Comparisons
KynStay with Lodgify
This is not a “versus.” Lodgify is a property management system for running public short term rentals; KynStay is a private booking system for the people you already know. A host who uses both keeps Lodgify for strangers and adds KynStay for family and friends.
What Lodgify gives you for a family stay
What Lodgify does not do is treat your sister differently from a stranger. It gives you two tools, both designed for something else:
- A closed period. You block the dates on the Lodgify calendar, the block goes out to your connected channels, and your sister’s stay exists only in your head and your inbox. No request, no record, no reminder, nothing for her to look at.
- A promo code. Lodgify’s discounts can require a code, but a code only works on your Lodgify website: it is not sent to Airbnb or the other channels, and on a manual reservation you have to discount the rate by hand instead. Your sister books through the same public page as a stranger, with the same public price list, and types a code at checkout.
Side by side
| Feature | Lodgify | KynStay |
|---|---|---|
| Public listings and channel manager | Yes: Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com connections | Never. KynStay does not put your home in front of anyone you haven’t let in. |
| Website builder | Yes, from the Starter plan up | No |
| Friends and family pricing by relationship | No. Promo codes only, and they work only on your Lodgify website | Named tiers with a discount and night allowance, assigned per guest |
| Private first access | No private or relationship based booking mode | Email invitations, plus a public profile whose requests you approve |
| Stay Exchange between hosts | No | Yes, with a ledger per pair of hosts |
| Fees on bookings | 0% booking fee on every plan; a 1% transaction fee on payments guests make online through a gateway such as Stripe or PayPal, on top of the gateway’s own fee | None from KynStay. On card payments you pay only Stripe’s own processing fee, on your own Stripe account. |
| Subscription | Four plans from a low monthly price, with discounts for yearly and two year billing. Lodgify changes these often; see Lodgify’s pricing page for today’s numbers. | $8/month or $65/year, one plan; your first two bookings are free |
| Calendar sync (iCal both ways) | Yes; imports refresh every 2 hours | Yes; imports refresh every hour, plus Sync Now |
Lodgify details checked on 22 October 2026 against Lodgify’s own pricing page and help center; they may have changed since. KynStay’s price is shown in USD.
How the two work together
Connect the calendars both ways and the split runs itself: a Lodgify booking blocks those dates in KynStay, and a KynStay booking shows as busy in Lodgify. Lodgify has its own pill on KynStay’s Calendar page; the steps are in the calendar sync guide’s PMS section.
Know the timing. KynStay imports your Lodgify feed every hour, or when you press Sync Now; Lodgify’s help center says it refreshes imported calendars every 2 hours (checked on 22 October 2026). KynStay rereads your Lodgify feed when you confirm a request, but Lodgify only sees the booking when it next reads KynStay, so press its “Synchronize now” after confirming and block tight turnarounds by hand. Only dates cross; rates, guests, messages and payments stay where they were made, and rate sync from a pricing tool is covered in the calendar sync guide.
Choose Lodgify alone if…
- Every guest is a paying stranger. If nobody you know ever stays, a closed period for your own visits is all you need, and a second system is a second login.
- Family stays are rare and always free. One or two a year, no money changing hands, no allowance to track: block the dates and be done.
- You need one calendar that is always right, to the minute. Two systems linked by iCal means a sync window. If you cannot live with it, keep everything in one place.
Add KynStay if…
- Different people should pay different prices. Family at cost, friends at a discount, the wider circle at your rate, each set once and applied automatically. “Two free weeks a year for the in-laws” is a tier setting, not a conversation.
- You want a record, not a text thread. Requests, approvals, what is owed and what has been paid, arrival details sent on time, all without sending family through a public checkout.
- You swap stays with other owners. A stay exchange and its ledger have no equivalent in a PMS.
- You would rather not pay a percentage on your sister’s stay. KynStay adds nothing to any booking, and your first two bookings cost nothing at all.
Keep Lodgify running exactly as it is. Add KynStay beside it, connect the calendars, and the people you know stop going through the stranger door.
Add KynStay beside Lodgify
Set up your home, invite the people you know, and connect the two calendars. Your first two bookings are free, and no card is needed to start.