RESOURCES · GUIDEBOOKS
Tabellara vs StayFi: guest WiFi email capture compared
The short version: pick StayFi if you need its full guest-marketing suite today, with built-in email campaigns, text messaging, and PMS integrations, or if your WiFi runs on eero, Deco, Omada, or Aruba. Pick Tabellara if your properties run UniFi and you want the same branded sign-in and email capture at a flat $6 per WiFi network instead of a per-access-point bill, with a full digital guidebook waiting on the other side of the Connect button.
| Tabellara | StayFi | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | $6 per WiFi network per month, or $54 a year (three months free), no matter how many access points broadcast it | Per access point, on a sliding scale: $19/mo for one AP, $14 each for two, $11.50 each at five, $11 each at ten, down to $7 each at one hundred |
| One property, five access points | $6 a month (one network) | $57.50 a month (5 AP at $11.50 each) |
| Hardware to buy | None. It runs on the UniFi controller and access points you already own; you invite our service account and set up from the dashboard | None on UniFi or Ruckus (natively compatible). On eero, TP-Link Deco, TP-Link Omada, or Aruba you add a $99 StayFi Express device; otherwise they sell pre-programmed access points from $139 to $284 |
| Equipment supported | UniFi today, including hosted controllers; more platforms planned | A wider list: UniFi, Ruckus, and (with the Express device) eero, TP-Link Deco, TP-Link Omada, and Aruba, plus their own hardware |
| Trying it | Self-serve: first network free for 30 days, no card, no sales call. Cancellation is a button in the app. With a guidebook and Guest TV at the same property, all three become the $15 bundle | Self-serve signup starting at $19/mo, with 1-on-1 demo calls offered for custom quotes by listing count |
| Email capture | Name and email from every guest sign-in, with the exact marketing-consent wording recorded per signup | Unlimited guest data collection on branded splash pages, an area StayFi pioneered for short-term rentals |
| Your contact list | Unlimited contacts included; export to CSV any time and use any email tool you like | Email marketing is built in and free up to 200 contacts; beyond that the list is metered, e.g. about $10/mo more at 350 contacts, $25/mo at 1,000, and $95/mo at 3,000 on their discounted rates |
| Email marketing tools | Not built in: we capture and hand you the list. Send from Mailchimp, Kit, or whatever you already use | A genuine strength: drag-and-drop templates, automated campaigns, a guest CRM, managed email marketing, and pay-per-credit text messaging |
| After the sign-in | Guests land in your full digital guidebook: house manual, door codes, local favorites on a map, your Guest Store, in six layouts with page-level analytics | Guests can land on a StayFi HomePage with essential resources, upsell integrations, and pre-arrival messaging |
| WiFi operations | See connected devices per network, disconnect a device, rename networks, change passwords, and pick which access points broadcast, all from the dashboard | WiFi management with outage alerts, dynamic occupancy alerting, and automatic smart-device connection |
| Switching on UniFi | An afternoon of clicking: invite our service account to your controller, paste one access point address, pick your guest network, design the page. Nothing gets unplugged | Not applicable |
StayFi pricing, hardware, and features from stayfi.com's public pricing page and pricing calculator as of August 2026; check stayfi.com for current details. StayFi is a trademark of its owner; Tabellara is not affiliated with StayFi.
The pricing is a different shape
StayFi bills per access point on a sliding scale: one AP is $19 a month, two are $14 each, five are $11.50 each, ten are $11 each, and the rate keeps easing down to $7 each at a hundred. Tabellara bills per WiFi network: $6 a month or $54 a year, whether one access point broadcasts it or six. For a single small property the gap is $19 against $6. For a large house that needs five access points for coverage, it is $57.50 against $6, because coverage and marketing are separate questions: adding an access point improves your WiFi, and we do not think it should raise your software bill. StayFi's per-AP rate does include its email platform up to 200 contacts, so compare against your real list size too.
Hardware: what you already own
If your properties run UniFi, neither platform makes you buy anything: StayFi is natively compatible with UniFi, and Tabellara runs entirely on your existing controller and access points after you invite our service account. The difference appears off UniFi. StayFi supports eero, TP-Link Deco, TP-Link Omada, and Aruba by adding a $99 StayFi Express device at the property, and sells pre-programmed access points from $139 if you have none of those. Tabellara is UniFi-only today, so if your rentals run consumer mesh gear, StayFi is the one that can serve them right now. More platforms are on our roadmap, at the same per-network price.
Email capture, or email marketing?
Both platforms put a branded page in front of guests and collect a name and email with marketing consent. What happens to the list is where they part ways. StayFi's list feeds its built-in marketing suite: automated campaigns, template builders, a guest CRM, and text-message credits, with email free up to 200 contacts and metered beyond that. Tabellara keeps the capture and hands you the asset: unlimited contacts, each with the exact consent wording the guest agreed to, exportable to CSV whenever you like, into Mailchimp, Kit, or anything else. If you want one vendor to also send the campaigns, that is StayFi. If you already have an email tool, or do not want your list metered, that is us.
After the sign-in: a homepage or a guidebook
The sign-in moment is the most valuable screen of the whole stay, and the platforms spend it differently. StayFi can route guests to its HomePage product, with essential resources and upsell integrations. Tabellara lands guests in your full digital guidebook: arrival details, the house manual, door codes, your restaurant map, house rules, and your Guest Store, in your choice of six layouts, with page-level analytics telling you what guests actually read. The WiFi is the front door; the guidebook is the house.
Already on StayFi with UniFi gear? Switching is an afternoon
Because both products configure the same UniFi guest-portal machinery, moving is mostly clicking, not rewiring. Export your contacts from StayFi first. Then invite the Tabellara service account to your UniFi controller, paste the MAC address of any access point at the property, pick or create the guest network, and design your sign-in page with a live preview. Your next guest signs in on your page and lands in your guidebook. Nothing gets unplugged, and your WiFi never goes down in the process.
Where StayFi wins
Breadth, and years of it. Built-in email campaigns with automations and managed sending, text-message marketing, PMS integrations that trigger pre-arrival data collection, occupancy alerting, support for consumer mesh systems through the Express device, and a hardware shop if you have nothing compatible. If you want a single vendor running your whole guest-marketing operation, StayFi is that vendor, and it earned the position.
Where Tabellara wins
The bill and the destination. A flat $6 per network that ignores access-point count, unlimited contacts with no list metering, no sales call, and a 30-day free start. And the sign-in page is attached to something bigger: a guidebook platform with six layouts, AI-written content from your listing, reservation-aware links, a commission-light Guest Store, and analytics on every page. For a UniFi host who mostly wants the emails and a great guest experience, the math is hard to argue with.
The bottom line
If your WiFi is not UniFi, or you want built-in campaigns and texting from one vendor, choose StayFi. If your properties run UniFi and you want branded sign-in, email capture you own outright, and a guidebook at the end of it for $6 a network, choose Tabellara. Trying it costs nothing: the first network is free for 30 days, no card, and setup is an afternoon.
Common questions
Does Tabellara Guest WiFi work with eero, Deco, Omada, or Aruba?
Not yet. Tabellara runs on UniFi today, including hosted controllers like HostiFi. Support for more equipment brands is planned, and pricing will stay per network when they arrive. If your properties run something else today, StayFi's hardware options cover more systems.
Do I lose my StayFi contacts if I switch?
No. Export your contact list from StayFi before you cancel, and keep it wherever you run email. Tabellara starts collecting from your next guest onward, and everything it collects is exportable to CSV any time.
Why is per-network pricing cheaper for most properties?
Because most vacation rentals need more than one access point to cover the house, but only one guest network. Every access point you add to improve coverage raises a per-AP bill; on Tabellara it changes nothing. A six-AP lodge and a one-AP cabin each pay $6.
Does Tabellara Guest WiFi require anything else?
Yes, a published Tabellara guidebook at the property, $6 a month. That is the point: the sign-in page hands guests a full guidebook, not just a confirmation screen. WiFi plus guidebook for one property is $12 a month, and adding Guest TV makes it the $15 bundle for all three.
Build a guide guests actually open
Tabellara turns this advice into a working guidebook: app-style guides, area maps, and page-level analytics.
Create your guide