Property Management
Hostaway
All-in-one vacation rental software for professional hosts
Best for Scale
The automation layer for operators scaling past 10 listings
Contact sales • No free trial
Comparison
Hostaway vs Lodgify
Pricing, pros and cons, and buyer-fit side-by-side. Pick the one that matches your operation — or see why neither should.
Property Management
Lodgify
Vacation rental software with built-in website builder
Best for Small Hosts
Best website-builder PMS for hosts growing into direct bookings
From $16/listing • 14-day trial
✓Editorial verdict
Which should you pick: Hostaway or Lodgify?
Pick Lodgify if you want transparent pricing plus a built-in website builder for 1–30 listings. Pick Hostaway if you run 10–50 listings and want the only platform with preferred-partner status on Airbnb, Vrbo, AND Booking.com simultaneously — and can accept quote-based pricing (~$40/listing reported) with a 1.8% direct-booking fee.
Editorial perspective from the Lodgify side; factual claims about Hostaway are drawn from its review.
Pricing side-by-side
Hostaway
Full pricing →Contact sales • No free trial
Standard (quote)
Quote only — ~$40/listing/mo reported
10+ listings typical
Booking fee: Percentage on direct bookings (rate depends on negotiated quote)
- Channel manager for 26+ OTAs
- Unified guest inbox
- Automation engine
- Direct booking site
- Owner portal
- Open API + marketplace access
Enterprise (quote)
Custom
50+ listings, management companies
Booking fee: Negotiated
- Everything in Standard
- Dedicated account manager
- Priority support
- Custom integrations
Lodgify
Full pricing →From $16/listing • 14-day trial
Starter
$16/property/mo
Booking fee: 1.9% per booking
- Channel management (Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com)
- Direct booking website builder
- Calendar sync
- Guest communication
Professional
$40/property/mo
Booking fee: None
- Everything in Starter
- No booking fees
- Advanced automation
Ultimate
$59/property/mo
Booking fee: None
- Everything in Professional
- Priority support
- Advanced features
What each tool does well — and where it falls short
What Hostaway does well
Best-in-class multi-channel reliability — eliminates double bookings
Real-time API sync across Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, and dozens more. Operators consistently report it as the most reliable sync in the market, which directly prevents costly double-booking incidents.
Preferred-partner status with Airbnb, Vrbo, AND Booking.com — the 'triple crown'
Hostaway is the only property management platform with preferred/premier partner status across all three major OTAs. Priority API access and faster feature rollouts mean fewer sync errors and access to channel-exclusive tools before competitors.
Owner portal with professional reporting — real value for co-host and management companies
Owners get their own login to view revenue, occupancy, and payout statements in real time, with customizable visibility controls. For co-hosting businesses, this transparency tool is a genuine client-retention feature.
What Lodgify does well
Reliable channel management with real-time calendar synchronization
Lodgify provides instant syncing across Airbnb, Booking.com, and VRBO that prevents double bookings, saving significant time in manual calendar updates.
Easy-to-use direct booking website builder
93% of users rated the interface as simple. The website builder enables property managers to create professional direct booking sites that reduce dependence on OTA commissions.
Strong customer support and onboarding process
Users consistently praise the comprehensive onboarding process along with helpful and friendly customer service staff who assist with platform setup and ongoing issues.
Where Hostaway falls short
1.8% booking engine fee on all direct bookings, introduced November 2024
Hostaway added a 1.8% guest service fee to every reservation through operators' own direct-booking websites. This undercuts one of the main advantages of direct bookings (avoiding OTA commissions) and was rolled out via a terms update that many users missed.
Steep learning curve and significant setup investment — not plug-and-play
Setup requires mapping channels, configuring automation rules, setting up owner statements, and training staff. Reviewers consistently note it takes weeks to become fully operational — a real barrier for small operators or teams without technical staff.
Opaque pricing and contract lock-in reported by users — cancellation is difficult
Hostaway requires a sales call to see numbers. Multiple HotelMinder reviews describe being signed into annual contracts they thought were monthly, and difficulty canceling mid-term. Read the contract carefully.
Where Lodgify falls short
Mobile app stability issues and frequent logouts
Users report persistent mobile app stability problems with frequent logouts and limited mobile support for essential daily operations like cleaning and task management.
Limited reporting and operational management capabilities
Reporting features are limited compared to other hotel management software. Task tracking, maintenance, and owner reporting feel too restricted for complex operations.
Channel syncing issues particularly with VRBO
Some users experience ongoing syncing problems and tedious manual input requirements with VRBO integration, which can disrupt automated workflow processes.
Which should you pick
Pick Hostaway if
Multi-property managers running 10-100+ listings across Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com who need reliable multi-channel sync, team task management, and owner reporting in one platform.
Skip Hostaway if
You have fewer than 5 listings, you're budget-sensitive, or you rely heavily on direct booking revenue and can't absorb a 1.8% booking engine fee on every guest transaction.
Pick Lodgify if
Small to mid-sized property managers (2–20 properties) focused on growing direct bookings and channel management automation.
Skip Lodgify if
You manage 20+ properties with complex operational needs, require advanced mobile task management, or need extensive reporting capabilities.
Where Hostaway and Lodgify actually differ
- Hostaway is Airbnb Preferred+, Vrbo Elite Connectivity, AND Booking.com Premier Partner — the only PMS with all three. Lodgify holds standard API connections to those channels without preferred-partner designation.
- Lodgify publishes pricing: Starter $16/listing + 1.9% fee, Professional $40/listing no fee. Hostaway is quote-only; industry reports put real pricing at ~$40/listing/mo.
- Lodgify includes a drag-and-drop website builder used as the primary direct-booking site by 93% of its customers. Hostaway has a direct booking engine with a 1.8% fee on all direct bookings — Lodgify Professional removes that fee at a similar price point.
- Hostaway lists 300+ integrations and 8 direct OTA channels. Lodgify covers the 4 OTA channels most STRs actually use, plus a narrower integration marketplace.
- Lodgify is self-serve for 1–30 listings with hours-to-days onboarding. Hostaway is sales-led with implementation timelines measured in weeks and targets 10+ listings.
Common objections
- Hostaway has triple-crown OTA partner status — doesn't that make Lodgify a worse choice for serious operators?
- For 15–50 listing portfolios where OTA sync reliability is existential, Hostaway's partner status is a genuine edge. For a 1–15 listing operator, the gap between preferred-partner and standard API is rarely decisive — and Lodgify's website builder is a revenue lever Hostaway doesn't match.
- Hostaway's 1.8% direct-booking fee is small — why is it in the comparison?
- At $5K/mo in direct bookings it's $90/mo of fees, and at $20K/mo it's $360/mo — on top of subscription. Lodgify Professional ($40/listing) has no booking fee. If your whole reason to invest in direct bookings is escaping OTA commissions, adding a 1.8% fee to capture those bookings is self-defeating.
- Hostaway's quote pricing vs Lodgify's published tiers — doesn't Hostaway usually come in cheaper than it sounds?
- Sometimes. Sometimes not. The issue isn't the final number, it's the cost of finding out — a demo, a sales call, a quote cycle. Lodgify lets you decide in an afternoon. If pricing transparency matters or you're still comparing 3+ tools, that difference alone is worth something.
Keep digging
Hostaway
The automation layer for operators scaling past 10 listings
Lodgify
Best website-builder PMS for hosts growing into direct bookings