Hostex review (2026): is it worth $4.9 a month?
Low-cost channel manager and PMS for short-term rentals
Black Friday: is there a Hostex sale?
Hostex report card
Good · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 13, 2026
Best for small hosts on a tight budget
Hostex is a channel manager and property system for short-term rentals, priced from $4.9 a property a month on the yearly view. Basic stops at 2 properties, and Vrbo, owner statements and the API wait on Pro.
Who Hostex is for
- 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
Who Hostex is not for
- 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
Why Hostex gets a 2.6
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- AValue for moneyBasic 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.
- CFree plan and trialA 15-day free trial with no card needed. There is no free plan.
- CFeaturesChannel 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.
- CEase of useNo store rating on record, and channels and properties have to be connected first.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb only, but it links to Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia, PriceLabs, Turno and Stripe.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Hostex's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/hostex#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/hostex.svg" alt="Hostex: 2.6 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Hostex stands among vacation rental tools
Hostex's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 47 of the 53 other vacation rental tools we grade, and level with 5.
It stands best on value for money (A, above 53 of 53) and worst on ease of use (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $4.90 a month, against a middle price of $19.99 for the category: 4 of the 35 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 2 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 54 vacation rental tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Hostex’s own letter is outlined.
- AValue for moneyAbove 53 of 53
- CFree plan and trialAbove 24 of 53, level with 25
- CFeaturesAbove 1 of 53, level with 28
- CEase of useAbove 0 of 53, level with 52
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 4 of 53, level with 49
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 36 vacation rental tools. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep Hostex, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace Hostex you would be making two-way connections to Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.6 is higher than 47 of the 53 other vacation rental tools we grade. It costs $58.80 a year.
What you could make
- Tasks: an app builder makes this well.
What you could not
- Two-way connections to Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo.
- One mailbox that several people work at once.
- It plugs into other products, Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo among them, and has an API.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- Hooks into the device itself: widgets.
- What a company asks for before it lets staff use something: roles and permissions.
What this rests on. Hostex’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Hostex?
Hostex is vacation rental software that syncs calendars and rates across Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia and other channels from one dashboard. It adds a unified guest inbox with an AI reply assistant, automated messages, cleaning tasks and a direct booking site builder. Plans are priced per property, with a 15-day free trial.
Worth knowing
- 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
- 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.
Hostex pricing
As of Nov 13, 2026, Hostex is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $4.9 per property / month, shown on the yearly view.
- Starts at
- $4.9 per property / month, shown on the yearly view
- Free plan
- None
- Free trial
- 15-day free trial, no card needed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $4.9per 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 | $7per 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 | $10.5per 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. |
Read from hostex.io on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Hostex before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Annual discountSave 33% with yearly billing
The pricing page offers a yearly billing option marked as saving 33% against monthly payments.
Stated on hostex.io
Works with
Hostex alternatives
- Hostex vs Hospitable
Free plan · from $25.52/mo
- Hostex vs Hosthub
Free trial · from $21.6/mo
- Hostex vs Smoobu
Free trial · from €29/mo
Common questions
Does Hostex have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Hostex is listed for Web.
Does Hostex have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Hostex is listed for Web.
Is Hostex open source?
Hostex is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 13, 2026.
Does Hostex have an API?
Yes. Hostex offers a public API, according to its own site.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026.