The cheapest damage to recover is the damage that never happens. This guide compares the main guest-screening tools, Superhog, Autohost, Chekin, and Authenticate, and shows where screening ends and documentation begins.
Superhog (Know Your Guest) pairs screening with a damage-protection layer, Autohost automates risk screening for larger operators, Chekin focuses on digital check-in and ID verification, and Authenticate offers configurable identity and background checks. All screen before the stay. None of them document what happens during it, which is a separate, and equally important, job.
Screening filters the booking before arrival
Verify identity to deter fake and third-party bookings
Behavioural signals flag high-risk reservations
Screen on behaviour and facts, never protected traits
Airbnb verifies identity to a point, but hosts carry the risk of a bad booking. Screening tools exist to close that gap, catching fake or third-party bookings, flagging the reservations statistically linked to parties and damage, and in some cases adding a protection layer on top. They act at the one moment you have the most control: before you accept.
The guest screening guide covers the behavioural signals worth checking. This page is about the tools that automate that work, and where each one fits.
| Tool | Focus | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Superhog (Know Your Guest) | Guest verification plus a damage-protection and deposit-alternative layer built for short-term rentals | Hosts who want screening and a deposit-style guarantee together |
| Autohost | Automated risk screening and guest intelligence, aimed at larger operators and property managers | Portfolios that need scalable, rules-based screening |
| Chekin | Online check-in, ID verification, and guest management, with local registration features | Hosts wanting a smooth digital check-in plus verification |
| Authenticate | Identity and background verification, offered as checks you can plug into your flow | Hosts who want configurable ID and background checks |
Features and pricing change, so confirm current specifics on each vendor's site. For a direct feature-by-feature look at one of them next to Checkout Shield, see Checkout Shield vs SuperHog.
Screening has a legal edge, and it is easy to get wrong. The line is simple: screen on behaviour and verifiable facts, not on who someone is.
A last-minute local booking for the maximum headcount is a behavioural signal you can act on. A guest's race, religion, or family status is never one. Apply the same criteria to every booking and you screen safely.
Good tools are built around this distinction, and a good manual routine follows the same rule. The free Guest Risk Pre-Screener is designed to keep you on the right side of it.
Screening lowers the odds of a bad stay. It does nothing the moment a guest walks in the door. If damage happens anyway, and some always will, recovery depends entirely on a different layer: dated, verifiable condition evidence. The two are complementary, and relying on only one leaves a hole.
A screening tool reduces the chance of a bad booking. Checkout Shield covers the other half: when a guest who passed screening still causes damage, you have the dated, verifiable record AirCover pays on.
Got a booking request that feels off? Score it first
The free Guest Risk Pre-Screener reads nine behavioural facts about a booking, timing, account age, reviews, group size, and returns a transparent risk score with the exact checks to run before you approve. It never asks who the guest is. No sign-up required.
Screen the Booking, FreeScreening is powerful, and that is exactly why it has to be done carefully. The line is simple in principle: screen on behaviour and facts, never on who someone is. Weighing a protected characteristic, or anything that stands in for one, is both wrong and, in many jurisdictions, unlawful under fair-housing rules.
What you can legitimately weigh are booking facts: a verified identity, a local last-minute one-night booking that fits the party pattern, a group size that exceeds your occupancy, a brand-new account with no history, or a stated trip purpose that does not match the listing. What you cannot weigh is anyone's membership of a protected class, and you should be wary of proxies that quietly encode one.
The protection against getting this wrong is consistency. Apply the same criteria to every booking, ideally the same automated checks in the same order, so decisions are defensible and even-handed rather than ad hoc. A written, consistent screening standard protects your guests from bias and protects you from a fair-housing complaint.
A tool only helps if it runs at the right moment. The most effective point is before or immediately after a booking confirms, so a flag can still change what happens next. Built well, the flow is mostly invisible to good guests and quietly firm with risky ones:
Screening is the front door of a layered defence. It stops the worst bookings before they arrive, but it is not a substitute for the record you build during the stay. Where screening ends, prevention and documentation take over.
The questions hosts ask about guest-screening tools, answered plainly.
They reduce risk before a stay by verifying who the guest is and flagging reservations that look high-risk. Depending on the tool, that means ID verification, background checks, behavioural risk scoring, and in some cases a damage-protection or deposit-alternative layer. They act at the booking stage, not during the stay.
It depends on your scale and goal. Superhog, marketed as Know Your Guest, pairs screening with a damage-protection layer. Autohost suits larger operators needing automated, rules-based screening. Chekin leans into digital check-in and ID verification. Authenticate offers configurable identity and background checks. Match the tool to whether you want verification, risk scoring, a deposit alternative, or a smooth check-in.
Screening is legal when it is based on behavioural facts and verifiable information, not on protected characteristics like race, religion, or family status. The safe approach is to screen on signals such as identity verification, booking patterns, and stated headcount, and to apply the same criteria to every booking.
Not necessarily. A small host can screen effectively with a consistent manual routine on the highest-value signals, then reach for a paid tool as the portfolio grows. The free Guest Risk Pre-Screener scores a booking on nine behavioural facts, which covers the core of what paid tools automate.
No. Screening lowers the odds of a bad booking; it does nothing once a guest is inside. If damage happens anyway, recovery depends on dated condition evidence, not on the screening result. The two are complementary layers: screen to prevent, document to recover.
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Nine quick questions about a booking request: timing, account age, reviews, group size. Get a transparent 0 to 100 risk score, the exact patterns behind it, and the checks to run before you approve. It never asks who the guest is. Free, no sign-up required.
Screen this bookingEstimate your annual exposure from denied claims and undocumented damage.
Calculate your riskScore your damage claim before you submit and see exactly what is missing.
Score my claimPersonalized evidence checklist by platform, host type, and property zones.
Generate my checklistScore your whole documentation workflow and find the gaps that get claims denied.
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Estimate my real costTurn damage you found after checkout into a clear report the owner can act on.
Build the reportTurn one property's month of numbers into a clean statement for the owner.
Build the statementThe free Guest Risk Pre-Screener scores a reservation on nine behavioural signals in two minutes, the core of what paid screening tools automate.
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