We get asked this in some form most weeks: what do I actually get for free, and what changes if I pay? The pricing page answers it, but in pieces. So here is the whole picture in one place, with screenshots of the same two guidebooks, one free and one Premium, so you can see the difference rather than read about it.
One thing to clear up first. This post is about the a la carte Premium guidebook, the upgrade you add to a single property. It is not about BetterSTR Simple, the one-price bundle that includes Premium along with WiFi, a tablet and TVs. Simple is covered in its own post.
The short version
- Free is a complete guidebook: every section, synced from your PMS, WiFi details, YouTube and Vimeo videos, upsells, booking links and guest messaging. No limit on properties or guides.
- Premium adds the Map and Ask AI tabs, custom fonts and colours, AI writing help, rich embeds such as PDFs and Canva designs, your own custom shortcodes and widgets, and removes the BetterSTR branding.
- Premium also lowers your fees: 3% on upsells instead of 7%, cheaper ID verification and a cheaper TV rate.
- It costs $0.50 per reservation, billed weekly, or a flat $2.99 per property per month. Your choice, per property.
- New accounts get 2 weeks of Premium free to try everything first.
Prefer to watch? This short video covers the same ground, plus TV, the companion tablet and the Simple bundle.
What the free guidebook includes
Free means free, not a demo. It is the same guidebook engine, the same templates and the same guest experience. Specifically:
- Unlimited properties and guides, created from your PMS listing in a couple of clicks, or by hand if you do not use a PMS. Photos, address, check-in times and house details stay in sync with the listing.
- Every content section: arrival, WiFi, house rules, local area, whatever you like, in any of the layouts, with automatic translation for guests who switch language.
- WiFi details with copy buttons, and a WiFi QR code guests can scan to join, a few cents a scan on free and included on Premium.
- YouTube and Vimeo videos that play inside the guide when you paste a link.
- Upsells and a shop: early check-in, late checkout, firewood, gear hire, mid-stay cleans, whatever you sell. Guests pay in the guide. The platform fee on free is 7%.
- Damage deposit holds: place a hold on the guest's card before arrival and release it automatically after checkout. There is nothing to pay unless you capture.
- Direct booking links and a free listing page for each property.
- Guest text messages with the guide link, pay as you use.
- Team access, so a co-host, assistant or owner can work in your account with their own login.
What free guides carry that Premium ones do not: a small Powered by BetterSTR badge in the corner and a short “Want a Guide like this?” section in the Info list. That is how the free tier pays for itself, and it is the only thing a guest sees that is about us rather than about your property.
What Premium adds
Premium is about two things: more for the guest, and less cost for you on the paid extras.
| Feature | Free | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Ask AI tab | No | Guests ask questions in plain language and get answers pulled from your guide. |
| Map tab | No | An interactive map with your recommended places as pins, filterable by category, plus a list view. |
| Custom fonts and styling | Standard theme | Your own fonts, colours and icon style across the guide. |
| AI Improve | No | Polish, shorten or rewrite any section with one click. |
| Rich embeds | YouTube and Vimeo | Also PDFs, Canva designs, Google Drive and OneDrive files, rendered inside the guide. |
| Shortcodes | Guest name, check-in and check-out times, door codes, address and any custom fields from your PMS, dropped into any section. | Also your own custom shortcodes: write a block once, such as house rules or a local tips section, and reuse it across every guide with one place to edit it. Custom shortcodes can also carry your own iframes and widgets. |
| Embed or insert scripts | No | Your own iframes, booking widgets and scripts inside any section. |
| BetterSTR branding | Badge and promo section | Removed. The guide is entirely yours. |
| Upsell platform fee | 7% | 3% |
| Damage deposit holds | Included. Hold a guest's card before arrival and release it automatically after checkout, nothing to pay unless you capture. | Included, the same. |
| Guest ID verification | $2.50 each | $1.50 each |
| BetterSTR TV, per device | $4.00 a month | $3.00 a month |
| WiFi QR code scans | Pay per scan | Included |
The fee reductions are easy to overlook
If you sell upsells, the fee alone can cover Premium. A property doing $200 of upsells a month pays $14 in fees on free and $6 on Premium, a difference of $8, which is more than the flat Premium price. Hosts who verify guest ID or run a BetterSTR TV save on each of those as well.
What Premium costs
Two ways to pay, chosen per property, and you can change your mind later:
- Usage-based: $0.50 per reservation, billed weekly on the reservations that check in that week. No bookings, nothing to pay. Good for seasonal places and low volume.
- Flat rate: $2.99 per property per month, however many reservations you take. Good for busy properties.
The crossover is about 6 reservations a month. Fewer than that and usage-based is cheaper; more and the flat rate wins. Every new account starts with 2 weeks of Premium on every property, so you can see the Map and Ask AI tabs with your own content before deciding.
Where BetterSTR Simple fits
If you also want WiFi marketing, a companion tablet and TVs at the property, Simple bundles all of it, Premium included, for one price per property. It is not always cheaper than picking pieces, and the Simple post shows the comparison honestly. For a guidebook on its own, a la carte Premium is the right size.
Switching it on
In your account, open Billing & Credits and then Add-Ons, pick usage-based or flat rate, and it is live on the next page load. Nothing to rebuild and nothing changes in your content. Turn it off the same way and the guide simply goes back to free, badge and all.