BetterSTR connects directly to Planyo so your resources and bookings sync automatically and every guest gets their own digital guidebook link. The connection uses your own Planyo API key, which you copy from your Planyo site settings — there’s no application, approval or partner sign-up. This guide walks you through finding the key, connecting it, what syncs, and what to check if something doesn’t look right.
Step 1 — Find your Planyo API key
- Log in to Planyo as the site administrator.
- Open Site settings → Integration & API and click API key, or go straight to planyo.com/api-key.php.
- Copy the key shown there. You can regenerate or revoke it from the same page at any time.
- If you run several Planyo sites under a metasite, use the metasite API key and BetterSTR will pick up every site on it.
Step 2 — Connect it to BetterSTR
- In BetterSTR, go to Integrations and choose Planyo, or head straight to the Planyo connection page.
- Paste your key into the Planyo API Key field.
- Leave the Hash Key field empty unless you have switched on hash-key protection in Planyo. If you have, paste that second key in too.
- Click Connect Planyo. BetterSTR validates the key with Planyo before saving it, then starts syncing straight away.
If your API key is restricted
Planyo lets you lock an API key down to certain IP addresses and certain methods. Both show up as “Invalid method or API key” when we try to connect, so if you use either:
- IP restriction — add
103.162.49.19to the allowed addresses. - Method restriction — allow
get_site_info,list_resources,get_resource_info,list_reservations,get_reservation_data,set_reservation_notes,add_notification_callbackandremove_notification_callback(pluslist_sitesfor a metasite key).
Most accounts have no restrictions set and can skip this entirely.
What syncs, and how fast
- Resources — name, photos, currency, your site’s timezone and any custom resource properties you have set up. Resources refresh daily, or on demand with Sync Properties.
- Bookings — guest name, email, phone, arrival and departure times, the assigned unit, and the answers to your own booking form questions.
- Booking changes — when you connect, BetterSTR registers for Planyo’s booking notifications on your account, so new bookings, confirmations, modifications, cancellations, check-ins and no-shows come through as they happen. An hourly check runs behind that as a safety net.
- Guidebook links — every booking automatically gets its own unique guest guidebook link, ready to share in your Planyo confirmation emails. BetterSTR also writes the link into the booking’s private admin notes in Planyo, so you can find a stay’s guide from inside Planyo. Your own notes are kept; we only add our own line.
Only your accommodation is imported
Plenty of Planyo sites rent out bikes, boats, tours or meeting rooms alongside their rooms and apartments. BetterSTR only imports overnight resources, so your property list doesn’t fill up with kayaks. If you think an accommodation resource has been missed, check that it is marked as an overnight stay in its Planyo resource settings, then click Sync Properties.
Add your property details in BetterSTR
Planyo is a general-purpose booking system rather than a short-term-rental PMS, so it doesn’t store things like bed counts, bathrooms, occupancy or a WiFi password, and where it does hold an address it’s at the site level, shared by every resource on that site. Expect to spend a few minutes after your first sync filling those in on your property in BetterSTR. Use Map Settings → Override Address to set the exact address and map pin. You do it once, nothing overwrites it afterwards, and everything Planyo does hold keeps syncing on its own.
Planyo shortcodes in the guide builder
Once connected, the guide builder’s shortcode menu gains two Planyo categories — Planyo Fields (resource-level values such as the resource name, your site name, address, phone and currency) and Planyo Res (per-booking values such as the reservation number, assigned unit, total price and the guest’s notes).
Your own Planyo fields come through too. Any custom resource property you have defined under Site settings → Custom resource properties becomes a shortcode like {{planyo_prop_parking_bay}}, and any question on your booking form becomes one like {{planyo_form_arrival_time}}. Insert them like any other shortcode and they resolve per booking when the guide is viewed. Those same custom fields are also offered to the Generate with AI tool, so it can write your guide around your real details.
Troubleshooting
- “Planyo rejected that API key” — double-check you copied the whole key. If your key is IP- or method-restricted, see the callout above. If in doubt, use Update Credentials in BetterSTR — the new key is validated before it replaces the old one.
- A booking change isn’t showing yet — changes normally arrive within seconds. If you need one immediately, open the Planyo page in BetterSTR and click Sync Reservations.
- A property is missing — only overnight resources are imported. Check the resource is published and marked as an overnight stay in Planyo, then click Sync Properties.
- My address is wrong or shared across properties — that’s expected: Planyo stores one address per site. Set the correct address and pin per property under Map Settings → Override Address.
- Older bookings are missing — use Full Sync on the Planyo page to pull historical stays.
- Cancellations — cancelled, auto-cancelled and no-show bookings all sync, and their scheduled guidebook messages stop automatically.
- Disconnecting — disconnecting removes only the booking notifications BetterSTR added. Any other notification callbacks you use in Planyo are left untouched.