Automate your Airbnb. Wow every guest.

The keypad sits outside all winter, so the cold rating matters. Every lock here has Wi-Fi built in (no hub), a free app, and is on Airbnb's list for a direct link. Where's the house?

Before you buy: check the lock fits your door (the maker's page lists door thickness and the hole size), and that your Wi-Fi reaches the front door on 2.4 GHz. Stand at the door with your phone on Wi-Fi: if a video plays, you're fine.

Works for listings in the US and Canada, one lock per listing, no fee. About 30 minutes.

1. Install the lock on the front door and set it up in the maker's free app (Schlage Home, Yale Access or August) on your own Wi-Fi, the 2.4 GHz band.
2. Update its firmware in that app if it asks.
3. In Airbnb: Listings, tap the house, Listing editor, Arrival guide, Check-in method, Smart lock, Connect.
4. Pick the brand, sign in with your lock-app login, and allow it.
5. Add a backup way in when Airbnb asks, like a lockbox with a key. Airbnb sends it only if the lock fails.
6. Set the checkout buffer if you want it longer or shorter than 30 minutes (15 minutes to 2 hours). Guests don't see it.
7. Check it: under Arrival guide, Check-in method, the lock should show as connected, with no battery warning.

Using Apple Home with the lock? Airbnb can't always find it. Their fix: remove the lock from Apple Home, link it to Airbnb, then add it back. If you run the house through other rental software, Airbnb's direct link isn't available.

1. Keep your lock and keys

The August Wi-Fi Smart Lock fits over the inside half of the deadbolt you already have, and a Yale Keypad sticks or screws on outside. The outside lock and your keys stay as they are, and it comes off cleanly when you leave. Airbnb links to it directly, with no bridge and no monthly fee. Good for condos, HOAs and renters who can't change the outside lock. August says it fits most single-cylinder deadbolts; its page has a fit check.

Seen Nov 11 2026 on august.com: lock $99.99 on sale (normally $199.99), Yale Keypad $59.99 on sale (normally $119.99), bundle from $229.99. The keypad is IPX5 weather-sealed; no temperature rating is published.

2. Swap the deadbolt

A keypad deadbolt replaces the one you have, in the same holes. The Schlage Encode fits standard doors 1-3/8 to 1-3/4 inches thick, with either common backset (2-3/8 or 2-3/4 inches), and installs with a screwdriver, no wiring. It's the one for cold towns: rated to -31°F outside. Yale's keypad deadbolts install the same way; check the fit guide on its page. Lock picks for your weather are in Step 1.

Fit, tools and rating from Schlage's product page, seen Nov 11 2026.

3. A lockbox with a key

Cheapest, but its code doesn't change by itself, so you're back to changing it after every guest. Airbnb's direct link covers only Schlage, Yale and August locks, so a smart lockbox needs a paid app to make codes for you. Use a lockbox as the backup way in Airbnb asks for, not as the main door.

Airbnb only makes and removes guest codes. Codes you make in the lock's app for yourself, your cleaner or a handyman stay there, and Airbnb never sees or changes them.

• Owner code: one for you, never shared, never given to a guest.
• Cleaner code: one per cleaner or crew, so you can turn off one person without changing anyone else's. If the app lets you, limit it to cleaning hours.
• Repair code: make a short-lived one for a visit, then delete it.
• When someone leaves your crew, delete their code that day.
• Most of these apps keep an entry log, so you can see which code opened the door and when.

Keep a list of who has a code, with delete-by reminders.

The honest answer: as of Nov 11 2026 we found no free direct lock link on Vrbo or Booking.com like Airbnb's. On both, the free way is a few taps per booking: make a dated code in the lock's own app, then put it in that site's guest-info box. Codes that make themselves for every booking there need paid rental software, usually a monthly fee. Work out each guest's code times and message, or see if software is worth it for you.

Vrbo, free way

1. When a booking comes in, make a guest code in the lock's app for those dates only.
2. In Vrbo, open the reservation and add it under Access instructions. Vrbo shares it with the guest closer to check-in.
3. Vrbo's rules: for a booking made 5 or more days out, tell the guest at least 72 hours before check-in when and how the access details will arrive, and send them before check-in. A scheduled message template ("10 AM the day before check-in") covers the reminder. Don't type a code into a template: every guest would get the same one.

Vrbo Help: access instructions, welcome guide, templates; host communication policy. Seen Nov 11 2026.

Booking.com, free way

1. In the extranet, go to Property, Policies, Key collection, and say the door has a keypad and the code comes by message. Guests see this under "Getting into the property". Don't put a code there: it's the same for every booking.
2. When a booking comes in, make a dated code in the lock's app and send it to that guest in a Booking.com message, a day or two before arrival.
3. Booking.com's scheduled templates can remind them it's coming, but they have no slot for a per-guest code.

Booking.com Partner Help: key collection, message templates. Seen Nov 11 2026.

Same lock for all three

One lock works. Airbnb makes and removes its own guests' codes and never sees or changes codes you add yourself, so the dated codes you make for Vrbo or Booking.com guests sit beside Airbnb's. Delete each one after that stay if your lock's app doesn't end it by date.

Paying for automatic codes everywhere

Rental software that links to Vrbo and Booking.com can make a code for every booking. Expect a monthly fee per house, and check that it supports your exact lock before you pay. If you switch Airbnb over to that software too, Airbnb's free direct link turns off, and Airbnb can no longer show you the lock's battery or offline status.

Airbnb shows the lock as Offline. Codes already sent keep working as long as the batteries are good. A new booking can't get a fresh code while it's offline, so Airbnb may send that guest a backup code instead. Backup codes stay on until you remove them or the lock reconnects. Fix the internet and it catches up.

Airbnb puts Low battery and Critically low battery warnings in your Today tab and under Arrival guide, Check-in method. The lock's app warns you too. The easy habit: new batteries at the start of each ski season and each summer, and a spare pack in the cleaning closet. If they die completely, the backup way in you gave Airbnb (the lockbox) is how guests get in, so keep a key in it.

Check the time first: codes start at check-in time, not before. Then open the lock's app to see if it's online and the code is listed. If not, send the backup way in (the lockbox) or make a one-time code for them in the lock's app and message it through Airbnb.

Pick a lock rated below your coldest nights (Step 1). Alkaline batteries lose power in deep cold, so swap them before winter rather than waiting for the warning.

No. Airbnb's own link to the lock makes and removes them. We don't run software on your lock, and we never see a code.

Not from Airbnb's direct link, the lock apps above, a guest network on your router or the guidebook. You pay for the lock once.

Yes. Make it at headedin.com/stay, no account. You get a link and a fridge card with a QR to print.

No. Each booking gets its own code, and it stops working after that guest's checkout.

Anyone with a link can open a web page, and links get passed around. Codes and passwords belong in the check-in message, where each guest gets only their own. Your guidebook can say "the password is in your check-in message".