Bringing 40% of India’s Homestays Online: Hyderabad Engineer Launches Host-Friendly Travel App with Zero Commission

Driven by a deep gap in India's homestay ecosystem, former US-based techie Yash Kumar returned to India to launch Homeyhuts, India’s first no-commission OTA app tailored for homestay hosts. With 40% of homestays still unlisted online, Homeyhuts aims to digitise and empower property owners through vernacular, AI-powered tools.

Homeyhuts’ Zero-Commission Model Changes the Game

Yash Kumar identified a critical market gap: 1.1 lakh+ homestays in India remain offline, and those online face high OTA commissions of 15–20%. In response, Homeyhuts launched its flagship product ‘Host It Yourself’ in June 2025, enabling hosts to manage listings across platforms for a ₹490 monthly fee, no commission. AI-driven features include dynamic pricing, calendar sync, and sales chatbots, helping reduce operational stress for hosts.

From Bootstrapped Beginnings to 1,000+ Listings Goal

Founded in June 2023 and launched in April 2024, Homeyhuts started with ‘Managed by Homeyhuts’, offering full-service listing and communication handling for hosts. It quickly grew to 500+ properties across Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, and Telangana. With ₹12 lakh in revenue since November 2024 and ₹1 crore+ in gross bookings, the startup targets profitability by March 2026 with a projected 5,000 properties onboarded by then.

Read More: Indian Hotels Acquires 100% Equity Shares of ELEL Hotels & Investment!

Community-Led Growth with India-First Features

Yash built a 165,000+ member host community via Facebook, using it to educate and onboard users. The app supports regional languages, pre-verifies guests, and ensures host ease-of-use. Homeyhuts is registered under DPIIT’s Startup India initiative and is exploring strategic funding for rapid expansion into states like Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Kerala, targeting ₹22 lakh in monthly revenue by March 2026.

Conclusion

Homeyhuts is more than a tech solution, it’s a grassroots movement to bring Indian homestay owners online with fairer, simpler tools. Yash Kumar’s vision is digitising an underserved market with a sustainable, scalable model built in India, for India.

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