If you’re reading this, you may have seen Uplisting show up in a review or forum as the go-to software solution for your channel management troubles. Maybe you’ve read a few reviews, and now you’re looking for the deep dive, the real scoop on what Uplisting does, who it’s for, and whether or not it’s as good as everyone says.
You’re in luck. In this post, we’re going over Uplistings features, pros and cons, and pricing plans to help you determine if this software is a good fit for your business.
What Is Uplisting?
Uplisting is vacation rental software designed specifically for Airbnb hosts and vacation rental owners. It’s a “one-stop shop” for managing your properties and offers tools to make life as a vacation rental owner easier and more organized. Simply put, Uplisting helps you run your vacation rental business more efficiently, so you can focus on making your guests happy and maximizing your bookings (a.k.a earnings).
Who created Uplisting?
Uplisting was built by a company called Uplisting Limited, founded in 2017 by a team of experienced travel and technology professionals. The company is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and has a global presence, serving vacation rental owners and Airbnb hosts worldwide.
Uplisting Features
Here is a short list of some of Uplisting’s most highly-rated features:
- Channel Management – Manage your listings and reservations from multiple platforms in one central location, including Airbnb, Booking.com, and more.
- Automated Messaging – Communicate with guests on auto-pilot and manage bookings more efficiently.
- Direct Booking Engine – Turn website visitors into paid guests with built-in direct bookings unified inbox and website.
- Reporting and Analytics – Detailed reporting and analytics to track your business performance and make informed decisions to grow your business.
- Payment Processing – Secure payment processing allows users to easily accept guests’ payments and manage finances.
- User-Friendly Design – The software is easy to navigate and find what you need.
- Excellent Customer Support – Uplisting is known for its excellent customer support, with knowledgeable and responsive representatives who are always willing to help.
These features make Uplisting a popular choice for vacation rental owners and Airbnb hosts looking for a comprehensive and user-friendly solution for managing their business.
However, in this review, we’ll highlight the top features that help Uplisting stand out from the pack.
Multi-Channel Management Software
Uplisting’s multi-platform management feature allows users to manage their listings and reservations from platforms like Airbnb, VRBO, or Booking.com, all in one place. This saves time and effort and streamlines the workflow for property owners.
With this feature, vacation rental owners can avoid double bookings and other scheduling conflicts. They can view all their reservations in one place and ensure that their availability is always up-to-date across all platforms. This helps to ensure that A.) guests can always book their desired dates, and B.) property owners can avoid the frustration and lost revenue that comes with double bookings.
Plus, having a unified inbox for direct bookings lets you combine your listings into one powerful direct booking engine. It’s like having a bunch of small streams combine into a mighty river of revenue!
Automated Messaging
With automated messaging, you can set up templates for common messages, such as welcome messages, pre-arrival reminders, and post-stay follow-ups. This eliminates the need for manual message sending and saves time while still providing guests with the information they need before they need it.
In addition to templates, Uplisting’s automated messaging feature integrates with guests’ reservation information, so property owners can personalize their messages and provide guests with relevant information about their stay. This helps guests feel attended to and leads to a more positive guest experience.
Here are a few examples of messages you can “set and forget”:
- Welcome Message – Before a guest arrives, set up a welcome message to be sent automatically to the guest. This message can include important information about the property, such as check-in instructions, Wi-Fi passwords, or local restaurant recommendations.
- Goodbye Message – After the guest has departed, send a follow-up message to thank the guest for their stay and ask for feedback. This helps to foster positive relationships with guests and can provide an easy way to request a review on your preferred platform.
Pro tip: Don’t be afraid to request feedback from your guests. If the feedback is good, it can be a powerful marketing tool. If the feedback is bad, well, you’ll at least know what to focus on to improve the next guest’s experience.
Customer Support
Uplisting has a reputation for valuing its customers and provides a high level of support to ensure their success. Whether you have a question, need help with a feature, or encounter an issue, the company quickly reaches out with answers. Or if they don’t know the answer, they’re communicative and will do their best to troubleshoot the issue with you.
They’ve several channels for customer support, including email, live chat, and phone support, of which we found live chat to be the fastest.
In addition, Uplisting provides a wealth of online resources, including a knowledge base and in-depth tutorials. These resources are designed to be easy to use and provide helpful information and guidance to ensure users can get comfortable using the software.
Overall, the company’s commitment to providing outstanding support is a refreshing break from the norm. Software companies in 2023 tend to have a bad reputation for lackluster customer service, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with Uplisting.
Uplisting Pricing
Uplisting offers a range of pricing plans to accommodate customers’ needs.
As of writing, their subscription price for 1-5 properties is $100/mo. After that, it’s an additional $20 per property until you reach 30 properties. If you’re scaling beyond 30 properties, you can negotiate custom pricing with Uplisting.
Note: Whether you pay for one property or one hundred properties, you’ll get the full functionality of Uplisting’s advanced suite of features.
Uplisting Pros and Cons
Now we come to the crucible, the arena where our team weighs the positive and negative aspects of Uplisting’s platform.
Uplisting Pros
- User-friendly channel manager
- Automated messaging and review requests
- Mult-calendar sync (Airbnb, Vrbo, bookings all in one spot)
- Zero commission on bookings!
- Best-in-class customer support (A+)
- Detailed analytics reporting
Uplisting Cons
- Mobile app needs improvement
- Not many customization options
Uplisting Alternatives
Not convinced Uplisting is the best fit for you? Here is a brief overview of two of their main competitors:
Lodgify
Lodgify is a property management software gaining a reputation for its easy-to-use channel manager and direct booking website builder. It is one of the strongest contenders against Uplisting for the best vacation rental management software and boasts a price tag most anyone can afford.
- Cheaper Price – Lodgify’s minimum plan starts at $32/month, compared to Uplisting’s $100/month.
- A+ Customer Service – You’ll have a hard time finding negative Uplisting reviews, and the same can be said for Lodgify — both companies have a stellar reputation.
- Best Website Builder – Lodgify takes the top spot on our list of best vacation rental website builders. It’s customizable, and its theme and template selections set the industry standard. Uplisting’s website builder is severely lacking in comparison.
OwnerRez
OwnerRez is a channel manager built by (and for) property managers. It’s perfect for property management companies or ambitious owners with a large portfolio.
- Flexible Pricing – OwnerRez has flexible pricing, which means you only pay for the features you want. And depending on the features you need, you could save a bundle compared to the premium price for Uplisting. (This could save you hundreds of dollars each month, especially if you manage many properties.)
- Best-In-Class Customer Support – I didn’t think it was possible, but OwnerRez has arguably the best customer support system in the industry. Yes — even better than Uplisting’s already incredible customer support.
- Similar Property Management Features – There isn’t a clear winner concerning features, both OwnerRez and Uplisting have very similar feature sets.
We wrote an article breaking down all nine of Uplisting’s main competitors – read it here.
Our Experience With Uplisting
To test Uplisting, we signed up for the free trial A) to save money and B) to test whether or not the free trial gave you access to all the advertised features. And we’re happy to report that the trial version includes all the base features and will let you tinker for a full two weeks.
The channel manager, payment processing, and direct booking website builder are all there, and each one felt familiar and easy to navigate and use.
The automated message feature feels similar to some of the clever marketing tools we’ve used, tools designed to free up your time, while automated messaging tends to your prospects (or, in this case, guests).
Overall, each feature felt very polished and necessary (unlike some platforms that include extra bells and whistles just for the heck of it). And if you felt like you were missing some functionality, the software integrates seamlessly with a long list of tools.
Missing a pricing tool? We were able to connect to Wheelhouse and Pricelabs both in just a few clicks. And we had the same experience when setting up real-time syncing for booking calendars.
Should You Use Uplisting? Our Recommendation
In our time using Uplisting, we were impressed by how complete the software feels; it truly feels like a central hub where Airbnb or vacation rental owners can manage their entire business.
Our recommendation: Yes, you should use Uplisting. If you can afford the premium price, you will get a premium product that does everything you need channel management software to do… and then some.
