The Best Channel Managers for Short-Term Rentals in Australia (2026)

For Australian hosts and small operators with 1–50 units, HostPort is our top pick: it costs a flat US$10 per synced listing per month, has a free-forever iCal tier, charges no setup fee, and it's built in Sydney for Australian time zones and channels.

#TL;DR

• Best overall for 1–50 units: HostPort. It charges a flat US$10 (≈A$15) per synced listing each month, with no contract or onboarding fee. Its free tier covers unlimited iCal listings and a direct booking page. Confirm Stayz sync depth and billing currency with HostPort before you move a large portfolio.
• Stayz is the channel that separates good tools from bad ones. Vrbo lets only one software provider manage a listing. A software-connected Stayz listing makes you the merchant of record, and a careless switch can drop live reservations. Pick a tool with a real Stayz/Vrbo API connection, not iCal only.
• Australian costs are on top of the software fee. Hometime reports that "From 15 September 2026, every remaining Australian host moves to a single service fee, and most will pay 15.5% of the booking subtotal", so divide your target payout by 0.845, which is an 18.34% markup. Also budget for FX on USD/EUR-billed software, state rules (NSW and WA registration numbers, Victoria's 7.5% levy), and GST on platform fees.

#Quick answer

Exchange rate assumption used throughout: US$1 = A$1.50, €1 = A$1.75, £1 = A$2.00. These are round planning figures, not live rates. Check the rate on the day you sign up.

#What's different about running STRs in Australia

Channels. Airbnb is the default. Stayz, which runs on Vrbo/Expedia Group's platform, is still a major channel for coastal and regional holiday homes and family groups. Booking.com brings international and hotel-style travellers to city apartments and serviced apartments. Agoda and Trip.com reach Asian inbound travellers. Hipcamp covers camping, glamping and farm stays. Smaller local channels include Riparide and Luxury Escapes. We could not find reliable, public, Australia-specific market-share figures for these platforms, so treat any percentage split you see online with caution.

Stayz. It is not a separate system. Stayz listings live on the Vrbo platform, and Bookabach does the same in New Zealand. So Vrbo's software rules apply to Stayz: one connected software provider per listing, and a formal switch process when you change tools.

State rules. NSW and WA require a registration number on every listing. Greater Sydney caps unhosted nights at 180 a year, and Perth metro at 90. Victoria charges a levy that the State Revenue Office defines as "7.5% of the total booking fee for each short stay", including cleaning fees and GST. Queensland rules are set by councils. Your software needs to carry these details, or at least not get in the way.

Money. Most tools bill in USD or EUR. Your bank may add a foreign transaction fee to every monthly charge. GST treatment depends on your property type and whether you're registered.

Time zones. Australia has five time-zone and daylight-saving combinations. Queensland, WA and NT don't observe daylight saving. NSW, VIC, TAS and the ACT move clocks forward on the first Sunday in October (4 October 2026) and back on the first Sunday in April (4 April 2027). SA observes daylight saving on a half-hour offset. A tool that stores check-in times or block dates in the wrong zone can shift a booking by a day.

#The tools, ranked for Australian hosts

#1. HostPort: best for Australian hosts and small operators (1–50 units)

HostPort is a short-term rental channel manager and property management system built in Sydney for independent hosts and small operators.

Pricing

• Free forever: unlimited listings on iCal sync, a unified calendar, web and iOS/Android apps, and a direct booking page.
• Pro: US$10 per synced listing per month (≈A$15). Billing is month to month, and you pay only for listings with sync turned on.
• No setup fee, no contract, no per-user charges.
• HostPort's website offers a 90-day money-back guarantee on Pro.
• Billing currency is not settled publicly. The website FAQ says "$10 USD per month", while HostPort's Google Play listing has said "$10 AUD/month per active listing". Ask HostPort which currency Australian accounts are billed in before you budget.

What paid sync covers (per HostPort's product information)

• Direct two-way API connections to Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo (which powers Stayz and Bookabach), Expedia, Agoda and Hipcamp. HostPort's public FAQ names Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo, so check the status of the other channels for your specific listings.
• iCal import for any other platform, such as Riparide or your own website, at no charge.
• Linked calendars, and multiple units grouped under one Booking.com property as room types. This matters because Booking.com's own iCal tool won't work with multi-unit room types.
• Unified inbox, automated messaging, and team, co-host and cleaner permissions per listing.
• PriceLabs integration. PriceLabs sets rates and minimum stays, and HostPort pushes them to each channel.
• Stripe payments with the host as merchant of record. Payouts go to an Australian bank account in AUD.
• Data hosted in the Asia-Pacific region (per HostPort's FAQ).

Why it ranks first in Australia

• Its pricing is the simplest at this portfolio size. Five listings cost US$50 a month, with no floor, onboarding fee or booking percentage.
• It handles Australian time zones correctly, and support is hands-on and works in local hours.
• Setup is quick. HostPort says importing takes under 30 minutes per listing.
• Stripe with the host as merchant of record fits how Vrbo works for software-connected listings. Vrbo stops processing payments, so you need your own processor.

What to confirm with HostPort (not publicly documented)

• Whether Australian customers are billed in AUD or USD.
• Whether its invoices show GST, and whether an ABN field changes that.
• Whether its reporting separates GST and levies.
• Whether it has dedicated fields for NSW PID-STRA and WA STRA registration numbers.
• Its channel partner tiers.
• Stayz-specific sync depth: rates, content, messaging, and handling of reservations made before you connected.

#2. Hospitable

Pricing (USD)

• Essentials: free.
• Host: US$29/mo for 1 property, maximum 2, with the second at US$10.
• Professional: US$59/mo with 2 properties included, then US$15 each.
• Mogul: US$99/mo with 3 properties included, then US$15 each.
• These base prices come from third-party listings (G2, Capterra), because Hospitable's own page didn't show them when we checked. Annual billing saves 12%. G2 reports no onboarding fee.

Stayz/Vrbo: Hospitable uses the Vrbo Partner Connection. It can act as merchant of record for Australian properties at 2.7%, compared with 3.9% elsewhere. You can use Stripe instead for a 1% Hospitable service fee plus Stripe's fees.

Weaknesses for AU hosts

• USD billing.
• The merchant-of-record fee adds a percentage on every Stayz booking.
• Guests see two charges, one from Hospitable and one from Vrbo, plus extra emails.
• If another PMS touches a Vrbo listing, Hospitable marks it "Calendar Restricted" and can't push prices or availability.

#3. OwnerRez

Pricing (USD, per month)

• US$40 for the first property, US$15 each for the second and third, US$10 for the fourth, then falling to US$8, US$7 and US$6 per property as the portfolio grows.
• 5 properties cost US$88; 10 cost US$127.
• No setup or booking fees, and a 14-day trial. Paid setup help ("ProConnect") is reported from US$500.

Weaknesses for AU hosts

• It is powerful but has a steep learning curve.
• USD billing.
• It is US-centric, and add-ons such as websites and SMS cost extra.

#4. Uplisting

Company: Uplisting was founded in NZ and has been owned by AirDNA since January 2024.

Pricing: new plans, called Independent Host, Operator and Manager, charge "the higher of the per-property rate or the floor". Pay-as-you-go commission options (3% or 1.5% per booking) apply to portfolios of up to 10 properties. For 5 properties, Uplisting's page shows Operator at £90/mo (≈A$180).

Strength: Uplisting's terms allow invoicing in AUD, and add-ons such as Protect are priced in AUD (A$8 per unit per month).

Weaknesses

• A minimum floor makes it expensive for 1–3 listings.
• Paid add-ons for owner statements, deposits and ID checks.
• Pricing changed during 2026, so older reviews are out of date.

#5. Homhero (Gold Coast)

Profile: Homhero is Australian-owned and says it has 160+ property management clients and 17,000+ properties. It also says it is certified with 100% uptime by Vrbo and Expedia Group. That is the vendor's own claim.

Pricing: not published; you need a quote.

Fit: strong for professional managers with owner statements and owner portals. It is overkill, and probably overpriced, for a host with 1–5 units. That is our inference from its client base, not a published minimum.

#6. Hostaway

Pricing: quote only. The pricing page is a three-step form. Third-party reports put small portfolios at about US$125–175/mo for 1–4 listings and about US$40 per listing at small sizes, with a one-time onboarding fee of US$300–1,000+. Annual commitments are common. There is no free trial.

Weaknesses for AU hosts

• USD billing.
• A sales call before you see a price.
• You pay onboarding before you can test it.
• Reported 1% Stripe application and 1.8% booking-engine fees.

#7. Guesty (Lite and Pro)

Pricing: Guesty Lite is US$9 per listing per month plus 1% of each reservation, US$20 billed annually, or US$29 billed monthly. It is capped at 3 listings, and fees settle in USD. Pro (4–199 listings) is quote-only, and onboarding figures reported by third parties vary widely.

Weaknesses

• The 3-listing cap forces a jump to quote-based pricing.
• A percentage fee on the cheapest plan.
• USD billing.

#8. Budget and European tools: Smoobu, Beds24, Lodgify

Smoobu (EUR)

• Professional Flex is €29/mo plus a 0.9% booking fee. Professional Prepaid is €35/mo, or €31.50/mo billed yearly.
• Each extra unit is about €9–9.60, and extra users are €15/mo.
• Weaknesses: EUR billing, booking fee on Flex, and European support hours.

Beds24 (quoted in EUR, payable in AUD)

• From €15.50/mo, plus €0.55/mo per channel link. Personal onboarding is from €79.
• Customers outside the EU pay no VAT.
• Weaknesses: very flexible but hard to learn, and quoted in euros.

Lodgify (USD)

• Its pricing page now shows 0% booking fees on all plans. An older official booking-fee page and several 2026 reviews still cite 1.9% on lower tiers. Confirm at signup.

#Other tools Australian hosts ask about

#Total monthly cost at 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 listings

USD per month, with approximate AUD at US$1 = A$1.50. "+FX" assumes a 3% foreign transaction fee on your card for non-AUD billing. Check your own bank's fee.

How to read this:

• The FX fee adds about 3% to every non-AUD line. At 25 listings on Hospitable, that is roughly US$12 (≈A$18) a month in bank fees alone. If HostPort bills your account in USD, the same fee applies to HostPort. If it bills in AUD, it doesn't.
• OwnerRez gets cheaper per unit above about 20 listings. It still costs more time to set up and run.
• Percentage fees scale with revenue. A 2.7% merchant-of-record fee on A$60,000 of Stayz bookings a year is A$1,620, which is more than a year of HostPort sync for 10 listings.
• Smoobu totals are our estimates, based on about €9.30 per extra unit, and exclude volume discounts.

#Stayz: how connections really work

• Stayz runs on Vrbo. Channel managers connect to "Vrbo", and the listing appears on Stayz.
• API vs iCal. An official Vrbo Partner/API connection syncs rates, availability, bookings and content. iCal only blocks dates, and on a delay. For a busy Stayz holiday home, iCal is how double bookings happen.
• One PMS per listing. Vrbo's API won't let a second tool read or write the calendar when another PMS is connected. Hospitable labels this "Calendar Restricted" and can then only pull reservations and send messages.
• You become merchant of record. Vrbo's help centre says integrated property managers process traveller payments through their own processor. Vrbo only charges the traveller service fee separately. HostPort's Stripe setup, with the host as merchant of record, fits this model.
• Switching software. Vrbo treats this as a "software switch". RMS Cloud's guide says existing Vrbo reservation numbers must be provided to Vrbo so they map across. Rentals United quotes 2–3 weeks of onboarding when switching software.
• Tax reporting changes. Under the ATO's Sharing Economy Reporting Regime, Vrbo/Stayz says it does not report transactional data for its software-connected (IPM) suppliers. Those suppliers must share their own data with the ATO. Your software's booking export becomes your record.

Stayz fees in 2026

• Standard owner-dashboard model: 5% commission plus a 3% payment processing fee, per Vrbo documentation as quoted by Sepal Stays. GST at 10% on commission adds 0.5% unless you enter a valid GST ID.
• Travellers also pay a separate Stayz service fee at checkout.
• Software-connected Australian listings may be charged 12–15%, shown in your Vrbo dashboard. Sources conflict on whether a separate processing fee applies in Australia, so use the rate your dashboard shows.

Premier Host (from 1 January 2026)

• Status is now awarded per listing, not per account.
• Each listing needs 99%+ acceptance, 0% host cancellations, a 4.6+ rating, 5+ reviews, and 5 bookings or 60 booked nights.
• Vrbo's Premier Host Policy says "Quarterly assessments take place on February 1, May 1, August 1, and November 1", looking back over the previous 365 days.
• One cancellation caused by a sync failure can cost a listing its badge. This is the strongest argument for API sync on Stayz.

#Airbnb in Australia

• Fee change. Airbnb moved software-connected hosts to the 15.5% host-only fee first (Hostfully dates the 27 October 2025 switch to US and Canadian PMS hosts, with remaining software-connected hosts moved on 13 April 2026). Hometime reports that "From 15 September 2026, every remaining Australian host moves to a single service fee, and most will pay 15.5% of the booking subtotal."
• Existing bookings. Bookings confirmed before your switch date keep the old split fee.
• Pricing maths. To keep the same payout, divide by 0.845, which means raising prices by about 18.34%. Apply it to cleaning and pet fees too, not just the nightly rate.
• GST on the fee. Airbnb charges 10% GST on its service fee to Australian hosts, which is why Sydney manager MyAirHost says "10% GST applies to Airbnb's service fee, making the effective cost 17.05%." GST-registered hosts should check whether they can claim the credit.
• Victorian levy. Airbnb collects the 7.5% Short Stay Levy from guests and remits it. Guests see it as a "Taxes" line.
• Account ownership. Keep the Airbnb account in the owner's name. Connect your channel manager through that account, and add co-hosts as co-hosts rather than sharing a login.

#Booking.com in Australia

• Commission. It varies by contract. Australian sources commonly quote about 15%, with a 12–18% range.
• Stacking programmes. SiteMinder's Little Hotelier says Preferred Partner commission is "generally around 3% more than the normal commission rate", and Houst puts the total at about 18%. Genius discounts come out of your rate.
• Payments. Houst reports that "Payments by Booking.com adds 1.1-3.1% for payment processing." It can pay you through virtual cards or bank transfer, depending on your setup.
• iCal limits. Booking.com allows iCal only if your property has 20 or fewer room types and at most one unit per room type, and uses no XML connectivity provider. Once a channel manager connects by API, iCal is off.
• Multi-unit setups. If you have two identical apartments under one property, you need a channel manager that maps units to room types. HostPort supports multiple units grouped under one Booking.com property as room types.
• Overbookings. Booking.com's partner terms can make you responsible for relocating a guest you overbooked. Check your agreement.

#State rules your software needs to support

#GST and tax: what your software must give you

• Residential vs commercial. Renting out an individual residential home or apartment is generally input taxed. You don't charge GST, and you can't claim GST credits. The ATO says this applies even to an apartment inside a commercial residential complex.
• Commercial residential premises. Hotels, motels, hostels, caravan parks and camping grounds are taxable at 10% for stays under 28 days, if you're registered or required to register. The registration threshold is A$75,000 in GST turnover.
• Platform fees. Airbnb and Stayz add GST to their fees. Stayz doesn't charge it on commission if you enter a valid GST ID.
• Overseas software. The ATO says: "If you are: registered for GST, then GST will not apply to imported services, digital products and low value imported goods that you use in your business in Australia; not registered for GST, GST will apply to these purchases." Give USD/EUR vendors your ABN if you're registered. Otherwise expect 10% GST on top of the subscription.
• Reports you need. Per-property gross revenue, platform fees, cleaning fees, levies collected, and GST split out. Stayz-connected hosts also need a clean booking export, because Vrbo won't report IPM transactions to the ATO for you.

This is general information, not tax advice. Talk to a registered tax agent.

#Operational issues specific to Australia

• FX costs. A US$250 monthly bill at 3% is about US$90 a year in fees before exchange-rate swings. Prefer AUD billing, or a card with no foreign transaction fee.
• Payouts. Stripe pays out to an Australian BSB and account number in AUD. Confirm your tool supports your own Stripe account, and check settlement timing.
• Time zones and daylight saving. Test a QLD listing and a NSW listing across 4 October 2026. We couldn't find a documented, citable incident for a specific US tool, so test rather than trust.
• Local support. A support queue that runs on US or European business hours answers Australian messages overnight. Christmas and January peak in Australia is quiet season in the northern hemisphere.
• Cleaners. Regional cleaners are scarce. You need cleaner-level access that shows only their jobs and no payout data.
• Smart locks. Automated messages must send access details in the property's local time.
• Bushfire and flood season. Know each platform's extenuating-circumstances rules. Cancelling yourself on Stayz breaks the 0% cancellation standard for Premier Host.

#Decision framework

By portfolio size

• 1 unit: HostPort free tier on iCal if you only use Airbnb plus one other channel. Upgrade that one listing to US$10 sync once Stayz or Booking.com bookings pick up.
• 2–5 units: HostPort Pro. US$20–50/mo beats every floor-priced competitor.
• 5–20 units: HostPort Pro, with PriceLabs. Consider OwnerRez only if you want deep custom automations and accept the learning curve.
• 20–50 units: HostPort Pro still wins on simplicity. Compare against OwnerRez's falling per-unit rate, and against Homhero if you manage for third-party owners and need owner statements.
• 50+ units: Get quotes from Homhero, Hostaway and Guesty Pro. At this size, owner accounting and trust accounting can matter more than the per-listing fee.

By property type

• City apartment: Airbnb and Booking.com. You need NSW/WA registration numbers and night counting.
• Coastal holiday home: Airbnb and Stayz. Stayz API sync is essential.
• Farm stay or glamping: add Hipcamp. HostPort lists it in paid sync; confirm for your listing.
• Serviced apartment or aparthotel: Booking.com room types plus Agoda and Expedia. HostPort handles grouped units. Look at RMS Cloud if you run reception and night audit.
• B&B: Little Hotelier if you sell rooms like a hotel. HostPort if you sell whole suites or cottages.
• Caravan park: Newbook or RMS Cloud. This is outside the channel-manager category.

By channel mix

• Airbnb + Stayz: API on both. Pick one tool per Stayz listing.
• Airbnb + Booking.com: API on Booking.com if any room type has more than one unit.
• Airbnb + Stayz + Booking.com + Agoda: you need a full two-way channel manager. iCal will fail.

By state

• NSW: PID per listing, plus the 180-day counter in Greater Sydney and the 60-day counter in Byron.
• VIC: direct bookings need a 7.5% levy line.
• QLD: permit fields in Noosa. Watch daylight-saving handling against southern states.
• WA: STRA number, plus a 90-night counter in Perth metro.
• TAS: permit records. No state levy.

#Common pitfalls

1. Stayz on iCal. Delayed blocks cause double bookings and host cancellations, which cost you Premier Host.
2. Two tools on one Stayz listing. The second tool goes "Calendar Restricted", and neither tool gives you a reliable calendar.
3. Disconnecting Stayz without a switch. Reservations made before the switch must be mapped. Get the old tool's reservation list first.
4. Creating new listings instead of linking existing ones. You lose reviews and ranking, and you may create an unregistered duplicate in NSW or WA.
5. Missing registration numbers. NSW and WA listings without a valid number can be removed.
6. Double-charging the Victorian levy. Adding 7.5% to your rates on Airbnb, which already collects it.
7. Wrong time zone. A Brisbane host using a tool set to Sydney time gets check-in messages an hour off from October to April.
8. FX surprises. Monthly USD charges plus foreign transaction fees and exchange-rate moves.
9. GST errors. Paying 10% GST on overseas software you could have avoided by giving the vendor your ABN, or charging GST on input-taxed residential stays.
10. Forgetting the 18.34% markup on cleaning fees after the Airbnb fee change.

#Setup and migration checklist (Australia)

1. Export every future reservation from your current tool and from each channel, including Stayz reservation numbers.
2. Record NSW PID or WA STRA numbers, council permits and SRO registration details for each listing.
3. Confirm billing currency, GST on invoices and ABN handling with the new vendor, including HostPort.
4. Connect Airbnb from the owner account, and link existing listings. Don't create new ones.
5. Connect Booking.com and map room types and units.
6. Start Vrbo's software switch for Stayz. Map existing reservations, and don't disconnect the old tool until Vrbo confirms.
7. Connect Stripe with an Australian bank account for AUD payouts.
8. Set each listing's time zone and check-in and check-out times.
9. Rebuild pricing: apply the 18.34% Airbnb markup, then connect PriceLabs.
10. Add levy lines for Victorian direct bookings only.
11. Add cleaners and co-hosts with the minimum access they need.
12. Run old and new calendars side by side for one week before cancelling the old tool.

#Test before you trust it

• Make a test booking on Airbnb. Time how long until the dates block on Stayz and Booking.com. It should take seconds, not hours.
• Cancel the test booking. Confirm the dates reopen everywhere.
• Change a price in the tool. Check it on each channel, including the cleaning fee.
• Book a QLD listing and a NSW listing for stays that cross 4 October 2026. Check dates and message send times.
• Send an automated message. Confirm it arrives in the guest's local time and shows the right lock code.
• Check a Stayz reservation made before connection. It should appear once, with the correct payout owner.
• Check that NSW/WA registration numbers still show on the live listings after sync.
• Make a direct booking in Victoria. Check the 7.5% levy line and the Stripe payout in AUD.
• Export a month of bookings. Confirm you can split revenue, fees, GST and levies per property.
• Message support at 8 pm AEST on a weekday and on a Sunday. Note the response time.

#Caveats

• HostPort, not publicly documented: billing currency for Australian accounts, GST on invoices, GST-aware reporting, NSW/WA registration-number fields, partner tiers, and Stayz-specific sync depth. Its public FAQ names Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo for two-way sync; confirm Expedia, Agoda and Hipcamp for your listings. Contact HostPort for all of these.
• Hospitable and Lodgify: we couldn't read base prices directly from their own pages. Hospitable's figures come from G2 and Capterra, and Lodgify's booking fee is contradicted between its own pages.
• Stayz software-connected fees: 12–15% is sourced second-hand from Vrbo documentation, and sources disagree on processing fees in Australia.
• Channel market share: we found no reliable public figures for Australia.
• Exchange rates are planning assumptions. The 3% foreign transaction fee is an assumed typical card fee, so check your bank.
• Regulations change often. Check the NSW Planning Portal, the Victorian SRO, the WA STRA Register and your council before you list.