate (exact pricing varies)
Per property
- All features in annual plan
What each tool does well — and where it falls short
What Duve does well
Won Hotel Tech Report 'Best Guest App of 2024'
Industry recognition specifically for the guest application signals a polished end-user experience that differentiates Duve from generic messaging tools.
100+ named integrations across PMS, payments, and smart locks
The integrations marketplace lists specific partners in every operator-relevant category, which reduces stack-compatibility risk for adopters.
Capterra reviewers consistently single out ease of use
Multiple verified reviewers — including a Founder (Aug 2019) and an Owner (Oct 2023) — call out a user-friendly interface that non-technical operators can configure.
What Touch Stay does well
Reduces guest questions by up to 80%
Thousands of hosts report significant time savings from automated responses and comprehensive digital guidebooks, with 92% of users reporting happier guests.
No-download progressive web app
Guests access guidebooks directly on their devices without downloading anything. They can optionally add to their home screen for offline access with a custom icon.
Extensive bundled features beyond guidebooks
Touch Stay bundles email and SMS messaging, an upsell widget, a 5-star review popup, contact collection, and an analytics dashboard — reducing the need for separate tools.
Where Duve falls short
Recurring billing complaints after cancellation
A verified Capterra Director wrote 'I have not used dive for months and they are still charging me' (Mar 2024), and another Owner flagged 'hidden fees now' (Jul 2024) — a serious operational risk to evaluate before committing.
Integration sync friction reported by users
Despite the 100+ partner catalog, reviewers report needing to 'hand sync multiple times throughout the day,' and one CEO described 'constant major functionality problems' (Sep 2020).
Customer support responsiveness complaints
A verified Manager called the support 'Worst experience!!!! Un professional customer service' (Sep 2023), which compounds the billing and integration risks.
Where Touch Stay falls short
No permanent free tier
Touch Stay offers only a 14-day trial with no free plan, making it harder for small operators to test long-term before committing.
Higher cost than key competitors
Competitors like GoGuidebook offer similar digital guidebook functionality at roughly 25% lower cost, which adds up for larger portfolios.
Cumbersome multi-guide management
While you can duplicate and edit guidebooks, syncing changes between multiple guides for similar properties is tedious and error-prone.
Which Should You Pick
Pick Duve if
Mid-to-large STR portfolios and boutique hotel groups on Mews, Cloudbeds, Guesty, or Hostaway who want a polished branded guest app, online check-in, and upsells in one package.
Skip Duve if
You operate fewer than ~15 units, don't need branded apps, or can't tolerate the billing and integration friction multiple Capterra reviewers report.
Pick Touch Stay if
Larger vacation rental portfolios (10+ properties) already integrated with PMSs like Hostaway or Guesty who want comprehensive guest communication tools with upselling features.
Skip Touch Stay if
Small operators (1–5 properties) who prefer free options or don't need extensive PMS integrations — competitors like GuestIntro offer similar functionality at lower cost.
Where Duve and Touch Stay actually differ
- Touch Stay charges $8.25/listing/mo on annual plans ($99/yr per property) with a 14-day free trial; Duve starts at $120/mo minimum ($6/room on the Basic tier) with no free trial and three published tiers scaling to $200/mo minimum on Premium — the entry cost gap is significant for operators under ~20 units.
- Touch Stay delivers a progressive web app guidebook that guests access without downloading anything, bundling email/SMS messaging, a review popup, and a zero-commission upsell widget; Duve provides a dedicated branded guest app, online check-in with ID verification, and a hospitality-grade upsell engine — broader scope but a heavier lift to deploy.
- Touch Stay lists 10+ native integrations covering the core STR PMSs (Hostaway, Guesty, OwnerRez) with limited API access; Duve publishes 100+ named integrations with an open API, including enterprise hotel PMSs like Mews, Cloudbeds, and Apaleo alongside STR systems.
- Touch Stay's upsell widget charges zero commission — operators keep 100% of upsell revenue; Duve bundles upsells into the subscription with no disclosed per-transaction fee, but the higher subscription floor is the trade-off.
- Both platforms serve multi-channel operators well, but Duve names Booking.com and Airbnb as direct channels while Touch Stay lists only Airbnb — Vrbo-first and Booking.com-heavy operators should verify channel coverage through their PMS for either tool.
Common objections
- Duve has a branded guest app and online check-in with ID verification — am I settling for less with Touch Stay's PWA guidebook?
- Only if check-in and ID capture are operational requirements for you. Touch Stay's PWA guidebook claims to cut guest questions by up to 80%, which addresses the single biggest time sink for most STR operators — repetitive inbound inquiries about directions, Wi-Fi, and house rules. If your PMS already handles check-in and you don't need identity verification, Touch Stay covers the guidebook-plus-messaging layer at a fraction of Duve's cost. If you run a boutique hotel or a portfolio where branded check-in is a guest-experience differentiator, Duve's scope justifies the premium.
- Duve has 100+ integrations versus Touch Stay's 10+ — won't I outgrow Touch Stay's ecosystem?
- Integration count matters less than whether your PMS is covered. If you're on Hostaway, Guesty, or OwnerRez, Touch Stay's native integrations automate guidebook delivery per reservation without manual work. Duve's broader integration list matters most for operators on enterprise hotel PMSs like Mews, Cloudbeds, or Apaleo that Touch Stay doesn't support. If your stack is STR-native, Touch Stay's 10+ integrations likely include the ones you need; if you're running mixed hotel-and-STR properties across enterprise systems, Duve's ecosystem is the safer bet.
- Duve starts at $120/mo — isn't the price gap just because it does more?
- Partly, yes. Duve bundles online check-in, ID verification, a dedicated guest app, and a deeper integration layer that Touch Stay doesn't offer. But the $120/mo minimum is also a portfolio-size floor — at $6/room on Basic, you need ~20 units before the per-unit cost aligns with the minimum. Touch Stay at $8.25/listing/mo has no minimum spend, so a 5-property operator pays ~$41/mo versus Duve's $120/mo floor. The question is whether you're paying for features you'll actually use or subsidizing a platform built for larger portfolios.
Keep Digging
Duve
Award-winning guest app with a real billing-and-support risk to evaluate
Touch Stay
Feature-rich digital guidebook platform with a premium price tag