Comparison

Lowkey vs Hostex

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Lowkey

Control your apartment or condo buzzer remotely from your smartphone. This app allows you to manage access for guests, share entry with multiple users, and receive security notifications without any physical installation.

Highlights
  • Remote buzzer control
  • Share access with multiple users
  • Schedule access by time/day
  • Receive guest arrival notifications
  • View activity history
  • Forward calls to multiple phones
Features
Read full description

Securely control your apartment or condo buzzer from your phone! No installation required, works with all buzzer systems which dial a phone number. How it works 1. Purchase a subscription in the Lowkey app to receive a virtual number 2. Send the virtual number to your apartment or building manager to have the buzzer dial this number rather than your personal phone 3. That's it! Start using Lowkey to control your buzzer With the Lowkey app, you can: SHARE • Forward calls for buzzer access to multiple phones • Add multiple users to a single account. Great for roommates, multiple tenants, etc. ACCESS • Unlock for a specified time • Share passcodes for private access • Schedule weekly access by time and day SECURITY • Receive push notifications when guests arrive • View activity history • Revoke access at any time Unlock convenience with Lowkey.

About

Hostex

Streamline short-term rental management across multiple booking platforms. Automate guest communication, check-ins, cleaning tasks, and pricing. Create direct booking sites and manage team accounts efficiently.

Highlights
  • Multi-channel integration (Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, etc.)
  • Automated guest messaging with AI bots
  • Automated check-in guides and door lock code generation
  • Task automation for cleaning and maintenance
  • Team account management with role-based permissions
  • Direct booking site creation and customization
  • Smart pricing tool integration
Features
Read full description

= Get our full-featured, fast and well-designed mobile App. = Integrated with Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Google Vacation Rental, Expedia, Agoda, Trip.com, Houfy and your own Direct Booking Sites. Synchronize calendars, messages, prices, reservations and reviews across all platforms. Our automated tools and team accounts make managing a large number of properties a breeze. 【AUTO MESSAGING】 - AI bots respond to guests 7x24 - Automatically contact guests at key points - Automatically review your guests - HostGPT automatic response generation 【CHECK-IN GUIDE】 - Automatically send check-in guide link to guests - Collect identification photos and secure deposit - Provide check-in instructions and map navigation - Automatically generate and share door lock codes 【TASK AUTOMATION】 - Automatic creation and assignment of cleaning tasks - Email notifications and reminders for cleaning tasks - Ability for cleaners to send image and text feedback - Task statistics and cost calculation 【TEAM ACCOUNT】 - Create individual team accounts for different roles within the team and assign them functional permissions and access to specific properties. Let everyone fulfill their respective roles, working in parallel without conflict. 【DIRECT BOOKING SITE】 - Fully synchronize with Hostex, live chat with your guests - Integration with Google Vacation Rentals, Stripe and PayPal - Customizable pages and the ability to create extra pages - Custom domain name - Embeddable booking widget - No additional charges 【ROOM TYPE & MULTI-UNIT】 - You can create a room type and assign multiple properties to it, then link the room type with the corresponding room type on Booking.com. This way, when a new reservation comes in, it will be allocated to one of the properties within the room type, while the room type automatically calculates the latest remaining inventory and synchronizes it with Booking.com. 【INTEGRATIONS】 - Integrated with TTlock platform, as well as numerous leading smart lock brands such as August, Yale, SmartThings, Nuki and 30+ smart lock brands. - Integrated with PriceLabs and Rategenie smart pricing tools. - Hostex Open API & Web Hook.

Screenshots

Lowkey4 screens
Hostex4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Hostex at freemium against Lowkey's subscription. Hostex also leads on review sentiment (92% vs 78%). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.3 for Lowkey against 4.4 for Hostex. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 37 and 99 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 78% of Lowkey's written reviews are positive against 92% of Hostex's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Lowkey versus Hostex: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLowkeyHostex
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (37 ratings)4.4 (99 ratings) — better
Positive reviews77.8% of reviews91.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3799 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationSubscriptionFreemium — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS14.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size86 MB73 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperORDINARY LLCXiaogechuangxin Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.

Customer experience

Lowkey

All ratings38 ratings
Positive81.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative18.4%
Written reviews45 reviews
Positive77.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative22.2%

Hostex

All ratings81 ratings
Positive84.0%
Neutral3.7%
Negative12.3%
Written reviews99 reviews
Positive91.9%
Neutral1.0%
Negative7.1%

User reviews

Lowkey

From 37 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Convenient for apartment living
  • 🚀 Easy to use and set up
  • 💡 Allows pre-unlocking entry doors
  • 💡 Enables setting codes for friends/guests
  • 👍 Great for package deliveries

Room to improve

  • 😞 Billing issues and lack of response
  • 😞 Difficulty getting refunds
  • 😞 External billing system (not Apple Pay/iOS integrated)
  • 😞 Subscription cancellation problems
  • 😞 Charges without notification

Hostex

From 99 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💰 Unbeatable price/value
  • 🚀 Efficient and fast performance
  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • 💡 Innovative AI message capability
  • 🔄 Seamless integration with major platforms

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy and unreliable at times
  • ⚠️ Double bookings occur
  • ❌ Customer service is slow
  • ⚠️ Blames users for issues
  • 🚫 No dark mode

Bugs and requests

Lowkey

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • App can't debounce numbers correctly (e.g., '1' as '11')
  • Guest passcode not working for some users

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add support for Apple Shortcuts
  • Add interactive widget support
  • Fix guest passcode issues
  • Improve clarity on incoming call numbers (distinguish from spam)

Hostex

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • Double booking issues
  • Receipt image upload fails
  • Owner reports get stuck
  • Price synchronization issues leading to undercharges
  • Instant booking enabled without user knowledge
Show 3 more
  • Blocked dates not syncing
  • Notifications not opening in the correct app section
  • Account suspension preventing subscription

Requested features

5 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Ability to change default home screen
  • Display guest photos in the app
  • More ways to customize review requests
  • Video tutorials on YouTube

In-app purchases

None

Lowkey

No in-app purchases

None

Hostex

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Lowkey free?
Lowkey is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Hostex free?
Hostex is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Lowkey or Hostex?
Hostex is rated higher. Lowkey averages 4.3 out of 5 from 37 ratings, while Hostex averages 4.4 from 99 ratings.
Do Lowkey or Hostex have ads?
Neither Lowkey nor Hostex shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lowkey or Hostex?
Lowkey ships an update every 3 weeks, and Hostex every 3 weeks. Most recently, Lowkey was updated on October 11, 2026 and Hostex on October 12, 2026.

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