Hostfully's InboxAI drafts replies you approve; Nowistay's AI co-host replies to guests on its own. This comparison covers guest messaging, guidebooks, direct booking, smart locks and pricing for 10, 20 and 50 properties, with Hostfully facts checked on hostfully.com on 8 October 2026.
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Get started nowNowistay and Hostfully are both property management systems with a channel manager and a digital guest guide. The difference you will feel every day is who answers your guests. Hostfully’s InboxAI drafts replies that you approve, edit or send. Nowistay’s AI co-host replies on its own on Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, WhatsApp and email, in about a minute on average and in 90+ languages, and alerts you only when a human is needed.
The pricing logic differs too. Nowistay costs EUR 12 (USD 15) per property per month with the autonomous AI, the welcome guide and AI Pricing for dynamic pricing included, drops automatically to EUR 8 with volume pricing, and the first month is free. Hostfully’s PMS starts at USD 15 per property per month on its Growth plan, plus a platform fee, a 1% payment gateway fee and a 0.85% direct booking fee, and its Digital Guidebooks and Hostfully Devices are add-ons.
Competitor facts checked on hostfully.com (pricing, guidebooks, InboxAI and about pages) on 8 October 2026.
Nowistay is a PMS and channel manager with an autonomous AI co-host built in. It was founded in 2024 in Bordeaux, France, and connects to Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo and Expedia with real-time sync of calendars, rates and bookings.
The AI co-host answers guests 24/7 from your property information, your welcome guide and the details of each booking. It handles check-in questions, house rules, local tips, availability and early check-in or late checkout requests, which it checks with your cleaning team before confirming. Around it, Nowistay includes a digital welcome guide with an upsell shop, smart lock automation, cleaning and team coordination, identity verification, direct booking with Stripe, AI Pricing for dynamic pricing, and an official ChatGPT app and Claude connector to run your rentals from those assistants.
Hostfully has been building software for vacation rentals since 2015. It sells two products that work together: a PMS with a channel manager that connects to Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com and other channels, and Digital Guidebooks, which can also be used on their own.
Its PMS plans (Growth, Pro and Enterprise) include InboxAI, a direct booking site and rule-based pricing management. Digital Guidebooks, Hostfully Devices (its smart property and lock offer) and the Open API are add-ons on every plan.
InboxAI reads incoming guest messages and drafts a response from your property data. You then approve it, edit it or send it. That saves typing, but every message still waits for you: a question about the Wi-Fi password at 11 p.m. is answered when someone opens the inbox.
Nowistay’s AI co-host is autonomous by default. It reads the conversation, checks the booking, the property information and the welcome guide, and replies directly to the guest, in about a minute on average. When a situation needs a human, it alerts you and leaves the conversation to you.
If you are not ready to let the AI send on its own, Nowistay has a draft mode: the AI writes each reply as usual, but nothing is sent; the reply is emailed to you, with the actions it would have taken listed as simulated. You can also set off-hours during which the AI stays silent, or pause it on a single conversation. Nowistay can work the way a drafting tool does, and go further when you trust the answers.
Early check-in and late checkout requests show the difference best. Nowistay’s AI asks your cleaning team whether the turnover allows it, then confirms or declines with the guest. With replies you approve one by one, you still make that call and send the answer yourself.
Hostfully’s Digital Guidebooks come in three tiers: a Free plan for one guidebook, Pro for up to 199 guidebooks, and Enterprise beyond that. The AI Itinerary Planner is in every tier. Translation into 16+ languages and upsells through the Guidebook Marketplace come with Pro and Enterprise, and marketplace payments carry a 1% Stripe fee. The guidebooks sync with the Hostfully PMS.
Nowistay’s welcome guide is included in the AI Channel Manager plan, and it does two jobs. Guests open it by link or QR code, with no app to download, and it is translated automatically into their language. It is also the knowledge base the AI uses to answer questions, so what you write once in the guide answers guests in messages too. The guide includes an upsell shop with Stripe checkout for extras such as early check-in, late checkout or a welcome basket. If you only need the guide, Nowistay sells it alone at EUR 2 (USD 3) per property per month.
Nowistay gives you an embeddable booking widget for your own website and a hosted booking page you can share, both with Stripe payments and 0% Nowistay commission. Hostfully includes a direct booking site in every plan; on Growth it adds a 0.85% direct booking fee and a 1% payment gateway fee, while Pro has neither.
Nowistay generates and sends access codes automatically for Nuki, igloohome, TTLock, Tedee and HomeIt, with Yale, Schlage, August and KeyNest available as paid options. Codes can match the last 6 digits of the guest’s phone number. Hostfully sells smart property hardware through Hostfully Devices, an add-on.
Nowistay includes AI Pricing, its built-in dynamic pricing, in the AI Channel Manager plan. Built around your typical price and minimum price, it suggests a nightly price for every free night over the next 2 years, following seasons, weekends, holidays, demand among similar homes nearby, last-minute and orphan nights, with the reason for each change. You apply suggestions in one click, or turn on Automatic mode property by property, and the prices go to every channel, with your markup per channel on top. PriceLabs remains available as an optional integration (separate PriceLabs subscription). See how AI Pricing sets your prices. Hostfully has no market-based dynamic pricing of its own, only rule-based Price Rules such as length of stay, last-minute and early-bird adjustments. Dynamic pricing goes through partners such as PriceLabs, Beyond or Wheelhouse, billed by those vendors, and neither the Growth nor the Pro plan includes it.
Nowistay verifies guest identity before arrival for EUR 2 per check. Hostfully relies on partner integrations for guest screening.
Nowistay has an official ChatGPT app and a Claude connector: you can look up bookings, adjust prices or create a cleaning mission from those assistants, with a preview to confirm before any change is applied. Hostfully offers its Open API as an add-on.
Nowistay charges EUR 12 (USD 15) per property per month, billed monthly, with automatic volume pricing on the whole account: EUR 11 from 5 properties, EUR 10 from 10, EUR 9 from 50 and EUR 8 from 100. The AI co-host, the welcome guide, AI Pricing and the main smart locks are included. Paid options are billed only if you use them: the AI voice assistant at EUR 10 per month per account, WhatsApp AI messages at USD 0.04 each, and identity checks at EUR 2 each. The first month is free, with no credit card.
Hostfully’s Growth plan starts at USD 15 per property per month and Pro at USD 25, each plus a platform fee whose amount is not published. Growth adds a 1% payment gateway fee and a 0.85% direct booking fee. Guidebooks and Hostfully Devices are add-ons, and the pricing page offers a demo rather than a free trial.
Before fees and add-ons, Nowistay already costs less at every size, and its price includes AI replies sent on their own and AI Pricing. The Hostfully figures leave out dynamic pricing, which goes through partners such as PriceLabs, Beyond or Wheelhouse and is billed by those vendors.
Nowistay does not integrate with Hostfully: it replaces it as your PMS and channel manager, and moving your listings takes minutes.
Yes. InboxAI drafts replies to guest messages that you approve, edit or send, and Hostfully’s guidebooks include an AI Itinerary Planner. Nowistay’s AI co-host replies to guests on its own, 24/7, and alerts you only when a human is needed.
No, Nowistay does not integrate with Hostfully. It replaces Hostfully as your PMS and channel manager, and moving your listings takes minutes.
Nowistay, at every portfolio size: 20 properties cost EUR 200 (USD 260) per month with the AI and the guide included, while Hostfully starts at USD 300 on Growth before its platform fee, transaction fees and add-ons. The first month on Nowistay is free.
Yes. Nowistay’s welcome guide is sold alone at EUR 2 (USD 3) per property per month, with automatic translation and an upsell shop. You can move to the full AI Channel Manager whenever you want the AI co-host and the channel manager.
Yes. AI Pricing, Nowistay’s built-in dynamic pricing, is part of the EUR 12 (USD 15) per property per month AI Channel Manager plan, with no add-on and no separate subscription. Hostfully has no market-based dynamic pricing of its own: it goes through partners such as PriceLabs, Beyond or Wheelhouse, billed by those vendors.
Hostfully is a long-standing PMS whose AI drafts replies for you to approve, with guidebooks and smart lock devices sold as add-ons on top of a per-property fee, a platform fee and, on Growth, transaction fees.
Nowistay puts the PMS, the channel manager, the welcome guide, AI Pricing for dynamic pricing and an AI co-host that replies on its own into one subscription: EUR 12 (USD 15) per property per month, down to EUR 8 with volume pricing, first month free. If you want guests answered in about a minute without approving every message, and fewer tools on your bill, Nowistay is the better choice.
Move your listings to Nowistay and let the AI co-host answer your guests 24/7, with the welcome guide included. First month free, no credit card required.
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Over 25 years of experience in real estate investing and a recognized expert in short-term rental automation. Bassel helps property managers increase revenue, cut operating costs, and deliver 5-star guest experiences using AI-powered tools he built from firsthand hosting experience.
