Do you feel like your vacation rental business is getting out of hand? Spreadsheets, calendars, listings – a juggling act trying to manage everything. But what if technology could help you catch your breath?
A vacation rental PMS (property management software) is your all-in-one command center to streamline short-term rental operations. Listing management, bookings, cleaning schedules – it can easily tame the chaos.
As a fellow hospitality business owner, I know the headaches firsthand. But software can help you sail smoothly by centralizing everything in one place – reservations, communication, tasks, and more.
In this guide, I’ll dive into the market’s top vacation rental software options. You’ll uncover the pros and cons to make the smartest choice for your needs and budget.
TL;DR
- You need vacation rental software to manage your business. If you are starting and have one property, I recommend iGMS.
- If you are already managing several properties, I recommend iGMS or Guesty.
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What is the best Vacation Rental PMS?
iGMS
Hostfully
1. iGMS
iGMS is a vacation rental property management software that streamlines operations, enhances direct bookings, and allows easy management of multiple rentals from one dashboard. Hosts can custom listings, manage inquiries, and take bookings. With automated marketing campaigns and detailed analytics, iGMS maximizes your revenue all in one place. Increase direct bookings and focus on exceptional guest service with iGMS.
Key Benefits
- Easy management of vacation rental business, from direct bookings to property management.
- A comprehensive suite of features, including automated messaging, rate optimization, and a powerful dashboard.
- Increase bookings and maximize profits with iGMS.
- Real-time analytics and reporting for tracking performance and making informed decisions.
Pricing
iGMS has a pricing calculator that lets you input the number of vacation rental properties and get pricing details.
Pricing starts at $19/month per property for the Lite Plan. The Flex Plan is $1/booked night with a minimum of $20/month per property. Finally, the Pro Plan is $27/month per property.
iGMS also offers a free 14-day trial if you want to check it out!
Pros and Cons
2. Hostfully
This vacation rental software is a comprehensive property management platform. The solution includes property management, channel management, and operational management capabilities.
Key Benefits
- Multi-channel management allows property managers to list their vacation rentals on multiple online booking platforms. This feature helps increase visibility and occupancy rates by reaching a broader audience.
- Housekeeping management so that property managers can schedule and track cleaning and maintenance tasks, ensuring that properties are well-maintained for guest arrivals.
- Marketing automation tools include sending promotional emails, managing social media posts, and tracking marketing campaigns.
Pricing
Hostfully offers four pricing plans that start at $109/month for up to four properties on the Starter Plan. The Pro Plan is $199/month for up to eleven listings, the ProPlus Plan is $249/month for up to nineteen listings and then the Premium Plan starts at $269/month for twenty listings or more.
Pros and Cons
3. Lodgify
Lodgify is a premier vacation rental software to help property managers and vacation rental businesses to handle operations and boost direct bookings effortlessly more easily. Lodify can help property owners establish a direct booking website featuring a powerful booking engine, seamlessly manage listings, and accept online bookings.
Key Benefits
- Maximize direct bookings and increase occupancy rate using automated email campaigns and a powerful booking engine.
- Keep track of bookings, manage guest lists, and monitor performance with Lodgify.
- Seamless integration with popular payment gateways for secure and reliable payments.
Pricing
Lodgify offers three plans with pricing calculated based on the number of properties. For example, one property would be $13/month on the Starter Plan, Professional at $38/month on the Professional Plan, and $59/month on the Ultimate Plan.
Pros and Cons
4. Guesty
Guesty equips property managers and vacation rental business owners with all the necessary tools to handle their properties effortlessly. From listing creation and booking management to marketing and customer service, Guesty offers a comprehensive solution that streamlines every aspect of a vacation rental business. By automating the tedious tasks associated with managing vacation rentals, Guesty enables property managers to devote more time to crucial matters.
Key Benefits
- Automated emails, payment processing, and guest communication.
- Detailed analytics to track performance and identify areas to improve.
- User-friendly dashboard for easy management of multiple properties on one platform.
Pricing
Guesty has two standard plans, including Guesty for Hosts with up to three listings and Guesty for Pros with up to 199. For larger property management groups, Guesty has custom pricing options.
Pros and Cons
5. OwnerRez
OwnerRez is a vacation rental software for property managers to easily track properties, take direct bookings, and manage property managers. The solution also includes access to automated messaging, invoicing, and reporting.
Key Benefits
- This property management system includes a wide range of features like inventory control, customizable templates, calendar management, reporting and statistics, and booking management.
- OwnerRez integrates with major vacation rental platforms like Vrbo, Airbnb, and Booking.com, allowing users to seamlessly sync availability, rates, rules, and listing content across multiple channels.
- Ability to automate tasks such as inquiry management, guest communication, and e-sign renter agreements.
Pricing
OwnerRez pricing includes property management, channel management, and digital signatures with the base solution, which is priced based on the number of properties. Additonal capabilities like Quickbooks integration or guest messaging are incremental costs. For example, the base solution for one property is $40/month.
Pros and Cons
6. Beds 24
Beds24 is a vacation rental software that helps property managers and vacation rental businesses streamline operations. It offers comprehensive features for managing listings, bookings, and maintenance requests.
Benefits
- This property management software features a robust channel manager that automatically keeps inventory and prices up to date across various online channels.
- Beds24’s booking engine offers fully customizable widgets with live availability and pricing. This customization allows you to match the booking process to your brand and needs.
- Smart automation tools for managing bookings, prices, availability, and guest information so you can save time and reduce manual tasks.
Pricing
Beds24 offers customizable pricing based on the number of properties and features you want to include. The starting cost for one property with basic features is $17.38/month.
Pros and Cons
7. Hostaway
Hostaway is a property management system for vacation rental managers and Airbnb hosts. Manage reservations, automate guest communication, and easily handle pricing and availability. The software provides a user-friendly interface and transparent tools for effective property management.
Key Benefits
- Comprehensive solution for vacation rental management companies, covering various aspects of vacation rental management.
- Multi-channel synchronization, enabling property managers to manage reservations, messages seamlessly, and more across various vacation rental channels.
- Robust reporting and statistical tools, helping property managers gain insights into their operations and performance.
Pricing
Hostaway does not publish standard pricing and requires you to complete a form to request pricing for your needs.
Pros and Cons
What is Vacation Rental Software?
Vacation rental software provides a comprehensive solution for helping vacation rental owners manage reservation and operation processes. Gone are the days of logging onto multiple platforms like Airbnb and booking.com separately to manage your bookings.
With the integration of hotel management software, you can manage all your bookings from a single unified platform, communicate with guests, organize operations, and track metrics.
According to Grandview Research, the property management software industry is expected to be at a CAGR of 5.1% over the next seven years due to increasing demand, technological advancements, automation adoption, and rising awareness of the benefits of these solutions to enhance profitability.
How can Property Management Software benefit you?
As your short term rental business grows, you need a property management system to help you manage complex operations across multiple properties. Examples include automating handling reservations, pricing, availability, and guest communication.
This property management system can provide you a centralized platform to manage bookings OTA channels assist with guest communication, revenue management, and reporting.
Net/net… this software can help you make money in real estate investing.
What should you look for in a Property management system?
Here are key things you should look for in a property management system for your vacation rental business:
🎯Streamlined Operations: A good property management system should offer automation features that streamline daily operations such as reservations, pricing, availability, and guest communication. This will save you time and effort, allowing you to focus on other important aspects of your business.
🎯Channel Management: Make sure the PMS provides efficient channel management capabilities so you can easily manage your property listings across multiple platforms like Airbnb. This ensures that your listings and availability are synchronized, maximizing visibility and booking opportunities.
🎯Guest Experience Features: Look for a PMS that offers guest communication tools, automated messaging, and prompt response capabilities. These features enhance the guest experience, leading to positive reviews and increased chances of repeat bookings.
🎯Revenue Optimization: Choose the best vacation rental software with revenue management tools or integrations, such as dynamic pricing based on market demand, competitor analysis, and seasonal variations. This will help you maximize your rental income by optimizing pricing strategies.
🎯Data Analysis and Reporting: Your chosen PMS should provide comprehensive analytics and reporting features. This allows you to track performance metrics, monitor revenue trends, and make data-driven decisions for your vacation rentals.
🎯Scalability and Integration: Consider the scalability and integration capabilities of the PMS. Ensure that it can accommodate your growth plans and seamlessly integrate with other software and tools you may be using, such as accounting systems or channel managers.
🎯User-Friendly Interface: Look for a PMS that is easy to navigate and understand. The software should be intuitive, allowing you to learn and use its features effectively.
🎯Customer Support: Evaluate the level of customer support provided by the PMS provider. The best vacation rental software won’t be good if you can’t get support when needed. Look for responsive customer support and available resources such as documentation, tutorials, and online communities to assist you in case of any issues or questions.
Buyers Guide: How I Conducted Research
My research methodology involves a comprehensive approach to gathering information and insights on Airbnb hosting.
- I gather data from various sources, including review websites, Airbnb forums, and direct conversations with property owners.
- By utilizing these diverse sources, I ensure that our findings are well-rounded and provide a clear understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by hosts and property managers in the vacation rental market.
- Through this research process, I aim to deliver valuable insights and actionable recommendations to help Airbnb owners optimize their listings, enhance guest experiences, and grow their businesses.
- My husband and I own hotels and utilize similar tools in our hotel business. We thoroughly understand the immense value this software can contribute towards enhancing our profitability.
Conclusion
There are several comprehensive vacation rental PMS solutions on the market that can help manage your business operations. This list provides seven options to evaluate and help you find the one that meets your needs and budget.
As a hotel business owner, I am bound to use standardized PMS systems across my branded franchise hotels, leaving me with no say. However, as a vacation rental owner or property manager, you can thoroughly evaluate your options and make an informed decision that aligns with your needs and preferences.
In your evaluation, consider customer service and scalability so that you don’t go down an implementation path and find yourself needing to switch at some point in the future. Don’t forget to ask for customer references before making a final decision.
The right vacation rental PMS can help you streamline your operations and increase efficiency so you can focus on other aspects of your vacation rental business.
Vacation Rental PMS FAQ
What is the best software to sync Airbnb and Vrbo?
Several software types can help sync calendars between Airbnb and VRBO:
- Channel Managers: Dedicated tools for synchronizing calendars across multiple platforms.
- Vacation Rental Management Software: Comprehensive software packages with built-in calendar syncing capabilities.
- Integration Tools: Specifically designed for syncing calendars between platforms.
- API Integrations: For technical users, APIs can be used to build custom solutions.
Researching and evaluating different options based on your unique needs is important to find the most suitable software solution for your business.
What software links Vrbo and Airbnb?
The types of software that link Vrbo and Airbnb include channel managers, vacation rental management software, property management systems (PMS), and integration tools. They synchronize booking calendars, pricing, listing details, and guest communication between the platforms.
What is vacation rental software?
Vacation rental software is designed specifically for managing and streamlining the operations of vacation rental properties. It provides tools to handle reservations, bookings, guest communication, pricing, availability, property listings, and more.
Vacation rental software often includes features like calendar synchronization, channel management, automated messaging, payment processing, reporting, and analytics. It aims to simplify and automate tasks, improve efficiency, enhance guest experience, and ultimately optimize the overall management of vacation rentals.
Nic
Nic is an avid real estate investor who partners with her husband on hotel syndications. Prior to hotels, she owned apartment complexes and single-family homes. Her insider expertise makes her the ideal resource for those seeking to grow their income via property investments.
