A practical side-by-side look at Hostfully, Touch Stay and a flipbook welcome book for short-term rentals. Compare features, setup time, cost structure, guest experience and branding, then pick the option that matches your portfolio size and budget.
Every host eventually faces the same question: how do you hand guests the Wi-Fi password, the checkout rules and your favorite taco stand without answering the same texts at 11 p.m.? Three popular answers are Hostfully's guidebook tools, Touch Stay's digital guidebooks, and a simple, beautiful flipbook welcome book built with Flipbooks AI. They solve the same problem in very different ways, and the right pick depends on how many properties you run, how much you want to pay each month, and how much control you want over the look of your guest materials.
This comparison walks through what each option does well, where it falls short, and which kind of host benefits most. Features and pricing change often, so confirm current details on each vendor's website before you commit.
If you want a fast answer, here it is. Hostfully makes the most sense when you already want a full property management platform and the guidebook is one feature of many. Touch Stay fits hosts who want a dedicated guidebook product with a guest app feel. A flipbook welcome book wins when you want full design control, a one-time creative effort, and a shareable file or link that works without any guest account.
💡 Pro tip: Decide first whether you need software that runs your business or a document that welcomes your guests. Those are two different jobs, and mixing them up is the most common reason hosts overpay.
| Question | Hostfully | Touch Stay | Flipbook welcome book |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main purpose | Property management suite with guidebooks | Dedicated digital guidebook | Designed, page-turning welcome book |
| Best for | Hosts wanting an all in one platform | Hosts wanting a guidebook app experience | Hosts wanting branded, flexible content |
| Design control | Template based | Template based with branding options | Nearly unlimited (you design the pages) |
| Guest login needed | Typically a link | Typically a link or app style access | No, just a link or QR code |
| Cost structure | Subscription tied to the platform | Subscription, usually per property | Single plan, unlimited flipbooks on higher tiers |
Hostfully started as a vacation rental management platform. It bundles a channel manager, a booking engine, guest messaging and a digital guidebook feature. For a host who wants to centralize reservations, communication and guest information, that bundle is appealing.
The guidebook sits next to your calendar and your messages. That means you can send the guidebook link automatically as part of a guest communication flow, and you do not have to juggle separate tools. Teams managing several units also benefit from having property data in one place.
If you only need a welcome guide, you are paying for a lot of software you may not use. The guidebook lives inside the platform's templates, so your design choices are shaped by what the system allows. Moving away later also means rebuilding your content elsewhere.
Touch Stay focuses on one thing: digital guidebooks for holiday lets, hotels and short-term rentals. You build sections for house rules, appliance instructions, local recommendations and recommended places, then guests open it on their phones.
Because the product is built around guidebooks, the building process feels purposeful. Maps, recommendation lists and categorized sections come naturally. Guests get a mobile-friendly experience that feels closer to an app than a PDF.
Pricing is generally structured around the number of properties, so costs climb as your portfolio grows. As with any template tool, you work inside its layout system, which limits how distinctive your branding can look.
A flipbook welcome book takes a different approach. You design the guide as a normal document, using whatever tool you already like, such as Canva, Google Docs or Word. Then you export it as a PDF and convert it into an interactive, page-turning flipbook that guests open from a link or a QR code. There is no app to install and no account for guests to create.
You control every page. A boutique cabin can look rustic and handwritten, a city loft can look sleek and editorial, and a beachfront villa can use full-bleed photography. The same file can be shared by link, embedded on your listing website, or printed as a backup binder, so one creative effort serves several channels.
With Flipbooks AI, you get no watermarks, custom branding, mobile-responsive reading, password protection for private details like door codes, and embedded video or audio for walkthroughs. Higher plans add analytics and lead generation, which helps if you also want to capture direct booking inquiries. See the pricing plans for what each tier includes.
A flipbook is not a property management system. It will not sync with your calendar, send automated messages, or push reservation data into the guide. Updating a page means editing the source file and re-uploading, which is quick but still manual. You also build the structure yourself, so there is more creative work upfront than with a template that hands you empty fields.
Features matter less than how they play out on a Saturday arrival. This table maps common host needs to each option.
| Host need | Hostfully | Touch Stay | Flipbook welcome book |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi and house rules page | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Local recommendations with maps | Yes | Strong | Yes, with links and images |
| Automated guest messaging | Yes (platform feature) | Limited or via integrations | No |
| Custom branded look | Moderate | Moderate | High |
| Password protection | Platform dependent | Platform dependent | Yes |
| Embed video walkthrough | Possible | Possible | Yes |
| Works offline after download | Varies | Varies | Offline downloads available |
| Printable backup | Possible | Possible | Yes, same source file |
| Reuse content on your own site | Limited | Limited | Yes, via embed code |
⚠️ Warning: Platform features change frequently. Treat the table as a starting framework and verify each cell against the vendor's current documentation for your own use case.
Money is where hosts often feel the difference. The numbers below describe the cost structure, not exact prices, because vendors adjust them regularly.
| Cost factor | Hostfully | Touch Stay | Flipbook welcome book |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billing style | Platform subscription | Subscription, often per property | Plan based, unlimited flipbooks on higher tiers |
| Cost grows with portfolio | Often yes | Often yes | Usually not |
| Design time | Low to medium | Low to medium | Medium (one time) |
| Switching cost | High if you rely on automation | Medium | Low, your PDF is yours |
| Hidden extras | Add-on modules possible | Add-on tiers possible | Design tool you already use |
Imagine a host with six cabins. A per-property subscription multiplies six times each month. A single flipbook plan with unlimited flipbooks lets that host create six guides, or even one master book with a page per cabin, for one fixed fee. The trade-off is that the host handles guest messaging in a separate tool, which many already do through their booking site.
Guests rarely care which tool you picked. They care how quickly they find the answer. A few observations hold across all three options.
Here are real-world scenarios to match your situation.
You probably do not need a full management platform. A flipbook welcome book gives you a boutique feel and costs little. Build it once, put the QR code in the entryway, and update it each season.
Hostfully's all in one approach may repay its cost because automation and a central dashboard save hours. You could still add a designed flipbook for premium properties where branding matters.
If recommendations, maps and categorized local tips are your selling point, Touch Stay's dedicated format is a natural fit. Pair it with a flipbook for a printed concierge binder if you run a guest-facing lounge.
A flipbook can double as marketing. Embed it on your own site, add a call to action page, and use the lead generation features on the Professional plan to capture inquiries from guests who liked their stay and want to return.
✅ Best practice: Many hosts combine tools. Use a management platform for operations and a designed flipbook for the welcome experience. Nothing says you have to choose only one.
If the flipbook route appeals to you, the process takes an afternoon. This tutorial uses Flipbooks AI and the Travel Guide Flipbook and Hotel Brochure style tools as inspiration.
Keep the book between 8 and 16 pages. A reliable order looks like this:
Use any design tool you like and export a PDF. Keep fonts large for phone reading and use real photos of your property. Add brief text, and let the pictures breathe.
Open your account at Flipbooks AI, upload the PDF, and let the converter turn it into a page-turning flipbook. The PDF to Flipbook Converter handles the conversion.
Add your brand colors, logo and page effects. Embed a short video tour of the thermostat or the hot tub controls, and attach audio if you like a spoken welcome.
Turn on password protection if the book includes door codes. Then choose how to share it:
On higher plans, use analytics to see which pages guests open most. If the Wi-Fi page is the favorite, move it earlier. If nobody opens the checkout page, make it more visible.
💡 Pro tip: Print the same PDF as a small binder for the kitchen counter. Some guests love paper, and you already did the work.
Whichever option you choose, avoid these traps.
A fourth trap deserves a mention: ignoring the people who run the property when you are away. Cleaners and co-hosts should have access to the same instructions, so the standards stay consistent.
Use this short list before you pay for anything.
| If you answer yes to this | Lean toward |
|---|---|
| I need calendar sync, automation and messaging in one place | Hostfully |
| I want a dedicated guidebook with maps and categories | Touch Stay |
| I want unique branding and full design control | Flipbook welcome book |
| I manage many properties and want predictable costs | Flipbook welcome book |
| I want guests to open it with no login | Flipbook welcome book |
| I need both operations and a polished welcome | Combine a platform with a flipbook |
There is no single winner in the Hostfully vs Touch Stay vs flipbook debate, only a best fit for your portfolio. If you value operations automation, look hard at Hostfully. If you want a guidebook-first experience, Touch Stay deserves a trial. If you want a branded, flexible, low-friction welcome that you fully own, a flipbook is hard to beat.
Ready to create yours? Get started for free on Flipbooks AI, browse all flipbook tools for templates and ideas, or compare pricing plans to choose what works for you. Add a small welcome basket, a framed QR code and a clear first page, and your next guests will arrive already knowing where everything is.
