Hostfolio is a desktop app for macOS that helps you analyze real estate investments: import bank/property CSVs, categorize transactions, see yields and cash flow, run pre-purchase scenarios, and export clean data for taxes or your accountant. Data stays on your Mac.
- macOS 14 or later.
- A Mac with enough disk space for the app and your data (typically minimal).
- CSV files exported from your bank or accounting tool (UTF-8 recommended).
No. Hostfolio stores everything locally on your Mac. Export and backup are done by saving files (CSV, Excel) to your machine. No server upload is required for normal use.
- Free: Limited number of properties (e.g. 1), limited CSVs per property (e.g. 1), limited custom categories (e.g. 5). No merge of new transactions into existing CSVs.
- Pro: Unlimited properties, unlimited CSVs per property, merge of new CSV data into existing files, more custom categories. Unlock via in-app purchase or licence.
Exact limits are shown in the app when you hit them (e.g. “Upgrade to add more properties”).
- Check column mapping — Date and Amount (or Credit + Debit) must be set correctly. Use How to map your CSV.
- Date format — Pick the format that matches your file (DD/MM/YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD, etc.).
- Amount — If the file has separate credit and debit columns, choose Credit and Debit in the mapper; don’t use a single “Amount” column that doesn’t exist.
- Encoding — Save the CSV as UTF-8 if you see strange characters or the app fails to parse.
- Use either one “Amount” column (with positive/negative) or “Credit” and “Debit” columns, not both. Mapping both can double-count or confuse signs.
- Check which CSV column is really income vs expense (some banks label columns oddly).
- Ensure numbers use
. or , as decimal separator and no extra quotes or text in the amount column.
- Free: One CSV per property.
- Pro: Yes. You can add several CSVs per property (e.g. one per bank account or year) and optionally merge new transactions into an existing CSV.
- Overwrite — Replaces the content of an existing CSV in Hostfolio with the file you’re importing. Use when you’re re-exporting the same account and want to replace old data.
- Import as new — Keeps existing CSVs and adds another one (e.g. a second account or another year). Pro only if you already have one CSV on the free tier.
- Go to the Categorization tab, select the CSV (not “all”), and assign categories by description.
- Add rules in Configuration → Categories and rules (keywords in description → category) so the next import is auto-categorized.
- Rules apply to future imports; for the current CSV you assign manually in the Categorization tab.
- Property details — Gross/net yield use total investment (purchase + notary + renovation + other). If those are missing or wrong, yields will be off. Edit the property.
- Categories — “Excluded” is not included in yields or cash flow. Make sure real income isn’t Excluded and real expenses are in the right category.
- Year filter — In Analysis, check that the selected year(s) match the data you have in mind.
- Custom entries — They are included; verify amounts and signs (credit vs debit).
Excluded (“not to calculate”) is for transactions you don’t want in yields or cash flow (e.g. personal transfers, one-off corrections). They still appear in the transaction list and in exports so you have a full record, but they don’t affect KPIs.
Usually in your Downloads folder. The filename looks like clean_export_2024_2025-02-13.csv (or .xlsx). You can use “Save as” or your system dialog to pick another folder when exporting, if the app offers it.
- Select properties — Ensure the properties you want are checked.
- Select year — Choose the correct year or “All years”. The year list comes from transaction dates in your CSVs; if a year is missing, there are no transactions for that year in the selected properties.
- Categories — Excluded transactions may still appear in the export but with “Excluded” so you can filter them in the spreadsheet.
Yes. Use Clean export, choose properties and year, and export as CSV or Excel. The file has a summary (totals per property per year) and detailed transactions with categories like “Rental Income”, “Maintenance”, “Bank & Mortgage”. Categories are chosen so they’re useful for tax or accounting.
Yes. In Pre-purchase (Manual analysis), set rental type to Short-term and fill in nightly rate, occupancy, average stay length, platform fee %, cleaning fee, and utilities. Hostfolio computes income and costs and shows yields and cash flow.
From Configuration → General → Default financing parameters. You can change them there; new pre-purchase scenarios will use the updated defaults.
Open Configuration in the sidebar → General tab → Language and Theme.
- Rules apply to description (the memo/text column). If your bank uses a different column for the text you expect, make sure that column is mapped as Description in the CSV mapper.
- Manual overrides (per description or per transaction) override rules. Check the Categorization tab and clear overrides if you want the rule to apply.
- Re-import or add new transactions; rules run at import time.
On the free plan you can have only one property. To add more, upgrade to Pro.
In the app’s local data on your Mac (e.g. in Application Support). Exact path depends on how the app is installed. Exporting is the recommended way to back up; you can also back up the app’s data folder if you know where it is.
For licence management and updates (deactivating, changing laptop, two laptops, v1.x free updates, v2+ upgrade policy), see Licence and updates.