Top 10 Hostaway Guest Screening Platforms

A Hostaway booking can go from Instant Book to door code without anyone on your team looking at the guest. Automations send the check-in instructions on schedule, and the Online Check-in Form collects an ID photo and a selfie along the way. What happens to that ID next is spelled out in Hostaway's help center: "Hostaway does not check the ID of the Guest to make sure that it is not fake."

So the form tells you a guest uploaded something, not who is walking through your door. Guest screening platforms close that gap. They connect through the Hostaway Marketplace and verify the ID, and some also search criminal, sex offender, and watchlist records before the door code goes out.

Ten serve Hostaway hosts today. Authenticate, Autohost, Safely, Trustd.ai, and Truvi run their own criminal background checks. ChargeAutomation, CheKin, Enso Connect, Linkbase, and Vikey focus on ID verification and online check-in. Authenticate is one of the ten and publishes this guide, so every vendor's details below, ours included, come from its own pages and Hostaway's help center as of October 2026.

Why do Hostaway hosts need guest screening?

Hostaway hosts need guest screening because self check-in removes the moment where someone used to look at the guest. Hostaway's own glossary lists what that moment protected against: "property damage, unauthorized parties, fraudulent bookings, and safety risks to neighbors." When the door code arrives by automated message, the only check left is the one you build into the booking.

The booking channels do not fill that gap for you. Airbnb verifies the identity of booking guests, but its help center states that it does not run background checks on all users, and what Airbnb screens stops at its own platform. Direct bookings through your Hostaway booking engine get whatever checks you add yourself, and nothing more.

Hostaway's form is still worth switching on, because it is the one place inside Hostaway where a guest's document lands, and it can run on some channels and not others. What it cannot tell you is whether the photo on the ID matches the selfie, whether the ID is forged, or whether the name appears on a sex offender registry. Those answers come from a guest verification or screening integration, and the ten below are the ones built for Hostaway.

Top 10 Guest Screening Platforms for Hostaway

The last column is the one most hosts miss. A result that lands in a Hostaway custom field can hold back your check-in message automatically, while a result that stays in the vendor's dashboard needs you, or the vendor's own guest app, to act on it.

If you only read one part of this guide, start here:

• A criminal check that can hold the door code inside Hostaway: Authenticate or Autohost.
• Damage protection first, with screening to qualify it: Safely or Truvi.
• Police registration in Europe: CheKin, or Vikey in Italy.
• One guest app for check-in, deposits, and ID: ChargeAutomation, Enso Connect, or Linkbase.

The platforms are grouped by whether they run their own criminal check, then listed alphabetically.

Hostaway guest screening platforms with criminal background checks

These five search criminal records themselves, either on every booking or as an add-on. Two of them, Authenticate and Autohost, also write a pass or fail result into Hostaway that a message automation can act on.

1. Authenticate

Authenticate verifies the guest's ID and selfie, then runs criminal, sex offender, and watchlist checks on the same submission. By Authenticate's own figures, verification takes as fast as 30 seconds across 7,500+ government ID types from 203 countries, and its liveness detection is certified at iBeta Level 2. The 7-Year National criminal check covers US guests only, the sex offender search covers 600,000+ records across all 50 states, and watchlist screening covers 40 countries, including the US Treasury's OFAC sanctions list.

The integration writes its results into nine reservation custom fields, so each outcome is something an automation can read. You can hold the check-in message until the identity field passes, and route a watchlist hit to yourself instead of the guest. Every booking channel is switched on by default in Authenticate's Manage Booking Channels setting, and you switch off the ones you do not want screened, such as Airbnb.

• Best for: hosts who want ID verification and a US criminal check whose results Hostaway automations can act on.
• Setup note: our own two Hostaway guides disagree on the link delay (40 minutes in the setup guide, 30 in Hostaway's article) and on one custom field. Use 40 minutes, and build automations on the fields listed in the messaging guide.
• Pricing: pay as you go, with a $100 activation fee credited toward usage and no contract.

2. Autohost

Autohost offers the widest range of checks on this list. Its pages describe document authenticity checks, face match, liveness, a US criminal check returned in "24-48 hours", sex offender and watchlist screening, eviction history, and Equifax credit checks in the US and Canada. You choose which of those run in your package, and you can set different requirements by booking source.

In Hostaway, Autohost registers three custom fields: "Verification Status", "Guest Portal Completed", and "Risk Color". The status moves through pending, verified, approve, and decline, and Hostaway's Autohost article shows how to hold check-in instructions on it. Activation starts from a link sent by an Autohost onboarding specialist, so expect a sales conversation before you connect.

• Best for: larger operators who want to tune screening depth and are comfortable with an annual agreement.
• Ask first: which checks your package runs on every booking, and how a 24-48 hour criminal check handles a same-day booking.
• Pricing: per-verification packages plus a platform fee, typically on annual agreements.

3. Safely

Safely sells screening and damage cover as one product. Its screening searches "county & court records, national & criminal databases", sex offender lists, Europol, Interpol, and international watchlists, plus SafelyScore, its own database of past stays where guests caused damage. A clean screening qualifies the booking for Safely's cover of up to $1,000,000.

The screening runs on the guest's name, date of birth, and address, and Safely's pages describe no ID document or selfie check. That means it confirms the name has no record, not that the person arriving owns the name, so pair it with an ID check if identity is your main worry. Inside Hostaway, Safely appears as an insurance tab on the reservation with a 60-day claim window, and no screening field is documented. If you deny a guest, Safely says it follows the Fair Credit Reporting Act to inform them.

• Best for: managers who want screening and damage cover from one vendor.
• Ask first: how a SafelyScore entry is sourced and how a guest disputes it.
• Pricing: per screening, or per night bundled with its cover; a guest-paid option exists.

4. Trustd.ai

Trustd.ai leads with a behavioral trust score, which its Marketplace tile describes as "based on guest behavior not legal history". Its site adds "major criminal screening as well, including sex offenders check". The guest form is sent through the Hostaway custom field {{reservation_trustd_guest_form}}, which Hostaway says takes 3 to 5 minutes to generate after booking, so set your trigger at about 10 minutes. Results are then "recorded in the Custom Fields section" with a link to the full report.

The only guest input the documentation names is a date of birth. No ID document or selfie check is described, so nothing on Trustd.ai's pages ties the criminal search to the person who arrives.

• Best for: hosts who want a risk score alongside a criminal screen and will add ID verification separately.
• Ask first: what data the score is built from, which databases sit behind the criminal screen, and what value the custom field holds.
• Pricing: not published.

5. Truvi

Truvi, formerly Superhog, sells damage protection with screening attached. Its base screening checks watchlists, email, and phone and returns Approved, Flagged, or Rejected. ID and selfie matching is an add-on, and so is a US-only criminal check across "2400+ national and federal criminal databases" covering the last seven years, along with a US sex offender check. Without add-ons, Truvi checks no ID and runs no criminal search.

Its damage protection runs up to $1M per property, and its waiver and deposit services are a separate product. In Hostaway, listings sync "switched off" until you turn them on, and switches let you exclude Airbnb or Vrbo bookings, although excluded bookings cannot be protected. Results stay in Truvi's dashboard, with no Hostaway field documented.

• Best for: hosts whose priority is damage protection, with screening to qualify it.
• Ask first: which add-ons a quoted per-booking rate includes, and whether a Rejected result can reach Hostaway.
• Pricing: per booking, billed monthly by check-in month, charged only for the checks that run.

Hostaway guest verification platforms for ID checks and online check-in

These five verify the guest's ID as part of a wider check-in product. None publishes a criminal check of its own, although ChargeAutomation, Enso Connect, and Linkbase resell one from a partner. Pick from this group when check-in, deposits, or police registration is the main job and ID verification is part of it.

6. ChargeAutomation

ChargeAutomation runs online check-in, deposits, and rental agreements in one guest flow, with ID verification inside it. The check compares the guest's name against the booking and a live selfie against the ID, and a mismatch "gets flagged for review instead of blocked automatically", so you review every fail yourself. An automatic check needs a separate Stripe Identity subscription. A separate ID Number Lookup checks the number against global databases and watchlists, and criminal checks run through partners: Safely, Superhog (now Truvi), Guest Ranger, and Autohost.

When pre-check-in is complete, ChargeAutomation writes [caPreCheckinComplete] with the value "Completed" to the Hostaway reservation. That is a completion flag, not a pass or fail, and the door code itself sits in ChargeAutomation's guest portal until check-in, payment, or ID approval is done. Rules can be set per booking channel and per property, and it files guest reports with authorities in Spain, Germany, and Colombia.

• Best for: hosts who want deposits, agreements, and ID checks in one check-in flow.
• Ask first: what the Stripe Identity subscription adds over the included name match, and which partner would run a criminal check.
• Pricing: free Basic tier, then per property per month plus a monthly platform fee; automatic ID checks are billed as a separate subscription.

7. CheKin

CheKin is a guest registration product with biometric ID verification built in. It scans the document, compares the text against the machine-readable strip, matches the selfie with liveness detection, and says both liveness levels finish "in under 10 seconds". It then files guest details with the police automatically, at 11 pm local time on the check-in date according to Hostaway's connection article, and its privacy policy says selfies are deleted after verification.

CheKin writes an identity status to Hostaway (VERIFIED, NOT_VERIFIED, or ERROR) plus a registration status, the check-in link, and the door code. That makes it one of the few tools in this group whose result an automation can read. It does not send guests' personal data back to Hostaway, and the Hostaway connection can only be made while creating a CheKin account, so existing customers need a new one.

• Best for: hosts in countries that require guest registration with the police.
• Ask first: the exact custom-field names, which CheKin's help article shows only in a screenshot.
• Pricing: per property per month, cheaper at each ten-property tier; ID verification needs the Premium package.

8. Enso Connect

Enso Connect is a guest app, called the Boarding Pass, that covers check-in, upsells, and messaging. ID and selfie collection is free on every plan, but you review the uploads yourself. Paid verification, background checks, and damage protection are "powered by trusted partners: Autohost, Truvi and Chekin", white-labeled inside the app, so the check you buy is run by one of those three.

Enso writes the Boarding Pass link into a Hostaway custom field on every reservation, along with verified contact details and smart-lock codes, but no verification status. Instead, the app can "hide check-in directions, listing details and smart lock codes until a set time, or until you approve the guest", and you can skip ID checks for Airbnb bookings.

• Best for: operators who want one guest app and are happy to approve guests there instead of in Hostaway.
• Ask first: which partner runs each paid tier, and whether a result can be written to a Hostaway field.
• Pricing: subscription by listing count, quoted after a sales call; partner checks billed per booking (Autohost, Truvi) or per listing (Chekin).

9. Linkbase

Linkbase is a guest app built around per-channel rules. "Require ID on direct bookings and skip it on Airbnb, from one setup" is how it describes the setting most Hostaway hosts want. Guests capture their ID and a selfie on a hosted page, and Autohost returns the risk assessment. Background screening comes from Truvi, bundled with Linkbase's damage waiver or deposit hold.

Hostaway's connection article covers credentials and a property sync, and no result is documented as written back to Hostaway. The guest app holds the stay details on a steps page until every step is complete, and smart locks connect through Seam.

• Best for: hosts who want ID required on direct bookings and skipped on Airbnb, with deposits and smart locks in one app.
• Ask first: which Autohost and Truvi tiers sit behind the checks.
• Pricing: quoted per portfolio.

10. Vikey

Vikey is built for hosts in Italy, where guest details must be filed with the State Police. Guests upload their ID during online check-in, and Vikey files it with the police's Alloggiati portal and with ISTAT, Italy's statistics office. Verification comes in two modes: a manual mode, where the guest uploads "a photo of the document and a real-time selfie holding it" for you to compare, and an AI biometric module sold separately.

Vikey sends its own check-in email once the booking is confirmed, and no result is documented as written back to Hostaway.

• Best for: Italian hosts who need police filing with an ID check attached.
• Ask first: what the AI module compares and how long a result takes.
• Pricing: per month per room or rental, modular; automatic document verification is a separately priced module.

How do you set up guest screening in Hostaway?

You set up guest screening in Hostaway by connecting the vendor's Marketplace tile and building two message automations, one that sends the verification link and one that holds the door code until the result arrives. Most vendors connect the same way:

1. Open the vendor's tile in the Hostaway Marketplace and click Connect, then Create.
2. Copy the Account ID and API key Hostaway generates into the vendor's console.
3. Open a test reservation and check its Custom Fields tab to see exactly what the vendor writes.
4. Create an automation on the Reservation trigger that sends the verification link, delayed by the time your vendor recommends.
5. Send the door code in a second automation with a "Reservation custom fields" condition on the vendor's result field.

Two settings decide whether step 5 works. Hostaway checks conditions only while the trigger is active, so a result that lands late would leave the message unsent, unless you tick Always trigger, which makes Hostaway keep re-checking the conditions as the reservation updates. Conditions also cannot be edited after the automation is saved, so test the field values before you create it. Keep the door code out of the Guest Portal's display settings, because those hide it only on payment, agreement, pre-auth, timing, or form submission, and cannot read a vendor's result.

Can you screen Airbnb guests through Hostaway?

You can screen Airbnb guests through Hostaway only where law or building rules require it, because Airbnb's own policy sets the limit. Airbnb's off-platform policy prohibits "asking guests for contact information after a booking in order to run credit checks or background checks", and asking for ID photos before arrival "except where required for legal or compliance reasons". Where an exception applies, such as local law, HOA rules, or building security, you must say what is required and why in the listing description.

For most hosts, that means relying on Airbnb's own identity verification for Airbnb bookings and screening direct, Vrbo, and Booking.com bookings. Hostaway's form can be switched off per channel, and so can screening in Authenticate, Autohost, ChargeAutomation, Enso Connect, Linkbase, and Truvi. If Airbnb is your only channel and nothing legally requires an ID, you may not need a screening integration at all.

What happens when a guest fails screening in Hostaway?

When a guest fails screening, Hostaway itself does nothing, because it records no result of its own. What happens depends on the vendor and on how you built your automations. With Autohost, Hostaway's recipe holds check-in instructions with three conditions on the status field: not decline, not pending, and not empty. A flagged guest waits in pending until you review them, because only you set decline. ChargeAutomation flags a mismatch for review, Enso Connect holds check-in instructions until you approve the guest, and Truvi marks the booking Rejected in its own dashboard.

In every case, the decision to cancel stays with you. Check that a record really belongs to your guest, since a name and date-of-birth match can be wrong, and cancel through the booking channel's own process. Rules on refusing guests based on criminal records vary by state and city, so ask your vendor what notice the guest receives and how they dispute a result before you automate a decline.

Frequently asked questions

Does Hostaway do background checks on guests?

No. Hostaway's Online Check-in Form collects a guest's ID photo and selfie, but Hostaway does not check whether the ID is genuine and runs no criminal or watchlist search. Background checks come from Marketplace integrations: Authenticate, Autohost, Safely, and Trustd.ai run their own, and Truvi sells one as an add-on.

Is it safe to upload my ID through a host's Hostaway check-in link?

Usually, yes. Many hosts use Hostaway to collect the ID that local registration laws or building rules require. A genuine request arrives after your booking is confirmed, names the reason, and on Airbnb should match ID requirements disclosed in the listing description. If the request arrives before booking or asks for payment outside the booking platform, contact the host through the platform you booked on.

How much does guest screening cost for Hostaway hosts?

Few vendors print a per-check price. Authenticate is pay as you go with a $100 activation fee credited toward usage, ChargeAutomation has a free Basic tier with paid plans per property, Truvi bills per booking, Safely charges per screening or per night with its cover, and Autohost, Enso Connect, Linkbase, and Trustd.ai quote on request. Ask which checks the quoted unit includes, because an ID-only check and a criminal check can share a price format.

Can you screen Instant Book guests in Hostaway?

Yes. Screening runs after the booking is confirmed, so it works with Instant Book. A Hostaway automation sends the verification link shortly after booking, and a second automation holds the check-in message until the result arrives. Authenticate's setup guide asks for the link automation to fire at least 40 minutes after booking, and Hostaway's Trustd.ai article allows about 10 minutes.

Related resources

• Top 10 guest screening platforms for short-term rentals
• What you can add to Airbnb's guest screening