This article covers frequently asked questions related to subscriptions, billing, plan changes, annual commitments, and payment issues.
Can I pause my subscription?
Subscription pauses are available for users on the Host, Professional, or Mogul plans. Pauses are offered only during the cancellation flow when you select an eligible reason. They are:
It’s off-season
You’re selling your property
You’re switching to mid- or long-term rentals
You’re hiring a property manager
If eligible, you can pause for up to 4 months.
Important limitations
Pauses are not available on the Legacy plan
Cannot be extended beyond 4 months
Cannot be used if you paused recently
Not available if your account has a failed payment or unpaid invoice (in dunning)
To request a pause: Go to Settings ⚙️ → Plans & billing → Cancel anytime → Choose an eligible reason → complete the flow until a pause is confirmed.
If you cancel instead of pausing, your settings and rules remain saved.
Why was I billed when I have no active properties?
Hospitable charges a base subscription fee for all active accounts. This fee applies regardless of whether properties are active, muted, or disconnected. The base fee ensures continued access to the platform's services, even if no properties are actively managed. To stop all charges, you must cancel your subscription entirely.
Billing for Active, Muted, and Disconnected Properties
Active Properties
Charges for active properties are based on the number of unmuted properties in your account. Active properties utilize Hospitable services, such as calendar syncing and guest messaging, and are therefore included in the billing count.
A property is considered active if:
It has a check-in during the billing period.
It uses Hospitable's Dynamic Pricing feature (active property fee is reduced to $10 in this case).
If both apply, then the full price for an extra active property applies.
You can review the properties counted as active for billing on the Active Properties page. This page provides a breakdown of charges based on detected guest activity, such as check-ins.
Muted Properties
Muted properties are excluded from property-based charges. However, muting properties does not stop the base subscription fee. If you mute all properties, you will still be charged the base fee as long as your subscription remains active. Note that after muting a property, it may take up to 24 hours for the billing count to update on your Subscription page.
Disconnected Properties
Disconnecting properties or channels from Hospitable does not cancel your subscription or stop the base subscription fee. The subscription remains active until you manually cancel it.
Common Scenarios and Billing Implications
Muting Properties on the Invoice Date
If you mute a property on the invoice date, the property will still be considered active for that billing cycle, as the invoice has already been generated. Credits cannot be issued for properties muted after the invoice is created.
Muting All Properties
Muting all properties prevents additional property-based fees but does not stop the base subscription fee. This is important to note if you are considering pausing your use of Hospitable services.
How to Avoid Unwanted Charges
To avoid being charged for properties you no longer wish to manage, follow these steps:
Mute Properties: Mute any properties you do not want to include in your billing count. Remember, this only stops property-based fees, not the base subscription fee.
Cancel Your Subscription: If you no longer need Hospitable services, cancel your subscription to stop all charges. Simply disconnecting properties or channels will not cancel your subscription.
Why was I charged after adding a new payment method?
When you add a new card, we run an authorization hold to verify it. A small pre-authorization amount is held temporarily to confirm that the card is active and operational. This hold is typically reversed within a few business days, depending on your bank's processing timeline.
This is not a charge.
No money is collected.
Your bank may show it as a temporary pending transaction.
The hold will clear automatically based on your bank’s processing timeline. You are only charged on your invoice date.
If you're on a trial and subscribe to a monthly plan, you will not be charged for your first monthly invoice until the end of your free trial period.
I just paid, but my subscription is still canceled. What happened?
Adding a card creates an authorization hold. Once authorized, we will attempt to collect the funds for your invoice.
If you see a charge on your credit card but your subscription is canceled, it's likely that we were unable to successfully collect payment. If your invoice payment fails:
Ensure that your card has at least twice the subscription amount available, as a failed renewal could stem from insufficient funds for the pre-authorization or subscription fee.
Your subscription will not activate.
The authorization may still appear pending.
Please confirm:
Your card has sufficient funds to cover both the authorization and the invoice amount.
The full invoice amount can be collected and your bank has not flagged the charge.
Once payment succeeds, your subscription activates automatically.
Can I upgrade my plan?
Yes.
If you're on a monthly plan
Go to Settings ⚙️ → Plans & billing → Your plan.
Changes apply immediately.
Your payment will be prorated.
Any credits are applied to your next invoice.
Note: If you are on a Legacy Plan, you will not be able to return to it if you upgrade to another plan type.
If you are on an annual plan
Annual subscriptions are a 12-month commitment
You may upgrade mid-term, including plan type (e.g., upgrade from Host to Professional) and/or the number of active properties (e.g., upgrade from 2 properties to 3 properties)
Contact sales or the support team to discuss upgrade options.
When does billing stop after cancellation?
Monthly plans: Billing stops at the end of the current billing period.
Annual plans: Billing stops at the end of the 12-month term.
Annual plans cannot be cancelled early.
What happens if I exceed the number of properties on my annual plan?
If you add more active properties than your annual plan includes:
You will incur overage charges based on the monthly plan rate. See details here.
Overages may also apply if you exceed the included number of smart devices per property.
If you would like to increase the number of properties in your annual contract, please reach out to support.
Why can’t I manage or cancel my subscription in the app?
Due to app store restrictions, Subscriptions cannot be managed in the mobile app.
To manage your subscription:
Use a desktop browser, or
Use a mobile browser at: https://my.hospitable.com/user/hello
How can I exclude smart locks to avoid charges?
Unmatching a lock stops all automation and prevents additional device charges for that property. To exclude a smart lock from billing:
Go to Devices → Overview → Smart Locks
Select the lock
Click Edit
Deselect all properties
Click Save
Does Hospitable send monthly invoice emails?
Yes. Each month, the primary account owner receives:
A subscription invoice email
Payment failure reminders (if applicable)
What happens if my payment fails?
If your payment fails, we will alert you via email and through a payment failure banner on your account. We offer a few days grace period; if your subscription invoice is not able to be collected after that, your subscription will automatically cancel. After a payment fails, multiple attempts are made to recover the balance within the grace period. Common reasons for payment failure include incorrect card details or insufficient funds.
If your subscription cancels, you can restart it at any time. However, Legacy subscription plans cannot be reactivated after cancelation.
If you need help determining why your payment failed, contact our support team.
Why am I seeing an EU VAT verification error?
Error message: “Operation Failed as the EU Country Entered in Billing Address By Customer Cannot Be Verified Against IP Address or Card BIN Number”
As an EU-incorporated company, Hospitable must collect VAT from EU B2C customers.
We must collect two pieces of evidence confirming your billing country:
Your IP address must match your billing country.
Your card’s issuing bank must be located in that same country.
If they do not match, update your billing details.
PayPal users may need to provide a card issued in their billing country.
This does not apply to:
Customers outside the EU
EU business customers with a valid VAT number
Why don’t I have access to Direct bookings?
Direct bookings are only available on the Legacy, Professional, and Mogul subscription tiers.
Hosts on the Host plan do not have access to Direct Premium, Direct Basic, or Direct Lite. Because these features rely on payment processing through Stripe, Stripe cannot be connected on Host plan accounts.
Direct booking features require Stripe to process payments, which is only supported on Legacy, Professional, and Mogul plans.
I removed/muted a property. Will I still be billed for it?
When you mute a property on Hospitable, billing for that property stops at the end of your current billing cycle. You will not be charged for a muted property on your next invoice.
My property is snoozed or unlisted. Why was I charged on my invoice?
Snoozing or unlisting a property does not remove it from your next invoice. If there was a check-in at the property during the billing cycle, or you used dynamic pricing during the billing cycle, it will be assessed with an add-on fee (if the number of active properties exceeds the amount included in your plan).
You must mute the property in order to fully stop billing.
I'm getting emails about my account ending, but my subscription is still active.
If you recently made changes to your subscription, you may receive an email about those changes.
You can confirm your current subscription status by going to Settings → Plans & billing. If your subscription shows as active there, you're all set — the email was likely about a specific property or plan change, not your whole account.
If you're unsure, contact support and we'll clarify exactly what changed.