Guesty and Smoobu are often listed as some of the most sought-after vacation rental software options. If you’re struggling to decide between the two, our comprehensive Guesty vs Smoobu side-by-side comparison can help you make the right choice for your business.
Our review covers various important decision-making factors including pricing, customer support, and a thorough overview of the primary features. In case you wish to consider additional options alongside Smoobu and Guesty, we have included suitable alternatives to ensure that you have a wide range of choices.
Compare vacation rental software options with our spreadsheet.
View spreadsheetGuesty vs. Smoobu: An Overview
Guesty is a powerful platform that’s easy to use. It has a long list of features, but the ones that stand out the most are the detailed dashboard, centralized calendar, unified inbox, and accounting tool. The features are well-connected so you can streamline your vacation rental business with a single software. Guesty also offers a mobile management app and 24/7 customer support. They offer flat-rate pricing for users who manage 3 or fewer properties. For more properties, Guesty will offer custom pricing.
Smoobu is a one-stop-shop vacation rental platform with features similar to Guesty. The digital Guest Guide, automated messages, and the integrations list are some of its top features. The price is somewhat lower compared to Guesty, but their specs are less robust. This can be a great tool for smaller property management companies since the price includes all the features.
Pricing
 |  |
| ✅ Custom pricing | ✅ Plans start at $23.62/mo |
| Get a quote | Calculate your cost |
| ❌ Free Trial | ✅ Free Trial |
| No free trials | 14 days |
Winner: Smoobu
Comparing Guesty and Smooby is difficult as they don’t operate on the same pricing model. However, Smoobu is less expensive. Their pricing starts at $23.62 per month (if you choose a 2-year plan) and increases with each new property you manage. If you choose a monthly or yearly payment plan, the cost will be higher.
Guesty offers its customers with 4 or more properties a custom pricing model. They will adjust the pricing to your specific rental management needs. The charge ranges from 2-5% on each booking, so if you have luxury rentals, it may become too costly.
(If you’re just starting out and have 3 or fewer properties, consider Guesty for Hosts, which charges a flat fee starting at $34/month and offers a 14-day free trial. We’ve explained all the differences between Guesty (for Pros) and Guesty for Hosts here.
Features
| |
| ✅ Multi Calendar | ✅ Multi Calendar |
| View and manage the details of all bookings from one calendar | View and manage the details of all bookings from one calendar |
| ✅ Unified Inbox | ✅ Unified Inbox |
| Read and reply to messages from different channels using a unified inbox | Read and reply to messages from different channels using a unified inbox |
| ✅ Channel Manager | ✅ Channel Manager |
| Sync bookings and property details across multiple channels – Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Agoda, TripAdvisor, Misterb&b | Sync all your listings across multiple channels – Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Expedia, Agoda, Trip.com, Vacation-apartments |
| ✅ Booking Website Builder | ✅ Booking Website Builder |
| Create a booking website that handles direct bookings and payments | Create a website that gathers booking information and handles payments directly |
| ✅ Owner Portal | ✅ Owner Portal |
| Ensure that your property owners are up to date by giving them access to reports | Give property owners portal access and generate monthly owner statements |
| ✅Performance Reports | ✅Performance Reports |
| Generate and export reports on revenue, bookings, cancellations, and other entities | Generate and export reports on revenue, bookings, cancellations, and other entities |
| ✅ Accounting Features | ❌ Accounting Features |
| Keep track of income and payments, and sync with apps like Quickbooks | No accounting features, but integrates with payment platforms, such as Stripe, PayPal, Swikly, and Sumup, and has custom invoice templates |
| ✅ Automation Tools | ❌ Automation Tools |
| Automate guest messages, pricing adjustment, and other repetitive tasks | Automate guest messages only |
| ✅ Task Management | ❌ Task Management |
| Manage your team’s responsibilities, such as check-in and check-out procedures | Integrates with task management tool VR Scheduler |
| ❌Digital Guest Guide | ✅Digital Guest Guide |
| No such feature | Provide guests with customized digital guidebooks with all the information about the property |
Winner: Guesty
Guesty and Smoobu share a lot of similar features. Both can be time-saving tools that offer everything a rental manager or owner needs. However, when it comes to more advanced features, Guesty wins with its automation tools, accounting features, detailed reports, and task management for streamlined collaboration.
Smoobu’s greatest advantage is its synchronization with more vacation rental tools (though with Zapier integration, you can connect Guesty with more than 1,000 apps). A feature that makes Smoobu unique is its digital Guest Guidebook. This handy tool allows you to create and personalize guest guides for different properties that contain useful information for guests.
Customer Support
| |
| 4.3 Custom Support rating on Capterra – Email, phone, and live chat | 4.6 Custom Support rating on Capterra – Email and phone |
Winner: Guesty
Smoobu’s customer support rating is somewhat better than that of Guesty. However, we have noticed that customers’ experiences are very similar. Customers praise the support teams on both platforms, saying they are professional and helpful, and Guesty customers also mention how the live chat provides efficient solutions. There are some negative reports about customer experience on both sides.
Despite the higher rating, Smoobu offers customer support only Monday to Friday from 9:30 am–6 pm, while the Guesty team is available 24/7.
Conclusion – Guesty vs. Smoobu?
Even though both Guesty and Smoobu have their advantages, we would generally recommend Guesty. Their features are more comprehensive, and with this single tool, you’ll be able to cover all rental management needs, including accounting, team collaboration, and automation.
If you manage a small number of properties, you can test out Smoobu with their free trial. Or, you can consider Guesty for Hosts (formerly Your Porter App) which is more suitable for managing up to 3 properties. Larger property management companies would surely get more use out of feature-rich Guesty, and you can request a demo of Guesty and a quote to learn more about how this tool would fit you.
Alternatives to Guesty and Smoobu
Even though Guesty and Smoobu are excellent tools for rental management, there are many other alternatives you can consider.
Our top recommendation is Uplisting. This platform is one of the most popular vacation rental management platforms. Customers rave about exceptional customer support, robust features, and numerous integrations. If you’d like to look into other Smoobu and Guesty competitors for comparison, you can review our list of Guesty alternatives.
