Payments & Getting Paid
KynStay never holds your money. Guests pay you directly — by card straight to your own Stripe account, or by whatever manual method works best for both of you. KynStay's job is to track what's owed, who's paid, and make sure nothing falls through the cracks.
How payments work
When a host confirms a booking for a paid stay, KynStay creates a payment record showing what the guest owes. The amount is calculated from the property's nightly rates and the guest's pricing tier discount. What happens next depends on how the booking is paid.
Paid by card
If you've switched card payments on, guests pay by card at checkout and the payment records itself — there's no claim for the guest to submit and nothing for you to confirm. The money goes straight to your own Stripe account; KynStay never touches it and takes no fee. You pay only Stripe's own processing fee.
A card booking is paid by card — you can't record a bank transfer or cash against it, because KynStay can only refund money a card charge actually holds. If a guest genuinely can't pay by card, switch that booking to manual payment from its payment page; you can do that any time before money has been taken. Refunds, payouts and chargebacks all live in your own Stripe dashboard — but issue refunds from KynStay so we can notify the guest and keep the booking's records straight.
For a manual payment — bank transfer, Venmo, cash and the rest — it's a three-step process:
Guest sends payment directly to host
Using whatever method the host has set up — Venmo, Zelle, bank transfer, PayPal, or anything else.
Guest claims payment on KynStay
The guest records which payment method they used, and optionally includes a transaction reference.
Host confirms payment received
The host checks their account and confirms. The payment is marked as complete and both sides are notified.
Why not process payments directly?
Because you're sharing with people you know, not strangers. Direct payment means zero fees — the price you set is the price you get. Card payments are the same deal: guests pay your own Stripe account directly, KynStay takes nothing, and you pay only Stripe's own processing fee. See our pricing guide for the full breakdown.
For Hosts
Setting up payment methods
Before your guests can pay you, set up at least one payment method so they know where to send money. You can add up to 10 methods and mark one as your preferred option — this is highlighted for guests when they view their payment details.
Supported payment methods
Managing payments
Your Payments dashboard organizes everything into three sections:
Awaiting Confirmation
Payments a guest has claimed to have sent. Check your account, then confirm or reject.
Outstanding
Unpaid and partially paid bookings. You can mark these as paid, record a partial payment, or comp the stay entirely.
Completed
Paid, comped, and exchange-settled stays — your full payment history.
Hosts can also mark a stay as comped (waived) if they decide not to charge. This is different from a free tier — it means the booking was priced but the host chose to waive the payment after the fact.
For Guests
Your Balances page shows everything you owe across all hosts, organized by urgency.
Claiming a payment
When you view a payment, you'll see the host's preferred payment method along with their other options. After sending money directly to the host:
Select the method you used
Choose which payment method you sent money through (Venmo, Zelle, bank transfer, etc.).
Add a reference (optional)
Include a transaction ID, date, or note so the host can find the payment in their account.
Submit the claim
Your host gets notified and can confirm or reject. You'll be notified either way.
If the host rejects your claim (maybe they can't find the payment), you'll see the rejection reason and can resubmit once you've sorted it out.
Payment timing and reminders
KynStay tracks the urgency of outstanding payments based on your booking dates:
After checkout, guests automatically receive a payment reminder email if their balance is still outstanding. This keeps things moving without the host having to send awkward follow-up messages.
Partial payments and special cases
Not every payment is a simple one-time transfer. KynStay handles several common scenarios:
Simple payments, no platform fees
Set up your payment methods, share your property, and let KynStay handle the bookkeeping. With direct payment you keep 100% of what your guests pay. Card payments are the same: KynStay takes nothing, you pay only Stripe’s own processing fee.