BetterSTR is a free digital guidebook for Airbnb and vacation rentals — unlimited properties, automatic PMS sync, QR codes and guest messaging — and a one-click importer that brings your existing TouchStay guide across in minutes. Free forever, no credit card.
TouchStay is a paid, per-property guidebook. 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 TouchStay has no free plan (a free trial, then 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 TouchStay importer so you keep the content you already wrote.
A great digital guidebook answers guest questions before they’re asked: check-in, Wi-Fi, house rules, local tips, all on the guest’s phone. TouchStay does this well — but it charges per property, every year, and 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, paid digital-guidebook platform:
| Feature | BetterSTR Free | TouchStay |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free forever, unlimited properties | Paid subscription, per property |
| Free plan (not just a trial) | ✓ Yes | ✗ Free trial only |
| Digital guidebook (phone + QR) | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Import your existing TouchStay guide | ✓ One-click importer | ✗ Exports restricted |
| PMS & Airbnb sync | ✓ Airbnb, Hospitable, OwnerRez, Guesty, Hostaway, Lodgify & more | ✓ Yes |
| 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 | ✓ From $3/month | ✗ No |
| SMS to guests before check-in | ✓ $0.10/message | ✗ No |
The content in your guidebook — property descriptions, local tips, house rules, check-in instructions — is yours. Even after TouchStay restricted guide exports, our engineering team built a one-click importer that pulls your existing TouchStay guide straight into BetterSTR: categories, topics, text and icons, mapped automatically. Review it, add photos, and you’re live.
Follow the step-by-step TouchStay import guide, or read the story behind why we built it.
TouchStay is a good guidebook, but it’s only a guidebook, and you pay for every property every year. 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 TouchStay 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 TouchStay guide in minutes and keep it free forever — unlimited properties, no credit card.
Start free — no card required Explore the guidebookYes. BetterSTR is a free digital guidebook that does everything TouchStay 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, where TouchStay charges per property.
Yes. BetterSTR has a one-click importer that pulls your TouchStay guide — categories, topics, text and icons — straight into BetterSTR, even after TouchStay 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.
TouchStay is a paid, guidebook-only product priced per property. 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 TouchStay content across.
If you want the same guidebook for free — with a one-click way to bring your content across — BetterSTR is the obvious TouchStay alternative. TouchStay 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 or read the TouchStay import guide.