Vacation rental management software (VRMS) solutions help property managers streamline the property management process with features like channel managers, centralized calendars, direct booking websites, guest messaging tools, and more. Whether you’re an individual owner looking to manage a couple properties or a management company with a large property portfolio, VRMS solutions are designed to make the process easier.

Tools like this can get pricey, especially enterprise-level software tools designed for management companies with hundreds or thousands of units. Many companies, however, offer free plans or free trials that offer basic functionality. We’ll provide you with a brief list of these solutions below.

All of our recommendations are based on research, product demos with the software companies, and dozens of hours spent hand-testing the vacation rental management tools. More details regarding our research process can be found on our vacation rental management category page.

Table of Contents

• What is Vacation Rental Management Software?
• Top Free Vacation Rental Management Software Plans
  • iGMS
  • Smoobu
• Other Free Vacation Rental Tools
  • PriceLabs
  • TurnoverBnB
  • AirDNA
• Check Out These Free Trials

What is Vacation Rental Management Software?

Vacation rental management software helps streamline the process of managing rental properties. VRMS platforms often synchronize property information across online travel agencies (OTAs), so you can manage rates, availability, and more if your properties are listed on platforms like Airbnb, HomeAway/Vrbo, or Booking.com. Vacation rental management tools often have rate management tools, automated messaging features, integrations with external payment and check-in software tools, and more. Particularly if you have more than one property to manage, software like this will help save your company time and effort.

There are many tools available today, designed for individual property owners and large management companies alike. Most tools don’t offer a free plan or free trials, which can make it difficult to decide what’s best for you. A couple software tools we’ve reviewed do have free plans, but they’re so limited that they may not be worth the setup. We’ve reviewed many vacation rental management tools and put together a list of platforms with worthwhile free plans.

Top Free Vacation Rental Management Software Plans

Here’s a quick overview of the top free vacation rental management software plans. If you see one that interests you, make sure to check out our full reviews to determine if the software will effectively support your organization.

1: iGMS

iGMS is a reliable mid-tier VRMS that works particularly well for those who manage properties on Airbnb. Their free plan supports up to four properties, which is ideal for those who manage their own vacation properties. While functionality is limited compared with the paid plans, most features will work for Airbnb listings.

With the free plan, customers will have access to the following features:

The biggest iGMS drawback is that there’s currently no direct booking website feature, which many other software tools have. However, this drawback doesn’t negate how helpful their free plan is for those who host properties on Airbnb.

To read more about iGMS and its features, benefits, and who we recommend the tool for, read our full review below.

2: Smoobu

Smoobu is a vacation rental management software with over 70,000 active listings. It’s an affordable mid-tier solution with a free plan that includes features like a reservation system, a website subdomain, and statistics.

There are no setup fees or commissions charged per booking. The tool is quite easy to use and has a streamlined dashboard to keep track of things. There are nowhere near as many included features as there are in the iGMS free plan, but if you need the ultimate basic tool and plan, it’s worth considering.

Other Free Vacation Rental Tools

There are some other free options, aside from management software tools, that can benefit your rental business. Many of these tools are also integrated with vacation rental management software platforms, so you may be able to integrate these with your PMS free of charge. The tools range from pricing and analytics tools to task management tools.

PriceLabs

PriceLabs is a revenue management tool that will allow you to alter pricing for vacation rentals. PriceLabs has a free portfolio analytics tool that will identify under-performing listings, give overall property reports, and compare your rates against market trends. It integrates with the biggest VRMS platforms like Guesty, Hostfully, Lodgify, OwnerRez, Smoobu, and more. You can also test the PriceLabs Dynamic Pricing feature and Market Dashboards free for 30 days.

TurnoverBnB

TurnoverBnB is an Airbnb cleaning scheduling service. When using the tool, you’ll be connected to a variety of cleaning services. There are additional features like autopay, review management, and calendar synchronization with Airbnb, HomeAway/Vrbo, and more. It’s free to synchronize one property with their platform, and the free plan includes mobile applications, payments to cleaners, and scheduling.

AirDNA

AirDNA is a product that provides investing information, insights into market data, market intelligence data from Airbnb and Vrbo, and more. They offer a free plan with limited features like market data insights and unlimited searches on Rentalizer, which is AirDNA’s profit calculator. This calculator will provide estimates for occupancy rates, annual revenue, and more.

This tool will help rental property owners or potential investors understand rental markets and assess the return on investment for vacation rentals. If you’re interested in learning more, check out their website.

Check Out These Free Trials

Some vacation rental management software tools offer a free plan. Some others offer free trials of advanced plans, which is a great way to test whether or not the tools will support your business. These trials generally range from seven to 14 days and offer more features than are found in basic plans. Companies we’ve reviewed that either don’t offer a free plan or have a lackluster free plan are briefly described below.