Hostmaker

What Hostmaker does

Houst (formerly Hostmaker) is a London-headquartered, full-service short-term rental management company founded in 2015. The company manages 11,650+ properties on behalf of individual homeowners, landlords, multi-property owners, and property investors across 35 cities in 12 countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Portugal, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Houst handles the complete operational stack of short-term letting — listing creation, professional photography, multi-platform distribution (Airbnb, Booking.com, Google, and a proprietary direct booking channel), dynamic pricing, guest vetting, 24/7 guest communication, check-in coordination, housekeeping, linen and toiletries provision, property maintenance, and insurance coordination.

The core technology platform consists of the Host Dashboard (a self-service portal at dashboard.houst.com for property performance monitoring) and OccuMax, a proprietary dynamic pricing algorithm developed from managing over 350,000 bookings that optimizes nightly rates while operating within local regulatory constraints. Houst reports its algorithm has generated over £112M in incremental host earnings and properties achieve an 86.2% average occupancy rate. Additional capabilities include smart lock integration, revenue and growth forecasting tools, and a B2B Houst Partnership Program that extends the platform to third-party Airbnb management businesses with IT infrastructure, operating partner tools, and liquidity assurance.

Houst operates a commission-based revenue model charging 12-20% of rental revenue (Standard Plan from 12%, Full Flexibility Plan from 18%, with FAQ references to 14%/20% tiering by full-time versus part-time management). The go-to-market is sales-led, beginning with a free 15-minute consultation and free property estimate, followed by onboarding typically completed in under 10 days. Customer acquisition is supplemented by a referral program active across Australia, France, Ireland, South Africa, UAE, and the UK, plus an affiliate program and content marketing including a 4-Day Short-Term Rental Workshop eBook. To date, the company has raised approximately $29.3M across five funding rounds between 2015 and 2018, with the most recent capital being a $5M debt facility from Silicon Valley Bank; no equity rounds have been disclosed since November 2017.

Name

Hostmaker

Legal name

Houst

Website

https://hostmaker.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Houst (formerly Hostmaker) is a London-based full-service short-term rental management company operating across 35 cities and 12 countries, managing 11,650+ properties on Airbnb, Booking.com, and Google for homeowners, landlords, and property investors via commission-based pricing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Short-term Rental Management

NAICS

Rental and Leasing Services (532)

SIC

Real Estate Agents & Managers (For Others) (6531)

akta.pro primary industry

Short-Term Rental (STR) Management for Individual Hosts (BPAJAIAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Co-Host / On-the-Ground Operations & Guest Services (BPAJAIAI), Vacation Rental Maintenance & Vendor Management (BPAJAIAM), New-Listing Onboarding, Setup & Launch Services (THAMAKAO), Owner Services, Reporting & Portfolio Administration (THAMAKAI)

Keywords

• Short-term rental management
• Airbnb management services
• Property management platform
• Vacation rental management
• Dynamic pricing algorithm

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices18 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Commission-based Property Management: Houst charges commission-based fees on rental revenue generated through their management services. Commission rates vary by property type, location, and service tier. The company earns only when property owners earn bookings, aligning incentives.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Hostmaker (operating as Houst) provides end-to-end short-term rental management services for property owners. The company handles listing creation across multiple platforms (Airbnb, Booking.com, Google), guest communication, cleaning, maintenance, and uses a proprietary dynamic pricing algorithm (OccuMax®) to maximize rental income. Services are delivered through a commission-based pricing model starting from 12% of rental revenue.

Product overview

Houst operates as a comprehensive short-term rental management platform offering end-to-end property management services. The core platform consists of the Host Dashboard, which serves as the central hub for property oversight, combined with the proprietary OccuMax dynamic pricing algorithm that optimizes earnings. The service suite includes listing management features (Multi-Platform Listings, Professional Photography, Listing Creation, Price Optimisation), guest management services (Guest Vetting, Guest Check-in, Guest Communication, Linen and Toiletries), property operations (Cleaning and Housekeeping, Property Maintenance, Property Insurance, Smart Locks), and a Direct Booking Platform. For business partners, additional modules include Revenue and Growth Forecasting and IT Support and Infrastructure. The company operates commission-based pricing starting from 12% of rental revenue and serves property owners across 35 cities globally.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Short-Term Rental Management Service Full-service management of Airbnb and short-term rental properties for property owners. Includes listing creation, multi-platform distribution, dynamic pricing, guest vetting, 24/7 guest communication, cleaning and housekeeping, maintenance, and property insurance coverage. Commission-based pricing starting from 12% of rental revenue.
• Houst Partnership Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Hosts can earn up to 56% more than traditional long-let rentals
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• AirbnbcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPrimary distribution partner where Houst manages properties on the Airbnb platform. Properties are listed and bookings are facilitated through Airbnb's platform. Hosts using Houst remain covered by Airbnb's AirCover insurance.
• Booking.comcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMulti-platform listing partner. Houst lists properties across multiple platforms including Booking.com to maximize visibility and bookings for their managed properties.
• GooglecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMulti-platform listing partner. Properties listed on Google as part of Houst's multi-platform distribution strategy to increase guest audience and booking potential.
• AirCover (Airbnb)coreTechnology or IntegrationAirbnb's protection program providing hosts up to $1M damage protection and $1M liability insurance. Houst properties are covered, and Houst assists in filing claims on behalf of hosts if needed.
• GuardHog InsurancesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdditional insurance protection for properties booked through non-Airbnb platforms. Houst provides GuardHog insurance coverage to protect properties across multiple booking sites.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Vacasa: Largest US-headquartered vacation rental management company, operating a full-service model comparable to Houst (listing, pricing, housekeeping, 24/7 guest support) on a portfolio of tens of thousands of homes. Vacasa is the most direct global scale peer; Houst positions itself as 'world's largest Airbnb management' while Vacasa owns similar scaled operations in the Americas.
• Evolve: US-based vacation rental manager with a professional host and fee-light model that mirrors Houst's commission approach. Operates a national portfolio with similar end-to-end management, dynamic pricing, and owner dashboard offering.
• Guesty: Property management platform providing SaaS and full-service management for STR operators — overlapping with Houst on the software/dashboard side (multi-platform distribution, unified inbox, dynamic pricing) and increasingly competing on managed services.
• MadeComfy: Australia-based short-term rental management company offering a near-identical full-service value proposition (listing, pricing, housekeeping, guest ops) across AU/NZ cities — direct regional competitor to Houst in Houst's strongest APAC markets (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Auckland).
• Plum Guide: Premium tier vacation rental manager focused on curated listings, professional photography, and full-service management — operating principally in UK/EU/US. Closely mirrors Houst's professional photography, listing curation, and end-to-end ops offering in the same EMEA cities as Houst.
• BnBerry: Tech-enabled vacation rental operator providing full-service management across European cities and parts of LATAM and Middle East. Overlaps with Houst's EMEA footprint (UK, France, Portugal) on listing, pricing, and 24/7 guest support.

Broad incumbents

• Sonder: Hospitality operator with tech-enabled short-stay apartment and vacation rental offerings. While a vertically integrated hospitality brand rather than a third-party host manager, Sonder competes for the same guest nights and uses similar dynamic-pricing and property-ops automation.
• Airbnb Co-Host Network: Airbnb's own co-host matching program that connects hosts with local third-party managers like Houst. While a partner/feed rather than a competitor per se, Airbnb's Co-Host program increasingly competes with Houst on host acquisition and signals Airbnb's willingness to verticalize into management.

Emerging players

• Hostaway: STR property management software platform powering thousands of professional managers globally, with channel manager, unified inbox, dynamic pricing and automation directly comparable to Houst's Host Dashboard and OccuMax. Competes as the underlying software layer that some Houst-style operators are also building.

Regional players

• Casai: Latin America-focused premium short-stay and apartment-hotel operator with strong overlap in tech-enabled operations (dynamic pricing, automated guest experience). Comparable business model to Houst though focused on the Americas.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hostmakerco
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@we_are_houst
• Facebookfacebook.com/wearehoust
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/houst
• Instagramfacebook.com/wearehoust

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors9 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hostmaker