Conduit vs Besty Compared: Which AI Is Right for You?

Struggling to decide if Conduit or Besty best automates guest messaging and upselling for your hospitality business? Many operators lose revenue testing tools with mismatched features and pricing. This complete comparison breaks down everything from voice support to scalability, revealing how Conduit's conversation engineers deliver 40% more direct bookings for users.

Introduction

If you manage short-term rentals or a hospitality business in 2026, you know the inbox never sleeps. Guests expect instant answers whether it's 2 PM or 2 AM. This pressure has led many property managers to look for AI solutions that go beyond simple auto-responders.

Two names often come up in this search: Conduit and Besty. While both aim to solve the communication crunch, they approach the problem differently. One focuses heavily on specific short-term rental (STR) tasks, while the other acts as a broader communication platform.

Choosing between them isn't just about comparing feature lists; it's about understanding how your business handles guest interactions. Are you looking for a specialized chatbot for your listings, or a comprehensive system to manage operations across voice and text?

Here is the thing: The conversational AI market is growing fast, and is expected to reach $14B by 2025. Getting this choice right matters for your bottom line.

What Is Conduit?

Conduit is more than just a chatbot; it is a reactive AI conversation layer. Instead of just storing customer data like a CRM, Conduit acts as an always-on agent that springs into action the moment a customer interaction occurs. It is designed to orchestrate conversations across multiple channels—text, email, and voice—without needing a human to hit "send" every time.

The platform targets businesses that need to automate complex workflows, not just answer FAQs. It serves as a conversation engineer, structuring how your business talks to the world to ensure consistency and speed.

What Is Besty?

Besty is an AI solution specifically tailored for the short-term rental market. It functions primarily as an STR chatbot designed to integrate directly with property management systems (PMS) to handle guest inquiries.

Its main focus is on:

•  Automating guest messaging
•  Providing basic upsell opportunities
•  Handling routine questions about check-in and amenities

Besty is often chosen by hosts who need a straightforward tool to reduce the messaging burden on platforms like Airbnb or Vrbo. It operates on a tiered model, making it accessible for smaller operators who might not need a full-scale communication platform but still want to automate their daily guest interactions.

How Conduit Works

Conduit operates as a "Conversation Engine." It connects to your existing communication channels—like SMS, email, WhatsApp, and phone lines—and acts as the first line of defense. When a message or call comes in, the AI analyzes the intent and context in real-time.

Here is how the process flows:

1. Capture: The AI receives the inquiry from any channel.
2. Process: It checks your knowledge base, calendar availability, and policies.
3. Respond or Escalate: It either resolves the issue instantly or, if the request is too complex, seamlessly escalates it to a centralized inbox for your team.

It also features a no-code workflow builder, allowing you to design specific conversational paths without needing a technical background.

How Besty Works

Besty works by plugging directly into your property management software or OTA (Online Travel Agency) accounts. Once connected, it scans incoming messages for keywords and intent related to your specific listings.

In practice, Besty focuses on:

•  Reading Guest Messages: It identifies common questions like "What is the WiFi password?" or "Can I check in early?"
•  Automated Responses: It sends pre-approved answers based on the specific property details you have uploaded.
•  Upsell Prompts: It can trigger automated messages offering late check-outs or extra services at specific times during the guest journey.

It is designed to be a "set and forget" tool for specific messaging tasks, keeping the guest communication loop moving without constant manual oversight.

Head-to-Head Feature Comparison

When comparing these two, the biggest difference lies in scope. Conduit is an omnichannel platform built for complex operations, while Besty is a specialized tool for rental messaging.

Here is a quick breakdown of how they stack up:

Messaging and Automation

Besty handles the basics of guest messaging well. It can answer FAQs and send scheduled messages. However, its automation is generally linear—trigger A leads to response B.

Conduit takes a different approach with its proprietary model. This allows for non-linear, context-aware conversations. It doesn't just reply; it can qualify leads, check real-time availability, and route conversations based on complex logic.

Voice and Channel Support

This is a major differentiator. Besty is primarily text-based. It excels at handling messages inside apps like Airbnb or via SMS.

Conduit, however, includes full Voice AI capabilities. It can answer phone calls, handle conversational voice interactions, and sync that data with your text channels. This means if a guest calls to ask about parking, the AI handles it, and the context is saved to the same profile used for SMS.

Why this matters:

•  Conduit: Handles SMS, email, WhatsApp, voice, and chat from a unified interface.
•  Besty: Focuses on text-based guest messaging platforms.

Upselling and Revenue Tools

Both platforms offer upselling, but the execution differs. Besty typically uses scheduled triggers—sending a message at 10 AM the day before checkout offering a late departure. It’s effective but rigid.

Conduit approaches upselling through conversational nurturing. Because it acts as a "conversation engineer," it can identify upsell opportunities during natural dialogue. If a guest asks about pool hours, Conduit can naturally suggest booking a poolside cabana or ordering amenities, rather than just waiting for a scheduled blast. This tends to feel less like spam and more like service.

Integrations and Customization

Besty integrates well with the major Property Management Systems (PMS) used by smaller hosts. It is designed to pull listing data and sync messages.

Conduit offers a broader range of integrations, connecting not just to PMS tools like Hostaway, Guesty, and OwnerRez, Mews, Opera, but also to general business tools.

Conduit Integrations include:

•  PMS: Hostaway, Guesty, OwnerRez, Hostfully, Lodgify
•  Communication: WhatsApp, Slack, RingCentral
•  CRM/Sales: HubSpot, Salesforce
•  E-commerce: Shopify

While Conduit has extensive integrations, it's worth noting that it currently has no public API, which might limit highly custom developer-led integrations.

Ease of Setup and Scalability

A common fear with AI is the setup time. Nobody wants to spend months configuring a bot.

Conduit emphasizes speed of deployment. The platform is designed so that most agencies are "up and running within days, not months" (Conduit.ai Blog). Because it has an agentic UI, you don't need an engineering team to build complex workflows.

Besty is also designed for quick setup, often boasting "plug-and-play" functionality. Since it is more specialized for STRs, the initial configuration involves connecting your PMS and tweaking pre-set templates.

Scalability:

•  Conduit: Built to scale with high volume across voice and text. Better for growing teams.
•  Besty: Scales well by property count, but may struggle if you need to add complex voice support or custom workflows later.

Pros and Cons of Conduit

Pros:

•  Everything Included: Handles Voice, SMS, Email, and Chat in one place.
•  Quick Setup: Deploy in days with no coding required.
•  Smart Context: The AI understands pricing, availability, and policies in real-time.
•  Workflow Builder: Allows for complex, custom automation logic.

Cons:

•  Support Speed: Customer support can be proactive but is sometimes slow to respond.
•  No API: Lack of a public API limits custom development for technical teams.
•  Complexity: Might be overkill for a host with just one simple property.

Pros and Cons of Besty

Pros:

•  Specialized: Purpose-built for the specific needs of Short-Term Rentals.
•  Simple Pricing: Tiered model is easy to understand for small hosts.
•  Upsell Focus: Built-in tools specifically for selling late check-outs and amenities.

Cons:

•  Limited Channels: Primarily text-based; lacks robust voice AI capabilities.
•  Linear Automation: Less flexibility for complex, non-linear conversational flows.
•  Scope: Not designed to handle broader business operations (like sales or general support) outside of guest messaging.

Who Should Choose Conduit Over Besty (and Vice Versa)

The choice ultimately comes down to the complexity of your operations and your growth goals.

Choose Conduit if:

•  You are a property manager or agency with a growing portfolio.
•  You need to handle voice calls alongside text messages and emails.
•  You want a "conversation engineer" that can handle sales, support, and operations workflows.
•  You use a tech stack that includes CRM, PMS.

Choose Besty if:

•  You are an individual host or have a small portfolio.
•  Your primary pain point is just answering Airbnb messages.
•  You do not need voice automation or complex cross-channel workflows.
•  You prefer a simple, per-listing pricing model.

Best Practices for Implementing AI Agents in Hospitality

Regardless of which tool you pick, success depends on implementation. AI is not magic; it requires guidance.

Training Your AI Effectively

Your AI is only as good as the data it accesses. Treat your knowledge base like a living document.

•  Upload Policy Documents: Ensure check-in times, pet fees, and parking rules are clear.
•  Update Regularly: If the pool code changes, the AI needs to know immediately.
•  Be Specific: Vague answers lead to hallucinations. Give the AI precise facts to work with.

Monitoring Performance Metrics

Don't just set it and forget it. You need to track if the AI is actually helping.

•  Resolution Rate: What percentage of inquiries are fully handled by the AI?
•  Response Time: Is the AI responding instantly as promised?
•  Escalation Rate: How often does the AI have to pass the chat to a human?

Combining AI with Human Oversight

The goal is a "human in the loop" system. The AI should handle the repetitive 80% of work, freeing your humans to handle the complex 20%.

•  Review Logs: Periodically read AI conversations to spot tone issues.
•  Handle Escalations: Ensure your team is ready to jump in when the AI flags a difficult guest.
•  Feedback Loop: When the AI makes a mistake, correct the knowledge base immediately so it doesn't happen again.

Common Mistakes When Switching to AI Tools

Switching to AI is a cultural shift for a business, and mistakes happen.

1. The "Set and Forget" Trap: Thinking you can turn it on and walk away. AI needs supervision, especially in the first month.
2. Over-Automating: Trying to automate sensitive situations (like complaints about cleanliness) that require a human touch.
3. Ignoring Voice: Focusing only on text while guests are still calling your front desk, creating a disconnected experience.
4. Poor Data Hygiene: Feeding the AI outdated PDFs or conflicting policy documents.

Conclusion

The hospitality industry is moving toward automation not just to save money, but to survive the expectations of modern guests. Whether you choose Conduit or Besty depends on your scale.

Besty offers a solid, focused solution for hosts needing help with messaging. Conduit, however, offers a comprehensive platform for businesses ready to engineer their conversations across voice and text.

The impact is real. The question isn't if you should use AI, but which agent is hired to join your team.

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