Guesty pricing and websites vs VacayDirect
A free booking engine. The website is the choice.
Every Guesty account includes a booking engine at no extra cost, and Guesty sells three tiers of website on top — including one done for you. Here's what each costs, as far as Guesty publishes it, and where we fit.
The short answer
Guesty is property management software that starts from $9 a month per listing on its Lite plan for one to three listings, with larger portfolios priced by quote. Every Guesty account includes the Guesty Booking Engine free, and Guesty Websites adds a free Basic tier, a paid Advanced tier and a done-for-you Advanced Plus tier. VacayDirect is a done-for-you website service at a published $99 a month that connects to the Guesty Booking Engine as a widget.
What is Guesty, and what does it cost?
Guesty is property management software that scales from small hosts to large companies: channel connections, a unified inbox, automation, payments, revenue tools and a long list of add-ons. Its pricing page splits customers into three: Lite, "Perfect for 1–3 listings"; Pro, "Tailored for 4–199 listings"; and Enterprise for 200 or more.
Only the smallest plan has a published figure, and only in the FAQ: "We have packages that start from $9/month per listing." Pro and Enterprise are "Get a quote". There's a 14-day free trial on Lite, and Guesty is explicit that there's no free version: "While we don't have a completely free version of Guesty, we do provide a 14-day free trial of our Lite package" (read 22 September 2026).
The website picture is more generous than most. Guesty's help centre says the Guesty Booking Engine, a booking portal that syncs with your Guesty calendar, is "free for all Guesty users", as a standalone booking site or a widget on your own website. On top of it, Guesty Websites comes in tiers: a Basic Website "free of charge", an Advanced Website that's a paid add-on, and Advanced Plus, which Guesty describes as done-for-you design, setup and maintenance by its team. Guesty's features page frames the builder slightly differently — "free of charge and only pay when the site goes live" — so confirm which applies to your plan.
That makes Guesty unusual: if you're on it, there's a done-for-you website option from the software company itself. Advanced Plus isn't priced publicly, and on the pricing page Advanced Websites is listed for Pro and Enterprise.
What we couldn't find priced
Pro and Enterprise plans (quote only), the Advanced and Advanced Plus website tiers, and exactly which website tier is included in Lite — the comparison table's tick marks didn't survive when we read it. Ask for those in writing with your quote.
Read on guesty.com/pricing, Guesty's direct booking solutions and Guesty Websites.
| Guesty | VacayDirect | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Property management software with a booking engine and website tiers | Website and content service |
| Price | From $9/month per listing (Lite, 1–3 listings); Pro and Enterprise by quote | $99/mo Growth, $199/mo Concierge; no setup fee |
| Booking engine | Guesty Booking Engine, "free for all Guesty users" | We embed Guesty's Booking Engine widget |
| Website, do it yourself | Basic Website, free; Advanced Website, paid | — |
| Website, done for you | Advanced Plus — design, setup and maintenance by Guesty; price not published | We build it from your current site or listing; $99/mo |
| Local content | You write it (on Basic and Advanced) | Area guides, guest pages and FAQs published weekly; you can edit or veto any of it |
| Custom site on your own code | Booking Engine API — "requires a web developer" | What we build |
| Channel management | Yes, core product | Not our job. Keep Guesty for it. |
| Fee on website bookings | Guesty says website bookings are commission-free | None |
| Trial | 14 days on Lite | No free trial; month to month from launch |
Guesty details from guesty.com/pricing, its Guesty Websites page and its help centre, read 22 September 2026 (website tiers from our 20 September read).
| Route | Cost, per Guesty | Who does the work |
|---|---|---|
| Booking Engine as a standalone site | Free for all Guesty users | You set it up |
| Booking Engine widget on your own site | Free for all Guesty users | Whoever builds your site — that's where we fit |
| Guesty Websites Basic / Advanced | Basic free; Advanced paid | You, in Guesty's builder |
| Guesty Websites Advanced Plus | Not published | Guesty's team |
From Guesty's help centre and features pages, September 2026.
Who Guesty is built for
Guesty covers a wide range — its Lite plan is for one to three listings — but most of its weight is at the professional end, where "Guesty vs Hostaway" and "Lodgify vs Guesty" are the comparisons people run. For a small host, Lite at a per-listing price is a legitimate way in, with a free booking engine included.
If you're already on Guesty
You have three honest options for a website. Use the free Basic Website and write it yourself. Pay for Advanced, or for Guesty's done-for-you Advanced Plus, and stay inside one company. Or put a separate site in front of the free Booking Engine — which is what we do.
Advanced Plus is the closest thing to us, and it has a real advantage: one vendor for software and site. What we'd point out is what you can compare: our price is published and doesn't depend on your Guesty plan, and our content — the weekly area guides and guest pages — is the part of the job we're built around.
Where Guesty's own website is the better choice
If you want one vendor, one login and one bill, and you're on a plan that includes the tier you want. Or if you'll build and write the site yourself — the Basic Website is free and sits on the same booking engine.
Where VacayDirect is the better choice
If you want a custom site with local content written for you every week, at a price you can see before a sales call, and you'd like the website to stay yours if you ever change booking software. Our site sits on Guesty's free Booking Engine widget, so it doesn't add to your Guesty bill.
Questions
What owners ask us
How much does Guesty cost?
Guesty's pricing FAQ says "We have packages that start from $9/month per listing" — that's the Lite plan, for one to three listings. Pro (4–199 listings) and Enterprise (200+) are priced by quote. There's a 14-day free trial on Lite and no free version (read 22 September 2026).
Is Guesty's booking engine free?
Yes, per Guesty's help centre: the Guesty Booking Engine is "free for all Guesty users", and can be used as a standalone booking site or embedded as a widget on your own website.
What do Guesty Websites cost?
Guesty's help centre describes a Basic Website "free of charge" and a paid Advanced Website; its features page says users can use the builder "free of charge and only pay when the site goes live". The Advanced and done-for-you Advanced Plus tiers aren't publicly priced.
Does Guesty offer a done-for-you website?
Yes — Advanced Plus, which Guesty describes as design, setup and maintenance by its team. It isn't publicly priced. VacayDirect is also done-for-you, at a published $99 a month, and works with Guesty's free Booking Engine.
Can I use Guesty with my own website?
Yes. The Guesty Booking Engine embeds as a search widget on outside sites, including Wix, WordPress and Squarespace, and for fully custom sites there's a Booking Engine API that Guesty says needs a web developer.
Guesty vs Hostaway — which is better?
Both are property management platforms, and the choice is about operations and price. Guesty publishes a starting price and includes a free booking engine; Hostaway publishes no prices and its pricing form starts at two listings. We compare Hostaway separately.
Guesty vs Lodgify?
Lodgify publishes all four plan prices, from $18 a month list, with its website builder from its $33 Starter plan. Guesty publishes a from-$9-per-listing Lite price and quotes the rest. Both have booking widgets we can embed.
What are the best Guesty alternatives?
For property management: Lodgify, OwnerRez, Hostaway, Hospitable and Hostfully. For the website only, you don't need to leave Guesty — its booking engine is free and embeds in any site, including ours.
Guesty reviews — is it any good?
We haven't used it ourselves and don't repeat third-party review scores. Its own site shows a mature platform with an unusually generous free booking engine. Judge it on a trial and a written quote.
Do I pay VacayDirect a booking commission?
No. VacayDirect is a flat $99 or $199 a month.
Let's get your place its own front door.
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