Contents

Introduction
Rankings
Benefits
Features
Pricing
Implementation
Latest Developments
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FAQs
Further Reading
Methodology

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BEST VACATION RENTALS TOOLS

10 Best Vacation Rental Software 2026

Jordan M Hollander

| Last updated December 08, 2023

Rankings

Benefits

Features

Pricing

Q&A

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BENEFITS

What are the benefits of vacation rental software?

Stores reservations and guest communication: In a centralized reservation database, your vacation rental software pulls in all reservations from all of your connected channels so you can see everything in one place. You can enter new reservations, modify existing ones, and send messages to guests within the same interface.
Connects your property to online booking sites: Vacation rental software usually includes channel manager functionality, which enables connections between your system and booking channels like Airbnb and Booking.com. In addition, the software can power your own website and allow guests to book direct reservations online - with no coding expertise needed.
Manages accounting and reporting: Stay on top of your finances, collect payment and deposits, and run custom reports that slice and dice your data so you can gain the most insight into your performance.
Streamlines operations through automation and centralization. Offload manual tasks, like sending check-in instructions, and use the power of automation to let your vacation rental software do the heavy lifting. Similarly, the channel management module can automatically update rates and availability on all your third-party sites, so you can spend more time focusing on your guests.
Increases revenue by unlocking new sales channels and revenue streams. If you’re only listed on Airbnb, then you’re likely missing out on potential reservations from other vacation rental sites. In addition, you’ll want to have a direct booking option so guests can book with you directly, commission-free. Vacation rental software can give your property more visibility, which can help boost occupancy and revenue.

FEATURES

Most Important Features of Vacation Rental Software

Booking calendar: See all of your reservations in one place with options to organize them by date, unit, channel, payment status, and more.
Reservation management: Create, edit, and cancel reservations to ensure you have accurate guest details and availability at all times.
Guest communication: Send and reply to messages from one unified inbox, plus configure automated messages that contain check-in instructions, answers to FAQs, and special offers.
Website builder: Make direct bookings possible by publishing a fully customizable, branded website that allows guests to learn about your property and reserve a stay online.
Accounting tools: Run your business like a pro with sophisticated accounting features that ensure you collect the right balances from guests and remit taxes and commissions accurately.
Payment processor: Charge payments and deposits (and even automate your payment schedules) with an integrated payment processor.
Reporting: Monitor performance through customized reports and dashboards that track metrics like occupancy, RevPAR, and guest review scores.
Channel management: Connect your rates, availability, and content to online travel agencies like Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo so you can advertise your property to more potential guests.
Integrations: Maximize the functionality of your vacation rental software by connecting it to complementary third-party apps, such as MailChimp, PriceLabs, Zapier, RemoteLock, and Duve.

PRICING

How much does vacation rental software cost?

Vacation rental software generally comes with a monthly fee, and the fee is variable depending on how many units you manage. Small-scale hosts with one or two units can find inexpensive vacation rental software for around $20 per month; however, some cheaper plans come with a booking fee that takes a few percentage points out of each reservation. Professional hosts will pay around $100 for 20 units or closer to $1000 per month for 100 units, and, at this scale, there are usually no booking fees. In addition to the monthly software fee, hosts pay payment processing fees, which are 2-3% of transaction value.

IMPLEMENTATION

How long does it take to implement new vacation rental software?

Setting up your vacation rental software is generally a painless process, and you can be up and running in no more than a couple of days. The first step is to create an account with the software vendor you chose, and follow their onboarding steps. You’ll usually need to enter some details about your property, policies, and contact info. Next, you can build your website or configure a booking engine that you can embed on your own website. This module allows guests to book reservations online with you directly. You’ll need to upload photos, enter your property descriptions, and load prices. In addition to your own website, you can connect your vacation rental software to third-party channels, like Airbnb and Vrbo. If you already have listings on those channels, you can simply connect them to enable the flow of rates, availability, content, and reservations. If you don’t have listings yet, you can publish new ones at this point.

The last steps to complete before accepting new reservations include setting up your payment processor so you can charge credit cards, creating any automated messages you want to send to guests, configuring integrations with other apps, such as smart locks or dynamic pricing systems, and inviting other users to the system who help you host.

FAQs

Hoteliers Also Ask

How much does Smoobu cost?

Smoobu is another popular property management system for vacation rental owners and operators, and its reservation management module is actually totally free to use regardless of how many units you manage. To unlock all of Smoobu’s features, pricing begins at about $22 for a one-unit plan and increases by about $5 with each additional unit you add.

Is Lodgify owned by Airbnb?

Lodgify is not owned by Airbnb, but Lodgify is one of Airbnb’s preferred software partners, which means that Lodgify users get access to a very sophisticated two-way connection to Airbnb.

How much does Guesty cost?

Guesty, a popular vacation rental property management system, charges a monthly subscription fee based on the number of units you manage. Pricing starts at $49 for a one-unit plan ($44 if you pay for the full year up front) and increases with your unit count. Custom quotes for plans that include more than four units are available upon request.

Who uses Lodgify?

Owners, operators, and managers of vacation rentals use Lodgify. Lodgify works well for a wide variety of vacation rental operators, like part-time hosts who rent a home seasonally or professional management companies that work with dozens of apartments.

Does Vrbo have an API?

Yes, Vrbo has an API, and vacation rental owners can connect to Vrbo via their property management system or channel manager to send rates, availability, restrictions, and content as well as to receive reservations, payments, and guest reviews.

How do I manage property on Vrbo?

Some vacation rental hosts manage their properties on Vrbo through Vrbo’s Owner Portal, which contains all of the back-end settings and data for Vrbo listings. In the portal, you can configure their listings, manage reservations, set prices, communicate with guests, and respond to reviews. Alternatively, some hosts choose to work with a property management system or channel manager that offers a Vrbo connection; this way, you can manage listing data and reservations from all of your channels in one central system, rather than in the Vrbo Owner Portal.

What success metrics (KPIs) should you focus on to determine success of a VR platform?

Occupancy: Occupancy rate is calculated by dividing the number of sold nights by the total available nights in a given time period. For instance, if your property was booked for 25 nights in August, then your occupancy rate was 80.6% in August.

Revenue: How much money are you bringing in during a given week, month, or year? Revenue reporting can include line items for your nightly rates, cleaning fees, and other charges like extra person fees and equipment rentals.

Guest review score: Guest satisfaction is arguably your most important metric, because if guests aren’t happy with your property, then you won’t get any new bookings. Your vacation rental software makes it easy to track guest review scores by channel and over time so you can find opportunities to improve.

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What are the benefits of vacation rental software?

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How much does vacation rental software cost?

How long does it take to implement new vacation rental software?