What is the difference between guest screening and ID verification in STR?

ID verification confirms that a guest's identity document is real and matches the person presenting it. Guest screening goes further: it cross-references that identity against criminal records, sex offender registries, prior bad-guest databases, and fraud signals like mismatched payment details. A platform that only does ID verification will not catch a guest who has a clean identity but a history of throwing parties at STRs.

Does Superhog still exist, or has it become Truvi?

As of July 2026, superhog.com/pricing redirects to truvi.com. The rebrand to Truvi is complete. If you have existing Superhog integrations or contracts, those now operate under the Truvi brand. Contact Truvi directly to confirm your account status and any pricing changes associated with the rebrand.

Is Chekin a guest screening tool?

Not primarily. Chekin is a check-in compliance platform built for European markets where guest registration with local authorities is legally required. It includes identity document scanning, but it is not a behavioral fraud detection tool. If your portfolio is outside Europe and your concern is party risk or bad-guest history, Chekin is the wrong product.

At what portfolio size does Autohost's per-verification model become expensive?

Autohost's cost scales with booking volume rather than door count. At a basic ID verification level ($0.35-$1.25 per guest), a 15-door portfolio running 150 bookings per month would spend $52-$187 per month on verifications alone, before the platform fee. At the full criminal background tier ($2.15-$7.25 per guest), the same portfolio runs $322-$1,087 per month in verification costs. The model favors lower-booking-frequency portfolios or operators who tier their verification depth by property risk level. Pricing per autohost.ai/pricing as of July 2026.

STR Guest Screening Platforms Compared: What to Buy at 10-30 Doors

By Daniel Carrow (pen name) Published Jul 2, 2026 comparatif

For a 10-30 door STR portfolio, guest screening tools split into two categories that operators frequently confuse: identity verification and behavioral fraud detection. The tools that do one well often do the other poorly, and the cost models are different enough that buying the wrong product for your actual risk profile is easy.

TL;DR: Autohost is the only platform with published per-verification pricing and genuine behavioral fraud detection depth. Truvi (formerly Superhog) layers screening on top of its damage protection network and has a proprietary bad-guest database that identity-only tools cannot replicate. Safely is an insurance product with screening bolted on. Chekin is a European regulatory compliance tool, not a fraud prevention platform. Choose based on what risk you are actually trying to solve, not what the category label says.

What guest screening tools actually check

Most operators at 10-15 doors think of guest screening as one thing. It is two things with a real gap between them.

Identity verification answers: is this person who they claim to be? Checks include document validity (government ID scanning), liveness detection (selfie matched against the ID), and name matching against the payment method. This catches guests using fake or stolen identities.

Behavioral fraud detection answers: is this person likely to cause problems, even if their identity is genuine? Checks include prior bad-guest database matches, criminal record searches, sex offender registry lookups, fraud signals in payment patterns, and social media or adverse media history.

A guest can pass identity verification cleanly and still have trashed three properties. The platforms that check both categories are not interchangeable with those that check only one.

Cost models: why this matters before you choose

Three pricing structures exist in this category, and they have different economics depending on your booking volume.

Per-verification (Autohost): You pay per check, per guest. No flat monthly seat fee per door. The verification fee varies by what checks you run. This favors portfolios with selective verification logic: high-risk units get deeper checks, lower-risk ones get basic ID only.

Per-booking (Truvi): A fee attaches to each reservation. Exact pricing is not publicly listed on truvi.com as of July 2026 (verify with vendor). The per-booking model is predictable if your occupancy rate is stable, and it scales linearly with revenue volume.

Per-property per-month (Chekin): A SaaS fee per door regardless of booking count. Starts at 3.95 euros/property/month on annual billing, per the Chekin public pricing page analysed July 2026. The per-door model favors portfolios with high booking frequency where per-booking costs would stack up.

xychart-beta
  title "Autohost per-guest verification cost by check type (max tier)"
  x-axis ["ID collection", "ID verification", "IDV + sex offender", "IDV + criminal bg"]
  y-axis "Cost per guest ($)" 0 --> 8
  bar [0.65, 1.25, 1.75, 7.25]

Cost ranges per guest from autohost.ai/pricing as of July 2026. Figures reflect the maximum of each published range. Platform fee is separate and requires a sales call.

For a 15-door portfolio running 150 bookings per month, the difference between running basic ID verification ($0.35-$1.25 per guest) versus full criminal background checks ($2.15-$7.25 per guest) is significant: $52-$187 per month versus $322-$1,087 per month in verification fees alone, before any platform fee.

At a glance

Platform	Primary use case	Pricing model	Bad-guest network	EU compliance
Autohost	Behavioral fraud + deep ID	Per-verification ($0.12-$7.25)	No	No
Truvi	Network screening + damage protection	Per-booking (rate not public)	Yes (25k+ operators)	Partial
Safely	Insurance + basic screening	Per-booking, guest-paid (rate not public)	Limited	No
Chekin	EU regulatory ID compliance	Per-property/month (from 3.95 euros)	No	Yes

Pricing from public pages verified July 2026. Verify current rates directly with vendors before purchasing.

Autohost

Autohost runs the most granular verification stack of any tool in this comparison. Per their public pricing page (analysed July 2026), the check types include:

ID collection and liveness check: $0.12-$0.65 per guest
Full ID verification: $0.35-$1.25 per guest
ID verification plus sex offender registry: $0.50-$1.75 per guest
ID verification plus criminal background: $2.15-$7.25 per guest

Beyond those published checks, Autohost’s products page (analysed July 2026) lists Equifax credit pulls, social media validation, adverse media scanning, and global sanctions and politically exposed person watchlist screening as available services.

The gap relative to Truvi: Autohost does not operate a shared bad-guest rental history database. If a guest destroyed a property managed through another Autohost operator, that incident does not show up in your screening result unless the guest was criminally charged and appears in public records. For behavioral pattern detection (repeat party throwers who have never been formally charged), the absence of a rental network database is a real limitation.

PMS integration: Autohost supports API, Web SDK, QR codes, and hosted verification pages. They do not publish a specific list of plug-and-play PMS connectors. Operators with a PMS that lacks a direct Autohost integration will need API-level implementation or to send guests a hosted verification link manually. See our channel manager vs PMS guide for context on which stacks are common at 10-30 doors.

Best fit: High-value properties where regulatory ID compliance is required, or operators who want granular control over verification depth by property type. The per-verification model allows tiering: apply full background checks to high-risk bookings and basic ID verification to returning guests or low-stay-value reservations.

Truvi (formerly Superhog)

Superhog rebranded to Truvi. As of July 2026, superhog.com/pricing redirects to truvi.com. If you have Superhog documentation or integrations, those now operate under the Truvi brand.

Truvi’s differentiation over Autohost is the network. Their screening database draws on behavior reported by 25,000+ operators in their network (per truvi.com, July 2026). A guest who caused damage in the Truvi network without a criminal conviction is still flagged, even if they pass standard identity verification. That is a real operational advantage.

The downside: Truvi’s screening is baked into a broader damage protection product. You cannot easily buy just the screening layer without the coverage component. For operators already using Truvi for damage protection, the screening is additive at no separate cost (bundled). For operators who already have coverage elsewhere, the product architecture forces a conversation about what you are actually buying.

Pricing is not publicly listed on truvi.com as of July 2026. Truvi directs potential customers to contact sales for current rates. For context on the damage protection pricing structure that bundles with screening, see our breakdown of STR damage protection products.

PMS integration: 25+ platforms confirmed publicly, including Guesty, Hospitable, Hostaway, Hostfully, Hostify, Lodgify, Cloudbeds, OwnerRez, and Smoobu (truvi.com, July 2026). This is the broadest out-of-the-box integration list in this comparison.

Best fit: Operators who want network-effect bad-guest detection and are comfortable bundling screening with damage protection. The integration depth makes it the lowest-friction option for most mainstream PMS stacks.

Safely

Safely is an insurance product with guest screening available as an upgrade, not a dedicated screening platform. Their primary offer is STR insurance coverage up to $1,000,000 for damage, liability, and theft, operating through their affiliate On Demand Insurance Agency, LLC (safely.com, July 2026).

Screening is listed on their site as an add-on, charged on a guest-paid fee model. What the screening actually checks, the depth of verification, and pricing are not publicly disclosed as of July 2026. Safely directs interested operators to connect a PMS and configure settings without specifying the underlying check types.

If your core need is behavioral fraud detection, Safely is not the purpose-built choice. If you are already evaluating Safely for insurance coverage and want screening included in the same vendor relationship, the bundling may simplify your vendor stack.

Best fit: Operators who prioritize insurance coverage and want to avoid managing separate vendor relationships for protection and screening.

Chekin

Chekin is not a fraud detection platform. It is a check-in compliance platform built around the legal requirement in Spain, Italy, and other European markets to submit guest registration data to local police or tourism authorities.

What Chekin does: digital check-in workflows, government ID scanning for compliance filing, tourist tax collection, security deposits, and online payments. Identity verification is a premium add-on on top of the base plan.

Pricing from the Chekin pricing page (analysed July 2026): starts at 3.95 euros/property/month on annual billing for the Basic plan. Identity verification costs extra as a premium feature. Transaction fees apply for deposits (1.5% plus 0.30 euros) and payments (1.5% plus 0.99 euros). VAT not included.

What Chekin does not do: it does not cross-reference guests against criminal records, bad-guest rental databases, or fraud pattern signals. A guest who has never been in Spain before and has a clean ID will pass Chekin’s process regardless of their rental history elsewhere.

Best fit: European operators in regulated markets where guest registration is legally required. Not appropriate as a standalone fraud prevention tool.

Which tool for which operator

graph TD
    A[What is the primary risk?] --> B{Choose your risk}
    B -->|Legal ID compliance, EU market| C[Chekin]
    B -->|Insurance coverage + basic screening| D[Safely]
    B -->|Behavioral fraud, party risk| E{Network effect needed?}
    E -->|Yes, shared bad-guest data matters| F[Truvi]
    E -->|No, deep per-check control matters more| G[Autohost]

5-10 doors: At this scale, the operational overhead of a dedicated screening platform often exceeds the risk exposure. Truvi’s per-booking model with bundled damage protection is the lowest-friction entry point. For context on what PMS stack typically makes sense at this size, see our PMS comparison for 5-15 properties.

10-20 doors: The case for dedicated screening gets stronger. Truvi works if you are on a supported PMS. Autohost is worth evaluating if your properties are high-value, you operate in markets with elevated fraud risk, or you want granular control over verification depth.

20-30 doors: At this scale, both the bad-guest network (Truvi) and the verification depth (Autohost) matter. Running one or the other based on portfolio risk profile is reasonable. Some operators at 25+ doors run both: Autohost for pre-booking ID verification and Truvi for the network-layer damage protection and incident reporting.

PMS integration depth matters more than you think

A screening tool that does not integrate with your PMS creates manual overhead. Someone has to send verification requests, chase incomplete submissions, and decide what to do with flagged guests before check-in. At 15 doors and 150 monthly bookings, manual guest management is a part-time job.

The integration hierarchy:

Truvi: Broadest native integration list (25+ platforms). If you run Hostaway, Guesty, Hospitable, Hostfully, or any major PMS, Truvi likely has a plug-and-play connector.
Autohost: API and SDK-based integration. Operators on unsupported PMS stacks need developer time or accept the manual hosted-link workflow.
Chekin: Solid European PMS coverage for platforms common in Spain and Italy. Less relevant for operators on US-primary PMS stacks.
Safely: PMS connection is part of setup, but the specific supported platforms are not published on their site.

If you are deciding between Autohost and Truvi on feature grounds, check your PMS first. A tool with better features but no native integration with your stack will lose to the one that works automatically.

The false-positive tradeoff

No screening tool has a zero false-positive rate. Every background check and fraud signal model produces occasional false flags on legitimate guests. The consequences are different depending on your position in the market.

A platform that flags a bachelorette party booking at a beach house has saved you a headache. The same platform flagging a corporate executive on a business trip three times in one quarter is a reputation problem. The more aggressive the screening thresholds, the higher the false-positive rate, and the more guest friction you create.

None of the vendors in this comparison publish false-positive rates on their public documentation. When evaluating a platform, ask specifically: what does a flagged guest experience, do you get notified in advance of their check-in or only after an automated denial, and can you override a flag manually. The answer to those three questions separates tools that help operators from tools that create new operational problems.

Verdict

Get Truvi if you want the broadest PMS integration coverage and value the shared bad-guest network. The per-booking model is predictable, and the damage protection bundling reduces vendor count. Pricing requires a sales conversation as of July 2026.

Get Autohost if you want per-verification cost control, the deepest available check types (criminal background, Equifax, sanctions watchlists), or if your PMS is not on Truvi’s integration list and you are willing to handle API setup or manual verification links.

Avoid Safely as a primary screening tool. It works as an insurance product. Guest screening is an add-on with no publicly documented check depth. If insurance is the actual purchase, Safely is competitive. If screening is the actual purchase, Autohost and Truvi are more direct solutions.

Use Chekin only if you are in a regulated European market. For US operators or operators primarily concerned with behavioral fraud rather than legal compliance filing, Chekin does not solve the problem.

The core decision: if you are managing 10-30 doors in the US and UK and your concern is party risk and bad-guest patterns, Truvi is the most operationally practical choice for most PMS stacks. If you run high-value units in markets with fraud exposure and want to calibrate verification depth by property, Autohost gives you the control that Truvi’s bundled model does not.

Pricing and product details sourced from public pages: autohost.ai/pricing (July 2026), truvi.com (July 2026), safely.com (July 2026), chekin.com/pricing (July 2026). Pricing is subject to change; verify with vendors before purchasing.

Superhog rebrand: as of July 2026, superhog.com/pricing redirects to truvi.com. Existing Superhog integrations operate under the Truvi brand.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between guest screening and ID verification in STR?: ID verification confirms that a guest's identity document is real and matches the person presenting it. Guest screening goes further: it cross-references that identity against criminal records, sex offender registries, prior bad-guest databases, and fraud signals like mismatched payment details. A platform that only does ID verification will not catch a guest who has a clean identity but a history of throwing parties at STRs.
Does Superhog still exist, or has it become Truvi?: As of July 2026, superhog.com/pricing redirects to truvi.com. The rebrand to Truvi is complete. If you have existing Superhog integrations or contracts, those now operate under the Truvi brand. Contact Truvi directly to confirm your account status and any pricing changes associated with the rebrand.
Is Chekin a guest screening tool?: Not primarily. Chekin is a check-in compliance platform built for European markets where guest registration with local authorities is legally required. It includes identity document scanning, but it is not a behavioral fraud detection tool. If your portfolio is outside Europe and your concern is party risk or bad-guest history, Chekin is the wrong product.
At what portfolio size does Autohost's per-verification model become expensive?: Autohost's cost scales with booking volume rather than door count. At a basic ID verification level ($0.35-$1.25 per guest), a 15-door portfolio running 150 bookings per month would spend $52-$187 per month on verifications alone, before the platform fee. At the full criminal background tier ($2.15-$7.25 per guest), the same portfolio runs $322-$1,087 per month in verification costs. The model favors lower-booking-frequency portfolios or operators who tier their verification depth by property risk level. Pricing per autohost.ai/pricing as of July 2026.