Which is cheaper, Hostcation or SuperControl?

For a single property, Hostcation is £10 per month on the annual plan (£15 monthly) with 0% commission and no joining fee. SuperControl starts from £300 per year (£25/mo) plus a £200 joining fee, a PCI compliance fee of £60–£360 per year, and a 1% + VAT channel service fee on all OTA bookings.

Does SuperControl charge a booking commission?

SuperControl charges a 1% + VAT channel service fee on the total accommodation value of every booking received via an OTA (Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia, Cottages.com, TripAdvisor). Direct bookings taken through SuperControl's own booking engine carry no channel service fee.

Is SuperControl suitable for a single-property owner?

SuperControl is built for agencies and multi-property portfolios, not typically for single-property owners. Its feature set (owner accounting, trust accounting, yield management, owner portals) reflects that. Hostcation is designed specifically for one-to-two-property owners who want a simple direct booking site.

What is the total annual cost of SuperControl for one property?

Roughly £500–£860+ per year: £300 annual licence, £200 joining fee (first year only), £60–£360 PCI fee, plus the 1% + VAT channel service fee on OTA bookings. Hostcation is £120 per year (£10/mo annual) with no joining fee, no PCI fee, and no commission.

Guide · Hostcation vs SuperControl

Hostcation vs SuperControl: which direct booking tool for UK hosts in 2026?

For UK holiday-let owners · Updated June 2026

SuperControl is a long-established UK property management system, now part of the Eviivo group, widely used by holiday-let agencies and operators with multiple properties. It offers a full PMS: booking engine, channel manager, guest management, reporting, owner portals, and trust accounting.

This guide compares SuperControl and Hostcation for a UK holiday-let owner in 2026: what each costs, who each is built for, and which one fits the size of operation you run. We make Hostcation, so treat this as our comparison — but we have kept it fair about where SuperControl genuinely excels.

For a broader view, our best direct booking website builders guide compares eight options side by side.

At a glance

	Hostcation	SuperControl
Price (1 property)	£10/mo annual (£15 monthly)	£300/yr licence + £200 joining fee + PCI fee
Booking fee	0% Hostcation commission (Stripe ~1.5% + 20p applies)	1% + VAT channel service fee on OTA bookings only. Direct bookings: 0%.
Website	Built for you from one listing link, usually under an hour	Booking engine + website integration (self-managed)
Calendar sync	Two-way iCal, hourly: Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Sykes	Full channel manager: Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia, etc.
Type	Direct booking website specialist	Full PMS with channel manager, agency tools, owner portals
Free trial	14 days (card needed to start; cancel before it ends)	Discovery call required
Best for	1–2 self-catering properties wanting simple and cheap	Agencies and multi-property portfolios

Pricing and the 1% OTA service fee

The most important difference between these two tools is the cost structure for OTA bookings.

SuperControl charges:

Annual licence fee from £300 per year per property (roughly £25/month)
One-off joining fee of £200
PCI compliance fee of £60–£360 per year
1% + VAT channel service fee on all OTA bookings — Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia, Cottages.com, and TripAdvisor. Direct bookings through SuperControl's own booking engine are not subject to this fee.

(SuperControl pricing); (SuperControl Help Centre — Channel Service Fee)

Hostcation costs £10 per property per month on the annual plan (£15 monthly), with 0% Hostcation commission. The only per-booking cost is Stripe card processing (roughly 1.5% plus 20p). No joining fee, no PCI fee, no OTA surcharge.

Example: one property, £20,000 in annual bookings, half via OTAs. With SuperControl you would pay the £300 licence + £200 joining (first year) + £100 PCI + ~£100 in channel service fees (1% of £10,000 OTA bookings) + VAT. Total for year one: roughly £700–£800 + VAT. With Hostcation: £120, no fees on the OTA bookings, only Stripe processing on direct bookings.

Full PMS vs focused booking site

SuperControl is a deep, full-featured PMS. It includes a channel manager that syncs with the major OTAs, a booking engine for your website, guest management tools, automated emails and SMS, owner portals, trust accounting, yield management, reporting, and housekeeper logins. It is built for businesses that manage multiple properties and need the operational infrastructure to match.

Hostcation does not try to replace your PMS. It provides a direct booking website with card payments and calendar sync — the three things you need to take a direct booking. For a one-to-two-property owner who already manages bookings through the platform calendars, this is usually enough.

Who is each tool for?

A plain-English steer:

You own 1–2 self-catering properties and want a cheap, simple direct booking site. Hostcation is built for exactly this: £10/property/month, 0% commission, site and sync done for you. SuperControl is overkill and significantly more expensive for your use case.
You run an agency or manage 5+ properties. SuperControl is genuinely built for this. Its owner portals, trust accounting, and channel manager are valuable for a portfolio. The 1% OTA service fee is a manageable cost at scale.
You are already on SuperControl and want to increase direct bookings. SuperControl's own booking engine does not attract the 1% channel service fee — so the incentive to drive direct is baked into the pricing. A separate flat-fee direct booking website alongside SuperControl can also work.

Try the simpler option for your property

Start a free 14-day trial — a card is needed to start, and you can cancel any time before it ends, so you won't be charged. See your booking site built from your existing listing in under an hour.

Try the savings calculator Start a free 14-day trial

Sources

SuperControl pricing was checked against its public website and help centre (accessed 18 June 2026). SuperControl does not fully disclose tiered pricing publicly; the £300/yr figure is the advertised starting licence fee. The 1% channel service fee applies to OTA bookings only. All SuperControl costs exclude VAT. Stripe UK card pricing (~1.5% + 20p domestic) is standard published Stripe pricing. Hostcation is a complement to the booking platforms, not a replacement.