When a high-paying job wasn’t enough — and a gap at home became a mission
Most people dream of earning in crores abroad. Yash Kumar walked away from it.
While earning over ₹2 crore annually in the United States, Yash began traveling frequently to India, only to notice something most travelers don’t: India is overflowing with breathtaking homestays — yet very few are discoverable online, and even fewer survive the ruthless commission-heavy model of global booking apps.
The result? Travellers miss out on authentic stays, while homestay owners — often families depending on tourism — struggle to earn sustainably.
So Yash returned home to solve it. The result: Homeyhuts — India’s first zero-commission homestay platform designed specifically for local cottage, villa, and homestay owners.
Table of Contents
The problem: homestays are abundant, but invisible and underpaid
Despite India having lakhs of homestays:
- A huge percentage are not listed online
- Those that list lose 15–21% per booking in commissions
- Small owners struggle with complex dashboards and English-heavy onboarding
- Double-bookings, guest communication and price management remain stressful
- Many properties become unviable because earnings trickle down after OTA charges
For most hosts, commissions and operational complexity eat away margins.
Homeyhuts flips that model.
The solution: Homeyhuts — built for Indian homestays, not hotels
Unlike hotel-centric OTAs, Homeyhuts focuses solely on homestays.
The platform gives owners two ways to operate:
1️⃣ “Managed by Homeyhuts”
For hosts who want simplicity.
Homeyhuts handles everything — listing, guest communication, dynamic pricing, bookings, and operations.
2️⃣ “Host It Yourself”
A subscription-based model (example: around ₹490/month per property) that provides:
- Listing + calendar syncing across multiple booking channels
- Built-in channel manager (no need for third-party software)
- AI pricing suggestions
- Guest verification and direct communication
- Vernacular language support for non-English hosts
This approach eliminates heavy commissions, simplifies hosting, and keeps more revenue with property owners.
For travelers, the outcome is clear: more authentic stays become discoverable and affordable.
Traction and market reception
Despite being a young company, Homeyhuts has already onboarded 2,000+ homestays across 16 states — proof that the model resonates with hosts who want control over earnings and simpler management.
The business sits in a rapidly growing market: Indian travelers — especially millennials, young families, and remote workers — increasingly prefer homestays over hotels for spacious, local, and culture-rich experiences. With tourism surging and smaller towns becoming tourist hotspots, the timing aligns perfectly.
Challenges ahead
Homeyhuts is currently bootstrapped — meaning capital efficiency is crucial.
Scaling the model across India will demand:
- Handling region-wise tourism regulations
- Maintaining quality and trust between hosts and guests
- Supporting hosts across multiple languages
- Providing fast customer support at scale
However, the business fundamentals are strong: recurring subscription revenue from hosts, high retention, and deep impact on a large underserved market.
The road ahead
Homeyhuts plans to expand aggressively — targeting tens of thousands of homestays in the next few years. The startup is also exploring global expansion under a parallel brand to compete in the booming worldwide homestay economy.
If successful, it could become the most host-centric OTA in the world — built in India, for India, and beyond.
Key Takeaways
- Homeyhuts is India’s first zero-commission platform designed specifically for homestays.
- The company empowers small homestay owners with tools like channel management, AI pricing, multilingual onboarding, and secure verification.
- Unlike conventional OTAs, owners keep nearly all their earnings instead of losing 15–21% per booking.
- Over 2,000 properties across 16 states have already joined — signalling strong grassroots demand.
- Homeyhuts is built on a vision of sustainable earnings for hosts and more authentic stays for travellers.
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FAQs
Q: What makes Homeyhuts different from Airbnb and other booking apps?
Homeyhuts is homestay-only, zero-commission, and built for small to mid-sized property owners in India. It provides simpler tools, vernacular support and channel syncing — unlike global platforms built for hotel-style listings.
Q: How does Homeyhuts earn money if it doesn’t charge commission?
Through subscription plans and optional add-on services — ensuring hosts earn more while the business earns predictably.
Q: Can non-English-speaking hosts use Homeyhuts?
Yes. The platform includes multilingual onboarding and support tailored to Indian hosts.
Q: Is Homeyhuts only for large properties?
No. Family-run homestays, cottages, villas, and small vacation rentals can list easily — even if the owner has never used a booking system before.
Q: What’s next for Homeyhuts?
Expansion across India, deeper digital tools for hosts, and potential international roll-outs under a global brand.
