Hostaway's WordPress plugin is deprecated: what changed in 2026 and what to use instead

Hostaway no longer supports WordPress. Its help centre says "WordPress is deprecated, and unfortunately, is no longer supported," and since 24 August 2026 its API rejects new reservations created on the WordPress channel. If your direct-booking site runs on the Hostaway WordPress plugin, you have four realistic replacements: Hostaway's own Booking Website, Hostaway's embeddable widgets, a template platform such as CraftedStays, or a custom site built on the Hostaway API.

The rest of this page is what Hostaway actually changed, what to check on your own site this week, and how to choose between the four.

What Hostaway changed

Two separate changes, from two official Hostaway sources.

The WordPress integration is unsupported. Hostaway's help-centre article on its booking widgets, last updated 30 June 2026, says in passing: "WordPress is deprecated, and unfortunately, is no longer supported" (Hostaway Support, Booking Website: Embeddable Search Bar and Calendar Widgets, retrieved 3 October 2026). Hostaway's marketplace page for the WordPress plugin, hostaway.com/marketplace/wordpress-plugin, returned a 404 when we checked on 3 October 2026.

The API stopped accepting WordPress-channel bookings on 24 August 2026. Hostaway's public API changelog entry for that date reads: "Create a reservation now rejects the deprecated 2017 (wordpress) channelId. Only 2000 (direct), 2002 (homeaway) and 2020 (partner) are supported when creating a reservation" (Hostaway Public API Reference, changelog, retrieved 3 October 2026).

The same entry explains why: "Reservations created on the WordPress channel are invisible to message automations, which cannot target that channel, so automations silently never fired for them." In other words, if you took bookings through the WordPress channel, your automated guest messages may never have been sent for them.

What did not change: "Existing reservations on that channel are unaffected and can still be retrieved, updated and cancelled."

What to check on your site this week

1. Make a test booking end to end. Book a real date on your WordPress site, then confirm the reservation appears in Hostaway. If your integration still sends channel 2017, Hostaway now rejects the reservation.
2. Look at the channel on recent direct reservations. In Hostaway, check which channel your website bookings arrive on. Hostaway's instruction for anything sending 2017 is to "switch it to 2000 or 2020."
3. Check your automated messages. For bookings that came in on the WordPress channel, confirm that check-in instructions and pre-arrival messages actually went out. Hostaway says automations could not target that channel.
4. Decide what replaces it. A patched plugin is a site running on an integration its vendor has told you it no longer supports. Every option below is supported.

The four replacements

Hostaway's Booking Website is the default answer, and for a small portfolio it is a good one. Pricing above is from Hostaway's direct-booking feature page; the full comparison is in Hostaway's website builder vs a custom booking site.

Hostaway's widgets are the closest thing to what the WordPress plugin did: keep your site and add booking to it. Hostaway documents an embeddable search bar and a calendar widget. Both need "a published Booking Website," and the booking itself completes on that Booking Website, not on your page. Hostaway's help centre adds that the payment page "cannot be embedded or 'masked' within another website using an iframe" (Hostaway Support, Booking Website: Common Questions, retrieved 3 October 2026). Expect guests to leave your design at checkout.

Template platforms sit in the middle. CraftedStays states "no setup fee, no booking commission" and moves operators above 20 properties to a custom plan (CraftedStays pricing, retrieved 2 September 2026). It is still a template, and your back-office is still Hostaway's UI.

A custom site on the Hostaway API replaces what the plugin was trying to be: your own site, on your own domain, with booking that belongs to it. Hostaway itself says its Booking Website "may not serve as a complete replacement for custom-created websites," and points operators to its API "to facilitate the synchronization of their website calendar and Stripe payment integration with Hostaway's platform, allowing their guests to book directly through their website" (widgets article, above). Reservations are created on a supported channel, so automations fire.

How to choose

• Under roughly 15 listings, and the site is a brochure: use Hostaway's Booking Website. It is free, supported, and nobody has to maintain it.
• You like your current site and only need booking: embed Hostaway's widgets, and accept that checkout happens on Hostaway's page.
• 5 to 20 listings, and you have outgrown the native template: a template platform is a reasonable middle step.
• The site is a sales channel, or your team runs a spreadsheet beside Hostaway: build custom. This is the case where the plugin was standing in for software you actually needed.

STYLABS builds the last option. Four operators run on it: Makarska Exklusiv (Croatia), Hireavilla (India, UAE, Indonesia), Manzil (Dubai) and Stayscape (Maharashtra). Each has a guest site on its own domain, live rates from Hostaway, and its own operator dashboard. Hostaway stays the PMS; nobody migrated off it. The pattern is documented at /work/hostaway.

If you are moving off the WordPress plugin and want a second opinion on which route fits, talk to us or write to hello@stylabs.com.

FAQ

Is the Hostaway WordPress plugin still supported? No. Hostaway's help centre states that "WordPress is deprecated, and unfortunately, is no longer supported." Since 24 August 2026, Hostaway's API also rejects new reservations created on the WordPress channel, channel ID 2017. Existing reservations on that channel can still be retrieved, updated and cancelled.

What happened to Hostaway's WordPress channel on 24 August 2026? Hostaway's API changelog for 24 August 2026 says the create-reservation endpoint now rejects channel ID 2017 (WordPress). Only 2000 (direct), 2002 (HomeAway) and 2020 (partner) are accepted. Hostaway's reason is that WordPress-channel reservations were invisible to message automations, so automated guest messages never fired for them.

What is the best alternative to the Hostaway WordPress plugin? It depends on what the plugin was doing for you. For a small portfolio, Hostaway's own Booking Website is free and supported. To keep an existing site, embed Hostaway's search and calendar widgets, with checkout on Hostaway's page. For a branded site with its own booking flow and back-office, build a custom site on the Hostaway API.

Can I keep my WordPress site and still take Hostaway bookings? Yes, with Hostaway's embeddable search bar and calendar widgets. They require a published Hostaway Booking Website, and the guest completes the booking there. Hostaway says its payment page cannot be embedded or masked inside another website with an iframe, so checkout leaves your design.

Do my existing WordPress-channel reservations still work? Yes. Hostaway states that existing reservations on the WordPress channel are unaffected and can still be retrieved, updated and cancelled. Check that guest messages were sent for them, because Hostaway says message automations could not target that channel.

Do I have to leave Hostaway to replace the WordPress plugin? No. Every replacement here keeps Hostaway as the PMS for calendars, channels and reservations. A custom site reads availability and rates live from your Hostaway account and creates reservations on a supported channel.

Sources

1. Hostaway Support, Booking Website: Embeddable Search Bar and Calendar Widgets (updated 30 June 2026) — https://support.hostaway.com/hc/en-us/articles/9521197987995-Booking-Website-Embeddable-Search-Bar-and-Calendar-Widgets (retrieved 3 October 2026). Verified: fetched and read.
2. Hostaway, Public API Reference, changelog entry 2026-08-24 and the create-reservation channelId note — https://api.hostaway.com/documentation (retrieved 3 October 2026). Verified: fetched and read.
3. Hostaway Support, Booking Website: Common Questions (updated 25 September 2026) — https://support.hostaway.com/hc/en-us/articles/50219711579419-Booking-Website-Common-Questions (retrieved 3 October 2026). Verified: fetched and read.
4. Hostaway, Marketplace: WordPress plugin — https://www.hostaway.com/marketplace/wordpress-plugin (checked 3 October 2026). Returned HTTP 404.
5. Hostaway, Direct Booking feature page — https://www.hostaway.com/features/direct-booking/ (retrieved 21 August 2026, via the STYLABS builder comparison). Verified: fetched and read.
6. CraftedStays, Pricing — https://craftedstays.co/pricing/ (retrieved 2 September 2026). Verified: fetched and read.