Hospitable vs Hostex (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Hospitable: it is first in our ranking of vacation rental tools, and they share a 2.6 GPA.
Checked Oct 24, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 24, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Hospitable grades higher on the free plan and features. Hostex grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Hospitable
Guest messaging, channel sync and operations for short-term rentals
Hostex
Low-cost channel manager and PMS for short-term rentals
Which one is for you
Pick Hospitable if
- Fits if you host on Airbnb and spend most of your time answering guests
- Works for hosts who want a free plan that doesn't cap the number of properties
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: AI is capped at 10 uses a week, and there's no API, integrations, lock control or direct booking
- Pricey if you grow: Host stops at 2 properties, and each extra property costs $10 to $30 a month by plan
- Not for you if you need owner statements without a sales call, since they need Mogul, which is sold through a demo
- Watch out: direct bookings start on Professional and cost 1%, or 4% plus 3% processing, per booking
- Watch out: the free plan gets only AI and community support, and upsells on it carry a 10% fee
Pick Hostex if
- Fits if you manage a few rentals and want the lowest channel manager price
- Works for hosts who sync Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo in one calendar
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you have more than 2 properties, as Basic stops there
- Watch out: Vrbo, owner statements and open API access start on Pro
- Watch out: only yearly prices were readable, and the monthly-billed prices are not listed here
- Watch out: every rental unit counts as a property, and cutting the count waits for the term to end
- Skip it if you want self-serve checkout on top tier, as Premium shows Contact us
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAHospitableGood | 2.6GPAHostexGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CHost is $25.52 a month billed yearly, or $29 monthly, for one property, which is this category's middle. A second property is $10. Professional is $51.92 yearly for 2, and owner statements need Mogul at $99 a month for 3, plus $30 for each extra. | ABasic is $4.9 a property a month on the yearly view, under 60% of the category's $10 cheaper-quarter line. Pro is $7 and Premium $10.5. |
| Free plan and trial | BEssentials is free for unlimited properties, with channel sync, one inbox, scheduled messages and cleaning tasks, so one host could live on it. AI stops at 10 uses a week, upsells carry a 10% fee, and dynamic pricing is $15 a property after 30 days. | CA 15-day free trial with no card needed. There is no free plan. |
| Features | BChannel sync, one inbox with AI replies, cleaning tasks with teammate payouts, dynamic pricing, lock and thermostat automation, a direct booking site, and owner statements and accounting on Mogul. The whole job is there, spread across four plans. | CChannel sync, a unified inbox, automated messages, a direct booking site, tasks and owner reports. Vrbo, owner statements and API access are on Pro, not Basic. |
| Ease of use | CNo app-store rating on record. You connect your channel accounts and set up message schedules and cleaning workflows first, so there's setup to do. | CNo store rating on record, and channels and properties have to be connected first. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with an API and MCP on paid plans and QuickBooks, PriceLabs and Stripe connections. There's no desktop app, and the free plan has no API access. | BWeb only, but it links to Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia, PriceLabs, Turno and Stripe. |
| Best for | Airbnb hosts who mostly answer guests | small hosts on a tight budget |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Hospitable and Hostex. How we grade
Price against what you get
Hospitable starts at $25.52 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Hostex starts at $4.90 a month and scores 2.3.
Hospitable scores higher, and starts $20.62 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other vacation rental tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than Hospitable for less, and 2 score higher than Hostex for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
At a glance
| Hospitable | Hostex | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $25.52 per month for 1 property, billed annually ($29 billed monthly) | $4.9 per property / month, shown on the yearly view |
| Free plan | Essentials: unlimited properties, unified inbox and automated messages, Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com and Agoda sync, and cleaning workflows. AI is capped at 10 uses a week; no API, smart devices or direct booking. | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of all features, no credit card required | 15-day free trial, no card needed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Hospitable R&D BV | Hostex |
| Price read from | help.hospitable.com | hostex.io |
| Checked | Oct 24, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Hospitable
- Host is limited to 2 properties; beyond the included properties, each paid plan charges $10 to $30 per extra active property.
- Direct bookings are only on Professional and Mogul, at a 1% commission (Basic) or 4% plus 3% processing (Premium) per booking.
- Owner portals, owner statements and accounting integrations need the Mogul plan, which is sold through a demo.
- Essentials has AI and community support only; API access, integrations and smart devices need a paid plan.
Hostex
- The pricing page shows a Monthly and a Yearly (save 33%) toggle; only the yearly figures were readable, so monthly-billed prices are not listed here.
- Basic is limited to up to 2 properties; Vrbo integration, owner statements and open API access start on Pro.
- The Premium plan shows a Contact us button rather than a self-serve checkout.
- The pricing page says each rental unit counts as a property, and reducing the property count has to wait until the contract term ends.
Key features
Hospitable
- Unified inbox and automated messages
- Guest messages from every connected channel in one inbox, with scheduled messages, Q&A auto-replies and a guest portal.
- Channel sync
- Connects Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com and Agoda on every plan, with iCal imports and Google Vacation Rentals listing for direct bookings.
- AI replies and Copilot
- Suggested and automatic AI replies, a knowledge hub and AI issue alerts; Essentials is limited to 10 AI uses a week.
- Tasks and teammate payouts
- Cleaning and teammate workflows with a tasks app, and payouts to cleaners for a fee of 2.5% per clean on Essentials or 1.5% on paid plans, capped at $5.
- Smart devices
- Professional and Mogul generate smart lock codes and run thermostat automations, with 2 or 4 devices included per property and $5 for each extra.
- Direct booking and owner tools
- A direct booking website from Professional, at 1% or 4% plus 3% per booking; owner portals, statements and accounting come with Mogul.
Hostex
- Channel sync and price calendar
- Updates bookings, rates and availability across connected channels from one calendar, with bulk edits by date, property or platform.
- Unified inbox and HostGPT
- Messages from every booking channel in one inbox, with an AI assistant that learns from a knowledge base and hands questions to staff when it cannot answer.
- Automated messages and reviews
- Triggered and canned messages, automated translation, and review sending and replying for guest reviews from booking channels.
- Direct booking site builder
- Builds a branded booking website with a custom domain and embeddable booking widgets. The pricing page says there is no booking fee.
- Tasks and team accounts
- Assigns cleaning tasks for each reservation, notifies cleaners of changes, and gives team members sub-accounts with set permissions.
- Owner reports and financial tracking
- Records income and expenses, and generates monthly reports to deliver to property owners.
Plans
Hospitable
Essentials$0
Free for unlimited properties. Upsells carry a 10% processing fee, and dynamic pricing is $15 per property a month after a short trial.
Host$25.52
per month for 1 property, billed annually ($29 billed monthly)
For solo hosts, up to 2 properties at $10 for the second. Adds AI message replies, dynamic pricing, the metrics dashboard and API and MCP access.
Professional$51.92
per month for 2 properties, billed annually ($59 billed monthly)
Each extra property is $15. Adds a direct booking website, smart lock and thermostat automation and guest payment collection.
Mogul$99
per month for 3 properties, billed monthly
Each extra property is $30. Adds owner portal, payouts and statements, accounting with QuickBooks, and commission tracking. Sold through a demo.
Hostex
Basic$4.9
per property / month, yearly view (monthly figure not read)
For individual hosts, up to 2 properties. Unified inbox, HostGPT AI replies, automated messages and tasks, booking site builder, team accounts and reporting.
Pro$7
per property / month, yearly view (monthly figure not read)
For professional managers. Adds Vrbo integration, guest guide, multi-unit management, Google Vacation Rentals distribution, owner statements and open API access.
Premium$10.5
per property / month, yearly view (monthly figure not read)
For enterprises, sold through contact. Adds dedicated high-performance sync, priority support and onboarding, and custom integrations on request.
Ways to pay less
Hospitable
- Annual discount
Save 12% with annual billing
Hospitable's pricing page lists a 12% saving for annual billing: Host is $25.52 a month instead of $29, and Professional $51.92 instead of $59.
Hostex
- Annual discount
Save 33% with yearly billing
The pricing page offers a yearly billing option marked as saving 33% against monthly payments.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Hospitable or Hostex?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Hostex is cheaper to start with: $4.90 a month, against $25.52 a month for Hospitable. Hospitable starts at $25.52 per month for 1 property, billed annually ($29 billed monthly), and Hostex starts at $4.9 per property / month, shown on the yearly view.
Which has a free plan, Hospitable or Hostex?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Hospitable has a free plan. Hostex does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Hospitable and Hostex run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Hospitable lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.