Best Manual Keypad Door Lock Under $50

What's the best keypad entry door lock for your Airbnb?

Browse the hosting forums, and you'll see tons of recommendations for pricey smartlocks like the Schlage Encode or the Kwikset Halo. While packed with features, these are full-fledged WiFi-enabled smart locks, which can run more than $200.  

While a great choice for remote hosts, or hosts seeking automated solutions to manage multiple properties, they could be overkill for hands-on people who host out of their primary residence, or who otherwise visit their Airbnb every turnover. In these cases, it's about as easy to enter a new code into an inexpensive non-WiFi keypad lock directly as it is via mobile app ... and at a fraction of the cost.

It could also be that you're just trying out hosting, aren't sure if you'll like it, and don't want to overspend on keypad locks at this point in your Airbnb journey. This applied to us on our first property, so we tried out the HuTools Keyless Entry Door Lock.

Available in Oil Rubbed Bronze and Satin Nickel finishes, these smart deadbolts are easy to install with just a screwdriver, and they look great. If replacing a standard two-fixture knob-and-deadbolt lockset, you'll probably want to install a non-turning dummy knob for the old lockable doorknob, like this:

The HuTools locks come with long-life batteries. We've used them on the front and back door of our first Aibnb for more than a year, spanning more than 80 guest stays, and the batteries are still going strong.

Again, this is a manual keypad lock, meaning you enter a secret code, and then manually enter or remove the codes that unlock the deadbolt. The unit can hold up to 20 codes, meaning you can have separate codes for the owner, multiple cleaners, and multiple guest parties at once. As you delete codes, those slots become available for future re-use.

Manually entering and removing codes isn't a big deal for us, because we visit our units for a quality check after every turnover, and sometimes we do the cleanings ourselves. So, I've just made it a habit to remove the last guest's code and enter the next guest's code as one of my checklists steps for when I visit the property between guests.

Needing to manually update the codes can create a minor difficulty if we get a last-minute booking and don't happen to be near the house. Our workaround has been to leave a "dummy code" in the lock - something easy for the host to remember, like 1627 (the first digit in the top row of numbers on the lock, then the first in the second row, etc.), and I'll just message that code to the last-minute guest so they can have immediate access without my needing to stop by.

Upon arrival, the guest enters their code and then hits the large 'HuTools' button; if the code is correct, the deadbolt retracts. To lock it, hold any key for two seconds, and the deadbolt will lock. The unit includes backlighting, illuminating the keys for a while after one is pressed, so it's easy for guests to use after dark.

The only downside we've found is that the lock rejects certain common number combinations (1234, 3333, etc.). Since we use the last 4 digits of the guest's phone number as their default access code, sometimes we'll run into a phone number involving one of the combos that the lock doesn't like. In these cases, we'll use the FIRST four digits of their phone number. Really not a big deal.

We like the HuTools Keyless Entry Door Lock so much we recently installed them on our second Airbnb, too. Again, we feel they're a right-sized solution for many hosting scenarios. Maybe one day our portfolio will grow such that we'll want to switch to app-managed WiFi locks, but for now, we're happy with HuTools.

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