Hostcraft

The problem

Hosts who rent out a holiday apartment through Airbnb or Booking.com pay a commission on every booking. Hosts I know often complained about these fees. A website of their own would be the alternative, but most lack the time or the technical knowledge. Hosts who use several platforms also have to avoid double bookings.

The goal was a product that gives hosts their own booking website without any technical knowledge, and that works with the calendars they already use.

The solution

Each accommodation gets its own page with photos, description, prices, location and available dates. Guests send a booking request. The host confirms dates and price, and only then does the booking become binding. Guests pay the host directly, by bank transfer or by card.

Hosts pay a fixed monthly price per accommodation, billed with Stripe. The websites are available in German, English and Croatian, with three designs to choose from.

Technical challenges

Calendar sync with Airbnb and Booking.com

Availability is synced with the platform calendars via iCal several times a day. One accommodation can be linked to several calendars at once. Guests only see dates that are really free, and double bookings are avoided.

Languages and designs per host

All host websites run on the same codebase. Language and design are settings per host. A new design or an improvement is therefore available to every host right away.

Automatic translation with AI

Hosts write their texts in one language only. The Claude API automatically translates the content into German, English and Croatian. Every accommodation gets a website in three languages, without the host having to translate anything or hire a translator.

A back end for hosts without technical knowledge

The target group is broad, from hosts with a single holiday apartment to operators of several apartments. Managing accommodations, prices and requests had to be simple enough to work without instructions.

A booking page that convinces guests

The guest page is the host's business card. Large photos, clear prices and a short path to the request are meant to make guests contact the host directly instead of booking through a platform.

The result

Hostcraft has been live since September 2026. The platform is designed to serve hundreds to thousands of hosts without a separate installation for each customer.

Lighthouse scores of the Hostcraft website (desktop, measured in October 2026):

• Performance: 99
• Accessibility: 96
• Best practices: 93
• SEO: 100