HostReply vs StayReply: Flat-Rate PMS Integration or Volume-Priced Multi-System Reach?
StayReply and HostReply are close enough in name and pitch that hosts researching one often stumble onto the other. Both auto-reply to Airbnb and other short-term rental guest messages, both build their answers from your property data, and both keep a human in the loop for anything sensitive. The real difference is breadth versus depth: StayReply plugs into a long list of PMSs at volume-scaled pricing, while HostReply integrates deeply with a smaller set of PMSs at one flat price.
What StayReply Is
StayReply (stayreply.com) is an AI guest-messaging automation tool that connects to Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com guest conversations through your existing property management system — Hostaway, Guesty, Hospitable, or, per StayReply's own marketing, one of "14+" supported systems. Once connected, it builds a property-specific knowledge base from your past replies, listing descriptions, house manuals, and PMS notes, then classifies every incoming guest message with a confidence score: routine questions auto-reply, and messages it flags as sensitive (complaints, refund requests, emergencies) are held for host review. You set the confidence threshold yourself. StayReply's own marketing claims 60-90% of messages get automated, saving hosts around 15 hours a month — we haven't independently verified that range and note it here as StayReply's claim, not a confirmed figure.
- Broad PMS reach — connects through Hostaway, Guesty, Hospitable, and other supported systems, rather than integrating with a short list directly
- Per-property knowledge base — built from past replies, listing text, house manuals, and PMS notes rather than live lookups at reply time
- Confidence-threshold escalation — you set how confident the AI needs to be before it auto-sends; anything below that line, or flagged as sensitive, holds for your review
- Volume-scaled pricing — published tiers from $29/property/month down to $19/property/month as your portfolio grows, plus custom Enterprise pricing at 250+ properties
Quick Comparison
| HostReply | StayReply | |
|---|---|---|
| PMS integrations | Hospitable and OwnerRez, both live today (Hostaway, Guesty coming soon) | Hostaway, Guesty, Hospitable, and other systems per StayReply's "14+" claim |
| Pricing | $19/property/month, flat, published, any portfolio size | $29/property/month at 1-10 properties, scaling down to $19/property/month at 76-250, custom above that |
| Free trial | 14 days, no credit card | 14 days, no credit card |
| Answer source | Live tool-based lookups (calendar, property data, approved FAQs) at reply time | Property-specific knowledge base built from past replies, listing text, house manuals, and PMS notes |
| Escalation trigger | Host-set confidence threshold; texts a one-line summary when unsure | Host-set confidence threshold; holds sensitive messages (complaints, refunds, emergencies) for review |
| Escalation channel | SMS to your phone | Not publicly documented in StayReply's own materials as of this writing |
| FAQ learning | Auto-detects repeated guest questions, suggests new FAQs for one-click approval | Not documented as a distinct feature; relies on the built knowledge base |
Breadth vs. Depth: The Real Tradeoff
StayReply's pitch is reach: plug into whichever PMS you already run, from a list that spans well beyond the two or three most common players. That matters if your portfolio sits on a PMS HostReply doesn't support yet. HostReply takes the opposite bet — support Hospitable and OwnerRez (both live integrations today, with Hostaway and Guesty coming soon) as deeply as possible, rather than spreading engineering effort across a long integration list. If you're on Hospitable or OwnerRez already, that depth shows up as live calendar and property lookups at reply time instead of a knowledge base you have to keep current by hand. If you're on a PMS outside that pair, StayReply's wider net is the more practical starting point today.
Pricing: Flat Rate vs. Volume Tiers
HostReply charges a flat $19 per property per month regardless of portfolio size. StayReply's published pricing starts higher for small portfolios — $29/property/month at 1-10 properties — and steps down as you scale, reaching $19/property/month around the 76-250 property tier, with custom Enterprise pricing above that. In practice: a solo host with one or two properties pays noticeably less per property with HostReply's flat rate, while a large multi-PMS operator scaling into StayReply's top volume tier can land at a comparable per-property price — the crossover point depends on exactly where your portfolio falls on StayReply's tier table.
Who Should Choose StayReply
- You run a PMS HostReply doesn't support yet. StayReply's broader integration list covers more ground today if you're not on Hospitable or OwnerRez.
- You manage a large, PMS-diverse portfolio. A multi-brand operator connecting several different PMSs across properties may find StayReply's one-tool-many-systems approach simpler than mixing tools per PMS.
- You'd rather curate a knowledge base than rely on live lookups. If your property details rarely change and you're comfortable keeping a knowledge base updated, that model works fine.
Who Should Choose HostReply
- You already use Hospitable or OwnerRez. Deep integration means live calendar and property lookups instead of a separately maintained knowledge base.
- You want simple, flat, size-independent pricing. $19/property/month whether you run one property or fifty, with no tier table to check.
- You want escalations to reliably reach you. HostReply's SMS escalation needs no app install and works on any phone.
- You want FAQs that build themselves. HostReply detects repeated guest questions automatically and proposes new FAQ entries for approval, instead of relying only on what you feed a knowledge base up front.
For the wider landscape beyond these two, see our guide to the best AI guest messaging tools for Airbnb in 2026.
FAQ
Is StayReply a good HostReply alternative?
It depends on your PMS and portfolio size. StayReply connects to a broader list of PMSs (Hostaway, Guesty, Hospitable, and others) and scales its per-property price down at high volume, which suits a large, PMS-diverse portfolio. HostReply integrates more deeply with a smaller set of PMSs (Hospitable and OwnerRez) at a flat, size-independent price, which suits hosts on either of those two systems who want live lookups instead of a curated knowledge base.
Does StayReply cost more or less than HostReply?
It depends on portfolio size. StayReply's published pricing starts at $29/property/month for 1-10 properties and steps down to $19/property/month around 76-250 properties. HostReply is a flat $19/property/month regardless of size, so small portfolios generally pay less with HostReply, while very large portfolios can reach a comparable per-property rate with StayReply's top volume tier.
Which PMSs does each tool connect to?
HostReply integrates live with Hospitable and OwnerRez today, with Hostaway and Guesty coming soon. StayReply connects through a broader list — Hostaway, Guesty, Hospitable, and, per its own marketing, "14+" supported systems.
How does each tool decide when to escalate to the host?
Both use a confidence-based model: you set how confident the AI needs to be before it auto-sends a reply, and anything below that line escalates. HostReply escalates by SMS with a one-line summary and a draft you can edit or send as-is. StayReply also flags sensitive categories like complaints, refund requests, and emergencies for review, though its own materials don't publicly document which notification channel it uses to reach you.