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Nowistay vs Hostaway: which platform is better for your vacation rental business? Compare AI guest messaging, pricing, welcome guides, and property management features in this detailed 2026 comparison.
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Start free trialBoth Nowistay and Hostaway help vacation rental hosts automate their operations, but they take fundamentally different approaches. This comparison will help you decide which platform — or combination of both — is right for your business.
Nowistay is an AI co-hosting platform launched in 2023 that focuses on automated guest communication and digital welcome guides. Serving 300+ property managers worldwide, Nowistay processes over 10,000 guest messages daily using its proprietary AI that responds in 90+ languages with a 3-minute average response time.
Hostaway is a vacation rental management software founded in 2015 that combines property management, channel management, and marketing tools. Named one of Airbnb's Preferred Software Partners, Hostaway serves property managers of all sizes with an all-in-one platform approach.
Nowistay: Purpose-built AI co-host that autonomously handles guest conversations on Airbnb and Booking.com. The AI understands message context, reviews property-specific information, booking details, and house rules before crafting personalized responses. It automatically detects emergencies and coordinates with team members. Hosts can review, customize rules, and override any response.
Hostaway: Offers automated messaging through triggers, templates, and scheduled messages. Hostaway provides AI-assisted message suggestions and smart templates, but the automation is primarily rule-based rather than conversational AI. Guests receive template-driven responses triggered by booking events.
Nowistay: Full-featured digital welcome guide with property information, local recommendations, check-in instructions, AI-powered 90+ language translations, QR code sharing, embedded videos, and a built-in add-on shop where guests can purchase extra services.
Hostaway: Guest portal with basic property information and communication features. Hostaway focuses more on the booking management side, with the guest-facing experience primarily handled through the booking platforms themselves.
Nowistay: Focused on communication and guest experience. Includes AI co-host, welcome guide, team coordination for check-in/out requests, and emergency alerts. Integrates with major PMS platforms for hosts who need full property management capabilities.
Hostaway: Comprehensive PMS with channel management (200+ channels), booking engine, payment processing, cleaning management, owner reporting, revenue management, and website builder.
Nowistay: Airbnb (direct), Booking.com (direct), plus PMS integrations with Beds24, Smoobu, Lodgify, SuperHote, Hostaway, Guesty, Hostfully, Smily, and Hostify.
Hostaway: 200+ channel integrations, plus connections to pricing tools (PriceLabs, Wheelhouse), accounting software (QuickBooks, Xero), smart locks, and other operational tools.
Cost analysis: Nowistay is significantly more affordable at EUR 9/property/month versus Hostaway's typically $24-40/property/month. However, the platforms serve different primary functions — Nowistay for AI communication, Hostaway for comprehensive property management.
Here is the good news: you do not have to choose. Nowistay integrates directly with Hostaway, meaning you can use Hostaway as your PMS for operations and channel management while Nowistay's AI co-host handles all your guest communication. This combination gives you the comprehensive property management of Hostaway plus the intelligent, 24/7 automated messaging of Nowistay.
Many successful property managers use this exact setup — leveraging each platform's strengths for a fully automated vacation rental business.
Nowistay integrates with Hostaway. Use both platforms together for the best of both worlds.
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