Does short-term rental software pay for itself?

Run your listings and fee model. See monthly and yearly stack cost, then the direct-booking or saved-hours breakeven.

Example result · with the numbers below

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Enter your numbers to compare stacks.

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Affiliate disclosure: we may earn a commission from Hospitable or Hostaway in the future. There are no referral links on this page today. Details

Independent calculator. We re-read vendor pricing pages and stamp the check date under Sources. No fake reviews.

Start here

Our pick: Hospitable first, Hostaway second. Hospitable publishes its prices, has a free plan and a 14-day free trial, so you can check the math yourself. Hostaway is quote-based — enter your quote in the form.

Your numbers

Every value below is an example. Replace each with your own.

Quick start:

Your rentals Listings Average nightly rate ($) Occupancy (%) Average nights per booking Cleaning fee you charge per booking ($)

Fees today Airbnb / OTA host fee model Airbnb: most hosts pay 3% (split) or 15.5% (single). Host fee on OTA bookings (%) Direct bookings today (% of bookings) Direct bookings you could reach with a direct-booking site (%) Your guess. Not a promise. Hospitable direct-booking fee model

Your time Admin hours per booking today Messaging, scheduling cleaners, turnover tasks. Share of that software could automate (%) What an hour of your time is worth ($)

Software pricing Hospitable billing Annual discount per Hospitable's pricing page. Your Hostaway quote ($ per month) Hostaway does not publish prices. Get a quote, then type it here.

More assumptions you can change

Card processing, % Stripe's listed US card rate. Card processing, $ per payment Hostaway direct-booking cost (% of booking) Leave blank to use card processing. Ask Hostaway for the real figure. Airbnb says hosts who use property-management software are on the single fee. Tick to apply the single-fee % to OTA bookings when software is connected. Airbnb single-fee %

What each stack costs

Who each one fits

1. Hospitable

Fits: self-managing hosts with 1-10 listings who want public per-listing prices, a free plan to start, and a direct-booking site once you step up to Professional.

Watch: the Host plan tops out at 2 listings, and the direct-booking site is not on Host or Essentials. Direct Premium adds a 4% guest fee and a 3% host fee, or 7% host-only.

Hospitable pricing

2. Hostaway

Fits: hosts and managers with 2 or more listings who want an all-in-one property-management system (channel manager, inbox, pricing, direct-booking engine and reporting, per its homepage) and are fine getting a quote first.

Watch: no public price. The pricing page asks for your listing count (2-14, 15-49, 50+) and sends a single listing to a waitlist page. Use the quote box above.

Hostaway pricing

How the math works

Bookings per month = listings x 30.42 days x occupancy / nights per booking.
Fees apply to nightly rate plus your cleaning fee. This is our assumption; taxes are left out.
Moving a booking from an OTA to direct saves the OTA fee minus the direct-booking cost. We assume that guest would have booked anyway.
Time saved = bookings x admin hours x share automated x your hourly value. The free Essentials plan gets no time credit.
Only plans with a direct-booking site (Hospitable Professional and Mogul, Hostaway) get the direct share you enter. Host and Essentials keep today's share.
Not modeled: dynamic-pricing revenue changes, per-clean teammate fees, smart-device extras, Vrbo merchant-of-record fees, taxes, VAT.

Sources and check dates

Every price and fee rule on this page was read from the vendor page below on 11/9/2026. Vendors can change prices at any time. Check the vendor page before you buy.

What	Value used	Source	Checked
Hospitable Essentials	Free; Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Agoda sync, unified inbox, scheduled guest messages	hospitable.com/pricing	11/9/2026
Hospitable Host	$29/mo for 1 listing, +$10 per extra listing, max 2 listings (monthly billing)	hospitable.com/pricing	11/9/2026
Hospitable Professional	$59/mo includes 2 listings, +$15 per extra listing; adds direct-booking website	hospitable.com/pricing	11/9/2026
Hospitable Mogul	$99/mo includes 3 listings, +$30 per extra listing; adds owner statements and accounting	hospitable.com/pricing	11/9/2026
Hospitable annual billing	12% off the monthly price (page shows Annually / Save 12%)	hospitable.com/pricing	11/9/2026
Hospitable Direct Premium fees	4% guest + 3% host, or 7% host-only	help.hospitable.com/en/articles/14851390-direct-booking-service-fees	11/9/2026
Hospitable Direct Basic fees	1% host fee plus Stripe processing	help.hospitable.com/en/articles/14851390-direct-booking-service-fees	11/9/2026
Hospitable free trial	14 days, all features, no credit card	hospitable.com/pricing	11/9/2026
Hostaway price	Not published. Pricing page asks for listing count (2-14, 15-49, 50+) and a form. You enter your own quote.	www.hostaway.com/pricing/	11/9/2026
Hostaway product scope	Homepage lists a property-management system with channel manager, unified inbox, dynamic pricing, direct booking engine and advanced reporting	www.hostaway.com/	11/9/2026
Hostaway single listing	Pricing page sends a 1-listing host to a waitlist page that says Hostaway is not currently available for that portfolio size	www.hostaway.com/pricing/	11/9/2026
Airbnb split fee	Host pays 3% for most hosts (some pay more; 4% in Brazil and Mexico)	www.airbnb.com/help/article/1857	11/9/2026
Airbnb single fee	Host pays 15.5% for most hosts (typically 14%-16%). Mandatory for most hosts, including hosts who use property-management software	www.airbnb.com/help/article/1857	11/9/2026
Card processing	2.9% + $0.30 per successful domestic card transaction (Stripe standard pricing)	stripe.com/pricing	11/9/2026