Best Vacation Rental Management Software 2021

Vacation rental management software (VRMS) solutions are designed to streamline the process of owning and managing a rental property. There are solutions with more basic features, which are designed for those who manage just a handful of properties. More advanced tools will include nuanced automation features, which will better serve those who manage many units and properties.

Features found in vacation rental management software include a guest messaging portal, property management features, review management features, and a channel manager to connect with travel agencies like Airbnb and Booking.com. These tools provide immense value by allowing properties to be listed across many different channels while simultaneously being managed from one interface. Whether you're an individual managing one property or a management company with 200 units, you'll want a VRMS to simplify your business.

Research Led By:
Analyst Image
Junior Research Analyst

We use a rigorous software review process to create our unbiased, in-depth research.
Learn more about our software review process.

Highest Rated Vacation Rental Management Software

Vacation rental management software is used by individuals and all types of organizations to streamline the rental management process. Different software vendors are ideal for those with a few properties, a handful of properties, and a large number of properties. We've tested and reviewed platforms that are ideal for businesses of all sizes.

Guesty
Rating: 91
Starting Price: Custom

Guesty is an advanced vacation rental management software that's used in the management of over 100,000 properties. With advanced automations and API connections with the major OTAs, it'll benefit those who are looking for an intensive and advanced tool to manage a large number of properties.

Pros:
  • The platform is feature-rich and robust, but still easy to navigate
  • Two-way API integrations with OTAs will push and pull data automatically
  • Nearly 100 integrations with third-party tools available via the Guesty Marketplace
Cons:
  • Pricing is not transparent and there is no free trial of the tool
  • Connection with TripAdvisor only works if you have 15 or more properties
  • Customers have noted that platform is quite expensive, with a hefty onboarding fee
Hostfully
Rating: 89
Starting Price: $79 per month

Hostfully is a vacation rental management software that’s used in the management of over 30,000 properties. It has a unique digital guidebook feature and a pipeline view for managing booking status. It's a highly effective and powerful tool that we recommend to all.

Pros:
  • Unique Guidebooks feature helps facilitate great guest experiences
  • Scalable, so it works well whether you have just a few properties or many
  • Open API to connect with multiple systems
Cons:
  • Steep $400 implementation fee and relatively pricey monthly cost
  • Product requires a bit of learning on the front end
  • No free trial of the product, which makes it hard to see if it's right for you
Hostaway
Rating: 89
Starting Price: Custom

Hostaway is a newer vacation rental management software with around 1,500 customers. With API integrations with major OTAs, it’s a platform that’s ideal for a property manager with more than ten properties who’s looking to scale their business.

Pros:
  • The tool is at once detailed, feature-rich, and easy to navigate
  • API integrations with most popular channels allow you to easily synchronize across platforms
  • Automated messages and message templates are reliable
Cons:
  • Website template is more basic than some competitors' templates
  • Pricing is managed on a case-by-case basis
  • Owners with a couple properties could use and implement a simpler tool more easily
iGMS
Rating: 88
Starting Price: Free

iGMS is a popular vacation rental management software tool with over 80,000 properties managed on their platform. It offers strong automations and is reliable overall. We recommend it for those who are interested in syncing Airbnb listings and do not need to build a website.

Pros:
  • Strong automation features save time for property owners
  • Flexible Plan allows managers to pay only for booked nights
  • Customer support is particularly responsive
Cons:
  • Lacking website templates or direct booking widget
  • Doesn't include a dashboard to provide company overview
  • API connections are only established for three channels
OwnerRez
Rating: 86
Starting Price: $35 per month

OwnerRez is an established vacation rental management software tool with all the features needed to manage rental properties. Though the interface is difficult to navigate, the tool works quite well. We recommend it for those who manage up to three properties.

Pros:
  • OwnerRez has built native tools (e.g. electronic signature tool) rather than integrating with third-party software vendors
  • Message templates are automatically configured, which saves an immense amount of time
  • Emails and rental agreements automatically populate with dynamic content
Cons:
  • The interface is outdated, especially compared with newer competitors
  • Parts of the OwnerRez application are challenging to navigate
  • Customers have reported that importing past information is time-consuming
Lodgify
Rating: 84
Starting Price: $11 per month

Lodgify is a vacation rental management software that’s best for those with between five and twenty properties. The strongest features are the customizable website templates and modern dashboard. Prospective customers can sign up for a free trial if they're interested in testing the tool.

Pros:
  • Particularly customizable website templates that customers enjoy
  • Modern and intuitive user interface that's hassle-free
  • Ideal for those with between five and twenty properties
Cons:
  • Crucial features are confined to the most expensive plan
  • Customers have reported lackluster customer support
  • Features other than the website builder are less advanced than some alternatives
Smoobu
Rating: 84
Starting Price: Free

Smoobu is a vacation rental management software that’s used to manage over 70,000 listings. It has a wide variety of integrations with listing channels and a streamlined dashboard, though some features are lacking important details.

Pros:
  • No commission fees charged for bookings
  • Integrations with a wide variety of channels
  • Guest Guide feature sends guidebooks, full of booking information, to guests upon arrival
Cons:
  • Material software issues discovered during testing
  • Customers can't import listings from channels and must list properties one by one within Smoobu dashboard
  • Customers can't export data from the Statistics section
Tokeet
Rating: 75
Starting Price: $2 per month

Tokeet is a vacation rental management tool with around 3,000 customers. It has a strong reports section, but the messaging tool doesn't work well on desktop. It's best for those on a budget with between one and five properties.

Pros:
  • Reporting section is notably advanced with many data points
  • Easy to examine statistics between individual properties
  • Features are helpfully interconnected - for example, inbox contains guest booking details and vice versa
Cons:
  • Some software annoyances, like slow load times, found during testing
  • Many features cost extra per month, which drives up overall price
  • There's currently no review management tool, which is helpful for managing guest evaluations

Vacation Rental Software Prices

Vacation rental software can range from $2 per property to around $50 per property per month. The platforms operate on different pricing models, so make note of that when you're reading about each tool's estimated monthly pricing.

Software VendorPricing ModelEstimated Monthly Cost for 5 PropertiesEstimated Monthly Cost for 25 properties
GuestyPercentage of each bookingBetween 2% and 5% of each bookingBetween 2% and 5% of each booking
HostawayCustom quotes$250$1,250
HostfullySubscription modelStarts at $189 (with potential $400 implementation fee)Starts at $312 (with potential $400 implementation fee)
iGMSPriced per booked night or per property$100 to $150$450 to $675
LodgifyPriced per property$26 to $114$52 to $308
SmoobuPriced per property$38 to $47$138 to $167

Vacation Rental Management Software FAQs

Vacation rental management software allows individuals and management companies to streamline the process of running rental properties. Common feature include a channel manager, a website builder, a messaging tool, payment processing, and a unified calendar.

The cost varies across the market. Some budget-friendly tools can be as cheap as around $3 per property per month, while premium tools will cost around $50 per property per month.

There are many benefits to using this type of software. They include:

  • Saving time with message, task, and review automations
  • Managing rates and availability with one unified calendar
  • Track revenue and income with reports
  • Sync all channels that properties are listed on

The most common vacation rental management software features are:

  • Website builder
  • Direct booking widget
  • Unified calendar
  • Channel manager
  • Listing management
  • Messaging
  • Invoicing
  • Integrations

Vacation Rental Management Industry Research & Advice

Why You Should Trust Our Recommendations

The team at SoftwarePundit has been testing software since 2017. We’ve hand-tested over 250 software products in that time, including 8 in the vacation rental management category. We applied the same rigorous process to each piece of vacation rental management software that we analyzed. The specifics of our vacation rental management software category research process are outlined below.

Katelyn led our analysis of vacation rental management software. She has spent more than 200 hours evaluating leading vacation rental management software systems.

In addition, all research and content was overseen by Bruce Hogan, SoftwarePundit’s Co-founder & CEO. Bruce has more than a decade of experience researching, building, and reviewing the world’s best software products. His technology advice has been featured on a wide range of media sites such as AngelList, CMSWire, Dental Economics, iPhone Life, Reader’s Digest, Thrive Global, U.S. News, and the Zapier Blog.

How We Selected the Best Vacation Rental Management Software

We selected the best vacation rental management software based upon a number of criteria. The most important criteria were each software tool’s features, usability, price, and customer support. The details of our analyses are captured in the in-depth reviews we publish about each software tool. There are a handful of critical features that you should look for in vacation rental management software. We prioritized the following features in our analysis:

  • Direct Booking Website: Having a hosted direct booking system will allow rental management businesses to avoid booking fees associated with other channels.
  • Channel Manager: It’s imperative that vacation rental management software tools offer integrations with large channels like Airbnb, Booking.com, and Homeaway/Vrbo. API connections reign supreme, but iCal connections are great too.
  • Guest Messaging: Being able to connect quickly and efficiently with guests is crucial for providing the best customer experience. Vacation rental management messaging features should send messages instantly and ideally connect with Airbnb inboxes.
  • Property and Task Management: Automated property and task features are crucial for saving hosts time and effort.
  • Reports: In order to understand how your properties are performing, it’s important that vacation rental software tools include analytics and reporting sections.

How We Evaluated Vacation Rental Management Software

We used the same rigorous process to evaluate vacation rental management software as all other software categories. For the vacation rental management category, Katelyn invested several months researching, testing, and writing about the tools.

We interviewed the teams at the software companies listed above. Our conversations with the companies included questions about each company’s product, customer base, pricing, customer support, and business strength. After a general interview, Katelyn spent additional time participating in a product demo led by each company. This provided Katelyn with the opportunity to ask detailed questions about the features and functionality of the vacation rental management software.

Katelyn also obtained a free trial of each software tool listed above. She spent several hours testing the key user journeys in each software product. This allowed us to validate the features offered by each product, and to gain an understanding of the software’s usability. To better understand the implementation process and customer experience, Katelyn created test Airbnb listings and synchronized them with the tools where possible.

In addition to conducting conversations with the software companies and hand-testing every piece of software, Katelyn also spent dozens of hours interviewing real hosts and customers of the software tools listed above. Customers that provided insights that were included in our analysis and reviews were:

  • Connor Griffiths: Connor Griffiths is the CEO of Lifty Life. They provided insights on a number of vacation rental management software tools.
  • Gail Lynne Goodwin: Gail Goodwin is the CEO and founder of Snow Bear Chalets. She’s been a property manager for many years and uses Direct.