Holiday rental software compared:
which platform fits your property?
Casa Hero, Lodgify, Smoobu, Hostaway and Guesty solve the same problem — being less dependent on Airbnb and Booking.com — but for completely different hosts. This article puts the five platforms side by side honestly: what they do well, what they cost and who they were built for. So you do not pay for a tool that is bigger than the job.
The short answer
No time for the full article? Here is the core. The five platforms do not differ so much in quality as in who they are for — and that is where the choice almost always goes wrong.
- One holiday home, renting it out yourself? Casa Hero is made for your situation: an automatically generated booking website, a fixed amount in euros, no commission.
- Several properties and happy to build a site yourself? Lodgify is a strong choice: a website builder plus a full channel manager and online payments.
- Mainly managing calendars and rates across many channels? Smoobu fits: a solid European channel manager with a simple website as an extra.
- A professional management company with five or more properties? You end up at Hostaway or — at enterprise scale — Guesty, both with custom quotes.
The rule of thumb: do not pick a platform built for a bigger business than yours. Otherwise you pay every month for features you never open — and work in a dashboard designed for managers, not owners.
The five platforms side by side
Five solutions, five different audiences
| Casa Hero | Lodgify | Smoobu | Hostaway | Guesty | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Built for | One holiday home, rented out by the owner | Hosts with several properties | Hosts with several properties | Professional managers (5–100+) | Management companies and enterprise |
| Core of the product | Automatically generated booking website | Website builder + channel manager | Channel manager, website as an extra | All-in-one management system (PMS) | All-in-one management system (PMS) |
| Setting up the site | Generated automatically, then fine-tuned | Build it yourself with blocks and templates | Simple template website | Website module, set up yourself | Website module, set up yourself |
| Connecting channels | Two-way iCal synchronisation | Full channel manager | Full channel manager | Very extensive channel manager | Very extensive channel manager |
| Online payment by guest | No — the guest pays you directly | Yes, built in | Yes, through an integration | Yes, built in | Yes, built in |
| Platform & support language | English and Dutch, support from the maker | Interface partly translated, support in English | Interface partly translated, support in English/German | English | English |
| Pricing model | Fixed amount in euros | Plans per property | Base amount + amount per extra property | Custom quote, often with onboarding fees | Custom quote or percentage of revenue |
| Commission on direct bookings | Never — no transaction fees either | No commission; watch for entry-plan fees | Depends on the chosen plan | None; transaction fees apply to online payments | Depends on the contract |
Features and terms of external platforms change regularly — always check the current situation on the websites of Lodgify, Smoobu, Hostaway and Guesty. Casa Hero details are current.
Casa Hero: made for one holiday home
Casa Hero starts from a different question than the rest of this list. Not "how do I manage a portfolio of properties?", but: "how does the owner of one holiday home get a professional booking website without it becoming a second job?"
- Your site is built for you. Based on your property details, Casa Hero automatically generates a complete website: copy, layout, information about the surroundings with real place names, beaches and restaurants. After that you fine-tune it in your own words.
- Multilingual without the work. Dutch, English and Spanish are translated automatically — exactly the languages guests of a Spanish holiday home speak.
- A calendar that always adds up. Two-way iCal synchronisation with Airbnb and Booking.com prevents double bookings.
- The guest pays you directly. No intermediary account, no transaction fees, no commission: once you approve a request, your guest automatically receives your payment details.
- Short lines. You get answers from the same person who builds the platform — usually within a day.
Less suitable if: you manage three or more properties, want to push rates centrally to many channels, or want guests to pay by card at the moment of booking. The other four platforms were built for that — and we would rather say so now.
Lodgify: building for a portfolio
Lodgify has been one of the best-known names in holiday rentals for years, with a clear mission: making owners less dependent on Airbnb and Booking.com. At the heart of the product is a website builder you use to put a booking site together yourself, surrounded by a full channel manager and a booking engine that lets guests pay online.
- Strong direct-booking infrastructure: your own site, online payments and a Google Vacation Rentals connection
- A full channel manager for Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo
- It scales: from two apartments to hundreds of properties under one account
- Good onboarding with personal guidance at the start
What to watch out for: you are the web designer — dragging blocks, writing copy, arranging translations. Pricing is per property and varies by plan, term and currency, and the features you need are not all in the cheapest plan. For one home the tool is quickly bigger than the job; how to move across in that case is covered in switching from Lodgify.
Smoobu: channel manager first
German platform Smoobu approaches it from the other side. Where Lodgify starts with your own website, Smoobu starts with the channel manager: synchronising calendars, rates and bookings between Airbnb, Booking.com and other channels. The included website is a useful extra rather than the showpiece.
- A solid, European channel manager with a clear interface
- Attractively priced for small portfolios, with a base amount plus an amount per extra property
- Automated guest messaging and a digital guest guide
- Integrations with Stripe, PayPal and dynamic pricing tools, among others
What to watch out for: the included website is basic and needs your own copy and setup; with some channels Smoobu works through iCal rather than a direct connection; and depending on the plan you pay either a small fee per booking or a higher fixed amount. For streamlining channels it is a fine choice — for a polished booking site of your own it is the long way round.
Hostaway & Guesty: for professional managers
Hostaway and Guesty play in a different league. These are full property management systems (PMS) for rental businesses: think team roles, task management for cleaning crews, owner reporting, accounting integrations and automation at scale.
- Hostaway targets professional managers from around five properties upwards, with a very broad channel offering and strong automation. There is no public price list: you request a quote, and alongside the monthly fee there are usually one-off onboarding costs.
- Guesty is the most extensive (and most expensive) platform of the five, aimed at management companies up to enterprise scale. The entry version, Guesty Lite, covers a handful of properties; above that Guesty works with custom quotes, sometimes as a percentage of your revenue.
If you are reading this with one holiday home: these two platforms are not meant for you, and that is not a judgement. A quote process, onboarding fees and a manager's dashboard make sense with thirty properties — and are pure overhead for one house on the Costa Blanca.
What do they cost per month?
An exact price comparison is harder than it looks in holiday rental software: rates differ by currency, number of properties, term and whichever promotion is running — and they change regularly. So below are the pricing models, with amounts only where we have checked them ourselves recently.
Lodgify works with plans per property and starts at $14 per month for one property; the cheapest plan that includes your own booking website comes to $26 per month (checked in juli 2026). For your own situation see lodgify.com/pricing.
Smoobu charges a base amount for the first property plus an amount per extra property, starting at €29 per month (checked in juli 2026). Depending on the plan you also pay a small fee per booking, or nothing if you pay in advance. Current rates at smoobu.com.
Hostaway publishes no price list: you request a quote based on your number of properties, and should allow for one-off onboarding costs alongside the monthly fee.
Guesty offers its entry version, Guesty Lite, from $20 per property per month (checked in juli 2026); above that Guesty works with custom quotes, sometimes as a percentage of your revenue. See guesty.com.
Casa Hero deliberately keeps it simple: one fixed amount in euros for one holiday home.
- €12,50 per month — complete booking website with calendar, enquiries, photos and reviews
- €22,50 per month — including your own domain name and a multilingual site
- €29,50 per month — with the extras for those who want everything out of it
No commission, no booking fees, no transaction fees and no separate hosting or certificate bill. What renting out through the big platforms costs you in total is worked through in an alternative to Airbnb.
Which one suits you?
Forget the feature lists for a moment and start with your own situation:
- "I rent out one holiday home and do not want more work than I already have." → Casa Hero. The site is generated for you, the calendar runs along with Airbnb and Booking.com through iCal, and you have one fixed monthly amount.
- "I have two to four properties and enjoy building things myself." → Lodgify, with Smoobu as the cheaper alternative when the channel manager matters more than the website.
- "I advertise on many channels at once and want one calendar and one place to manage rates." → Smoobu or Lodgify; above five properties Hostaway becomes interesting.
- "I run a management business with a team, cleaning schedules and owner reporting." → Hostaway; at enterprise scale Guesty.
Torn between two options? Pick the smallest one that can handle your situation. Scaling up to a bigger platform is always possible — months of paying for unused features is not something you get back.
Curious what a generated site looks like?
With Casa Hero you build a complete booking website for your holiday home in a few minutes — calendar, enquiries, reviews and three languages. Free to try, no strings attached and no card required.
Everything about holiday rental software
If you rent out one holiday home yourself, a platform built for that is usually the best choice. Casa Hero automatically generates a complete booking website for one property, for a fixed monthly amount without commission. Lodgify and Smoobu can do it too, but are built for hosts with several properties — so you pay for features you never use. Hostaway and Guesty are simply too big and too expensive for one home.
Lodgify is an international all-in-one platform with a website builder, a full channel manager and online guest payments — aimed at hosts with multiple properties. Casa Hero is made for one holiday home: the website is generated automatically, the calendar syncs through iCal with Airbnb and Booking.com, and guests pay you directly. Casa Hero charges one fixed amount in euros; Lodgify works with several plans and a price per property.
Both target hosts with several properties, but from a different core. Smoobu is first and foremost a channel manager (calendar and rate synchronisation between platforms) with a simple website as an extra. Lodgify turns that around: an extensive website builder for direct bookings, with the channel manager as a component. If you mainly want to manage channels, Smoobu fits; if you mainly want to build your own booking site, Lodgify fits.
For professional rental businesses and property managers with tens to hundreds of properties. Both work with custom quotes rather than fixed prices, usually involve onboarding fees, and offer features such as team roles, owner reporting and accounting integrations. They are not intended for a private owner with one or two holiday homes — and it shows in the price and the complexity.
No, and that is a deliberate choice. Casa Hero synchronises your calendar through iCal in both directions: bookings on Airbnb or Booking.com automatically block your own calendar, and your direct bookings block the calendars there. For one holiday home that prevents double bookings at no extra cost. If you want to manage rates and descriptions centrally across many platforms, you need a real channel manager — Smoobu or Lodgify make more sense then.
Direct bookings through your own website are commission-free or nearly commission-free on all of these platforms: you pay a subscription instead of a percentage per booking. Do watch the details: some entry-level plans still charge a small fee per direct booking, and online payments add transaction fees from the payment provider. Casa Hero never charges commission or booking fees; guests pay you directly, so transaction fees disappear as well.
No. Casa Hero deliberately does not process guest payments: once you approve a request, your guest automatically receives your payment details and pays you directly, for example by bank transfer. That saves transaction fees and keeps the money between you and your guest. If you specifically want guests to pay by card on the site, Lodgify and Smoobu do offer a built-in solution for that.
Yes. The admin panel is available in English as well as Dutch, and the websites it generates are published in Dutch, English and Spanish — exactly the languages guests of a Spanish holiday home tend to speak. Support comes directly from the person who builds the platform, in English or Dutch.
Casa Hero starts at 12,50 euros per month for one holiday home, without commission or booking fees. With your own domain name and a multilingual site you end up at 22,50 euros per month; the Pro plan costs 29,50 euros per month. All in euros, and you start with a free trial period.
Yes, and without downtime: you build your Casa Hero site next to your existing system, bring the calendar across through iCal and only then point your domain name over. There is a separate step-by-step guide in the knowledge base for switching from Lodgify. We help with the domain name and DNS settings.
Strictly speaking no — you can rent out exclusively through Airbnb or Booking.com. But then you pay commission on every booking and build nothing of your own. For an average holiday home, your own booking website often pays for itself with one or two direct bookings a year, and repeat guests book directly with you from then on.