What hostel software costs, for 20, 40 and 80 beds
Ten systems, three sizes of hostel, and the fees that only turn up on the first invoice.
Published 6 October 2026 - 8-minute read
Hostel software costs anywhere from nothing a month to several hundred dollars, and the price page rarely tells you which. Some charge a flat fee. Some charge per room, which is awkward when you sell beds. Some charge a few cents per guest-night, some take a percentage of every booking, and a few won't say until you've sat through a demo.
So we worked it out for three sizes of hostel, using each vendor's public prices on the day we checked. Where a vendor publishes nothing, we say so and give what other people report paying. We make one of these systems, HostelMate, and we've tried to write this the way we'd want a competitor to write about us.
How is hostel software priced?
Five ways, and each one rewards a different kind of hostel:
- A flat monthly fee. You pay the same whatever you sell. HostelMate is $19 a month up to 30 beds and $45 with no bed limit; Sirvoy is €11 or €41.
- By size. The price grows with rooms, units or guest capacity. BananaDesk charges by how many guests you can sleep, WebRezPro by room, and Beds24 by rented units through a calculator.
- Per guest-night. Nothing to pay when you're empty, more when you're full. HostelSnap charges from 10¢ per dorm guest per night.
- A fee plus a percentage. Little Hotelier's Basics plan is reported at $29 a month plus 1% of each booking, and some vendors offer a commission option instead of a fee.
- Quote only. Cloudbeds and Mews publish no price; you get one after a call.
What does it cost for 20, 40 and 80 beds?
Here is the monthly bill for a small, a mid-size and a larger hostel. Where the price depends on something other than beds, the assumption is written in the cell, and where a vendor won't publish a figure, the cell says so rather than guessing.
| System | 20 beds | 40 beds | 80 beds | What's included |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HostelMate | $19 | $45 | $45 | Channel manager and booking engine in both plans; no fee per booking |
| BananaDesk | $59 (up to 35 guests) | $83 (up to 55 guests) | $119 (up to 80 guests) | Channel manager included; booking engine free, or 4% if BananaDesk takes the payment |
| Sirvoy Pro | €41 | €41 | €41 | Channel manager on Pro only; counts 4 dorm beds as 1 room and doesn't map single beds |
| HostelSnap | About $54 | About $108 | About $216 | At 60% occupancy, 15¢ per dorm guest-night with the PMS; no channel manager of its own |
| WebRezPro | $100 | $100 | $140 | $10 per room, $100 minimum, if each dorm room of about 6 beds counts as one unit |
| Beds24 | From €15.50 | Grows with rooms | Grows with rooms | Plus €0.55 a month per channel link; their calculator gives the exact figure |
| Little Hotelier | From $29 plus 1% | Plan depends on rooms | Plan depends on rooms | Reported figures; priced in rooms, with 1% of booking value on Basics |
| FrontDesk Master | Calculator | Calculator | Calculator | Fixed fee, 3% per website booking or a guest-paid fee; listed from $25 on HotelMinder |
| Cloudbeds | Quote | Quote | Quote | Reported at $200 to $1,000 a month; our own quote was $176 plus $160 setup |
| Mews | Quote | Quote | Quote | Quoted per room |
Is there free hostel management software?
Yes, with limits. Sirvoy's free plan covers one room. HostelSnap has no monthly fee and charges per guest-night instead. Hostelworld's own Inbox is free but only sees Hostelworld bookings. Nobeds advertises a free plan, while a German directory lists it from €15 a month, so check what the free version includes before you rely on it.
HostelMate isn't free and has no free trial. There's a live demo you can open without signing up, and plans are monthly, so trying it for real costs one month.
Backpacker hostel or student hostel?
Half of what comes up when you search for hostel software is built for student housing: fee collection, attendance, mess menus. If you sell beds by the night to travellers, none of it is for you, and its prices tell you nothing about what you'll pay.
How do you work out your own number?
- Count your beds the way the software will. Most count each bookable bed; Sirvoy counts four dorm beds as one room, and you can read how HostelMate counts beds before you pick a plan.
- List the channels you sell on today, and the ones you'll add this year.
- Add up the extras from the list above for each system on your shortlist.
- Estimate what a percentage would cost at your real occupancy and bed price. Our OTA commission calculator does the sum.
- Put the total next to your monthly bed revenue. The break-even calculator shows how many beds the software costs you each month.
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Questions people ask
From nothing a month (with a fee per guest-night) to several hundred dollars for systems built for hotel groups. For a 40-bed hostel, the published prices we found run from about $45 to $140 a month, while the quote-only systems are reported at $200 and up.
Sirvoy has a free plan for one room, HostelSnap charges per guest-night with no monthly fee, and Hostelworld's Inbox is free for Hostelworld bookings only. A free plan rarely includes a channel manager for all your OTAs.
They price each property by quote, so the figure depends on size, contract and add-ons. Third parties report Cloudbeds at $200 to $1,000 a month; Mews says its price is per room and gives it after a call.
$19 a month for up to 30 beds on Lite, $45 with no bed limit on Advanced, per property, with no fee per booking. Paid yearly it's $18 or $43 a month, and seasonal hostels can drop to $14 or $25 for up to three months a year.
It depends on the vendor. HostelMate's plans are set by bed count, WebRezPro charges per room, BananaDesk by guest capacity, and Sirvoy counts four dorm beds as one room. Check which unit a quote uses before you compare two prices.
With HostelMate and BananaDesk it's included. Sirvoy includes it on Pro only, Beds24 charges €0.55 a month per channel link, and HostelSnap has none, so you'd pay a separate provider.