Why I Used Hostkit — And Then Built EazyAL Instead

By the founder of EazyAL · March 2026 · 7 min read

I want to be upfront with you from the start: this post is about a competitor.

I'm the founder of EazyAL, a compliance automation platform built specifically for Portuguese Airbnb hosts. Hostkit is a product I know well. I've used it, I've studied it, and I genuinely respect what they've built.

But I built something different — on purpose. And I think you deserve to know why.

If you're currently using Hostkit, thinking about switching, or just trying to figure out which tool is right for your Alojamento Local, stay with me. I'm going to give you the most honest picture I can. Even if that means some of you stick with Hostkit.

First — what Hostkit gets right

Hostkit was one of the first platforms to take Portuguese STR compliance seriously. They automate invoicing through the AT portal, handle SIBA guest registration, submit INE surveys, calculate tourist tax, and have built over 80 integrations with channel managers and government services. They are certified by the Portuguese Tax Authority. Their customer support gets praised constantly in reviews.

For professional property managers running 50, 100, 200+ units? Hostkit is probably the right tool. It's built for that world.

That's exactly the problem.

The moment I realised I needed to build something else

I own properties in Portugal. Like most hosts, I started out doing everything manually — logging into the Portal das Finanças to issue invoices, jumping into SIBA to register guests, opening a spreadsheet to track my INE numbers every month. It was eating hours every week.

So I signed up for Hostkit.

The product itself was fine. But getting to it was a journey. First I had to book a demo call. Then wait for the call. Then sit through an onboarding that felt designed for someone managing a portfolio — not someone like me, with a few apartments and a day job. The pricing wasn't public. The interface had options I didn't need and would never use.

I remember thinking: this is built for a property manager, not a host.

And then I looked around and realised — there was nothing built for people like me. Individual hosts. Expats managing a Portuguese property from abroad. People who just needed the compliance sorted, clearly, on their phone, without a sales call.

So I built it.

What EazyAL does differently

EazyAL covers the same core compliance obligations that Hostkit does — Finanças invoicing, SIBA, INE surveys, tourist tax. That's the baseline. Every serious platform needs to handle those.

But the philosophy is completely different.

We are built for solo hosts, not agencies. If you have 1 to 5 properties and you manage them yourself, EazyAL is designed for exactly your situation. Not as an afterthought — as the primary use case.

You can sign up right now, without talking to anyone. No demo call. No waiting for someone to get back to you. No sitting through a presentation. You sign up, connect your property, and start automating. That's it.

We have a proper mobile app. EazyAL is built in Flutter, which means it's a real native app on iOS and Android — not a website that technically works on mobile. If you're checking your compliance dashboard at 10pm because a guest just checked in, you want an app, not a pinch-to-zoom browser experience.

Our pricing is public. You don't need to contact us to find out what EazyAL costs. It's on the website. No surprises, no negotiation, no "let's talk about your specific needs."

We explain what we're doing and why. This is the AI layer. EazyAL doesn't just automate your compliance — it tells you what obligation is coming up, why it matters, what happens if you miss it, and what we've submitted on your behalf. A lot of hosts — especially expats — don't just want automation, they want to understand what's going on with their property in a foreign country.

Who should use Hostkit

Genuinely — if you're a property manager with a large portfolio, or you need deep integrations with a specific channel manager that Hostkit supports, use Hostkit. They've been building in this space for years and their breadth of integrations is hard to beat.

Who EazyAL is built for

You own 1 to 5 properties in Madeira, Lisbon, Porto, the Algarve, or anywhere else in Portugal. You manage them yourself, or mostly yourself. Compliance is a background stress that takes up time you don't have. You want it sorted — automatically, reliably, on your phone — without becoming a software expert.

Or you're an expat. You bought a property in Portugal, you list it on Airbnb, and every time you need to deal with a Portuguese government portal you feel a quiet dread. EazyAL was designed with you specifically in mind.

The honest bottom line

Hostkit is a great product. EazyAL is a different product, built for a different person.

If you're that person — a solo host, a remote owner, someone who just wants compliance handled without the enterprise overhead — I'd love for you to try EazyAL. It takes 5 minutes to set up and the first 14 days are free.

No demo call required.

→ Start your free trial at eazyal.com

EazyAL automates Alojamento Local compliance for Portuguese short-term rental hosts — including Finanças invoicing, SIBA guest registration, INE surveys, and tourist tax. Built in Portugal, for hosts who have better things to do.