How CielStay compares
CielStay isn't another place to take bookings. It's a free index that helps guests, and their AI assistants, find homes and every place each one can be booked, including the host's own site. So it works alongside the platforms and software below rather than replacing them.
| Kind | What it is | Who pays | Booking and payment | Stays | How CielStay helps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CielStay cielstay.com | A free AI search index of homes from hosts’ and property managers’ own booking sites, showing every place each home can be booked. | Nobody, to list or search. CielStay Pro is an optional host plan, $100 a year per home; it doesn’t affect ranking. | Never takes bookings or payments. Guests book on the host’s own site, or wherever else the home is listed. | A night to a year. | The index itself: free for guests, hosts and AI assistants. |
| Booking platforms (OTAs) Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com | Marketplaces where guests find and book homes; the platform runs the booking. | Airbnb: most hosts pay a 15.5% host-only fee. Vrbo: a 12% host commission plus a guest service fee in most cases. Booking.com: a commission set in each property’s agreement. | The platform takes the booking and the payment, and applies its own rules and support. | Mostly short stays; monthly stays too. | Guests compare: a home’s OTA listings appear beside the host’s own site, with an estimated price on each, so guests choose where to book. |
| Property-management software (PMS) Guesty, Hospitable, OwnerRez, Hostaway | Software hosts use to run their homes: calendars, messaging, pricing, channel connections and often a direct booking website. | The host, by subscription; pricing is per listing and, for some plans, by quote. | Powers the host’s own booking site and connects to the OTAs. | Whatever the host offers. | A free extra channel for the booking sites hosts already run on them, with nothing to connect: guests arrive at the host’s own booking engine. |
| Direct-booking directories Houfy, Inndirectly | Sites for homes guests can book without an OTA. Houfy takes bookings on its own platform; Inndirectly links guests to hosts’ own sites. | Houfy: no commission and no guest service fee by its own account, with optional host plans from $7.99 a listing a month. Inndirectly: a host listing fee (amount not published). | Houfy: bookings and payments on Houfy. Inndirectly: on the host’s own site. | Mostly short stays. | A free search front end for their listings: a host adds their Houfy or Inndirectly link as another way to book, and it’s found through our search and by AI assistants. |
| Mid-term rental platforms Furnished Finder | Listings of furnished homes for stays of a month or more, with travelling nurses as a core audience. | The host: $199 a year per property in 2026, with lower prices for added units; no booking commission. | Guest and host arrange the lease and payment between them. | About 30 days and up. | Monthly homes found next to nightly ones. A host adds the Furnished Finder link as another way to book; showing they control it earns the Verified Host badge. |
| Real-estate and rental listing sites Zillow Rentals | Listings of homes to rent, mostly unfurnished, on long leases, alongside homes for sale. | Basic rental listings are generally free to landlords, with paid placement; renters may pay application fees. | Applications and leases, between renter and landlord or manager. | Mostly a year or longer. | Furnished and yearly stays found by travellers, not only renters. A host adds the Zillow link as another way to book; showing they control it earns the Verified Host badge. |
Fees as each company published them, checked November 2026. Fees vary by country, plan and host; check the company's own page for yours.
Using CielStay with the others
- Keep your OTA listings. CielStay shows them as more ways to book, next to your own site, and estimates the price on each (how).
- Your property-management software is how we find you. Most homes on CielStay come from the booking sites hosts already run on Guesty, Hospitable, OwnerRez and others; there's nothing to connect.
- Monthly and yearly stays sit next to nightly ones. One listing can offer a night, a week, a month or a year, so guests who'd search Furnished Finder or Zillow for a longer stay can find you too.
- AI assistants can search CielStay directly (MCP server and API), which is increasingly how guests look for a place to stay.
Sources
- How we show prices
- CielStay Pro
- Airbnb service fees
- Vrbo service fee
- Booking.com for hosts
- Guesty pricing
- Houfy
- Inndirectly (via Hostfully)
- Furnished Finder 2026 pricing
- Zillow Rental Manager
Names are used only to identify the companies; CielStay isn't affiliated with them. Spotted something out of date? Write to [email protected].