BetterSTR is a free digital guidebook for Airbnb and vacation rentals (unlimited properties, automatic PMS sync, QR codes and guest messaging) with a one-click importer that brings your existing Touch Stay guide across in minutes. Free forever, no credit card.
Create your free guidebookTouch Stay is a per-property guidebook with a heavily restricted free plan. BetterSTR does the same job, and more, free. Both let you build a mobile digital guidebook guests open from a link or QR code. The difference is that Touch Stay’s free plan (new in October 2026) is capped at 20 guest views per guidebook a month with no PMS sync, so a working setup means a per-property subscription, while BetterSTR is free forever with unlimited properties and guidebooks, adds WiFi marketing, a companion tablet and a hotel-style TV welcome screen, and, crucially, includes a one-click Touch Stay importer so you keep the content you already wrote.
A great digital guidebook answers guest questions before they’re asked: check-in, WiFi, house rules, local tips, all on the guest’s phone. Touch Stay does this well, but its paid plans are priced per property, its free plan stops at 20 guest views per guidebook a month and can’t connect your PMS, and it recently restricted the ability to export your guide content when moving platforms. BetterSTR takes the opposite view: your content is yours, switching should be painless, and the core product should be free.
A free, all-in-one guest experience platform:
A dedicated digital-guidebook platform:
| Feature | BetterSTR Free | Touch Stay |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free forever, unlimited properties | Restricted free plan; paid subscription per property to lift the limits |
| Free plan (not just a trial) | Yes, the full guidebook | Since October 2026, with usage limits |
| Guest views on the free plan | Unlimited | 20 per guidebook a month |
| Digital guidebook (phone + QR) | Yes | Yes |
| Import your existing Touch Stay guide | One-click importer | Exports restricted |
| PMS & Airbnb sync | Airbnb, Hospitable, OwnerRez, Guesty, Hostaway, Lodgify & more, on the free plan | Paid plans only |
| Multi-language | Yes | Yes |
| Custom domain & branding | From $9.95/year | Add-on |
| Upsells & payments (Stripe) | Built in | Limited |
| Security deposits & guest verification | Yes | No |
| WiFi captive-portal marketing | From $7/month | No |
| Companion tablet | From $2/device/month | No |
| In-room TV welcome screen | Free, Premium from $2/month | No |
| SMS to guests before check-in | 10c/message | No |
If you are leaving Touch Stay, these are the usual options. Prices are from each vendor’s public information at the time of writing and change often, so check the current plan before you buy. For the wider field, see our digital guidebook software comparison.
| Alternative | What it is | Price (at the time of writing) | Bring your Touch Stay content | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BetterSTR Free | Digital guidebook plus WiFi, TV and tablet | Free forever, unlimited properties; optional Premium from 50c a booking | One-click importer | Hosts who want the guidebook free, synced from their PMS |
| Hostfully Guidebooks | Paid digital guidebook | Plan tiers priced by guidebook count | Rebuild by hand | Hosts already on the Hostfully PMS (compare) |
| GuestView Guide | Dedicated in-room touchscreen display | Display hardware for each room, plus a monthly subscription per display | Rebuild by hand | Hosts who want a wall-mounted screen by the door (compare) |
| Guide built into your PMS | Basic guest guide inside a property management system | Included in some PMS plans | Rebuild by hand | Single-PMS hosts happy with a basic guide |
| DIY PDF or Canva welcome book | A document you write and share yourself | Free | Copy and paste | One simple property, with no sync or personalisation |
A Touch Stay guidebook runs about $15 a property a month. For the same $15, BetterSTR Simple gives you six: the premium guidebook with Ask AI, WiFi guest marketing, a hotel-style TV welcome screen, a companion tablet, noise monitoring and a guest upsell shop at a flat 3%. One plan, one bill, and your own custom domain thrown in. Or stay on the free guidebook and add only the parts you want.
The video below walks through every option in four minutes.
The content in your guidebook (property descriptions, local tips, house rules, check-in instructions) is yours. Even after Touch Stay restricted guide exports, our engineering team built a one-click importer that pulls your existing Touch Stay guide straight into BetterSTR: categories, topics, text, icons and photos, plus the places on your Touch Stay map. Review it and you’re live.
Follow the step-by-step Touch Stay import guide, or read the story behind why we built it.
Touch Stay is a good guidebook, but it’s only a guidebook, and once you need PMS sync or more than 20 guest views a month, you pay for every property. BetterSTR gives you the same mobile guidebook (branded, multi-language, QR-accessible, PMS-synced) with upsells and guest verification built in, free, with unlimited properties. Then, when you’re ready, the same platform adds WiFi guest marketing, a companion tablet and an in-room TV welcome screen, things Touch Stay simply doesn’t offer.
“The team at BetterSTR have been great to deal with and whilst it has been a lengthy process due to the amount of homes that we have, we have had a lot of support along the way. Whenever we had suggestions with the program they were actioned straight away which was great.”
Jade, Ready Set Stay (126 properties, Victoria, Australia)Import your Touch Stay guide in minutes and keep it free forever. Unlimited properties, no card needed.
Create your free guidebook Explore the guidebookYes. BetterSTR is a free digital guidebook that does everything Touch Stay does (mobile guides, QR codes, PMS sync, multi-language, custom domains) plus WiFi marketing, a companion tablet and an in-room TV welcome screen. It’s free forever with unlimited properties and unlimited guest views, where Touch Stay’s free plan is capped at 20 guest views per guidebook a month with no PMS sync.
Yes. BetterSTR has a one-click importer that pulls your Touch Stay guide (categories, topics, text, icons, photos and map places) straight into BetterSTR, even after Touch Stay restricted exports. Follow our step-by-step import guide and you’ll keep the content you already wrote.
Yes, the digital guidebook is free forever, with unlimited properties and guidebooks and no credit card required. You only pay for optional add-ons like a custom domain ($9.95/year), SMS messages, WiFi marketing (from $7/month) or a companion tablet.
Yes. BetterSTR syncs directly with Airbnb, Hospitable, OwnerRez, Guesty, Hostaway, Lodgify, Tokeet and more, so your properties and reservations import automatically and every booking gets its own personalised guidebook.
Touch Stay is a guidebook-only product priced per property, with a free plan limited to 20 guest views per guidebook a month. BetterSTR is a free, all-in-one guest platform: the same guidebook plus WiFi marketing, a companion tablet, an in-room TV welcome screen, Stripe upsells and security deposits, and a one-click importer to bring your Touch Stay content across.
If you want the same guidebook for free, with a one-click way to bring your content across, BetterSTR is the obvious Touch Stay alternative. Touch Stay is a polished paid guidebook; BetterSTR matches it, adds WiFi, tablet and TV products on top, and never charges for the core guidebook. See the full digital guidebook, read the Touch Stay import guide, or compare the Hostfully Guidebooks alternative.
And if you also pay for StayFi, WelcomeScreen or YourWelcome, BetterSTR Simple replaces the whole stack for $15 a property a month, about the price of Touch Stay alone.