The Best Vacation Rental Management Software in 2023

Using vacation rental management software is a great way to simplify, automate, and grow your short-term rental business. And in the last decade, there’s been an explosion of software platforms designed to help Airbnb hosts and vacation rental property managers manage their businesses.

Based on our experience working with a range of vacation rental businesses, and our own experience as hosts, we’ve put together this list of the best vacation rental property management software platforms. We’ve also covered the core features you’ll want to look for in whatever short-term rental or Airbnb management software you choose.

Before we jump into an overview of features and individual reviews, here are our top picks for the best online vacation rental property management software platforms:

• Uplisting – Top pick overall. Comprehensive short-term rental property management software platform. Easy to use, tons of features, and excellent support.
• OwnerRez – Best value for property managers. Convenient owner management features, automations, and excellent customer support. Flexible, a-la-carte pricing.
• Lodgify – Best direct booking website feature. Best known for easy-to-use direct booking website builder and channel manager. Affordable pricing.
• Hospitable – Best automation for Airbnb hosts. Best-in-class Airbnb automation software with advanced messaging features. Small business-friendly pricing.
• iGMS – Best flexible pricing for getting started. Comprehensive vacation rental management platform. Flex pricing plan for hosts just starting with direct bookings.
• Hostaway – Best for advanced needs. Highly customizable setup with tons of features, an extensive marketplace of integrations, and a robust API. Custom pricing options.
• Hosthub – Best channel management. Offers the most channel integrations by far (200+ direct, real-time integrations), and a Zero Double-Booking Guarantee.

Compare vacation rental software options with our spreadsheet.

View spreadsheet

Be sure to also check out our Software Comparison Spreadsheet, for a side-by-side comparison of some of the best short-term rental management software options.

Features to Look For in Vacation Rental Management Software

Here are a few of the main features to look for when choosing vacation rental management software.

Channel Manager – Channel managers have been around for a long time as a way for hotels to be able to list on multiple booking sites. With the growth of the vacation rental industry, there are now lots of vacation rental channel managers, which you can use to sync your calendars from multiple channels (like Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com), and avoid double bookings.

Multi Calendar – In conjunction with a channel manager, which syncs your listing details and calendars, many vacation rental software management platforms offer a Multi Calendar. This is usually a calendar-looking dashboard where you can manage all your properties and reservations (calendars, rates, booking details, etc.) in one convenient location.

Unified Inbox – Along with a unified Multi Calendar, many short-term rental management platforms have a unified inbox—where you can view and respond to guest messages from all your different channels.

Automated Messaging – Take guest communication a step further by automating messages, so you can respond quickly without lifting a finger. Set up triggers and adjust templates so you can automate most of your guest messages, and personally handle only the messages that fall outside the scope of your automation workflows.

Task Management & Scheduling – Automatically schedule events like cleaning and turnovers, and assign tasks to your team. Or integrate with your third-party vacation rental cleaning software.

Direct Bookings – With vacation rental reservation software, you can offer direct bookings for your vacation rentals, and avoid fees that come with listing on websites like Airbnb and Vrbo. A direct booking engine is a core feature of most vacation rental management software platforms.

Website Builder – Most vacation rental management software platforms come with a basic vacation rental website builder. But they’re usually pretty limited in terms of creating a custom website. So if you already have a website, look for features like a WordPress plugin or booking widget, so you can embed your direct booking forms on your external website. Learn more about how to create a direct booking website.

Reporting & Accounting – Keep track of your finances with features like expense tracking and revenue reports. Or integrate with your accounting software like Quickbooks (either directly or through an app like Zapier).

Owner Management – If you manage properties with multiple different owners, there are certain features like an Owner Portal that come in handy. Look for features like Expense Tracking and Owner Statements, so you can easily keep track of commissions and make payouts to your property owners.

Integrations – Check for integrations with things like smart locks, dynamic pricing software, accounting software, and other tools you use to manage your Airbnb or short-term rental business. Zapier is another integration to look for since it can integrate with 1,000+ different apps.

The Best Vacation Rental Property Management Software

Now that we’ve covered some of the core features to look for, here are some of the best short-term rental management software platforms. For a more in-depth comparison of pricing and features of each of these platforms, check out our Vacation Rental Software Comparison spreadsheet.

Uplisting

Uplisting is one of the newer vacation rental management software companies (founded in 2018). They’re quickly growing in popularity due to their focus on usability, reliability, and excellent customer support.

In addition to the core vacation rental management features, they also have extra features like security deposits, built-in guest ID verification, and lots of other automation features.

Another reason we like Uplisting is how quickly they’re adding new features, based on user input. As an Uplisting customer, you can vote on new features and track their progress on the Uplisting product roadmap.

Pricing: Uplisting offers a 14-day free trial. Their plans start at $100/mo for up to 5 properties. Calculate your Uplisting cost.

Our recommendation: Uplisting is best for vacation rental owners and property managers (2 – 100+ properties), who want a user-friendly, reliable, and comprehensive property management software platform.

Visit Uplisting.io to learn more.

OwnerRez

Unlike Uplisting, OwnerRez has been around for a while (founded in 2007). Since then, they’ve been steadily growing a loyal customer base, who appreciate their reliable, time-saving software and helpful customer support.

They offer a flexible pricing model, so you can opt out of paying for features you don’t want. And for property managers with multiple owners, they have convenient features like their owner commission statements and payments.

What OwnerRez lacks in terms of web design (both their website and their app UI could use a refresh), they make up for with their reliable product, straightforward features, and a genuinely helpful customer support team.

Pricing: OwnerRez offers a 14-day free trial. Their plans start at $35/mo. Calculate your OwnerRez cost.

Our recommendation: OwnerRez is best for vacation rental hosts and property managers (1 – 100+ properties), who want a time-saving product, helpful support, and are prepared for a learning curve to get everything set up. Read our OwnerRez review.

Visit OwnerReservations.com to learn more.

Lodgify

Lodgify is one of the most well-known vacation rental management software platforms on the market (founded in 2012). They are perhaps best known as a vacation rental website builder, and they also have a channel manager so you can sync your listings across the major booking sites (Airbnb, Vrbo, Homeaway, Booking.com, and Expedia).

Lodgify also has a growing set of convenient features for hosts and property managers, including basic accounting features, automations, and task management.

Pricing: Lodgify offers a 7-day free trial. Their plans start at $32/mo (or $0/mo + booking fee). Calculate your Lodgify cost.

Our recommendation: Lodgify is a good option for smaller vacation rental hosts and property managers (1 – 10 properties), who want a direct booking website and a channel manager that syncs everything in one place. Read our Lodgify review.

Visit Lodgify.com to learn more.

Hospitable

Hospitable (formerly Smartbnb), was founded in 2016 as an Airbnb property management software platform. They’ve since grown a reputation as one of the best Airbnb management tools, particularly for automating guest messages.

In 2021, Smartbnb rebranded to Hospitable, and introduced several new features, including channel management and direct bookings. But their newer features aren’t yet quite on par with their original guest messaging and automation features.

If you’re just listing on Airbnb and looking for the best Airbnb management software (especially for guest messages), Hospitable is one of the best you’ll find.

They also have very affordable pricing, and after the first 2 properties, you only pay for properties that have check-ins within the past 30 days.

Pricing: Hospitable offers a 14-day free trial. Their plans start at $40/mo for up to 2 properties. Calculate your Hospitable cost.

Our recommendation: Hospitable is best for hosts and property managers (1-100+ properties) who want to automate their guest messages and other routine tasks (and primarily use Airbnb).

Visit Hospitable.com to learn more.

iGMS

iGMS (formerly AirGMS) is another comprehensive short-term rental management software that’s been around the block (founded in 2015). They have a long list of features including a channel manager, direct bookings, and automations.

iGMS offers a Flex pricing option, which is $1 per night booked (minimum $20/mo). Additionally, after the first property, you only pay for properties once they receive reservations. These pricing options make iGMS an inexpensive way to get started using vacation rental booking software.

Our recommendation: iGMS is a good option for hosts looking for an affordable way to get started with direct bookings (their Flex plan), as well as property managers (10-100+ properties), who are looking for a comprehensive property management solution.

Pricing: iGMS offers a 14-day free trial. Their plans start at $19/mo. Calculate your iGMS cost.

Visit iGMS.com to learn more.

Hostaway

Hostaway (founded in 2015) is another vacation rental software company with a long list of features and excellent reviews. Their support and onboarding are personalized, so they’re set up to handle the complex needs of your business. They also have a robust API and a marketplace with over 100 integrations, so you can create almost any kind of setup imaginable.

To get started, you’ll need to request a demo and get customized pricing and onboarding, since they don’t offer a free trial.

Pricing: Hostaway has a custom pricing model, with plans starting at $100/mo. Get a custom price quote.

Our recommendation: Hostaway is best for larger, established vacation rental property management companies (10 – 100+ properties) looking for advanced software with a custom setup, or a more affordable alternative to Guesty.

Visit Hostaway.com to learn more.

Hosthub

Hosthub (formerly Syncbnb, founded in 2017) was originally built to keep all your vacation rental calendars perfectly synced. And in terms of syncing calendars, they handily beat their competition, with over 200 native channel integrations and a Zero Double-Booking Guarantee. So you can list on as many listing sites as you want (including smaller niche listing sites).

While they definitely beat the competition in terms of channel management, some of their other property management features are missing or lagging behind.

But if your primary goal is to list on multiple channels, Hosthub is an excellent way to list on several channels (hundreds, if you really wanted), without ever having to worry about the headache of double bookings.

Pricing: Hosthub offers a 14-day free trial. Their plans start at $19/mo. Calculate your Hosthub cost.

Our recommendation: Hosthub is best for vacation rental hosts and owners (1 – 100+ properties) who want to sync their properties flawlessly across many channels, and aren’t as interested in other vacation rental management features.

Visit Hosthub.com to learn more.

Other Options

Aside from these platforms, there are many, many more options you could look into. Here are a few that almost made our list, and are worth a look if you want to compare more options.

• Guesty / Guesty for Hosts – Guesty is a full-service software solution for larger, established vacation rental property management companies. In 2021, Guesty acquired Your Porter App and turned it into Guesty for Hosts, which is a more affordable option for hosts with up to 3 properties.
• Hostfully – Hostfully is comparable to many of the options on our list, with a comprehensive feature set including channel management, direct bookings, and guest messaging automation. They don’t offer a free trial, but you can request a demo. Their $400 setup fee is waived with an annual subscription. Use code EGNTNJ494 for $100 off your Hostfully subscription.
• Lodgix – If you’re familiar with WordPress development, Lodgix is an option that might be a good fit for you.
• Smoobu – Smoobu offers a wide range of vacation rental management features and has excellent reviews for customer support. They also have a free plan available.
• Tokeet – Tokeet offers one of the more customizable website builders, and a long list of features. But many of their features are offered as separate products, which can be annoying. Also, there are quite a few complaints of poor customer support.
• And here’s a non-exhaustive list of other related software options: Rentals United, Streamline VRS, Cloudbeds, Kigo, LiveRez, Escapia, Avantio, Reservation Key, Barefoot, Bookerville, ResNexus, Host Tools, Hometime, Eviivo, Ciirus, Your Rentals, Booking Sync, MyVR, Booking Automation, Bookster, Fantastic Stay (Vreasy), Hostify, and literally hundreds more.

Choosing Short-Term Rental Property Management Software

The “best” cloud-based vacation rental property management software for your business will depend on a number of different factors—including how many properties you manage, your budget, how much you value good customer support, and the individual features that are important to you.

Uplisting is our top pick overall due to their intuitive and reliable product, and because we like their focus on customer feedback-driven product roadmap to quickly add features.

We also highly recommend OwnerRez. While they’re not as flashy or modern as Uplisting, they’ve built an extremely solid product with a long list of property management features, excellent customer support, and affordable pricing.

If you’re managing fewer properties or looking for specific features, check out Lodgify (for their direct booking websites), Hospitable (for their guest messaging automations), and Hosthub (for their channel management). iGMS is another comparable alternative and offers flexible pricing options if you’re just looking to get started with direct bookings.

And if you’re a larger property management company with advanced needs, Hostaway offers personalized onboarding and support and can set you up with a custom implementation.

Whether you’re managing cabin rentals, condos, holiday homes and lets, cottages, villas, or any other kind of short-term accommodations, using vacation rental property management software can save you time and money.

Have questions or feedback? Check out our Vacation Rental Software Comparison spreadsheet and leave a comment!

Written by The Floorspace Team

This article was written as a collaborative effort by multiple members of the Floorspace team. We're a group of internet marketers and designers, with a wide range of experience marketing and managing short-term rentals.