Smily Alternatives After the Guesty Acquisition (2026)

Guesty completed its acquisition of Smily, the French PMS and channel manager formerly called BookingSync, on 17 September 2026. The announcement says the two teams will combine product, engineering and support behind one platform for the French market and bring Guesty's AI tools to Smily customers. It says nothing about prices, contracts or a migration timeline. Nothing forces Smily customers to move today, but it is the right moment to export your data, reread your terms and compare alternatives such as Nowistay, Lodgify, Smoobu or Avantio.

This guide sticks to what has been published, lists the questions to ask before switching, and explains how to move without losing bookings.

What happened between Guesty and Smily?

On 17 September 2026, Guesty announced from New York and Paris that it had completed the acquisition of Smily. The key points of the official Guesty press release:

• The deal is done. The acquisition is completed; terms were not disclosed.
• Smily's founders stay invested. All five founders and a group of shareholders are reinvesting part of the proceeds in Guesty equity.
• One platform for France. The companies plan to combine product, engineering and customer support resources "behind one best-in-class platform for the French market".
• Guesty's AI is coming. The release mentions bringing Guesty's AI capabilities and its Agent Hub to this market.
• Smily's track record. Smily has processed more than €3.3 billion in bookings for 13 million travelers, according to the release (figures as of 31 August 2026).

For context: Smily started as BookingSync, a channel manager its founder built in 2005 for his family's rentals. It opened to paying customers in 2010 and was renamed Smily in 2022. Guesty, founded in 2013, says it runs inside more than 500,000 properties in over 100 countries.

What does the acquisition change for Smily customers?

For now, little has visibly changed. As of 8 October 2026, smily.com still sells Smily with its own pricing model (mainly a commission on bookings, with a monthly minimum), and the press release announces no change for existing accounts. What it leaves open is what matters most to a host or an agency:

• whether Smily stays a separate product or customers move to a combined platform, and when;
• whether prices, the commission or the monthly minimum will change;
• whether contracts, support teams and account managers stay the same;
• which Guesty AI features will reach Smily accounts, and at what price.

None of this has been announced, so treat any answer you read elsewhere as speculation until Smily or Guesty confirms it in writing. Note that the general terms linked from smily.com (written under the BookingSync name) already allow price changes with 14 days' notice, posted on the website or in your account: keep an eye on your dashboard and your inbox.

Should you leave Smily now?

Not automatically. If Smily works for you, staying while the roadmap becomes clear is a reasonable choice, as long as you protect yourself: export your data now and ask the questions below in writing. For reference, at Guesty: Lite covers 1 to 3 listings from $9 a month plus 1% per reservation, and Pro (4 to 199 listings) is priced on quote (guesty.com/pricing, checked 8 October 2026).

Looking elsewhere makes sense if:

• your Smily commission or minimum no longer fits your margins and you want a fixed, published price per property;
• you want an AI co-host that answers guests on its own, day and night, rather than waiting to see which AI features reach your account (Smily currently offers smart replies and emergency detection);
• you need to decide before your high season or before a contract renews;
• you prefer to work with an independent vendor rather than a large group.

What should you ask before switching?

1. What is my notice period? The general terms linked from smily.com say you can cancel at any time by sending a request to support, with one final invoice if you cancel mid-month. A contract signed with an account manager may set other conditions: reread yours.
2. What happens to my data? Under the same terms, all content is deleted as soon as the account is cancelled, and the deletion is final. Export everything before you cancel, never after.
3. Which channels actually bring my bookings? List the platforms that matter (Airbnb, Booking.com, Abritel/Vrbo, Expedia, smaller French sites, works councils) and check that the replacement connects the ones that drive your revenue.
4. How are payments and my booking website handled? If guests pay through Smily or book on a site built with Smily, plan the new payment account and booking page, and keep the old setup until upcoming stays are paid.
5. What about owners, team and locks? Owner statements, cleaning tasks, smart lock codes: list everything that runs in Smily today so nothing is forgotten.
6. What will the new tool cost at my size, all in? Ask for the price for your exact number of properties, including commissions, minimums and paid options, and whether you can leave at the end of any month.

How do you migrate from Smily without losing bookings?

1. Export your data first

Smily's help center lists exports of bookings, booking fees, clients, inquiries, payments and rentals in CSV, TSV and Excel, for all rentals at once or one by one. Download all of them. The Excel booking export carries more columns than the CSV (guest email and phone, channel commission, owner payback), so keep both. Also note what doesn't come out as a file (seasonal rates and minimum stays, check-in times, message templates, house rules): screenshots are enough.

2. Move one property first

Airbnb and Booking.com accept one channel manager per listing at a time, so you can't run Smily and a new tool on the same listing. A parallel run therefore means moving property by property: start with one or two listings, check the calendar, prices, messages and payouts for a week or two, then move the rest. Keep your Smily account open until every property runs in the new tool.

3. Remap each channel cleanly

• Airbnb: disconnect the listing in Smily, then connect it from the new tool with the account that owns the listing (not a co-host account). Removing Smily's access from your Airbnb account settings cuts the connection for the whole account, so keep that method for the final switch, not for a test.
• Booking.com: the change happens in the extranet, property by property, by switching the connectivity provider. Your property, listings and existing bookings stay in place.
• Abritel/Vrbo and Expedia: reconnect them from the new tool after Airbnb and Booking.com, then check that the calendars match.

Check the calendar right after each switch. When a listing leaves a channel manager, Airbnb can reset some rules: minimum stay back to 1 night, maximum stay to 1,125 nights, closed-to-arrival and closed-to-departure days removed. If you had set an Airbnb markup in Smily, it doesn't follow you, and Airbnb's host-only fee makes it essential (see how to reprice for Airbnb's 15.5% fee). The guide to preventing double bookings across OTAs covers the checks for the switch week.

4. Bring over upcoming direct bookings

Airbnb and Booking.com reservations usually come back once the channel is connected. Direct bookings (your website, phone, returning guests) don't: import them from your Smily export into the new tool, or re-enter them, before you close Smily.

5. Test guest messages before guests see them

Recreate your scheduled messages (confirmation, arrival instructions, checkout) and check every variable. If the new tool has an AI that replies to guests, test it on real conversations before letting it send: see how to test an AI co-host without risk.

What are the best Smily alternatives in 2026?

Here are four options, with facts checked on 8 October 2026 on each vendor's website. Prices change: have them confirmed for your portfolio before you sign.

Nowistay: PMS, channel manager and autonomous AI co-host

Nowistay (Nowistay SAS, founded in 2024) is a PMS and channel manager with an AI co-host built in. It syncs calendars, rates and bookings in real time with Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo (Abritel) and Expedia. Nowistay doesn't connect to Smily or Guesty: it replaces them.

• AI co-host: it replies on its own to guests on Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, WhatsApp and email, in 90+ languages, 24/7, in about a minute on average, and hands over to you when a human is needed. It doesn't write inside Vrbo's messaging: Vrbo guests are reached on WhatsApp or by email when their details are available. Draft mode lets you test it first: the AI writes its replies, nothing is sent, and you receive them by email.
• Price: €12 ($15) per property per month, billed monthly, no annual contract. Volume pricing applies to the whole account: €11 from 5 properties, €10 from 10, €9 from 50, €8 from 100. Ten properties cost €100 ($130) a month, thirty cost €300 ($390). First month free, no credit card. Options: WhatsApp AI messages at $0.04 each, identity checks at €2 each, AI voice assistant at €10 a month per account.
• Also included: a direct booking widget with Stripe (0% Nowistay commission), smart locks (Nuki, igloohome, TTLock, Tedee, HomeIt; Yale, Schlage, August and KeyNest as paid options), per-channel rate adjustment, dynamic pricing through PriceLabs (separate PriceLabs subscription), and an official ChatGPT app and Claude connector.
• Switching: moving Airbnb listings takes minutes, and each property is created with its name, photos, description and prices. Direct bookings from your Smily export can be loaded from a CSV file (how to import bookings from a CSV file), and the migration guide covers each channel step by step. You can export your own bookings to CSV at any time.
• Check first: if a large share of your bookings comes from channels other than Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo and Expedia, Nowistay doesn't connect them today.

For a feature-by-feature view, read Nowistay vs Smily; for Guesty's own plans, see our Guesty alternative guide.

Lodgify

Lodgify, founded in 2012 in Barcelona, sells per-property plans with a 0% booking fee: Basic starts at €16 a month for one property billed monthly (€13 billed yearly), and the website builder and booking widget start with Starter at €29 (lodgify.com/pricing). Its AI Messaging Assistant drafts replies, and its AI Co-Host is in beta. Free trial: 7 days.

Smoobu

Smoobu, founded in 2014 in Berlin and owned by HomeToGo since 2021, costs from €28 a month for one unit on two-year prepaid billing, or €29 a month plus 0.9% per booking on its Flex plan; each extra unit costs from €9.60 (smoobu.com). Since July 2026 it suggests AI replies that you send yourself. Free trial: 14 days.

Avantio

Avantio publishes a per-property price for Europe: about €15 a month, with a €295 monthly minimum for portfolios under 20 properties and a custom quote above 400 (avantio.com). It includes an AI assistant for messaging and native dynamic pricing.

What should you do this week?

1. Download every Smily export, in Excel and CSV.
2. Find your contract and note the notice period.
3. Ask Smily in writing about prices, product and support for the next 12 months.
4. If you switch, test the new tool on one property first, and close Smily last.