Tauranga, New Zealand — BetterSTR has passed 25,000 customers worldwide. Hosts, property managers, resorts and management rights businesses now run their digital guidebooks, TV welcome screens and WiFi marketing on a platform where the core of every product is free. To every one of you: thank you. This milestone is yours as much as ours.
We Couldn't Have Done This Without You
When we celebrated 15,000 properties last October, we said the growth showed how sought-after digital guidebooks are. Eight months on, the number that matters most to us isn't the 25,000 — it's how we got there: hosts telling other hosts. Facebook hosting groups, subreddits, property manager meetups, comments under other people's videos. Almost every feature we've shipped this year started as a message from one of you: "could it also do this?"
"This community built BetterSTR as much as we did. Hosts told us what was broken, told us what everyone else was overcharging for, and then told their friends when we fixed it. We just love building solutions to problems — and this community keeps handing us the best problems." — Barry Murphy, CEO & Owner of BetterSTR
Showing the Market It Can Be Done Affordably
The guest experience space has trained hosts to expect a subscription for everything. A digital guidebook from Touch Stay or Hostfully Guidebooks? Subscription. WiFi marketing from StayFi? Per-property monthly fee. An in-room screen from YourWelcome or GuestView Guide? Hardware plus an ongoing plan. Guest apps like Duve, Operto or RueBaRue? Priced for enterprise, per unit, per month.
Each of those tools does its job — that's not the point. The point is that 25,000 customers have now shown the market the same job can be done at a price every host can afford: free at the core, pay only for the extras you actually want. Professional guest experience shouldn't be a luxury reserved for portfolios with enterprise budgets. A host with one bach, batch or cabin deserves the same polish as a manager with five hundred doors.
Customer First — and the Customer's Wallet Even More
Plenty of companies say they put the customer first. We try to go one better and put the customer's wallet first. That's the whole idea behind our freemium model:
How BetterSTR's Freemium Model Works
- The core feature of every product is free. Digital guidebooks, personalised per-reservation links, PMS sync, the TV welcome screen — free, not a 14-day trial, not a crippled tier.
- Premium add-ons are optional, not hostage-taking. Custom branding and domains, WiFi marketing, SMS automation, advanced TV features — add them when they earn their keep, drop them when they don't.
- No per-property maths. The free core doesn't multiply by your door count the way per-unit subscriptions do.
- Upsells that pay you, not us. Early check-in, late check-out and local extras sold through your guides put revenue in your pocket.
"Hosts are squeezed from every direction — OTA commissions, cleaning costs, insurance. The last thing they need is another stack of $20-a-month subscriptions for tools that should be table stakes. Give the core away, make it excellent, and charge fairly for the extras. Twenty-five thousand customers later, I think the model speaks for itself." — Barry Murphy, CEO & Owner of BetterSTR
What 25,000 Customers Are Actually Using
- Digital guidebooks — personalised for every booking, multi-language, synced from your PMS or Airbnb, live in under five minutes
- BetterSTR TV welcome screens — the in-room TV greets each guest by name, with the guidebook, WiFi QR, weather and local activities on the big screen
- WiFi marketing — capture every staying guest's details (not just the booker's) and build your direct booking funnel
- Guest verification, messaging and upsells — all running off the same reservation data, all included
- A growing list of PMS integrations — Hospitable, OwnerRez, Hostaway, Guesty, Smoobu, Lodgify and more
What's Next
More of the same, honestly — and we mean that as a promise. More integrations, more languages, more of the in-property layer nobody else wants to give you without a per-door subscription. If you've got a problem that needs solving, tell us. It's how everything above got built.
Join 25,000+ Customers Using BetterSTR
Start with the free core — guidebooks, TV welcome screen, PMS sync — and add premium extras only if you want them.
Start Free Learn MoreAbout BetterSTR
Founded in New Zealand, BetterSTR provides digital tools for short-term rental hosts and property managers on a freemium model: the core feature of every product is free, with optional premium add-ons. Its platform combines digital guidebooks, TV welcome screens, WiFi marketing, automated messaging and direct booking funnels into one ecosystem — helping hosts save time, delight guests and keep more of their own money.
Learn more at: https://betterstr.com
Ready to join the 25,000+ customers using BetterSTR? Create your free account today and see what the core of a professional guest experience costs when it's free.