Comparison
An AlertStays alternative that costs less per search
Both tools do the same core job: watch an Airbnb search and tell you when something appears. The difference is what you pay per search, and whether you want a native app.
30 days free, cancel any time during the trial
Overview
AlertStays and AlertBnB solve the same problem. Airbnb will not tell you when a new listing shows up in a search, so something else has to look on your behalf. Where the two differ is in how the plans are cut and what happens on the cheapest one.
The short version: AlertStays is the better choice if you want a native phone app. AlertBnB is the better choice on price, gives you more searches for less, and lets you filter alerts by listing quality.
AlertStays and AlertBnB, side by side
| Feature | AlertBnB | AlertStays |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | €1.99/mo2 searches | $4.99/mo1 search |
| Most searches | €12.99/mo10 searches | $14.99/mo10 searches |
| New listing alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Cancellation alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Price drop alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Push notifications | Yes | Yes |
| Filter by rating and reviews | Yes | Not advertised |
| Native phone app | No | Yes |
| Free trial | 30 days | 7 days |
| Notable extras | Installable web app. | Listing and wishlist tracking announced, not yet released. |
Competitor details checked on 2026-08-27. We only mark a feature as missing when the vendor's own pricing or feature page rules it out; anything we could not confirm is shown as not advertised. Prices are in each vendor's own currency and are not converted. Spot something out of date? Tell us and we will correct it.
Which one you should actually pick
Choose AlertStays if
- You want a real phone app. AlertStays ships one for iOS and Android; AlertBnB is a web app you install to your home screen, which works but is not the same thing.
- You want the fastest possible notification and will pay for it. Their top tier advertises instant alerts; AlertBnB checks every 30 minutes from Pro upward. For a cancellation that is usually enough, but 30 minutes is not instant and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
Choose AlertBnB if
- You care about cost per search. The AlertStays entry plan is $4.99 for a single search. AlertBnB Basic is €1.99 for two.
- You want to filter out the junk. AlertBnB can restrict alerts by rating and review count, so a brand new listing with no history at a peak-weekend price does not wake your phone. AlertStays does not advertise anything equivalent.
- You want price drop and cancellation alerts without paying top-tier prices. On AlertBnB those start at €6.99; the AlertStays instant tier is $14.99.
- You want a longer trial. AlertStays offers seven days, AlertBnB gives thirty.
The entry plan is where the two really differ
Comparing top tiers makes the two look similar: ten searches on both, $14.99 against €12.99. The gap is at the bottom.
AlertStays Basic gives you one search, and notifies you once a day. That single constraint decides what the plan can do. If a place appears at nine in the morning and is gone by lunch, a notification that evening does not help. You find out you were too late, slightly more comfortably.
AlertBnB Basic gives you two searches for €1.99. That plan is still not fast, and we say so on the pricing page: for a genuinely competitive search you want Pro, which checks every thirty minutes and pushes to your phone. But two searches for less than half the money is a different proposition from one.
What neither tool can do
Worth saying plainly, because both of us are selling the same thing and neither should pretend otherwise.
Neither tool books for you. Neither gets early access to listings. Neither sees anything a logged-out visitor could not see on Airbnb itself. Both are doing the same thing you would do by hand, which is re-running a search, just far more often than a person can sustain.
That also means neither can conjure supply. If a town genuinely has nothing free for your dates, an alert tool does not change that. What it changes is who is first when a cancellation puts something back.
Common questions
Can I move an AlertStays alert to AlertBnB?
There is no import, but there is nothing to migrate. Both tools work from an Airbnb search URL, so open the search on Airbnb, copy the URL from the address bar and paste it in. It takes about a minute per search.
Is AlertBnB cheaper at every level?
At the levels that line up, yes, and you get more for it. AlertBnB Basic is €1.99 for two searches against $4.99 for one, and Premium is €12.99 against $14.99 for the same ten. The two are in different currencies and we do not convert them, so the exact gap moves with the exchange rate.
Does AlertBnB have an iPhone app?
Not a native one. AlertBnB installs to your home screen from the browser and sends push notifications from Pro upward, which covers most of what people want an app for. If a native app matters to you, AlertStays ships one for iOS and Android and we do not.
How current is this comparison?
The date under the table is when we last opened their site and checked every line. Anything we could not confirm is marked as not advertised rather than as missing. If something here is wrong, tell us and we will fix it.
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