Is Chekin or Hostaway better?

Neither clearly leads. Chekin starts at €3.95/month and Hostaway at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Chekin or Hostaway?

Chekin starts at €3.95/month and Hostaway at On request.

Does Chekin or Hostaway run on more platforms?

Chekin runs on Web, iOS, Android. Hostaway runs on Web, iOS, Android, Cloud.

What is Chekin best used for?

Chekin is most often used for a manager with twenty apartments in barcelona who must file guest data with the ministry of the interior for every arrival and cannot do it manually at scale, an italian host needing alloggiati web submissions and city tourist tax collected from the guest rather than absorbed, a property with no staffed reception issuing door codes only after identity documents have been verified, an operator wanting damage deposits taken and released automatically instead of chasing bank transfers. Of those, a manager with twenty apartments in barcelona who must file guest data with the ministry of the interior for every arrival and cannot do it manually at scale and an italian host needing alloggiati web submissions and city tourist tax collected from the guest rather than absorbed are not what Hostaway is typically brought in for.

What can Chekin do that Hostaway cannot?

Chekin covers Police and authority registration, Identity verification, Tourist tax calculation, Self check-in and digital keys. Hostaway covers Multi-channel distribution, Unified inbox, Automation, Owner statements.

Travel · head to head

Chekin vs Hostaway

Chekin

Travel

Guest check-in, identity verification and police registration for European rentals

From: €3.95/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

Hostaway

Travel

Vacation rental management platform for professional operators

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Chekin there is a three unit minimum on the published plans, so a single-property host cannot buy the entry tier at the advertised rate.; Hostaway quote-only pricing scaled by listing count, with an onboarding fee commonly reported, so entry cost is real
They diverge on capability: Chekin covers Police and authority registration, Hostaway covers Multi-channel distribution.
Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Chekin and Hostaway actually diverge.

Attributes where Chekin and Hostaway differ
Attribute	Chekin	Hostaway
Starting price	€3.95/month	On request
Pricing model	Per property per month	quote
Platforms	Web, iOS, Android	Web, iOS, Android, Cloud

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Travel).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Chekin

Police and authority registration
Identity verification
Tourist tax calculation
Self check-in and digital keys
Deposits and damage protection
Upsells and branded guest app

Only in Hostaway

Multi-channel distribution
Unified inbox
Automation
Owner statements

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Chekin

A manager with twenty apartments in Barcelona who must file guest data with the Ministry of the Interior for every arrival and cannot do it manually at scalenot Hostaway
An Italian host needing Alloggiati Web submissions and city tourist tax collected from the guest rather than absorbednot Hostaway
A property with no staffed reception issuing door codes only after identity documents have been verifiednot Hostaway
An operator wanting damage deposits taken and released automatically instead of chasing bank transfersnot Hostaway

Hostaway

Managers running portfolios across several booking channelsnot Chekin
Operators whose margin goes to manual guest messaging and turnover coordinationnot Chekin
Companies producing owner statements for managed propertiesnot Chekin

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Chekin

There is a three unit minimum on the published plans, so a single-property host cannot buy the entry tier at the advertised rate.
The compliance value is regional; outside Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece there is often no authority integration to use and the product becomes an ordinary check-in form at a per property price.
Transaction fees sit on almost every money-handling feature, including 1.5% plus EUR 0.99 on payments and 10% on unified inbox transactions, so the effective cost is far above the subscription for anyone using them.
It is a layer on top of a PMS rather than a replacement, so you are paying a second per property subscription alongside your existing platform and reconciling two sources of guest data.
Identity verification and self check-in sit behind the Premium tier and Premium only includes one premium feature, so an operator wanting both verification and digital keys must move to Enterprise.

Hostaway

Quote-only pricing scaled by listing count, with an onboarding fee commonly reported, so entry cost is real
Built for professional operators; single-property hosts find the cost per unit hard to justify
Channel sync inherits the reliability of the booking platforms it connects to
Depth in individual modules is shallower than dedicated point tools

Pricing, plan by plan

Chekin

€3.95/month

Basic$3.95/month
- Minimum three units
- Online check-in and legal compliance filing
- Tourist taxes
Premium$5.95/month
- Everything in Basic
- One premium feature of your choice
- Options: identity verification, self check-in and digital keys, branded guest app, digital guidebooks or e-invoicing
Enterprise$7.95/month
- All premium features included
- Identity verification, self check-in, branded app, guidebooks, e-invoicing
- Custom pricing above volume thresholds

Hostaway

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Hostaway review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Chekin if

You need police and authority registration.
You work on Web, iOS, Android.
You also want identity verification.

Chekin review

Choose Hostaway if

You need multi-channel distribution.
You work on Web, iOS, Android, Cloud.
You also want unified inbox.

Hostaway review

Questions people ask

Is Chekin or Hostaway better?: Neither clearly leads. Chekin starts at €3.95/month and Hostaway at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Chekin or Hostaway?: Chekin starts at €3.95/month and Hostaway at On request.
Does Chekin or Hostaway run on more platforms?: Chekin runs on Web, iOS, Android. Hostaway runs on Web, iOS, Android, Cloud.
What is Chekin best used for?: Chekin is most often used for a manager with twenty apartments in barcelona who must file guest data with the ministry of the interior for every arrival and cannot do it manually at scale, an italian host needing alloggiati web submissions and city tourist tax collected from the guest rather than absorbed, a property with no staffed reception issuing door codes only after identity documents have been verified, an operator wanting damage deposits taken and released automatically instead of chasing bank transfers. Of those, a manager with twenty apartments in barcelona who must file guest data with the ministry of the interior for every arrival and cannot do it manually at scale and an italian host needing alloggiati web submissions and city tourist tax collected from the guest rather than absorbed are not what Hostaway is typically brought in for.
What can Chekin do that Hostaway cannot?: Chekin covers Police and authority registration, Identity verification, Tourist tax calculation, Self check-in and digital keys. Hostaway covers Multi-channel distribution, Unified inbox, Automation, Owner statements.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Chekin: Why would I buy this rather than use my PMS check-in form?

Because it files guest data with national police registration systems and calculates local tourist tax, which PMS check-in forms do not do.

Hostaway: What does Hostaway cost?

It quotes by listing count and modules and does not publish rates. An onboarding fee is commonly part of the arrangement.

Chekin: What does it really cost?

From EUR 3.95 per property per month with a three unit minimum, plus 1.5% plus EUR 0.30 on deposits, 1.5% plus EUR 0.99 on payments, 1% on upsells and 10% on unified inbox transactions.

Hostaway: Hostaway or Guesty?

They compete for the same professional operator market with broadly similar feature sets. Differences usually come down to quoted price, onboarding and specific channel or PMS integrations.

Chekin: Does it work outside southern Europe?

The check-in, verification and key features do. The automated authority filing that justifies the price largely does not.

Hostaway: Is it worth it for one or two listings?

Generally not. It is built for portfolios, and the per-unit cost is hard to justify below a handful of properties.

Chekin: Can I get both identity verification and digital keys on Premium?

No. Premium includes one premium feature. Both requires Enterprise at EUR 7.95 per property per month.

Chekin vs Hostaway

Chekin

Hostaway

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Chekin

Only in Hostaway

What people use each for

Chekin

Hostaway

Where each one falls short

Chekin

Hostaway

Pricing, plan by plan

Chekin

Hostaway

Which should you pick?

Choose Chekin if

Choose Hostaway if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Chekin

More on Hostaway

Keep looking

Other head to heads