Noise Monitoring
Party Squasher
Occupancy-counting sensor that catches parties before they start
Solid Option
Best-in-class party prevention for detached homes, useless everywhere else
From $17/listing • No free trial
Comparison
Party Squasher vs Safely
Pricing, pros and cons, and buyer-fit side-by-side. Pick the one that matches your operation — or see why neither should.
Insurance & Protection
Safely
Pay-per-booking vacation rental insurance with built-in guest screening
Best for Small Hosts
Best pay-per-booking insurance for low-to-mid occupancy hosts
From $8/listing • No free trial
✓Editorial verdict
Which should you pick: Party Squasher or Safely?
Pick Party Squasher if unauthorized gatherings at detached vacation homes are your primary risk and you want crowd detection that triggers before noise or damage starts — prevention at the physical property layer. Pick Safely if your primary concern is financial exposure from guest damage and you need pay-per-booking insurance with pre-booking guest screening. Both protect your property, but through fundamentally different mechanisms — Party Squasher monitors during the stay, Safely screens before arrival and pays after damage.
Editorial perspective from the Party Squasher side; factual claims about Safely are drawn from its review.
Pricing side-by-side
Party Squasher
Full pricing →From $17/listing • No free trial
Standard (1–9 sensors)
$249 year 1, $199/yr renewal (~$17/mo)
1–9 sensors (one per property)
Booking fee: None
- Occupancy-counting hardware sensor
- Mobile alerts when threshold exceeded
- Tamper/disconnect notifications
- 180-day money-back guarantee
Standard (10–99 sensors)
$199 year 1, $168/yr renewal (~$14/mo)
10–99 sensors
Booking fee: None
- Everything in Standard 1–9
- Volume pricing
Pro (1–9 sensors)
$309 year 1, $252/yr renewal (~$21/mo)
1–9 sensors
Booking fee: None
- Everything in Standard
- Web dashboard
- API access
Pro (10–99 sensors)
$249 year 1, $216/yr renewal (~$18/mo)
10–99 sensors
Booking fee: None
- Everything in Pro 1–9
- Volume pricing
Safely
Full pricing →From $8/listing • No free trial
Detailed pricing tiers available on the Safely pricing page.
What each tool does well — and where it falls short
What Party Squasher does well
Detects parties before they escalate — occupancy, not noise
The sensor counts mobile devices every 20 seconds and alerts when occupancy exceeds a threshold. This catches large gatherings before noise complaints or property damage, which reactive noise monitors cannot do.
Privacy-first — no microphones, cameras, or personal data collected
The sensor detects device presence without recording audio or video and does not collect, store, or track personal phone numbers. It is GDPR-compliant.
Zero-maintenance, tamper-resistant hardware with whole-property coverage
The 2.3″ sensor can be placed in a locked closet and still covers the entire home including yards. If disconnected, the owner is notified within 15 minutes. Runs on USB power — no batteries.
What Safely does well
Proprietary SafelyScore database screens guests against actual vacation rental damage history
No other platform has a comparable industry-specific damage database. Screening also covers criminal databases, sex offender registries, and Interpol/Europol watchlists.
98% of claims paid in 4.5 days with sub-$1K claims within 24 hours
Operators document damage with photos and receipts — no guest confrontation required. Homeowners have up to 60 days to file.
Zero cost during vacancy with insurance fees passable to guests
Coverage activates at check-in and deactivates at check-out, eliminating traditional damage deposit friction. Operators build the fee into the nightly rate so guests effectively cover the insurance.
Where Party Squasher falls short
Only works reliably for detached homes
The sensor detects all mobile devices in range, including neighbors' phones. In multi-unit or shared-wall properties, false positives make it unreliable. This is a hard architectural limitation, not a configuration issue.
Counts devices, not people — can overcount or undercount
A guest with multiple devices inflates the count; a guest in airplane mode is invisible. Coordinated evasion is unlikely at party scale, but individual miscounts are inherent to the approach.
Occupancy-only — does not monitor noise, smoke, or other risks
Party Squasher addresses only one dimension of property protection. Operators still need separate solutions for noise, smoke/vape detection, or environmental hazards.
Where Safely falls short
Per-night pricing compounds quickly at high occupancy
At 200+ nights/year the per-night model can exceed annual policy costs from competitors like Proper Insurance ($1,500–$2,500/year). Operators must calculate their breakeven.
Does not replace homeowners insurance and has meaningful coverage exclusions
Excludes weather damage, non-guest-caused damage, fine art and collectibles. Contents theft/damage caps at $10,000 and there is a 90-day maximum consecutive rental period.
Limited public reviews and relatively new market presence
Compared to established insurers like Proper Insurance or CBIZ, Safely has fewer independent user reviews, making real-world claims experience harder to assess at scale.
Which should you pick
Pick Party Squasher if
Operators managing detached-home portfolios (any size) who want to prevent unauthorized parties proactively via occupancy counting rather than reactive noise monitoring.
Skip Party Squasher if
You manage condos, townhouses, apartments, or any multi-unit / shared-wall properties — the sensor cannot distinguish your unit's occupants from neighbors' devices.
Pick Safely if
Seasonal or part-time hosts renting fewer than ~100 nights/year who want insurance and guest screening bundled without an annual commitment — the pay-per-booking model keeps costs proportional to actual occupancy.
Skip Safely if
You run high-occupancy properties at 250+ nights/year — per-night pricing will exceed annual policy alternatives, and coverage caps ($10K contents, no weather damage) may be insufficient for premium properties.
Where Party Squasher and Safely actually differ
- Party Squasher is a hardware occupancy sensor at $249 year 1 per sensor ($199/yr renewal, ~$17/mo) that counts mobile phone Wi-Fi signals. Safely is a pay-per-booking insurance and guest screening provider starting at $8/night with up to $1M primary commercial coverage — no property monitoring, no real-time detection.
- Party Squasher detects crowd assembly during the stay in real time — catching a gathering before noise or damage occurs. Safely screens guests before check-in using SafelyScore's proprietary damage-history database plus criminal and international watchlists, but has no way to detect or intervene during an active incident.
- Party Squasher only works for detached homes and has no insurance or financial protection component. Safely works for any property type and covers all guest-caused damage up to $1M with 98% of claims paid in 4.5 days — regardless of whether the incident involved a party.
- Party Squasher charges a flat annual subscription regardless of occupancy. Safely costs nothing during vacancy — coverage activates at check-in and deactivates at checkout, making it proportional to booking volume.
- Safely offers a partnership discount of up to 30% on Party Squasher subscription renewals, suggesting the companies see these tools as complementary rather than competitive.
Common objections
- Safely screens guests before they book — doesn't that make Party Squasher's during-stay monitoring redundant?
- No. Safely's SafelyScore catches guests with documented damage history, but first-time offenders won't appear in any database. A guest who passes every background check can still throw an unauthorized party at midnight. Party Squasher catches the actual crowd assembling — regardless of the guest's screening results. The two tools work different points in the protection timeline: Safely filters at booking, Party Squasher monitors during the stay.
- Safely partners with Party Squasher for up to 30% off renewals — should I sign up for both?
- If you manage detached vacation homes in party-prone markets, the partnership makes both tools cheaper together than separately. At 10 sensors with the renewal discount, Party Squasher drops to roughly $10–$12/mo per sensor, and Safely's pay-per-booking model adds coverage only when guests are present. The combined stack gives you pre-booking screening (SafelyScore), during-stay monitoring (Party Squasher), and post-incident financial protection (Safely insurance). For detached homes where unauthorized gatherings are a real risk, that's comprehensive coverage.
- Party Squasher can't pay for damage — Safely covers up to $1M. Why not just insure and skip monitoring?
- Because insurance pays after the damage is done — it doesn't prevent it. A $1M policy doesn't stop your neighbors from calling the police at 2 AM, doesn't prevent the city from revoking your STR permit after repeated complaints, and doesn't undo the relationship damage with your HOA. Party Squasher detects the crowd forming before damage occurs, giving you time to intervene. Insurance is the financial backstop; monitoring is the operational frontline. In markets with noise ordinances or permit risk, prevention is worth more than reimbursement.
Keep digging
Party Squasher
Best-in-class party prevention for detached homes, useless everywhere else
Safely
Best pay-per-booking insurance for low-to-mid occupancy hosts