Hostli vs a freelancer
A good freelancer is cheaper than an agency and closer to your property, and they are also one person: on holiday in August, sick in January, and gone when a better client appears. Hostli does the work a freelancer would do for you, every day, from your own data, and charges a success fee only on the direct bookings it can show you.
Start freeSide by side
Every line on the right describes how that option is bought and run, not a price. Every line on the left describes what the platform does today.
Cost
How you pay
Hostli: $100 a month flat on Deluxe. On the managed plans, a monthly fee plus a success fee only on direct bookings we can show you.
Freelancer: A monthly fee or an hourly rate, paid for time rather than bookings.
Tools on top
Hostli: Rate scans, SEO audits, scheduling, review handling and attribution are part of the platform.
Freelancer: The freelancer’s own subscriptions, billed through or bought by you separately.
Speed
Availability
Hostli: Runs every day. Notifications wait for a working day so nobody is woken at night.
Freelancer: One person’s working hours, holidays and other clients.
A new campaign
Hostli: Built in minutes from reviews, photos, rates and bookings, per guest segment.
Freelancer: Written when the freelancer gets to it, usually one campaign for everyone.
Control
Continuity
Hostli: Everything lives in your accounts and your Hostli workspace. Nothing walks out the door.
Freelancer: Passwords, files and know-how live with the person. Handover is a risk every time.
Approvals
Hostli: Every campaign, post and reply waits for your tap, on your phone.
Freelancer: Whatever you agreed; often posted first, mentioned later.
Proof
Attribution
Hostli: Bookings reconciled across Meta, Google and your site, each counted once, with reservation IDs.
Freelancer: Screenshots from Ads Manager, where every platform claims the same booking.
What you are billed on
Hostli: Direct bookings we can show you, one by one.
Freelancer: Hours, deliverables, or a flat monthly amount.
Coverage
Channels
Hostli: Meta and Google ads, Instagram and Facebook organic, WhatsApp, Google reviews, SEO and AI-search audits.
Freelancer: The two or three channels the freelancer knows best.
Languages
Hostli: Copy composed in the guest’s language.
Freelancer: The freelancer’s languages.
When a freelancer is the right call
There is work where a person on site beats software, and it is worth paying for.
Photography and video. Hostli works from your gallery; someone still has to shoot it well.
Hands-on events, influencer visits and partnerships that need a person to host and follow up.
A property that wants one trusted human to own the whole marketing relationship, and is comfortable with the dependency.
What Hostli costs
Start free on your own data, no card required. Deluxe is $100 a month flat with no success fee. Superior and Signature add a person accountable for your bookings, with a success fee of 2% to 2.2% charged only on direct bookings we can show you: tagged clicks, campaigns that started the visit, and the organic social channel Hostli runs for you. Each reservation counts once.
Questions hoteliers ask at this point
Do I need Meta Ads experience to use the system?
No, and that is the point: the specialist you would otherwise pay for is the platform. Hostli writes the copy, picks the photographs, chooses the audience and sets the daily budget from what is actually bringing bookings. Your only job is to tap Approve when the result looks right.
How fast can I get started?
There is no onboarding retainer and no setup project, so the first live campaign costs you about 30 minutes of a phone. You connect your Meta Business account, share your website and grant access to your review profiles over WhatsApp. Hostli reads your photographs, reviews, logo and tone, builds the first campaign for the guests most likely to book, and it goes live minutes after your approval.
Are there any charges beyond the subscription?
On Deluxe, none: $100 a month flat. On Superior and Signature, one, and only when you earned something: a success fee of 2% to 2.2% on direct bookings we can show you, booking by booking. No per-click charges, no ad-management charges and nothing billed that cannot be traced to a reservation ID. In a month with no attributed booking you pay the monthly fee alone.
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