Frequently asked questions
Short questions, straight answers.
Everything hosts and guests ask most. Need the how-to detail instead? The Help Centre walks through every workflow step by step.
The basics
What Guest Charge is (and isn’t).
What does Guest Charge actually do?
It turns the EV charger you already own into a managed guest amenity. You control when it works and who can use it; guests charge through a private link with no app or account; and optionally you charge them for it — payments, receipts and bank payouts all handled.
Who is it for?
Hotels, Airbnbs, holiday lets, B&Bs — any accommodation with an EV charger and guests who want to use it. It’s built around stays, not public charging: access follows the booking.
Is it a public charging network?
No. Your charger never appears on public charging maps and strangers can’t use it. Only guests you’ve given a link to can charge, only during their stay.
Do guests need to install anything?
No app, no account, no signup. They open a link, pay if you’ve set a price, plug in, press start. That’s the whole guest experience by design.
What does it cost to try?
Nothing. The Free plan takes one charger, needs no card, and includes scheduling, guest links and QR posters. Paid plans add charging payments and Airbnb calendar sync — see Pricing.
Chargers & compatibility
Will my hardware work?
Which chargers are compatible?
Any charger that speaks OCPP (Open Charge Point Protocol) — versions 1.6 and 2.0.1 both work and are detected automatically. That covers most major manufacturers. Our Supported Chargers database lists models with setup notes, and you can always ask us about yours.
Do I need to buy new hardware?
No — that’s the point. If your existing charger is OCPP-compatible, Guest Charge manages it as-is. No new charger, no electrician, no rewiring.
How hard is the setup, honestly?
You change two settings in your charger’s own app or portal: the OCPP server address and the charger identity, both shown by our guided setup. The wizard verifies the connection live. Most hosts are done inside half an hour, most of which is finding the setting in the manufacturer’s app.
Can I manage several chargers? Across properties?
Yes — one dashboard for every charger at every location. Plan limits apply (1 on Free, 5 on Pay-As-You-Go, 10 on Pro, unlimited on Enterprise), and guests at multi-charger properties pick their bay or let the QR poster pick it.
What happens if my internet drops?
The charger falls back to being a normal, dumb charger until it reconnects — charging in progress isn’t interrupted. Access control and payment gating need the connection, so the dashboard flags a charger that’s gone quiet.
Guest access
Links, QR codes and stays.
How does a guest get access?
You create a session for their stay and share their unique link — one-click welcome email (QR included), copyable text for Airbnb messaging or SMS, or plain copy-paste. Airbnb calendar sync can create the sessions for you automatically.
What’s on the QR poster? Is it safe to display?
Only the charger’s identity — a permanent public URL naming that charger, nothing more. It grants nothing by itself: scanning it only works for a guest whose phone has already opened their personal link. Anyone else sees instructions to get a link from their host.
Can a previous guest still charge after checkout?
No. Links expire at checkout automatically, and the phone-remembered sessions behind QR scanning expire with them.
Can I let a guest charge only at night?
Yes — set a daily charging window on the session (e.g. 10pm–7am, off-peak). Chargers can also carry recurring availability windows of their own. Both are timezone-aware and handle overnight ranges.
Does Airbnb calendar sync share my guests’ details?
Airbnb’s calendar feed doesn’t contain guest names or emails, so synced sessions are created as “Airbnb guest #1, #2…”. You can add the real name or email any time — for instance to send the welcome email.
Payments & pricing
Charging money for charging cars.
How can I price charging?
Two models, per session: a fixed price per stay (paid up front, unlimited charging until checkout) or per kWh (card saved up front, charged once at checkout for exactly the energy used, with a minimum you set). Prices are tax-inclusive, in your currency.
Which currencies are supported?
You price in USD, AUD, EUR or GBP. Guests pay in your currency and their bank converts — exactly like any purchase abroad. No exchange-rate management on your side.
How do guests pay?
Secure hosted checkout: all major cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay. The charger stays locked until payment completes — no payment, no power.
Can a guest dodge the per-kWh bill by never “checking out”?
No — their card is saved before the first electron flows, and settlement runs automatically at the end of the stay for the energy actually delivered.
Do guests get receipts? Do I get records?
Guests get a branded, itemised receipt by email the moment money moves. You get monthly statements, per-transaction reporting with the commission split, CSV export, and (Pro+) a printable financial-year report.
What should I actually charge?
Most hosts price per kWh at a sensible margin over their electricity tariff, or set a simple flat per-stay price. Our pricing guide walks through real numbers, and the meter rules for billing by kWh are covered in this guide.
Payouts
Getting your money.
How do I get paid?
Click Set up payouts on your Insights page and complete one short hosted verification form — identity and bank account. After that, your share of every paid charge transfers to your bank automatically. No separate payment-provider account or dashboard to run.
What if I take payments before setting up payouts?
Nothing is lost — earnings queue up safely and the Insights banner shows what’s waiting. The moment your bank is connected, the backlog pays out automatically.
How fast do transfers arrive?
Transfers are initiated automatically after each paid stay or settlement; banks typically show the money within a few business days, depending on your country.
Can I see exactly what I’m owed?
Yes — paid and owed totals per currency live on your Insights page, and every session’s ledger shows gross, commission and your net to the cent.
Plans & billing
Free, Pay-As-You-Go, Pro, Enterprise.
What’s the difference between the plans?
Free: 1 charger, access control and scheduling, no payments. Pay-As-You-Go: up to 5 chargers, take payments, 15% commission. Pro ($19/month): up to 10 chargers, 0% commission, deeper analytics. Enterprise: unlimited chargers, per-location reporting, custom terms. Full detail on Pricing.
When is Pro worth it?
At roughly $130/month of charging revenue, Pro’s flat $19 beats the 15% commission. Below that, Pay-As-You-Go is cheaper. The pricing page has the table.
How do I upgrade or cancel?
Self-serve, in the app: Account Settings → Subscription. Upgrading takes effect immediately; cancelling Pro moves you to Pay-As-You-Go with everything else intact. No contracts, no phone calls.
What happens if I hit my plan’s charger limit?
The app tells you at the moment it matters and the next tier is one click away. Pro hosts needing more than 10 chargers talk to us about Enterprise.
Security & privacy
The trust questions.
How is payment data handled?
Card details go directly to our payment processor through their hosted checkout — they never touch Guest Charge’s servers. We store only the references needed to manage the transaction.
What guest data do you keep?
The minimum a stay needs: the name and dates you enter, an email if you add one (for the welcome email and receipts), and the charging record. Airbnb sync adds no personal data at all — its feed doesn’t contain any.
Can someone guess a guest link?
Links carry long random tokens tied to one session, validated on every request, and dead after checkout. If a link ever leaks, regenerate it and the old one stops working instantly.
Who can control my charger?
You, and the current guest within their stay’s limits. Every control action is authenticated and scoped — a guest can start and stop their own charge, nothing else.
I found a security issue — where do I report it?
Email [email protected] with the details. We take reports seriously and respond fast.
Didn’t find your answer? Ask us.
The Help Centre has the step-by-step guides; account holders can raise a tracked ticket from the in-app Support page; and the contact form reaches a human either way.