Pick CraftedStays if
you have two to twenty listings on Hostaway, Guesty, Hospitable, OwnerRez or Hostfully, you never want to run a site of your own, and you want to be live this week.217
Compared, October 2026
HomeRunner vs CraftedStays
CraftedStays is a hosted website builder for operators on five PMSs, with a live preview in minutes and a site within about a week. HomeRunner is a booking platform that adds to a website you own and connects to nine PMSs. Both keep checkout on your domain and neither takes a percentage. They part ways on who hosts the site, what happens past 20 listings, and what you keep if you leave.
By Eli Pritykin, founder of HomeRunner and Hudson Creative Studio. Updated October 2026. Part of the full comparison of seven builders.
The short version
Two good answers to different questions.
Pick HomeRunner if
you already have a website or plan to own one, you are past 20 listings or on a PMS they do not pair with, or you want the site to exist independently of any subscription.1511
Side by side
Eight criteria, both products.
Each cell is a fact from the vendor’s own pages, with the source number. Scroll sideways on a phone.
| Criterion | HomeRunner | CraftedStays |
|---|---|---|
| 01PMS depth | Guesty Pro, Hostaway, Hostfully, OwnerRez, Hospitable, Lodgify, Streamline, Track, Boom. Reservation creation on seven; checkout on your domain on four, PMS-hosted on the rest.1 | Hostaway, Guesty, Hospitable, OwnerRez, Hostfully by OAuth. Bookings push back to the PMS through your Stripe (documented for Hostaway).2 |
| 02Conversion | Search, map, live quotes, extras, on-site checkout. AI search, rate comparison, trip planner as paid add-ons.3 | Map search, filters, direct price next to Airbnb and Vrbo for the same dates, reviews with markup, natural-language search, branded checkout.4 |
| 03Ownership | Your site, domain, content and data. Cancel and the site stays; the booking engine stops.5 | Your domain. Hosted only on CraftedStays. On termination the site is taken offline. Export is claimed on a marketing page; the format is not documented.6 |
| 04Continuous improvement | One codebase, same release everywhere. At least 276 dated public changelog entries between mid-July and 10 October 2026.7 | “Dozens of product improvements ship every month.” No public changelog found.8 |
| 05Editability | Your own site editor plus a Template Customizer (Conversion Kit add-on) for HomeRunner page sections.9 | Aria AI editor builds pages from plain-language prompts. Custom typography and template changes are Institution-plan only.10 |
| 06Any website | Adds to the site you already have, no rebuild. WordPress and custom-coded sites today; Squarespace and Webflow in early access.11 | New hosted site. “Not WordPress, not a generic theme.”12 |
| 07AI readiness | Machine-readable property pages, AI sitemap, read counts, attributed bookings. Included.13 | Server-rendered pages, headed sections, FAQ blocks, review markup, built to first-party citation research.414 |
| 0812-month cost | $540 at 5 listings, $1,140 at 15, $2,100 at 25. Flat.15 | $1,368 at 5 listings and $2,328 at 15 at the standard rate ($1,128 and $2,088 in the promo year). Custom above 20.16 |
Twelve-month cost counts the software only. Hosting is extra on HomeRunner and included with CraftedStays; PMS plan and payment processing are extra on both sides.Run your own numbers Sources
Pricing, worked
What each one costs at 5, 15 and 50 listings.
CraftedStays’ Host Plan is $89.99 a month for the first two properties plus $8 a month for each additional one, up to 20 properties, with a promotional $69.99 for the first twelve months that renews at $89.99. Above 20, the Institution Plan is quoted by email. HomeRunner Core is a flat tier by listing count: $45 up to 5, $95 up to 15, $175 up to 25, $295 up to 50.1516
Per listing, HomeRunner falls from $9 at five listings to $6.33 at fifteen and $5.90 at fifty. CraftedStays adds a flat $8 per listing and publishes no price above 20. Neither charges a booking commission. CraftedStays has no setup fee on the self-serve plans and a 14-day trial; its white-glove onboarding is a one-time fee from $1,500 and custom builds start at $4,500. HomeRunner has no fees until the site is live. Hosting is extra on HomeRunner; CraftedStays includes hosting.1516
| Listings | CraftedStays | HomeRunner |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | $113.99 | $45 |
| 10 | $153.99 | $95 |
| 15 | $193.99 | $95 |
| 20 | $233.99 | $175 |
| 25 | Custom | $175 |
| 50 | Custom | $295 |
Monthly, at CraftedStays’ standard rate after the promo year. Never compare against the promo price alone; it renews at $89.99.
Where each one wins
Where CraftedStays wins, where HomeRunner wins, where we lose.
Where CraftedStays wins
- Speed. A live preview in minutes and a published site within about a week, by their account. A studio build is a project.17
- Nothing of your own to run. Hosting, SSL, DNS and security are theirs.12
- The Aria editor and the Sightline Report give a non-technical team a page builder and a content plan.10
- Native email list sync to Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Campaign Monitor and Go High Level.4
- A published research program on AI citations; by their account no other builder on their list runs one. First-party and unaudited.14
- At two listings CraftedStays includes hosting; add yours to our $45 and the gap narrows, and their 14-day trial and promo year make the first months cheaper.
Where HomeRunner wins
- Ownership that survives cancellation. The site and content stay. CraftedStays takes the site offline on termination.56
- Price from five listings up, and a published price at every size to 300. CraftedStays costs more at every count from five to twenty and goes custom above that.1516
- Nine PMS connections against five. Track, Streamline, Lodgify and Boom operators have no CraftedStays option.12
- No page ceiling and no template ceiling. Blog, landing pages, guest-type pages, local guides and anything else your site platform does, without an add-on. CraftedStays’ blog is a $30-a-month add-on and custom typography is Institution-plan only.1016
- Read counts and attributed bookings from AI assistants, so the AI question is answered with your own numbers.13
Where we lose
- You bring the site and its hosting. Live today on WordPress and custom-coded sites; Squarespace and Webflow in early access.1118
- A first site takes longer. Subscription only installs in days into a site you have; a studio build takes weeks.
- Four PMS connections hand the payment step to the PMS-hosted page. CraftedStays’ pricing page says checkout runs on your domain through native PMS checkout or your Stripe; their Hostaway page documents the Stripe flow, and we did not verify the other four.124
- No native email-tool sync. Guest capture goes to your PMS.
- No prompt-to-page builder like Aria. AI Webmaster drafts content; page editing happens in your own site editor, which is more capable and more to learn.
- Local guides and guest-type pages are written per site today. CraftedStays builds its page structure around that content from day one.
Switching
Looking for a CraftedStays alternative?
Operators look when they pass 20 listings, when they want a design their template cannot reach, when they add a PMS CraftedStays does not pair with, or when they want the site to be an asset they own rather than a subscription.
What moves: your PMS data never left your PMS, so listings, rates, availability and reviews sync to the new site on day one. Content and photos come across from CraftedStays’ export, which they say covers your guest list, booking history and content. What changes: the site becomes yours, on your domain and hosting, the fee becomes a flat tier, and the booking engine keeps getting the same releases as every other HomeRunner site. If you already have a website, HomeRunner installs into it. If you do not, a pre-built site from Hudson Creative Studio ($2,000) or a bespoke build by Hudson Creative Studio or a partner studio under Hire an Expert gets you one.61115
Frequently asked
The questions that come up on calls.
Have a situation these do not cover? Tell us about your portfolio and we will say which option fits, including the one that is not ours.
Is HomeRunner more expensive than CraftedStays?
At two listings it is $45 against $89.99 a month before CraftedStays’ promo, with hosting included on their side and extra on ours. From five listings up HomeRunner costs less at every count, and above 20 CraftedStays publishes no price. Add your hosting to HomeRunner’s side when you compare. Sources 15, 16
Does CraftedStays take a commission?
No. Their pricing page says no setup fee on the self-serve plans, no booking commission and no markup on guest payments; white-glove onboarding is a separate one-time fee from $1,500. Neither takes a commission. Source 16
What happens to a CraftedStays site if I cancel?
Their terms say the site is taken offline. A marketing page says your guest list, booking history and content can be exported. Source 6
Can I move from CraftedStays to HomeRunner without losing reviews?
Reviews import from your PMS on the connections that support it (Guesty, Hostaway, Hostfully, OwnerRez, Boom). They were never stored only on the website. Source 1
Do both work with Hostfully, Guesty and Hostaway?
Yes. CraftedStays pairs with those plus Hospitable and OwnerRez. HomeRunner adds Lodgify, Streamline, Track and Boom. Sources 1, 2
Does HomeRunner need a WordPress site?
No. It adds to the website you already have. WordPress and custom-coded sites are live today; Squarespace and Webflow are in early access. Source 11
Sources
Every number on this page, and where we read it.
18 sources, all read 10 October 2026
- homerunner.io/integrations/ ; homerunner.io/docs/feature-support-by-pms/
- craftedstays.co/ (“Native PMS partner integrations (Hostaway, Guesty, Hospitable, OwnerRez, Hostfully)”); craftedstays.co/partners/hostaway/ (“New bookings push back to Hostaway automatically through your existing Stripe account”)
- homerunner.io/#pricing ; homerunner.io/docs/ckit-overview/
- craftedstays.co/best-direct-booking-website-builders/ (price-gap display, natural-language search, email sync); craftedstays.co/pricing (“Branded checkout Native PMS checkout or Stripe on your domain”)
- homerunner.io/#pricing FAQ (“HomeRunner runs on your site and your domain. The design and content are yours”); homerunner.io/terms-of-service/
- craftedstays.co/terms-of-service/ (“your CraftedStays Site will be taken offline”); craftedstays.co/direct-booking-websites/ (“Your guest list, booking history, and content can all be exported”)
- homerunner.io/docs/toolkit-changelog/ ; homerunner.io/docs/conversion-kit-changelog/ ; homerunner.io/docs/ai-concierge-changelog/
- craftedstays.co/ (“Dozens of product improvements ship every month”)
- homerunner.io/docs/ckit-overview/
- craftedstays.co/ai-website-builder/ ; craftedstays.co/pricing (Institution Plan: “Custom template changes”)
- homerunner.io/any-website/ (“WordPress and custom-coded sites are live now. Squarespace, Webflow and other platforms are in early access”)
- craftedstays.co/direct-booking-websites/ (“Not WordPress, not a generic theme”)
- homerunner.io/ai-ready/ ; homerunner.io/docs/toolkit-ai-booking-channel/
- craftedstays.co/ai-search-for-vacation-rentals/ ; craftedstays.co/vacation-rental-seo/
- homerunner.io/#pricing (rate card; “No fees until you’re live”)
- craftedstays.co/pricing (“$89.99/mo for your first two properties, plus $8/mo for each additional property”; “Renews at $89.99/mo standard after year one”; “14-day free trial”; “White Glove” “From $1,500” one-time setup; “Custom build” “From $4,500”; blog “Add-on to any plan” at $30/month; Institution “Custom pricing”)
- craftedstays.co/ (“first preview within 15 minutes … live within a week”)
- homerunner.io/integrations/ (read 2026-10-11: “PMS charges, payment-provider fees, hosting, optional paid add-ons and any separately purchased website services still apply”)
Compared against five more builders in the full guide to direct booking website builders. Other comparisons: all HomeRunner vs pages.
Not sure which column is you?
Send your portfolio size and PMS. We will say which option fits, including the one that is not ours.