Muws vs. Cloudbeds: Which PMS will power your rental business in 2026?

If you’re choosing between Muws and Cloudbeds for your property management needs, you’re likely already aware that the right decision can drastically impact how smoothly your vacation rental operations run. The wrong choice may lead to wasted time, unnecessary complexity, and even higher costs, while the right software can help automate tasks, prevent double bookings, and make your daily management much more efficient. Both Muws and Cloudbeds are strong contenders in the property management space, but they cater to different business models and scales. In this blog post, we will delve deep into the core features, pricing, customer support, and more to help you make an informed decision.

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Muws at a glance

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Muws is built for simplicity, speed, and for property operators who don’t want to be bogged down by overly complex software. When you first log into Muws, you’ll immediately notice that the dashboard greets you with essential information only — upcoming reservations, messages, and a clear calendar. This minimalistic design makes Muws especially attractive for smaller property owners, boutique hosts, or those who manage a handful of units and don’t want to invest countless hours learning a very heavy system. Despite its simplicity, Muws is not basic. It offers automated guest messaging, reservation management, payment processing, and housekeeping scheduling. It feels modern, like an app you might use every day, which means you don’t need to be a tech expert to get started. You can set up your listings, sync with major platforms, and begin accepting bookings quickly, without jumping through many setup hoops. Because Muws doesn’t try to be everything for everyone, it delivers a focused, efficient experience that helps save time and keeps your operations clean. Muws also provides analytics tools to track your occupancy rates, revenue, and booking trends. These insights are presented in a way that is easy to understand, helping you make better decisions without needing a data science background. The strength of Muws lies in balancing automation with usability: you automate routine tasks, but you still stay firmly in control of your business. For small to mid-sized hosts who value clarity, speed, and simplicity, Muws is often a breath of fresh air compared to more traditional, bloated property management systems.

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Cloudbeds at a glance

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On the other hand, Cloudbeds is a mature, full-featured property management system designed for growth. If you operate multiple properties, manage a boutique hotel, hostel, or a growing portfolio of short-term rentals, Cloudbeds offers a robust ecosystem that handles everything from reservations to housekeeping, finance, reporting, distribution, and more. When you log into Cloudbeds, you’ll find modules for reservations, rate management, front desk operations, housekeeping, and even a point-of-sale (POS) system if you run an on-site café or shop. This level of comprehensiveness makes Cloudbeds ideal for teams with specialized roles—revenue managers, guest services, housekeeping staff, and owners can all use the same system with different access levels tailored to their job. Cloudbeds’ analytics and performance tools are advanced. You can generate detailed reports on occupancy, ADR (average daily rate), RevPAR, cancellations, and more. For a business scaling rapidly, having that level of insight helps you make data-driven decisions. Their channel manager is robust, covering many OTAs and supporting rate strategies and availability mapping. Furthermore, Cloudbeds provides a website builder, so you can design a branded direct booking site without relying entirely on third-party tools. It’s not just a booking engine — it helps you market your property directly and reduces dependence on expensive OTAs. In sum, Cloudbeds is powerful, flexible, and built for professional operators who demand more from their PMS.

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Key differences: User interface & ease of use

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When evaluating property management systems, user interface (UI) and ease of use are among the first things you notice. They influence how fast your team learns, how quickly you can onboard new properties, and how often you’ll need help from support.

With Muws, you get a very clean and modern UI. Everything is streamlined and intuitive: your calendar view is central, messages are easy to manage, and tasks are laid out logically. Because of this simplicity, new users—whether property managers or co-hosts—can get up to speed very quickly, often within a day or two. There’s no overwhelming menu of options or confusing modules; what you see is what you need for day-to-day operations. This low cognitive load means you spend more time focusing on guests and less time navigating software.

By contrast, Cloudbeds’ interface is more modular and rich, which brings power but also a steeper learning curve. There are many panels, many tabs, and many possible routes to accomplish a single task. You’ll need to spend time training staff to use different modules like reservations, housekeeping, or reporting. For first-time users or small teams, this may feel overwhelming. But for larger operations, the modular design is precisely what makes Cloudbeds scalable: once your team knows their roles, they can leverage the full power of the system to streamline operations, optimize revenue, and integrate workflows across multiple functions.

In short, Muws trades some depth for simplicity and speed; Cloudbeds brings depth and flexibility, but requires more effort upfront to master.

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Property management features

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At its core, a PMS must help you handle day-to-day tasks: bookings, guest communication, payments, housekeeping, and reporting. Here is how Muws and Cloudbeds tackle these essential needs.

Muws offers a lean but effective set of features. You can view, add, and edit reservations easily. The guest messaging system supports automated templates so you can send booking confirmations, check-in instructions, and follow-up notes without manual effort. Payments are integrated, so you can accept credit cards and process refunds directly within the system, reducing the need to juggle multiple payment platforms. Housekeeping scheduling is simple yet powerful: you assign tasks per property, track cleaning status, and set reminders — all within a minimalist scheduler that doesn’t overwhelm. On the reporting side, Muws gives you high-level analytics: occupancy rates, revenue trends, booking sources, and performance over time. While it does not have super-heavy financial reporting or profit/loss statements, it offers just enough data to help you manage and make decisions. Muws’ strength lies in automating repetitive tasks (messages, payments, reminders) while giving you visibility into your business without complexity.

Cloudbeds, in contrast, covers nearly every aspect of property management. Reservation management is deeply configurable: you can set restrictions, minimum stays, custom rates, and more. Their front-desk module allows staff to manage check-ins, walk-ins, and guest folios. Payments are flexible: Cloudbeds integrates with many payment gateways, supports deposit collection, and handles refunds. Housekeeping is a full module: you can track room status, assign staff, and create recurring cleaning schedules. If you run a hotel or hostel, you can also manage maintenance tasks, staff scheduling, and inventory. On the data side, Cloudbeds excels. You get advanced reporting on revenue performance (ADR, RevPAR), cancellation trends, booking pace, source segmentation (which OTAs bring the most value), and financial summaries. There’s also support for exporting data for accounting, so you can connect your PMS with external financial tools. For growth-oriented businesses, Cloudbeds’ feature-rich environment gives you control, insight, and operational strength at scale.

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Channel management & distribution

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One of the biggest advantages of a property management system is how it helps you reach guests across different booking platforms while keeping availability and pricing in sync. Here’s how Muws and Cloudbeds compare.

Muws comes with a built-in, straightforward channel manager. It supports major OTAs like Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, and Google Vacation Rentals. The sync is clean: bookings, rates, and availability update regularly, and you don’t need to manually juggle calendars. Because Muws is lean, its channel manager doesn’t offer highly advanced rate-parity strategies or complex push-pull rules, but it covers the most important bases. For many small to mid-size property managers, that’s more than enough: you list on the big OTAs, sync with your PMS, and avoid overbookings.

Cloudbeds offers one of the strongest channel management solutions in the industry. It supports a very large number of OTAs, metasearch integration, and more advanced mapping options. You can create customized rules for rate management: for example, setting different rates for different channels or adjusting minimum stays per channel. The system also supports rate restrictions and availability buffers. If you run a multi-property operation, Cloudbeds gives you the flexibility to apply channel strategies per property or per group of properties, which can significantly improve your distribution strategy and revenue control.

Moreover, Cloudbeds supports integrations with third-party revenue management tools and metasearch platforms, helping you push dynamic pricing strategies. Its channel manager is built not just to connect but to give layering control so that you can fine-tune how each OTA receives your availability and rates. For businesses that rely heavily on OTA distribution and want sophisticated control, Cloudbeds is likely the better fit.

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Website builder & direct booking

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Direct bookings are the holy grail for many property managers, because they help eliminate commissions, build brand loyalty, and create repeat guests. A PMS that supports direct booking strongly can save you a lot of money and headaches. Here is how Muws and Cloudbeds compare in this area.

Muws offers a clean, mobile-friendly booking engine that you can embed on your own website. If you already have a website built with Webflow, WordPress, or another CMS, you can integrate the Muws booking widget seamlessly. This means guests can book directly from your website, and those bookings flow into Muws just like OTA reservations. While Muws does not offer a built-in website builder with drag-and-drop design, its embedded engine is sleek, simple, and effective — ideal for operators who already have or plan to build a custom website but want a professional booking flow without investing in a separate booking tool.

Cloudbeds, in comparison, provides a full website builder as part of its system. With Cloudbeds’ website builder (https://cloudbeds.com/hotel-website-builder), you can create a complete, branded website, optimized for direct bookings. The builder includes pre-designed templates, SEO-friendly elements, and mobile-responsiveness. You don’t need to hire a developer; you can build your site inside Cloudbeds, connect your custom domain, and integrate your booking engine directly.

Cloudbeds’ booking widget is powerful — it supports multi-room bookings, discounts, promo codes, and secure payment gateways. Combined with its built-in website, this gives you a very polished direct booking channel. This can significantly reduce your reliance on third-party OTAs over time, as more guests come directly to your branded site.

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Pricing & value

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Choosing software is not just about features – it’s about cost and value over time. Let’s break down how Muws and Cloudbeds price their services and what you really pay for.

Muws uses a transparent pricing model that is more predictable. Because Muws targets small to mid-sized property managers, its pricing tiers are designed to grow with the number of units and features you need. Generally, the monthly cost per property is moderate, and there are no hidden enterprise fees for modules you don’t use. Since Muws does not push every possible add-on, the base cost remains manageable. For a small host, using Muws could mean paying significantly less than a very powerful PMS while still getting the core functionality needed to run operations smoothly. In addition to monthly subscription fees, Muws may charge for payment processing via its integrated gateway, but these fees are transparent, and you can often forecast them based on your expected booking volume. Because Muws doesn’t bundle so many advanced modules, its overall total cost of ownership is lower than fully loaded PMS systems — assuming you don’t need all the bells and whistles.

Cloudbeds, in comparison, typically offers a more customized pricing model. Their cost depends on the number of properties, the modules you choose (for example, channel manager, housekeeping, POS), and your location. For multi-property operations, Cloudbeds’ economies of scale may make sense: as you grow, per-unit cost might go down, and you get great value from advanced features. However, for smaller operations, the cost can seem high, especially if you don’t use all the modules.

Furthermore, because Cloudbeds supports revenue management, reporting, and powerful growth tools, many users justify its cost through increased occupancy, better pricing strategies, and more efficient operations. Over time, the investment in Cloudbeds can pay off — but you should model your expected ROI carefully: list out how much time and money you save, how much revenue you gain, and whether you’re making use of the modules you’re paying for.

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Customer support & user experience

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Running a property business means you’ll need support at some point — whether for onboarding, troubleshooting, or scaling. The quality and style of customer support can have a big impact on how much value you actually get from a PMS.

Muws has earned a reputation for responsive support. Because its platform is more lightweight, issues tend to be simpler, and the support team can move quickly to help. Muws typically offers email and chat support, and during business hours or working days, they respond promptly to questions about setup, integrations, or billing. Their help documentation is clear, with step-by-step guides and FAQs that are easy to follow even for non-technical users. Because Muws is not overburdened with dozens of modules, training new staff is easier. You can onboard a co-host or a small team in a short time, without the need for long video training or in-depth sessions. The simplicity of the system reduces the number of support tickets simply because there is less complexity to worry about.

Cloudbeds, being much larger and more feature-rich, offers more varied support channels. Their support includes email, live chat, and phone assistance, especially for higher-level customers or enterprise clients. For global operations, they also provide multilingual support and region-specific help. Because there are so many modules (housekeeping, revenue, POS, etc.), Cloudbeds often has specialized support agents who understand each domain, which helps when you are dealing with complex workflows.

That said, getting help may sometimes feel slower or more bureaucratic, especially for smaller users who don’t have a premium plan. Training a team on Cloudbeds can require more time, and the onboarding process may involve structured training sessions. But once your staff is up to speed, the depth of support is valuable: you can lean on Cloudbeds’ expertise to scale, run promotions, manage multiple sites, and more.

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Key differences in features

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Here is a detailed timetable to outline the key differences between Muws and Cloudbeds, so you can compare side by side:

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What Muws and Cloudbeds have in common

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Even though Muws and Cloudbeds take different approaches to property management, they share several core strengths that are essential in modern hospitality operations. Both platforms provide a centralized calendar to manage reservations, ensuring that you can see at a glance what’s booked, what’s free, and where potential conflicts might arise. Both include guest messaging tools that support automated templates, so you can send pre-arrival messages, check-in instructions, and thank-you notes without reinventing the wheel each time.

They both enable you to accept payments securely. Whether you use credit card processing for advance payments, deposits, or refunds, their systems make financial operations smoother. Both platforms support channel syncing, which helps prevent double bookings by keeping your availability updated across Airbnb, Booking.com, and other OTAs.

On the analytics front, both Muws and Cloudbeds offer performance reporting — you can track key metrics like occupancy, revenue trends, and booking sources to understand how your business is doing over time. Finally, both PMS options are mobile-friendly, meaning you can run operations from your phone or tablet, which is a game-changer for remote property management or on-the-go checks.

In sum, whether you choose Muws or Cloudbeds, you get a solid foundation: reservation management, guest communication, payments, channel distribution, and reporting.

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What’s missing from both

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While Muws and Cloudbeds are powerful and capable, neither may be “perfect” for every operator. Depending on your business size and growth aspirations, you may run into limitations in both systems.

With Muws, the simplicity that is its greatest strength can also be its weakness if you scale. For example, while it supports core OTA channels, you may find its channel management options limited if you want very advanced rate strategies or deeply customized OTA rules. Muws’ automation is intentionally basic — you may not be able to build highly complex workflows like conditional triggers, task dependencies, or advanced maintenance scheduling. Reporting is useful, but if you need profit/loss statements, multi-property financial consolidation, or very granular financial analytics, Muws may not provide everything out of the box.

On the other hand, Cloudbeds delivers a huge volume of features, but that complexity can create friction. Small teams may not use all modules and may pay for tools they don’t need. The learning curve for new hires is steeper, and training costs can be higher. Some users may find the interface slow, or the number of menus daunting. Also, while Cloudbeds integrates with many tools, there may still be gaps: for example, highly specialized automation tools, niche channel partners, or very advanced revenue-management logic may require external add-ons.

Finally, in both systems, communication between guests, staff, and property owners can sometimes feel disjointed. There’s often not a single, unified “message center” that perfectly satisfies all roles, especially if you have team members using different modules. And although both platforms provide support, very bespoke or highly technical issues (especially in large multi-site setups) might require supplementary tools or custom integrations.

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Exploring alternatives

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If you’ve looked at both Muws and Cloudbeds and feel that neither aligns exactly with your vision — either because one is too simple or the other too heavy — there are compelling alternatives worth your attention.

One very popular alternative is Hostaway is known for excellent channel management, strong automation capabilities, multiple integrations, and good scalability. For midsize to large portfolios, Hostaway can be a more balanced choice: it’s powerful, but not quite as complex as Cloudbeds, and offers more automation than Muws.

Another useful tool, especially if revenue optimization is a top priority, is PriceLabs. While PriceLabs is not a full PMS, it integrates with many property management systems (including Cloudbeds and others) and provides dynamic pricing insights, demand forecasting, and rate recommendations.

If you’re building or redesigning your website to support direct bookings, using Webflow may be a smart decision. Webflow gives you design flexibility and powerful CMS capabilities, and you can embed booking widgets from both Muws and Cloudbeds to create a seamless direct-booking experience for guests.

By combining the right PMS with specialized tools (like a revenue-management plugin or a custom-designed website), you can tailor a tech stack that suits your business without compromising on power or usability.

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If you want to explore the best PMS systems by hospitality segments in 2026, check out this blog.

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Choosing the right platform for your growth

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Deciding between Muws and Cloudbeds ultimately comes down to your goals, operations, and long-term strategy. Here are some scenarios that may help you choose the right path:

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Choose Muws if:

• You run a small to mid-sized property business (one property or a handful of units)
• You value simplicity and speed over complexity
• You already have a website or plan to build one with Webflow or another CMS
• Your team is small, with limited training capacity
• You want a predictable monthly cost and a lightweight system that doesn’t require constant maintenance
• You want a straightforward PMS that helps you manage bookings, messaging, payments, and housekeeping without overwhelming you with features

With Muws, you can get started quickly, streamline your workflow, and grow without paying for tools you don’t use.

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Choose Cloudbeds if:

• You manage multiple properties, rooms, or units
• You want an all-in-one system that covers front-desk operations, housekeeping, rate strategy, and channel distribution
• You need advanced reporting to drive business decisions
• You are scaling and want to centralize operations across departments or buildings
• You want to build a branded website inside your PMS and book guests directly
• You’re ready to invest time and resources into training your team

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Cloudbeds gives you power, control, and flexibility. It’s built for scaling operations with sophistication — if you’re ready for it. Or consider an alternative if:

• You love Muws’ simplicity but need stronger revenue management
• Cloudbeds has too many features you don’t use, and you’d prefer something in between
• You need deep automation or custom workflows that neither PMS supports natively
• You want to mix and match tools for best-of-breed performance (e.g., PMS + pricing + website)

In that case, consider combining Hostaway, PriceLabs, and a web-builder like Webflow to create a customized stack that fits your business perfectly.

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Conclusion: Which platform is right for you?

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Choosing between Muws and Cloudbeds isn’t just a software decision — it’s a business decision. Your choice will shape how you run daily operations, scale your property portfolio, and engage with guests. If you’re a small or medium-sized operator who values clarity, speed, and ease of use, Muws is likely the better fit. Its streamlined interface, smart automation, and transparent cost structure make it an excellent choice for hosts who want reliable tools without unnecessary complexity.

If you manage a larger or growing operation and need a powerful, full-featured PMS with advanced distribution, reporting, automation, and website tools, Cloudbeds may be your best bet. It provides the depth and versatility that professional hospitality businesses need, though it comes with a steeper learning curve and higher investment. If neither platform exactly matches your needs, you don’t have to settle. Using a combination of PMS, revenue management, and website tools, for example, Hostaway + PriceLabs + Webflow might give you the flexible, scalable setup you want.

Choose the software that meets your needs today, but also supports where you’re heading in the next few years. With the right setup, you’ll free up your time, improve guest satisfaction, and build a rental business that is efficient, profitable, and future-proof.

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Choosing a technology partner isn’t just about solving today’s challenges - it’s about building a foundation that evolves with your business. If you’re ready to elevate your digital products, streamline your processes, and create software that drives long-term success, Codelevate is ready to help you get there.

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