Keycafe vs Guesty
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Keycafe
This app facilitates secure key management for various organizations and individuals. It integrates with smart lockboxes to control access, track usage, and verify users in real-time. It's useful for businesses needing to grant temporary access and for individuals participating in the sharing economy.
- Control access to keys by minute
- Provide anytime access to staff/guests
- Complete access history tracking
- Real-time photo ID verification
- Manage fleets of keys
- Utilize public smart lockbox network
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Keycafe is a key management system. Ideal to manage fleets of keys for property management, auto dealerships, car rental agencies, trucking companies, facilities, universities, hospitals, municipalities, commercial and retail offices. This app works with an IOT connected key lockbox called a Keycafe SmartBox. You can purchase your own SmartBox or use our publicly distributed SmartBoxes in 50 cities around the world. - Control who has access to your keys down to the minute - Provide anytime access to your staff, contractors and guests - Complete history of who accessed your keys - Never lose track of keys again - Real-time photo ID verification The distributed network of public locations is ideal for busy urbanites participating in the on-demand economy for cleaning, dog walking, package delivery, Home services, property management and real estate. As well as for the sharing economy, for Airbnb and Guesty. Who do you need to let in? The service is currently available in the following cities: New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Victoria, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego, Paris, Lyon, Marseille, London, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Rome, Florence, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Copenhagen, Tokyo, Nagasaki, Miami, Washington DC, Koloa, Atlanta, Baltimore, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, Oakland, Portland, Austin, Sydney, Melbourne. More cities coming soon. Sign up on our site at www.keycafe.com/locations to be notified when we launch a location near you!
Guesty
Manage your hospitality business efficiently from your mobile device. This app provides a unified inbox for guest messages, task management for operations, and oversight of reservations. It offers performance highlights and areas needing attention on the homepage.
- Performance highlights
- Unified guest message inbox
- Operations and task management
- Reservation monitoring and modification
- Team management
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Never miss a beat with the power of Guesty in the palm of your hand. The new Guesty app is your ultimate partner in managing your hospitality business. The Guesty app empowers you to: - Put your priorities first: Access performance highlights and areas requiring attention directly on the homepage - Engage with ease: View and respond to all guest messages directly from one unified inbox - Master operations on the go: From maintenance tasks to team management, take command of your operations - Stay on top of reservations: Modify and monitor your bookings effortlessly, ensuring seamless oversight of reservations Put the most advanced technology to work for you. Manage, automate, and streamline your business on the go – all within one powerful app.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Keycafe at 4.7 against Guesty's 4.2. Keycafe also leads on review sentiment (28% vs 17%) and device support (3 vs 1). Guesty's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (weekly vs every 6 months). On price, ratings volume, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Keycafe holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 330 and 558 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 28% of Keycafe's written reviews are positive against 17% of Guesty's.
Keycafe ships an update every 6 months, Guesty weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Keycafe | Guesty |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (330 ratings) — better | 4.2 (558 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 28.2% of reviews — better | 17.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 330 | 558 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 89 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Keycafe Inc. | Guesty |
Customer experience
Keycafe
Guesty
User reviews
Keycafe
From 330 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great idea for service
- 👍 Works flawlessly sometimes
- 👍 Good for contactless key exchange
- 👍 Simplifies key exchanges
Room to improve
- 🐛 Clunky auto-refill
- 🐛 Impossible to connect/authenticate
- 💰 Very expensive
- 👎 Horrendous user interface
- 👎 System is unreliable
Guesty
From 558 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Stable and easy to use
- 💡 Great for managing short-term rentals
- 👍 Useful calendar and messaging features
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🔍 Limited functionality in mobile app
- 🕰️ Unreliable notifications and sync issues
- 🔒 Poor customer support and communication
Bugs and requests
Keycafe
Reported bugs
13 issues- Bug to authenticate when opening account
- System offline frequently
- Touchscreen unresponsive
- Codes not working
- Box disconnected multiple times
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- Fob not scanning
- App doesn't import key from host
- App doesn't open/stuck on loading screen
- App not working most of the time
- 24/7 chat link not working
- Customer service calls on hold indefinitely
- App doesn't load on iOS
- Locker would not scan fob when returning
Requested features
7 requests- Option to turn off auto-refill
- Improve app interface design
- Provide better instructions for setup
- Allow offline functionality for codes
- Improve customer support responsiveness
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Clarify payment terms and conditions
- Allow guests to see PIN without app download
Guesty
Reported bugs
4 issues- Calendar and check-in/out dates not syncing correctly
- Repeated login issues and password reset problems
- Inability to perform key actions like declining reservations
- Constant app crashes and freezes
Requested features
4 requests- Improved mobile app with more functionality
- Ability to manage tasks and checklists on the go
- Better integration with other rental platforms
- More customization options for pricing and policies
In-app purchases
Keycafe
No in-app purchases
Guesty
No in-app purchases







