Methodology

Every number on this site comes from a named source with a check date. That is the whole method.

1. We read the vendor’s own pages first — pricing pages, plan comparison tables, help-center articles. Each figure links to the page it was read from, with the date we checked it.
2. Sales quotes are a separate data class. For platforms that don’t publish prices (quote-only), we document real sales quotes through a recorded inquiry pipeline, including onboarding fees and percentage-of-booking terms. Quotes are dated because they expire.
3. Third-party figures are marked, never silently laundered. Data observed in third-party comparisons starts flagged pending official verification and low confidence until we read the official page ourselves. Conflicts between sources are recorded, not averaged.
4. We don’t claim hands-on testing. These are research-based comparisons; when a page doesn’t answer a question, we say so instead of filling the gap from memory.
5. Structural fees are never averaged into list prices. Percentage-of-booking and onboarding fees are shown as separate columns because two platforms with the same list price can have very different real costs.
6. Updates are logged. Every re-verification writes a dated changelog entry. The monthly pricing report starts once we have two cycles of data.

Affiliates

Some outbound links may earn a commission. Commissions never change which plans appear, what numbers we record, or the order of results. See disclosure.

Contact

Questions, corrections, vendor updates: hello@staycosts.com