Run Your Short-Term Rental
Like a Pro.

Guesty, Hospitable, and similar platforms are full property management systems that charge monthly subscriptions starting from $29 to over $100 per month, with per-listing fees on top. HostFiler is not a property management system — it's a focused toolkit for creating the documents and communications that directly improve your guest experience. You pay only when you create something using tokens, tokens never expire, and there is no monthly commitment, no seat pricing, and no annual lock-in.

HostFiler was built precisely for hosts with one to ten listings. Unlike subscription-based competitors that charge per-listing fees regardless of how often you use them, HostFiler's token model means you pay only for the documents you actually create. A host with a single listing might spend $9 once and have enough tokens for months of use. And with 15 free tokens arriving every month, many single-listing hosts never need to purchase tokens at all.

No. HostFiler uses a pay-per-use token system. You purchase tokens once and they never expire. Every new account also receives 25 free tokens on sign-up and 15 free tokens every month — no credit card required. There is no monthly fee, no annual lock-in, and no per-listing pricing.

HostFiler includes five purpose-built tools for short-term rental hosts:

The Guestbook Builder creates digital guest welcome guides with 4 professionally designed templates, QR code sharing, and PDF export. The Cleaning Checklist Builder produces room-by-room turnover checklists your cleaning team can access from any device. The House Rules Builder generates professional property policy documents with multiple style templates. The Guest Messages tool lets you build a master library of 24 professionally written messages across 6 guest journey stages with smart variable resolution and Gmail integration. And the Wi-Fi Sign Builder creates beautiful printable signs with auto-connect QR codes.

The Guestbook Builder is a guided wizard that walks you through creating a digital guest welcome guide for your property. You enter your property details, select from 4 professionally designed templates, customize colors and fonts, add sections like WiFi info, house rules, local recommendations, and emergency contacts — then publish. The result is a mobile-friendly web page your guests can access via a shareable link or QR code, plus a polished PDF they can download. It costs approximately 5 tokens to create one guestbook.

The Guest Messages tool lets you build a master library of 24 professionally written messages covering 6 stages of the guest journey — Booking Confirmation, Pre-Arrival, Check-In, Mid-Stay, Checkout, and Review Request. When you create a “guest render,” every smart variable (guest name, dates, WiFi, property, etc.) is automatically resolved. You can then click a Gmail button on any message to open a pre-filled compose window with the guest's email, resolved subject line, and body text. HostFiler uses a standard mailto link — it never accesses, reads, or stores the contents of your Gmail inbox.

Yes. The Cleaning Checklist Builder is designed around room-by-room configuration. You add the specific rooms in your property (kitchen, master bedroom, patio, laundry, etc.) and select the cleaning tasks relevant to each room. The result is a checklist precisely tailored to your property's layout — not a generic template. You can share it with your cleaning team via a web link or QR code, and they can check off items as they go.

The House Rules Builder includes multiple professionally designed templates that let you customize the visual style of your rules document. You configure your property rules — noise policies, pet policies, smoking rules, parking instructions, trash and recycling guidelines, and more — through a guided wizard, then preview and publish. The result is a polished document you can share via link, QR code, or PDF download.

The Wi-Fi Sign Builder creates beautiful, printable Wi-Fi signs with auto-connect QR codes. When a guest scans the QR code with their phone camera, they connect to your WiFi network instantly — no typing long passwords. Hosts use it because “What's the WiFi password?” is the single most common guest question, and a printed sign in a frame near the entrance eliminates it entirely. It costs approximately 2 tokens to create.

Tokens are credits you use to create documents across HostFiler tools. Each tool consumes a different number of tokens based on complexity: a guestbook costs approximately 5 tokens, a cleaning checklist approximately 3 tokens, house rules approximately 2 tokens, a guest message library approximately 3 tokens, and a Wi-Fi sign approximately 2 tokens. Tokens can be purchased in three tiers: Starter at $0.18 per token ($9–$28 range), Pro at $0.15 per token ($29–$58 range), and Business at $0.12 per token ($59+). Once purchased, tokens never expire.

No. Purchased tokens never expire. You can buy them once and use them at your own pace over weeks, months, or years. Additionally, every active HostFiler account receives 15 free promotional tokens each month. The 25 sign-up bonus tokens and the monthly allotments are also available without any credit card.

A guestbook costs approximately 5 tokens, a cleaning checklist approximately 3 tokens, house rules approximately 2 tokens, a guest message library approximately 3 tokens, and a Wi-Fi sign approximately 2 tokens. At the Pro tier ($0.15/token), that means a guestbook costs about $0.75 and a complete set of all five tools for one property costs roughly $2.25. Token costs may vary slightly based on document complexity.

A host with 2 listings who creates documents once and updates them occasionally might use HostFiler 3–4 times a year. Under a subscription model, that host would pay $348–$1,200 annually ($29–$100/month × 12). With HostFiler, the same host might spend $9–$18 total for an entire year of use — and only when they actually create something. For independent hosts who don't need daily property management automation, pay-per-use means you're spending 95% less.

You can still access, view, share, and download all your existing documents. You simply won't be able to create new ones until you purchase more tokens or receive your next monthly free token allotment. You can purchase additional token packs at any time from your dashboard — all purchases are combined into your balance.

HostFiler stores only the information you explicitly enter — property details, message templates, and guest render data (name, email, dates). The Gmail staging feature opens a compose window in your browser using a standard mailto link. HostFiler never accesses, reads, or stores the contents of your inbox or sent messages. Your guest data is stored securely in your account and is never shared with third parties.

When you click the Gmail button on a guest message, HostFiler constructs a mailto link that includes the guest's email address, the resolved subject line, and the message body. Your browser opens a Gmail compose window with these fields pre-filled. This is a standard browser behavior — HostFiler never authenticates with Google, never requests OAuth access, and never touches your inbox. If you have HTML email branding enabled, the formatted version is copied to your clipboard so you can paste it into the compose window.

Yes. All property data is stored in a secure, hosted database with row-level security — meaning only your authenticated account can access your data. HostFiler does not share property information with third parties, does not use it for advertising, and supports the right to deletion at any time.

You can build a guestbook or house rules doc in Canva, but you'll spend hours designing it from scratch, manually updating it for each property, and re-exporting it every time something changes. HostFiler's wizards are purpose-built for STR hosts — they ask the right questions, use professionally designed templates, and produce shareable web pages with QR codes, not static PDFs you have to re-email every time you update your WiFi password. The time savings alone make it worthwhile, even before you consider the professional quality of the output.

HostFiler was designed with one insight: independent hosts with 1–10 listings need professional-quality outputs without the complexity or cost of enterprise property management software. Every tool uses a guided wizard that asks only the questions relevant to your property. There are no dashboards full of features you'll never use, no channel manager you don't need, and no per-listing fee eating into your margins. You get exactly the tools that improve your guest experience — guestbooks, checklists, rules, messages, and Wi-Fi signs — at a fraction of the cost and time investment required by alternatives.