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.

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Junior Research Analyst

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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.

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.