Smoobu Competitors & Alternatives
Smoobu is a popular vacation rental management software (VRMS) with over 70,000 active listings. It’s an intermediate platform that isn’t the most technologically advanced in its category, but that’s modern and intuitive to navigate. It has many third-party software integrations and will be particularly advantageous for property managers who operate in Europe. Overall, it’s ideal for property managers with up to 15 listings who are in the market for a reasonably priced, mid-tier software.
With so many VRMS solutions on the market, it can be hard to decide which is best for your business. Before you purchase Smoobu, we recommend reading this article to get a better picture of the vacation rental management software market and to see how Smoobu stacks up against its competitors.
The four Smoobu competitors discussed in this article are listed because of similar features, power, pricing, or similar target audiences. Some top Smoobu competitors and alternatives are:
- Lodgify
- Guesty
- OwnerRez
- iGMS
Throughout this article, we’ll provide an overview of a few Smoobu alternatives. If you’d like to read an in-depth analysis of Smoobu, check out our full Smoobu review.
All of our recommendations are based on research, product demos with the software companies, and dozens of hours spent hand-testing these vacation rental management tools. More details regarding our research process can be found on our vacation rental management category page.
Table of Contents
- Smoobu Features
- Smoobu Competitor Overview: Features
- Smoobu Competitor Overview: Pricing
- Top Smoobu Competitors
- Bottom Line
Smoobu Features
The table below provides a quick overview of Smoobu’s main features. Smoobu offers the standard features found in VRMS tools and has some unique features like guest guidebooks, which is fairly rare among competitors. Otherwise, most of its features are relatively standard and can be found within almost all tools in this space.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Direct Booking Website | Direct booking websites allow guests to book with you directly rather than going through a third party like Airbnb. While Smoobu’s website template is fine to work with, we were unable to test a website because all Smoobu-hosted sites were down for a couple weeks. |
| Channel Manager | With a channel manager, you’ll be able to synchronize and manage property listings across online travel agencies (OTAs) like Airbnb and Booking.com. You’ll want a VRMS that has a mix of large OTAs and small regional tools. Smoobu offers one of the best blends of large and small OTAs, with API integrations with Airbnb, Agoda, Booking.com, Expedia, HomeAway/Vrbo, Trip.com, and many smaller European channels. |
| Centralized Calendar | A centralized calendar works in tandem with the channel manager to pull data from OTAs. This includes bookings made across all your synchronized channels. Smoobu’s centralized calendar is fairly standard, though it is not nearly the best in the industry. |
| Dashboard | A dashboard is helpful because it provides a high-level overview of your property portfolio performance. Smoobu’s dashboard is modern and provides crucial statistics like occupancy rates, a six-month overview, and a mini version of the calendar. |
| Messaging | Smoobu offers reliable messaging and message template features. The inbox is streamlined and messages to guests were sent promptly. You can create saved message templates to save time while corresponding with guests, and you’ll also be able to schedule messages to be sent when a guest makes a booking, checks in, and more. |
| Guest Guides | Smoobu’s guest guides are digital guides that are sent to guests upon their arrival to your property. You can customize them fairly heavily and they’re a great tool to provide your visitors with property information, recommendations for the area, and more. |
| Integrations | Smoobu doesn’t have the most extensive list of integrations across VRMS tools, but definitely hovers somewhere in the middle of the pack. There are integrations with tools across categories like payments, pricing, maintenance, and more. |
Smoobu Competitor Overview: Features
Below is a chart that compares available features between the platforms. You’ll notice that many features are generally the same across tools. The main differences between tools are often the target customer—for example, Smoobu is great for those with fewer than 15 properties while Guesty should be considered only by those with 20 or more properties—and which OTAs each platform has pre-built API integrations with. A best practice is to pay particular attention to the API integrations, because availability with your preferred channel is going to be one of the most important considerations.
Smoobu Competitor Overview: Pricing
Smoobu pricing begins at $23 per month for one property. You’ll receive a 20% discount on the monthly price if you sign up for an annual contract. Smoobu also offers a basic free plan with a website, reservation system, and basic statistics. In the Professional plan, which is the paid plan, here is what you will pay month-to-month:
- One Property: $23 per month
- Five Properties: $47 per month
- Ten Properties: $77 per month
- More Than 20 Properties: Contact Smoobu for pricing
VRMS solutions operate on a wide variety of pricing models, so it can be difficult to directly compare pricing. However, below is a list of price ranges for one, ten, and 20 properties across tools that offer public pricing information. Prices can vary depending on the plan you choose and which features you’ll need. Here are some pricing comparisons between Smoobu and its top competitors.
| Company | Pricing Details |
|---|---|
| Smoobu |
|
| Lodgify |
|
| Guesty |
|
| OwnerRez |
|
| iGMS |
|
Top Smoobu Competitors
Some of Smoobu’s main competitors are listed below. For each alternative, we’ll give a brief description and a short explanation of how the tools differ. Based on our research, we’ll also let you know who each software would benefit most. If you see a tool in these comparisons that seems like it’ll benefit your business more than Smoobu would, read the full reviews to learn more.
Lodgify
Lodgify is very similar to Smoobu because it’s a popular tool with a very modern interface. Both platforms are ideal for those who manage fewer than 20 properties and who want an easy-to-use tool. Both tools received a rating of 84 in our category because, while they’re great to navigate, they’re not the most advanced or reliable choices on the market. Consider both Smoobu and Lodgify only if you’re in the market for a mid-tier solution that comes at a reasonable price with moderate functionality.
- You manage properties in Europe
- You’re interested in a basic free plan
- You want a dashboard that provides a performance overview
- You want advanced website templates for your rental business
- You don’t need an API integration with Agoda
- You have a larger budget to spend on a VRMS
Guesty
Guesty is an advanced, premium software tool that should be used by professional property management companies or individuals who manage more than 20 listings. Guesty is very expensive as they charge between 2% and 5% of each booking. There is also a one-time implementation fee. Overall, though, you get what you pay for, and Guesty is a very reliable software with advanced automations and technical features.
- You want an easy-to-utilize tool
- You don’t need a particularly advanced software
- You own and manage properties in Europe
- You manage more than 20 properties
- You have a larger budget for a VRMS tool
- You want advanced and reliable automation features
OwnerRez
OwnerRez is a tool that’s best for smaller businesses. It’s detail-rich with well-thought-out features, though it’s a bit clunky to use and the interface isn’t quite as intuitive to navigate. It’s a great option for those who manage a handful of properties because it’ll likely be too jumbled for those with large businesses. Compared with Smoobu, it’s less modern and more detailed.
- You manage up to 15 properties
- You prefer to work with a modern, streamlined interface
- You want to utilize the guest guides feature
- You manage fewer than ten properties
- You don’t mind a steeper learning curve
- You want in-house rental agreement templates
iGMS
iGMS is a popular vacation rental management software that is ideal for those who only use Airbnb, Booking.com, or HomeAway/Vrbo. Because API connections are only established with these three channels, it’s not the most advantageous software. iGMS also does not offer direct booking websites. However, the rest of the tool works well and we found the automation features to be fairly strong. Smoobu is better for those who would like to list across many different channels and who are looking for a more streamlined inbox.
- You prefer to have many OTAs to list properties
- You want to utilize the guest guides feature
- You have around 15 properties
- You only use Airbnb, Booking.com, and HomeAway/Vrbo
- You don’t need a direct booking site
- You manage a small number of properties
Bottom Line
Smoobu is a reliable option for those looking for a mid-tier VRMS and especially for those who manage listings in Europe. With a wide list of API integrations, it’s ideal for those who need to synchronize properties across many OTAs and increase listing visibility.
However, depending on the size of your portfolio and your desired features, you should consider Smoobu’s competitors. Here’s a quick recap of who might prefer some of Smoobu’s competitors:
- Lodgify is a more reliable option if you need an advanced direct booking website
- Guesty is an advanced tool that should be considered if you manage more than 20 properties
- OwnerRez is ideal if you have a handful of properties but still want power
- iGMS is a great solution if you utilize only Airbnb, Booking.com, and HomeAway/Vrbo
If you’re interested in testing Smoobu for 14 days, sign up here.