Hostaway vs Lodgify
This article examines Hostaway vs Lodgify by concentrating on the main features that a hospitality management software should offer. The data has been collected from Hostaway’s and Lodgify’s websites and help articles. We also checked their reviews at Capterra to find the aspects that the actual users are emphasising.
Guest Review
In Capterra, Hostaway has a rating of 4.7, with the highest score for Customer Service.
Trustpilot introduces Hostaway as an Excellent tool with a 4.7 TrustScore.
In Capterra, Lodgify has a rating of 4.5, with the highest score for Customer Service.
Trustpilot introduces Lodgify as an Excellent tool with a 4.7 TrustScore.
Hostaway sends out automated messages called “Native Messages” to the guests based on the reservation event. These auto-messages will be sent to channels like Airbnb, and the guests receive them on Airbnb. You can set messages in Hostaway and send them out for Expedia, HomeAway, TripAdvisor, and Booking.com.
Regarding payments, if the channels do not process them, they will pass you the card details, and you can charge the cards to proceed with the payment through your Stripe account.
In Lodgify:
- You can send a quote for guests’ reservations through the website showing the price, payment schedule, and cancellation and deposit policies.
- You can send a confirmation link via email to the guests, including reservation and payment information.
- You can set a quote expiry policy.
- You can choose how you would like to accept bookings (enquiry only, booking request, instant booking). For enquiry bookings, the system blocks the availability on other channels, and you may lose the chance of selling your nights.
- You can automate guest vetting and registration via CheKin and Check-in Scan integration.
Hostaway offers integration with top channels such as Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, HomeAway/Vrbo, 9flats.com, and Innclusive (which provides a commission-free listing for the owners). Hostaway also offers iCal integration with other channels such as OwnersDirect, Tripping.com, Widmu, Perfect Places, and OneFineStay.
Hostaway:
- Pushes rates and availability in real time and makes sure that those are up to date across all channels.
- Enables you to export your listings (calendar and content) from Hostaway into HomeAway/Vrbo if you have five or more active listings, and they are listed on HomeAway/Vrbo.
- Offers a manual iCal synchronisation when you have fewer than five listings for TripAdvisor and Flipkey. If you have five or more listings, Hostaway offers a 1-way API integration.
- Lets you export your listings to Booking.com if you have more than five listings. However, you can only export one listing per address.
- Sets channel mark-ups.
- Sets a “booking window” at channel level.
- Notifies you if there is a “modified reservation” by using the “Airbnb Pro” connection. You can also manage “Special Offers” in your Hostaway account.
Lodgify’s channel manager allows bookings, calendars, and rates to be synchronised via API across top listing channels, such as Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, and Vrbo.
It supports iCal integration for other channels, including TripAdvisor, Hotels.com, Lastminute.com, Trivago, Hotelbeds, eDreams, etc.
- Lodgify synchronises images, descriptions, and listings with some of the top channels.
- On the Professional and Ultimate plans, you need to pay a commission for the bookings through the channels.
- There is a 1.9% fee for all bookings on the Starter plan, whether from the website or the channels.
Hostaway gets help from cleaning services through integrations with Properly and Doinn. You can export your listings into these platforms.
- In Hostaway, you can set up cleaning tasks before arrival and after check-out.
- The housekeepers have access to the tasks on both the dashboard and their mobile app, where they can attach photos and leave comments.
Lodgify’s task management software allows you to:
- Create and assign tasks to different members.
- Give users access and distribute responsibilities.
- Invite your team members to the platform and link them to the rentals; then, you need to create job templates and specific tasks that the team members should fulfil to complete the job. According to their role and relations to the job and rentals, team members will be notified on their mobile app when the job is created.
- Manually assign jobs to specific people.
With Lodgify task management:
- Staff can claim a job.
- You can set an inspector for the jobs (they can reject and approve the job).
- You can activate/deactivate a job according to your needs.
- Tasks are shown on the calendar.
- You can track the time spent on all completed tasks.
- The task management feature is offered under the Ultimate subscription.
- There is a mobile application for the managers.
Hostaway integrates with Operto. Operto sends the access codes to the guests after you set a message in Hostaway to allow it to send those codes.
Lodgify uses triggers to automate guest communication.
A “pre-check-in form” will be sent asking the guests’ arrival information, details, and IDs.
The guest app provides them with information about the rental, access, address, Wi-Fi details, and recommendations about what to do in the area. (You can withhold sensitive info like access code until the payment has been completed.)
Once the guests check out, they will no longer be able to access the app.
Automatic and manual SMS reminders can be sent.
If you want to link into software for automatic self check-in, you should use Zapier.
- Hostaway allows you to choose the subdomain’s name for your direct booking website, select the listings you would like to be published on the website, and add titles, content, background images, and social media contact information.
- Your Stripe account will be connected to your website.
- You can use the WordPress plugin to connect your website to Hostaway’s website.
- Hostaway’s Open API option enables you to integrate your Hostaway software with any other website.
- Lodgify offers a website with an integrated booking engine.
- It is mobile-friendly, and users can create their domain.
- On the Starter plan, there is a 1.9% fee for direct bookings.
The SEO-friendly website created by Lodgify:
- Is customisable, allowing you to create custom pages and SEO-friendly templates.
- Allows you to add Google Analytics.
- Can be integrated with WordPress, Wix, Drupal, Joomla, Weebly, and Squarespace.
- Is available in over 30 languages.
- Hostaway allows you to set weekly and monthly rates and push them to the channels.
- You can set rates for all the connected channels by editing them on the calendar.
- You also have the option to import rates from your Airbnb account into Hostaway and send them to other channels.
Lodgify allows you to set prices per night, week, month, weekdays, and season.
- Hostaway facilitates guest experience through integration with YourWelcome and Wishbox.
- Through Hostaway, you can send messages automatically, thanking the guests for reservations, welcome messages, and post-check-out messages and trigger them according to the channel, listing, or event type.
- You can choose templates from the system and set this automation for all channels or all listings, one listing, or one specific channel.
- You can set triggers and send the message based on the reservation status, arrival/departure, enquiry, and pending reservation. You can pause, cancel, or edit these “scheduled messages” and send them manually.
- The “Native Messaging” feature enables you to send the message to Airbnb and Booking.com, and these channels will send the email to the guest.
- The “Guest Reviews” feature of Hostaway allows you to receive reviews from the guest from the top channels, and you would be able to reply to the reviews that come from Airbnb and Booking.com.
Lodgify allows you to:
- Set up a list of existing automated emails to communicate with your guests. You can check up on them during their stay.
- Prepare a digital form for house rules, instructions, and access codes.
- Send review-request email templates.
- Use Airbnb auto-reply to automate sending messages.
- Contact guests via WhatsApp and SMS.
- Use an AI messaging tool within your unified inbox and reservations system via integration with HostAI.
N/A
In Lodgify, you can communicate with your guests using the built-in guest CRM.
- The system does not collect the email addresses, and if you want to have a guest list, you should manually create it. You should create a booking and then fill in customer data.
- Using the list, you can send out marketing emails through the free integration with MailChimp.
Hostaway:
- Connects to Properly and Doinn, so if you have an account on these platforms, you can outsource your maintenance operations.
- Allows assigning tasks to the user, supervisor, and teams, which can be managed from both the system and the mobile app.
- Lets the cleaners attach photos or leave comments so that you will be informed about an issue.
Lodgify allows managing the team on one single platform.
- You can specify what your team member can see and do.
- You can set a “picture request” and ask the housekeepers to upload photos.
Hostaway’s app is useful for hosts and staff members.
- The team members can see the tasks that they have been assigned to. They can also check all the tasks related to their team and “accept” the task to complete it.
- Using the filter options, the staff member can search the tasks in their app and choose the one that applies to their role.
- The cleaners can upload photos as attachments on their mobile app.
Lodgify’s mobile app has been developed for tracking operations.
- The mobile app has the functionality of the desktop version of the software.
- You can accept and create new bookings, send quotes, look up guest details, request payments, and check transactions.
- You can create reservations, make block dates, and edit bookings through the calendar.
- The unified inbox enables you to contact your guests directly.
- The guests can communicate with the host through Lodgify’s guest app.
- With the Lodgify Property Management app, you can connect with cleaners, check-in agents, and rental managers to assign tasks and monitor their progress.
- Hostaway offers a tagging system that allows you to add tags to the listing to make filtering easier.
- In each listing, you can create a “Custom Field” and configure detailed information about the units.
- For manually creating a listing, you can add rooms and beds. The bed-type export feature is available for HomeAway and Booking.com.
- Some settings (content) in Hostaway can be exported to Airbnb such as discounts, minimum and maximum stay restrictions, check-in & check-out time, cleaning fee, extra guest fee, etc.
- The system allows you to cross-list the properties, and you will be able to set bookable properties as separate units and together as a whole.
- You can create properties in different locations.
- Rentals are also imported from Airbnb.
- You cannot move the reservations from one apartment to another one.
- Hostaway allows you to create general tasks and reservation-based tasks and assign them to the team members. The assignee will get notified via email. As the manager, you will be provided with an overview of all tasks in some categories such as “to do,” “accepted,” “in progress,” and “done,” and you can see them on the calendar (tasks that are linked to reservations).
- The system allows you to put the staff into groups and assign a supervisor. The tasks can be allocated to the listing, channels, or both.
- The tasks are based on the listings and events, and you can create them both manually and automatically. The manual task option is handy for not recurring tasks, and you can use the available options in the software to set them. The assignee can start and end the task from both the platform and mobile app. The system also allows you to set recurring tasks.
- There is a Time Report option that tells you how much time was spent on the task.
- You can add the following options to your tasks: a checklist, costs, resolution notes (giving and leaving feedback), and attachments (cleaners can upload images before and after cleaning)
- You can give permissions to the users to “view, modify, delete, and edit” the tasks. If the modification is done through the mobile app, any reservation changes will not be applied to the task.
- You can have an outlined list of all the things that need to be done and check when the property has been cleaned.
- With the mobile app, you can oversee all the tasks and manage the team.
- You can assign specific people to supervise and review tasks once they have been completed.
- By using Chekin and Check-in Scan, you can automate your guest registration process and comply instantly with local tourism laws and police regulations.
In Hostaway, you can give owners access to the system by setting an email address and password and defining the properties they are allowed to see. The system enables you to let the owner see the listings, reservations, calendar, or all of them. You can allow them to modify, create, or delete listings and reservations, as well.
Lodgify provides homeowners access to keep them updated by creating different roles within the platform and assigning specific permissions to each owner.
The owners can add properties to the website and edit the details and availability themselves.
There is a mobile app for owners.
You can create different roles within the platform and assign multiple owners to your rentals.
Hostaway’s payment partners are Stripe and Braintree (Braintree does not pre-authorise the deposit).
- You can specify whether you process the payment by credit card or send an invoice to the guests with the payment instructions manually.
- When the invoice is created, you can charge your guests directly from the invoice; their credit card will be charged, and the amount will be managed on your Stripe account.
- You can set automatic invoices for new reservations and decide whether they will be created for all channels or only for a specific one. You can also link the invoices to some or all listings. You can set up auto-charge and split charge by scheduling the triggers (based on reservation, check-in, and check-out). You have the ability to pause or edit a charge at any time.
- Pre-authorisation only works for auto-charge and auto-invoices.
- You should manually mark the invoice as fully or partially paid.
Lodgify has integration with Stripe, Braintree, Authorize.net, Payyo, Apple Pay, and Google Pay as payment gateways.
You can accept a set of credit cards for your website: Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.
- The payment is not through 3-D Secure Payment.
- It accepts bank transfers, cheques, and cash.
- You can add payments manually and send payment requests and payment reminders.
- Pre-authorisation can only be granted for seven days.
- Lodgify charges you a 1% transaction fee.
- You can set 2-3 payments: a percentage at the time of the booking and the remainder some days before arrival, for example.
Hostaway provides you with reports that you can view based on listing level and channel level.
Through these graphics, you can see:
- Rental revenue per channel.
- Booking nights per channel.
- Rental revenue per reservation per channel.
- Daily reservation received per channel.
- Reservation per channel.
You can use the sample formula included in the system or create your calculations by selecting some values related to taxes like city tax, sales tax, and other values related to reservations like Damage Deposit and Additional Cleaning Cancelation Fee. After creating this, you will be able to check the Financial Report.
The Occupancy Report gives you information about days available, days booked, total check-in, revenue, revenue/days booked, revenue/days available, cancellations, etc.
- You can filter specific months and days of the year, as well as a specific property on your report.
- You can oversee your payments, reservations, and revenue from one dashboard.
- You can generate and export reports.
Hostaway has integration with Pricelabs, Beyond, and Wheelhouse.
Lodgify integrates with PriceLabs and Outswitch.
Hostaway facilitates being in touch with the support team and receiving assistance for most of the updates and configurations. They hold webinars when there is an update, and guides for setting up the system are available.
There is a fixed charge for the setup.
Lodgify provides free 1:1 onboarding for all subscription plans.
If you are an Ultimate subscriber, you will be trained on PM Modules, including accounting and task management.
The software shows the users the account progress and tells you what steps are left to thoroughly set up your system.
There are articles and instructions both on the website and in the software itself.
In Hostaway, if you want to integrate with your accounting system, you can use an Open API.
In Lodgify:
- You can keep track of your income and payments, pending and transferred payments of both employees and guests.
- You can generate invoices for employees.
- You can keep track of the expenses.
- The system allows you to create accounting statements. The statements will be updated automatically based on received and sent payments.
Hosaway’s unified inbox offers two views, which are the inbox and the guest conversation.
The inbox can be filtered by all listings, all channels, recent activity, and reservation status.
In the conversation page, you can find information such as the guest name, channel name (Airbnb only), check-in and check-out, name of the property, and the number of the guests. Some options link you to the calendar, booking page, and guest portal.
The guest portal contains the reservation details, photos, and Google Maps, and you can share its URL with your guests. The guests can also access the invoice, and they can leave a note for you.
Lodgify’s Unified Inbox connects with Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, and your direct booking website.
You can view the reservation details from your unified inbox when messaging guests.
Their custom template along with the Airbnb save messages feature stores replies for common guest queries.
You can assign specific conversation threads to different members of your team.
Pricing
Hostaway offers different pricing options. To get an accurate quote, you should contact them for your customised pricing plan. Hostaway charges 367.80 GBP ($500) as the setup fee. Typically, the price starts from 25.75 GBP ($35) per listing, but it drops down as the number of units increases.
There are two options for paying Hostaway subscriptions:
- commission-based (2% of monthly revenue)
- Flat rate
Based on a rough calculation for a business operating around 200 units, Hostaway pricing would be about 14.71 GBP ($20) per listing. Another estimation for four units with a different combination of features would be 11.03 GBP ($15) each and 183.90 GBP ($250) of setup fee.
Lodgify’s pricing varies depending on the total number of rentals and subscription period:
- Starter: £15/rental/month for the monthly plan.
- Professional:£42/rental/month for the monthly plan.
- Ultimate: £57/rental/month for the monthly plan.
When the users pay upfront, Lodgify offers up to 20% and 25% discounts on annual and two-year plans, respectively.
Hostaway vs Lodgify: Which Property Management System to Choose?
Hostaway enables the user to advertise and list their properties on top channels easily. The company is looking to improve by adding new features. Hostaway communicates with its clients and develops what the users need or suggest. If you aim to concentrate on some channels, especially Airbnb, Hostaway provides you with a smooth synchronisation. However, Hostaway does not offer many tools to improve your direct bookings.
Lodgify would be the right choice if you run a small rental business and wish to have a user-friendly website. If your properties are listed only on Airbnb, Lodgify would be a good option because they have been chosen as a Preferred Software Partner by Airbnb. It means that Lodgify provides the requisite functionality and software connections that meet Airbnb’s technical benchmarks. However, because of the limited integration with the channels, you may not have the chance to widen your reach the way you might wish to.
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