Two popular contenders in the rental management space are iGMS and Guesty. Both platforms provide comprehensive solutions, but which one offers a greater value?
To solve this dilemma, we’ll dive deep into an iGMS vs Guesty comparison and analyze their features, pricing, customer support, and unique qualities. Let’s discover the best fit for your short-term rental business!
iGMS vs Guesty: An Overview
iGMS, formerly AirGMS, is a short-term rental software that can “put your vacation rental business on autopilot.” By combining powerful features like channel manager, website builder, automation tools, team management, and guest communication productivity tracking, it offers an all-in-one service for managing multiple properties.
Guesty is a well-rounded platform that can be a great choice for centralizing all aspects of rental management. This software is a go-to solution for many vacation rental entrepreneurs as it has an intuitive dashboard and offers numerous invaluable features, such as a website builder, multi-calendar, unified inbox, revenue management functionality, robust accounting tools, and detailed reporting. For a complete overview of Guesty’s features, head to our review.
Pricing
 |  |
| ✅ Plans start at $30/mo | ✅ Custom pricing |
| Calculate your cost | Get a quote |
| ✅ Free Trial | ❌ No Free Trial |
| 14 days | Demo available |
Winner: iGMS
iGMS pricing structure is three-tiered starting at $30/property/month or a discounted rate of $19/property/month for annual billing. However, it’s important to note that this plan is exclusively for Airbnb and lacks certain desirable features such as automated reviews, revenue management, and owner access.
For multi-channel management, the recommended iGMS option is the Flex plan, priced at $1/night booked with a minimum of $20/property/month, or the Pro plan, available at $27/property/month (when billed annually). If you manage over 30 properties, you need to request a custom quote.
When it comes to Guesty, the cost depends on your requirements, and you’ll need to request a custom quote. The additional expense is the setup fee, but it does provide a 6-week onboarding support.
Owers and managers that manage under 3 units might find a more suitable alternative in Guesty for Hosts (you can find out more about it in Guesty vs Guesty for Hosts comparison).
iGMS gains the upper hand against Guesty with its transparent pricing structure and the added benefit of a free trial period.
Features
| |
| ✅ Multi Calendar | ✅ Multi Calendar |
| Manage your bookings from a central calendar | Manage your bookings from a central calendar |
| ✅ Unified Inbox | ✅ Unified Inbox |
| Oversee messages from various sources through a unified inbox | Oversee messages from various sources through a unified inbox |
| ✅ Channel Manager | ✅ Channel Manager |
| Integrate with top vacation rental channels and synchronization of reservation data and availabilities – Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Airbnb, HomeAway, and more | Integrate with top vacation rental channels and synchronization of reservation data and availabilities – Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Agoda, and more |
| ✅ Booking Website Builder | ✅ Booking Website Builder |
| Launch your direct booking website | Launch your direct booking website |
| ✅ Owner Portal | ✅ Owner Portal |
| Give access to owners and keep them updated with reports | Give access to owners and keep them updated with reports |
| ✅ Accounting Features | ✅ Accounting Features |
| Collect and analyze financial data like fees, income, and payments (doesn’t integrate with Quickbooks) | Collect and analyze financial data like fees, income, and payments, and integrate with Quickbooks |
| ✅ Automation Tools | ✅ Automation Tools |
| Automate messages, reviews, notifications, and other repetitive tasks | Automate messages, reviews, notifications, and other repetitive tasks |
| ✅ Task Management | ✅ Task Management |
| Coordinate your team and assign tasks with ease | Coordinate your team and assign tasks with ease |
| ✅ Revenue Management | ✅Revenue Management |
| Replaces a dynamic pricing tool with integrated revenue management functionality | Replaces a dynamic pricing tool with integrated revenue management functionality |
| ✅ Open API | ✅ Open API |
| Create custom integrations | Create custom integrations |
Winner: Guesty
At first glance, iGMS and Guesty seem to offer all the same features, but when you dig a little deeper you’ll come across several discrepancies. While both platforms include all the essential features for managing vacation rentals, Guesty takes it to the next level with a couple of advanced functionalities.
Features that Guesty provides and iGMS lacks are multi-unit functionality for grouping similar listings, round-the-clock guest communication for enhanced support, and robust accounting tools to streamline financial management. iGMS also doesn’t provide building custom pages for a direct booking website and e-signing contracts, two features that do come with Guesty.
Customer Support
| |
| 4.5 Custom Support rating on Capterra – Email, live chat, and phone | 4.3 Custom Support rating on Capterra – Email, live chat, and phone |
Winner: Tie
Despite Guesty having a slightly lower rating than iGMS, there are no notable differences in user experiences. Reviewers express a high level of satisfaction with the support provided by both platforms, although some negative experiences have been reported for each as well.
Conclusion – iGMS or Guesty?
With distinct advantages tailored to different preferences, the question remains: which of these tools will seamlessly integrate into your business?
iGMS is a platform that can accompany your business from day one, since its affordable price suits small rental owners. It also offers robust features that will serve you well even as your business scales.
Due to Guesty’s wider variety of built-in features and powerful integrations (including QuickBooks), we would recommend this software to short-term rental owners with medium and large businesses that wish to simplify their operations with a single all-encompassing platform.
Alternatives to iGMS and Guesty
Cast a wider net and expand your options by taking into account other popular vacation rental software. Our top selection is Uplisting, an intuitive platform that provides a one-stop-shop solution enhanced with amazing customer support.
Compare vacation rental software options with our spreadsheet.
View spreadsheetBesides Uplisting, platforms that also deliver comprehensive solutions for property owners and managers are Smoobu, Lodgify, OwnerRez, and Hosthub. Make sure that you’ve explored all your possibilities by looking into the best Guesty alternatives and comparing them to this well-known platform.
