For small, independent places to stay

Take bookings on your website — not someone else's.

TrueHost gives independent hosts a beautiful direct booking website with Stripe payments, calendar sync, and a dashboard you'll actually use. No platforms taking 15%. No templates to wrestle with. Just one person who builds it for you and stays an email away.

Start your written briefing See a live example →
  • Built and run by one operator
  • Written-first — no calls to schedule
  • Keep 100% of your booking revenue

The everyday tools your guests already trust, wired together for you:

  • Stripe
  • Google Business Profile
  • Airbnb
  • Booking.com
  • Google Calendar
  • Your own domain

How it works

Three steps, and the hard parts are mine.

No dashboards to learn before you've even started. You write, I build, you start taking bookings.

  1. 01

    Send a written briefing

    No calls to schedule. You fill in a simple briefing form — your place, your guests, how you take bookings now — in your own time. I read every word myself and reply in writing with honest thoughts on whether TrueHost is the right fit, and what your site could look like.

  2. 02

    I build your site

    I design and build a direct booking website around your property — your photos, your words, your rates. Stripe and your calendars get connected and tested. You review it before anything goes live.

  3. 03

    Take direct bookings

    Your site goes live on your own domain. Guests book and pay directly, dates block automatically across your channels, and you manage it all from one calm dashboard. I stay an email away whenever you need me.

What's included

Everything to take a booking — nothing you'll never touch.

A complete, hand-built setup. No add-on marketplace, no surprise modules.

A custom-built website

Designed around your property and your photos — not squeezed into a template. Fast, mobile-first, and yours on your own domain.

Stripe payments

Take deposits or full payment securely at the point of booking. Money lands in your account — no platform skimming a cut.

Unlimited two-way calendar sync

Sync an unlimited number of calendars — Airbnb, Booking.com, Google and more — in fact, any iCal feed at all. And it runs both ways: a direct booking on your own site instantly blocks those dates everywhere else, too. No double bookings, ever.

Google, done properly

Your Google Business Profile fully optimised and integrated with your site through Google's vacation-rental scheme — so your place shows up polished, complete and appealing on Search and Maps. More on this below →

Custom automated emails

Bespoke, automated guest emails in your voice — booking confirmations, pre-arrival details, check-out notes — sent at exactly the right moment, with no work from you.

A host dashboard

One simple place to see upcoming stays, manage rates and availability, and read guest details. Built to be glanced at, not studied.

A real person

Setup, changes and the occasional "how do I…" all handled by me, personally. You'll always know who you're emailing.

Already using other tools? You won't lose a thing.

Whatever software you're paying for today, I'll personally investigate it and find ways to carry your important features across — so nothing critical gets left behind in the move. I handle the migration with you, step by step, and stay on hand until everything's running smoothly on the other side.

Found on Google

Your Google listing, properly looked after.

For most guests, your Google listing is the first thing they see — long before they reach your website. So I treat it as part of the build, not an afterthought. I optimise your Google Business Profile end to end and connect it to your site through Google's vacation-rental scheme, so your place is represented the way it deserves.

  • Full website integration Your Business Profile and your website work together through Google's vacation-rental scheme, so your property information stays consistent and up to date in both places.
  • A complete, accurate profile Categories, amenities, location, contact details, opening hours and description — all filled in properly and tuned so the right guests find you.
  • Quality-of-life & visual polish Photos curated and ordered for appeal, a description that sells your place, and the small details tidied up to maximise how attractive your listing looks at a glance.
  • Your information & reviews, front and centre Hotel information, highlights and guest reviews presented clearly, so the strongest version of your place is what people see on Search and Maps.
Start your written briefing
The founder of TrueHost at home, holding his young child

My story

Honest tech for honest hosts.

When I built the booking system and website for my own accommodation business, I saw how expensive and frustrating the market is for everyday hosts. Big software companies charge massive upfront fees — or take a cut of your hard-earned bookings — just to sync your calendars and send a few emails. I knew there had to be a fairer way, so I decided to use my background to help.

I've spent over ten years in digital marketing, building websites and setting up the automated workflows that keep businesses running. Then a chronic nerve condition left me bedridden. Rather than give up the work I love, I brought it into my bedroom — I run TrueHost entirely by voice, controlling my devices hands-free. Working this way leaves no room for technical waste or clunky, complicated setups.

Because I handle everything myself — from our first chat to designing your site and connecting your calendars — you get a setup made for you, backed by a real, one-to-one relationship. No corporate fluff. Just simple, powerful tools built by a host, for hosts.

And I'm not doing this purely for profit. I want to disrupt a market that overcharges small hosts, with pricing that's genuinely reasonable. Most of what TrueHost earns goes toward my own ongoing healthcare and to charitable causes I care about — so choosing TrueHost helps more than just your bookings.

Start your written briefing

Pricing

One honest price. No commission, ever.

No tiers to decode, no upsells, no cut of your bookings. By cutting out the corporate overhead, I pass the savings straight to you.

The setup NZ$500 one-time, flat fee

Your custom website, Google integration, Stripe, and full calendar connection — designed and built around your property.

The upkeep NZ$20/mo flat, cancel any time

Keeps your site live, secure, hosted, and running smoothly — with me on hand whenever you need a change.

  • Custom-built website on your own domain
  • Stripe payments & deposits
  • Two-way calendar sync (Airbnb, Booking.com, Google)
  • Host dashboard & guest confirmation emails
  • No booking commissions — keep 100% of revenue
  • Personal, one-to-one support from me
Start your written briefing

No hidden catches, no card to start, no sales script. Got more than one property? Tell me in your briefing and I'll tailor it.

A live example

The Cottage at Moss Lane

A real-shape example of what a TrueHost site feels like for a guest: a quiet, confident page that makes booking feel effortless — and pays straight into the host's account.

  • 2 nights, mid-week — picked in two taps on the live calendar.
  • NZ$260 paid by card — Stripe, deposit or in full, the host's choice.
  • Dates blocked everywhere — Airbnb and Google updated the moment it's booked.
  • Guest gets a warm email — confirmation and directions, in the host's own voice.
I'd like one like this
“I'd been handing over a fortune in commission for years. Now most of my guests book straight through my own site — and when I had a question about June's rates, I emailed one person and heard back the same morning.”
Marianne owner, a two-room guesthouse in the Lakes

Your written briefing

Tell me about your place.

There's no self-serve signup and no call to schedule — that's on purpose. I work entirely in writing, at a considered pace, which means you can tell me everything about your place in your own time, and I'll reply thoughtfully. The more you share below, the more useful my first response will be.

  • Everything in writing — no calls to book, no pressure
  • Honest advice, even if TrueHost isn't the right fit
  • A considered written reply, usually within a working day
  • No obligation, and nothing to pay to start

Prefer your own email? Write to me anytime at hello@truehost.co.nz.

About you

About your place

How you work today

What you're hoping for

I read every briefing myself and reply in writing, usually within one working day.