A Little Hotelier alternative for homestays and guesthouses in Vietnam

HostBooking · Updated Nov 2, 2026 · 7 min read

Little Hotelier is software for small hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses; its Pro plan includes a channel manager, booking engine, calendar and mobile app, priced by room count with a 30-day trial. HostBooking is built for homestays in Vietnam: a free plan, VietQR deposits, hourly stays, guest registration export and Zalo, with OTA sync through iCal and email.

Where the facts come from

HostBooking wrote this page. Little Hotelier details come from the Little Hotelier pricing page, checked November 2026. The page asks how many bookable rooms you have before showing a "from … per month" price, excluding tax, so no figure is quoted here: see the Little Hotelier pricing page with your own room count. HostBooking figures come from our pricing page.

Who each one suits

• Little Hotelier suits small hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses selling on many OTAs worldwide, who want a two-way channel manager, a booking engine, online payments and 24/7 phone, chat and email support.
• HostBooking suits homestays, villas and serviced apartments in Vietnam with mostly Vietnamese guests: bank-transfer deposits, Zalo messages, hourly rooms, a police guest list, and a flat fee in dong.

Quick comparison

"Not mentioned" means the Little Hotelier pricing page does not cover it, not that it cannot be done.

Where Little Hotelier is clearly better

• A two-way channel manager in the Pro plan, selling across a large network of booking channels. Rates and availability change in one place. HostBooking does not push rates or availability to OTAs.
• Revenue tools: competitor rate intelligence, rate parity insights and pricing recommendations (add-on).
• 24/7 support by phone, chat and email, plus an onboarding specialist.

Where HostBooking fits better

• A public, flat price in dong that does not grow with room count. See pricing.
• VietQR deposits straight to your bank account, no gateway fee. See VietQR payments.
• Hourly and overnight stays for guesthouses and city homestays. See hourly rentals.
• Vietnam-format guest registration: scan chip ID card QR codes, export Excel in the CT14 column layout. See stay declaration.
• Zalo for guests and staff. See Zalo notifications.
• Point of sale, housekeeping and household-business tax books on the free plan. See features.

What HostBooking lacks

No two-way channel manager. OTA sync uses iCal and confirmation emails from Booking.com, Agoda, Airbnb, Traveloka, Trip.com and Expedia; it starts on Basic or costs 59,000 VND/month as an add-on. Agoda and Traveloka often do not accept iCal from hotels, so availability there is still edited by hand. Guest registration is not submitted to the portal for you. If most bookings come from several OTAs, Little Hotelier is the better fit.

Questions to answer before you choose

• Do your OTAs accept iCal? If you rely on Agoda or Traveloka as a hotel, you need a channel manager.
• Enter your real room count on the Little Hotelier pricing page and compare with 99,000 VND/month.
• Do you have hourly rooms or walk-in guests at the desk?
• Do you need 24/7 support in English or support in Vietnamese?
• Do you need the guest list in the Vietnamese police format every day?

Switching to HostBooking

1. Sign up and create properties, room types and rooms.
2. Export upcoming bookings to Excel or CSV and import them under Bookings › Import from file. See importing bookings.
3. Link iCal with the OTAs that accept it and forward OTA booking emails.
4. Run both systems for a week, compare calendars, then switch off the old one.

Open the demo or read spreadsheet or software.