Pre-onboarding your Airbnb account to Guesty lets you explore Guesty's powerful tools and features without disrupting your existing Property Management Software (PMS) setup. This non-intrusive process creates a “view-only” version of your Airbnb data, including listings, reservations, and guest messages, so you can preview Guesty’s capabilities before and deciding if it’s the right fit for your business.
If you decide to fully onboard, your listing data will already be in place, making the switch seamless. Simply disconnect your PMS from Airbnb and start managing your operations through Guesty.
This guide walks you through the pre-onboarding steps to help you make the most of your Guesty trial.
Limitations
- Pre-onboarding is not supported if the Airbnb account is connected to another Guesty account.
- The ability to "Give Guesty full permissions" is disabled for listings in a “Pending” status.
- Linking or reconnecting listings during pre-onboarding will lead to an error message ("You do not have permission to access this resource"), as data is not syncing from Guesty to Airbnb.
Pre-onboard an Airbnb account to Guesty
Step by step:
- Sign in to your Guesty account.
- In the top navigation bar, click the mode selector, then select Operations mode.
- Click Distribution.
- Click Airbnb.
- At the top right of the integration page, click Add account. Then, click Set up a view-only connection.
- In the pop-up, click Set up a view-only connection. You’ll be redirected to Airbnb.
- Review the information Guesty will access to integrate with your Airbnb account. Click Allow. Your Airbnb listing data will now be copied to Guesty. Changes to the data in Guesty won’t sync to Airbnb. Your listings will remain managed by your current PMS.
- Review which listings will be copied to Guesty, and click Set up a view-only connection. The import process will be initiated.
Note:
If you cancel this process, you’ll need to import the listings one at a time.
- A pop-up message will appear when the account is pre-connected. Click Visit the Guesty dashboard to visit the integration page.
Your Airbnb account and listings will be added to the integration page, and their status will change to “Connected”. Refresh the page. The listing data, reservations, and associated guest messages will be added to Guesty in "view-only" mode.
A “View only connection” indication will appear next to the account name, and an 
indication will display to the right of the pre-onboarded account and every pre-onboarded listing on the integration page. Also, at the top of each pre-onboarded property page, the following message will appear:
When the account is in “View only connection”, Guesty will pull the listings' data from Airbnb, including new reservations and guest messages, but will not push updates to Airbnb until the account is fully connected. Thus, any actions performed in Guesty, including creating reservations, changing the listing's settings, or adding automation, will not sync to Airbnb.
When you’re ready to fully connect your account, follow the steps below.
Fully connect a pre-onboarded account to Guesty
To fully connect your Airbnb account, you’ll need to disconnect your current PMS from Airbnb and list Guesty as your connectivity provider instead. Follow the instructions below.
Step by step:
- Sign in to your Guesty account.
- In the top navigation bar, click the mode selector, then select Operations mode.
- Click Distribution.
- Click Airbnb.
- Select the pre-onboarded account.
- At the top right, click Give Guesty full permissions.
- In the pop-up, under step 1, click Open Airbnb. A new window will redirect you to your Airbnb account settings.
- Under “Privacy and sharing”, select Services. Then, click Remove access below the name of your current PMS.
- In the pop-up, click Remove access to confirm.
- Go back to the Guesty tab.
- Under step 2, click Open Airbnb.
- Read the information Guesty will need to manage your Airbnb account. Then, click Allow.
- (Optional) Set up Guesty's integration email to manage your communication with Airbnb support.
Note:
You won’t be able to fully connect to Guesty if you haven’t disconnected your previous PMS.
Your account will now be fully connected to Guesty, and the listings' data will be fully imported to Guesty. Once a listing is imported, changes to its data in Guesty will override your Airbnb settings. Learn below how the import process affects your listing's data both in Guesty and Airbnb.
How the import affects your listing settings and data
|
Data type |
Details |
|---|---|
| Sync settings |
The listing sync type is set to “Full sync” by default, meaning rates, availability, and content should be managed in Guesty, not in Airbnb. If you prefer to manage just the listing content attributes in Airbnb (such as the property type, description fields, and amenities), change the sync settings to Limited sync once the listing is imported and connected. With Limited sync, you can select a property type, bed type, or amenity that is not supported in Guesty. Learn which data types are synced between Guesty and Airbnb for Full sync and Limited sync, and where to manage each data type accordingly. |
| Reservations |
Current and future reservations are imported to Guesty. Reservations with past check-out dates are imported without the guests' details (Airbnb restricts this for privacy reasons). Past reservations are pulled to Guesty as well but with partial or outdated financial information. Contact us to retrieve the correct financial information for past reservations. |
| Calendar blocks |
Your Airbnb calendar blocks will be imported as blocks to Guesty. If you were previously connected to another PMS, you might have reservations from other channels appearing in your Airbnb calendar as blocks. They'll be imported to Guesty as blocks as well. If you connect to the source channel of these reservations, Guesty will automatically replace these blocks with the actual reservations. |
| Listing's minimum and maximum nights |
|
| Additional fees |
Additional fees set in Airbnb won't be pulled to Guesty. You'll need to configure them in Guesty once the listing is imported. |
| External (iCal) calendars |
If you're using an external calendar (iCal): Airbnb disables the iCal connection to avoid conflicting updates. All iCal calendar blocks and notes will be removed from the listing's calendar, and the iCal link will be removed from Airbnb. |
| Photos |
Photos are imported from Airbnb with a lower resolution, and only sync to Guesty upon the initial import. We recommend deleting the imported photos and adding them again in Guesty, so they appear in high resolution (check the recommendations below). Add any additional photos directly in Guesty. |
| Guest messages |
Guest messages are added to the Guesty Inbox as “Unread”. |
| Smart calendar rules (Airbnb's rule-sets) |
Airbnb's rule-sets are removed. You can set new Smart Calendar Rules in Guesty. |
| Airbnb Smart Pricing |
Airbnb Smart Pricing is disabled, as it isn't supported in Guesty. You can use Guesty PriceOptimizer instead. |
| Listed/unlisted status |
The listing will be imported in the same listed status as in Airbnb. i.e., if it is listed (or unlisted) in Airbnb, it will be listed (or unlisted) in Guesty. If the listing is imported as unlisted, you'll need to list it to make it bookable. |
| Promotions |
All promotions applied to the listing will be removed from Airbnb. You can set the following promotions in Guesty:
And add additional Airbnb promotions (such as Custom promotions) in Airbnb. |
| Instant booking/Request to book |
An instant booking policy is automatically set for your imported listings. |
|
Title and description fields |
The listing's title and description fields will be pulled to Guesty. Descriptions in different languages will also be imported (as long as the language is supported in Guesty). The title and description fields will be used as the "default" set for all your channels. |
|
Nickname |
The listing's nickname is retrieved from Airbnb. If none is provided, Guesty generates one automatically. Learn more about changing a listing's nickname. |
| Guest verification requirements |
Guest verification requirements settings are reset. Define them again in Guesty. |
