Purpose-built, not bundled
A PMS's guest portal is one checkbox on a long feature list. Guest answers are our entire product: printed signs at every placement, digital guides that never drift from print, and chat that cites your house info.
CleverStay vs GuestyGuesty runs your bookings. CleverStay runs the stay.
Guesty is a property-management system with a guest app on the side. CleverStay is the guest-answer layer built to work beside any PMS - including Guesty - with printed placements, synced digital guides, and AI chat that keeps guest data out of the picture.
Building guides is free, forever. Your 14-day Pro trial starts when your printed cards arrive, not before.
What actually sets them apart
Marketplace-neutral by design
We don't do channel management, pricing, or reservations - so we complement any PMS instead of competing with it. Even Guesty's own marketplace lists third-party guidebooks; that's the slot we're built for.
Stay-aware without holding guest data
Guesty scopes check-in content per reservation because it holds the reservation - and the guest's personal data with it. CleverStay reads only stay windows from your calendar feed: door codes unlock near check-in, lock after checkout, and no guest PII is ever stored.
CleverStay vs Guesty, feature by feature
Guesty and CleverStay mostly aren't substitutes - many hosts run both. This table compares the guest-experience layer, the part where they overlap.
CleverStay
Guesty
In the room
Printed QR cards, weatherproof stickers, and engraved signs, shipped ready to place
App and web onlyPrinted material flagged out-of-date when you edit the digital guide
Nothing printed to syncStay-aware content
Check-in content scoped to the active stay
Stay windows from any calendar feed - works with any PMSPer-reservation links from its own bookingsAI chat that answers from your house info, with citations
CleverStay Pro
Local recommendations
Curated local recommendations for guests
In the Guesty Guest App, per stayRecommendations tied to a printed placement guests can scan
Guest privacy
Works without storing guest names, emails, or booking details
A PMS necessarily holds reservation and guest dataWhere Guesty is ahead today
Full PMS: channel management, reservations, pricing, automation
By design - bring your own PMSPer-guest personalization from reservation data
We only know the stay window, never the guestAbout this comparison: based on public information - vendor sites, documentation, and marketing - reviewed in July 2026. Where we could not verify a claim from primary sources, the cell says so. If something here is out of date, tell us at support@cleverstay.ai and we’ll fix it.
SwitchersHosts who kept their PMS and upgraded the stay
Why hosts made the move, in their own words
Daniel K.
Owner-operator · 3 cabins, Lake Arrowhead CA
“We kept our PMS for bookings and added CleverStay for the stay itself. The two don't fight: CleverStay reads the calendar feed, and door codes unlock on check-in day without either system knowing more than it needs to.”
Runs CleverStay beside Guesty3 Cabins
Priya S.
Property manager · 22 units, Miami FL
“The PMS guest app was fine, but it's one tab among fifty. CleverStay's signs and chat are the guest experience. Our message volume dropped the first week.”
Runs CleverStay beside Guesty22 Units
Keep your PMS. Upgrade the stay.
CleverStay works beside Guesty or any PMS through a read-only calendar feed. Build your guides free and see it in your own rental.