14 Best Website Builders for Vacation Rental

A vacation rental website builder helps many small and medium property owners to start strong in short-term rentals. It is known that a well-designed website helps a lot with advertising any business and promoting its services. When it comes to the hospitality industry, it is even more important. In today’s post, we’ll take a look at diverse website builders, and their advantages and disadvantages to help you choose the best one.

With a variety of available website builders, it may be hard to pick the right option straightaway. That’s why we also picked the 5 most interesting short term rental website builder options for you to start with.

The Role of a Vacation Rental Website Builder

Web builders are essential tools for creating a unique pre-arrival experience for guests. Their role in the development of modern websites can’t be overrated. Still, how important are they for the vacation rental industry?

Like in any other business, short-term rental companies heavily rely on proper online representation. This alone makes a rental website builder worth investing in. Other awesome benefits make owners of properties consider using a vacation rental website builder rather than the usual platforms for this type of business. Here are some of them:

• Direct bookings;
• A variety of pre-designed themes;
• Easy & diverse visual customization;
• Built-in online payment options;
• Brand visibility.

📗 Build your knowledge: Top 15 Short Term Rental Podcasts

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What’s the Difference Between Multipurpose and Vacation Rental Website Builders?

If you haven’t used website builders before, it’s easy to get confused when choosing multipurpose or vacation rental website builders.

As evident from their name, multipurpose web builders are intended for a varied range of topics and websites, which means you need to connect external software to enable bookings and guest management options for your hotel or holiday home. So you have to manage two different things. For example, you can use a WordPress hotel theme to build a website and additionally use HostAway or BNBForms to manage bookings and payments.

Vacation rental builders, on the other hand, provide features designed specifically for short-term rental businesses, so consider them a rather one-stop solution: a vacation rental software + hotel website builder all in one.

Both have their pros and cons yet you can use either for your vacation rental!

Top 7 Multipurpose Website Builders for Short-Term Rental

Many multipurpose tools for web design may be a great start for a short-term rental company. This also means that instead of the best vacation rental website builder, a property owner can use popular & versatile solutions.

Below we have prepared an overview of 7 builders that may be a good option for both newly established or well-known visual builders that will be a great pick for short-term rental businesses.

1. BNBForms

We start our list of solutions for vacation rental property owners with BNBForms. While not a website builder, this service provides a booking widget required for any modern short-term rental business.

With detailed booking forms and online payment capabilities, this solution gives you full control over direct booking.

The most important thing is, it can be used with any short-term rental website builder mentioned below after a free trial for $16/month.

Pros:

• Powerful booking engine you can use with any website builder;
• Customizable & mobile-friendly booking form;
• Fully editable color scheme – see examples;
• Real-time availability calendars;
• Built-in channel manager;
• Easy payment gateway integration;
• 1-month free trial.

Cons:

• Requires manual hassle of copying a script code;
• Limited booking widget style options.

2. WordPress

WordPress is one of the most frequently used content management systems when it comes to responsive and feature-rich website development. It is an open-source CMS that offers all of its basic features for free (hosting and domain need to be purchased separately).

Due to an outstanding variety of plugins and themes developed for this platform, most STRs choose it as a short term rental website builder. Moreover, many property rental services, such as Boostly, offer ready-made solutions and themes for this CMS, too.

As a well-developed platform with a 20-year history, WordPress has diverse builders that extend its functionality. Aside from the built-in Gutenberg block editor, many websites also use Elementor. It is the most adaptable website builder for rental property with a vast range of features that can be improved even further with diverse extensions. WordPress also has many themes, including those developed for vacation rentals. When combined with plugins, such as Hotel Booking, these themes can fully transform your website right after installation. Many of them can be integrated with online booking platforms to give you even more advantages over your competitors.

Pros:

• Easy visual customization;
• A variety of responsive themes for vacation rentals;
• A diverse selection of booking plugins;
• Powerful dashboard for content management.

Cons:

• Confusing for beginners;
• Requires constant maintenance.

3. Wix

Wix is one of the top-rated website tools suited for any purpose. It is often the first choice for many businesses wanting to start web development without any extra coding. However, it may not be the best choice for the hospitality industry and vacation rentals if you have advanced requirements.

While the quality of themes and templates provided by the builder is surely impressive, they lack key functionality that is required for BNBs. With only ten themes being available for hotels and vacation rentals, no Wix vacation rental template offers the proper online booking functionality.

Pros:

• Well-designed themes on a variety of topics;
• Easy visual customization with the hotel AI (artificial intelligence) builder;
• Multilingual features;
• Built-in SEO tools;
• The ability to connect Wix hotels;
• Optimized for mobile.

Cons:

• No integrated booking management system;
• Custom domain available only with a paid plan;
• No online payments with a Free plan.

4. Squarespace

Next on our list of popular solutions that can be used as a vacation rental website builder is Squarespace. It offers a two-week free trial with plans starting from $16 per month. This builder is a well-known alternative to Wix and WordPress. While it provides a variety of designs including diverse pre-made layouts for rental properties and real estate, only a few of them would fit a modern vacation rental website.

The Squarespace rental booking builder is also quite lacking. However, the builder makes up for it with additional services designed for appointment management and the hospitality industry, Acuity Scheduling and Tock. They can be integrated into an existing Squarespace site opening more opportunities for short-term rental property owners.

Pros:

• A diverse range of professional designs;
• Outstanding tools for promoting your brand online;
• Extensions & integrations for your site;
• Built-in analytics solution;
• Qualified support from the Squarespace team & community.

Cons:

• The booking system is available only as an external product;
• Limited range of vacation rental themes;
• Advanced analytics & e-commerce features are available only with the Business plan.

5. Jimdo

Jimdo is an easy-to-use yet versatile website-building solution. It can certainly be your next rental website builder. Similar to many modern platforms offering web design and customization services, this platform provides both visual building tools and code editing features with its free plan or premium plans that start from $9 per month.

Moreover, this builder includes a wizard tool responsible for taking care of every aspect connected with establishing a website. With its help, you can get everything necessary for a modern short-term rental website, from a logo to a domain. Jimdo also provides a wide choice of templates depending on your business niche. While their design is varied, the functionality lacks proper booking management to make the first impression of using this builder truly unforgettable.

Pros:

• Effective and user-friendly visual page builder;
• A wide range of templates for every business niche (including vacation rentals);
• SEO-optimized and mobile-ready web pages;
• Vast image library to help you with customization.

Cons:

• Custom domain and ad-free available only with a paid plan;
• No integrated booking engine;
• Advanced SEO & analytical tools are available with premium plans.

💡Create: 500 Hotel Name Ideas

6. GoDaddy

If you’ve ever searched for a domain online, chances are you’ve already heard about GoDaddy. Aside from being a domain and hosting provider, this service also offers a variety of themes with the supplied vacation rental website builder. This means you can get everything in one place, from choosing the address of your website to designing it and filling it with content.

If you are a vacation rental property owner and are looking for a fitting template on GoDaddy, you first need to complete some details about your business and website. Similar to Jimdo, you can only view the offered templates after registration. Any webpage can be easily customized using the GoDaddy builder. Unlike some previously mentioned builders, this one provides integrated booking capabilities for your customers from $9.99 per month.

Pros:

• Mobile-friendly templates and builder;
• Fast & reliable hosting;
• A wide range of available pre-designed themes;
• Social integrations (Facebook, Instagram, Yelp);
• Multiple eCommerce-oriented features.

Cons:

• Most of the features are available only with paid plans;
• Online payments and recurring event booking require a Premium plan;
• eCommerce capabilities can only be unlocked with the Commerce plan.

7. Webflow

If you want to build a vacation rental website with detailed customization options, Webflow may be a suitable option. Unlike some builders mentioned in this article, this one doesn’t require any premium accounts or extra payments to use the builder. However, if you want to get started with a professionally designed short-term property rental template, you’ll need to consider buying one of the paid plans starting from $14 per month.

Starting with $49/template, Webflow offers an impressive variety of designs that can be used to build a noticeable online presence for a vacation rental business. However, some of the provided templates still require more setup when it comes to online booking features. Unfortunately, this still leads a user of this website builder to turn to third-party booking solutions such as booking form templates.

Pros:

• Impressive & feature-rich visual builder;
• GDPR-compliant pages for all pre-designed templates;
• A vast selection of free & premium designs for any topic;
• Simple creation of superb & customizable animations.

Cons:

• Some templates need to be purchased separately even with a paid plan;
• Booking functionality is not provided;
• A free plan is limited to 2 web pages.

7 Best Vacation Rental Website Builders

While any multipurpose website builder for vacation rentals is a great and easy-to-use tool to help you with website design & development, not all of them provide what’s required for direct bookings out of the box. For that reason, dedicated website builders developed for the short-term rental business sphere are highly popular. We gathered 7 of them in the next part of our article.

8. PromoteMyPlace

One of the first and widely known builders designed specifically for short-term rentals is PromoteMyPlace. According to its developers, it includes everything a property owner of a vacation rental business may require. From a user-friendly website editor to stylish templates and calendars with available dates for your potential customers, there are multiple features that you get with this short term rental website builder.

Unlike multipurpose website builders, such tools as PromoteMyPlace are aimed at providing customizable designs made for all types of rental properties. Depending on your goals, you can choose any fitting template for any property of yours starting from £69/year. In addition to that, you get full control over your reservations, detailed analytics, hosting services, and many other features. Moreover, you can manage several properties using a single account for £9 per property.

Pros:

• Easy-to-use editor for your direct booking website builder website;
• Diverse pre-designed templates for any vacation rental business;
• Availability calendar & currency converter;
• Online guestbook feature;
• Built-in Google Maps.

Cons:

• Most templates have quite simple designs with similar layouts;
• Additional properties require extra payment.

9. Guesty

Guesty is a complex one-in-all solution designed for hospitality businesses and BNBs. It is oriented towards providing every tool required for easy & powerful management of hotels as well as rental properties. With the integrated vacation rental website builder being just a small part of what Guesty offers, this solution is a time-saver for any kind of short-term rental.

If you want to not just improve your property’s online presentation but also to effectively manage it and increase your revenue, Guesty is one of the most feature-rich platforms designed for the hospitality industry from the ground up. Aside from a diverse number of templates, it also offers a CRM system and channel manager. These tools alone allow you to increase your lead conversion and get more bookings from other platforms, such as Airbnb. Besides, the pricing model for property hosts is quite affordable starting with $17/month for a single property.

Pros:

• Effective visual builder for short-term rental websites of any complexity;
• A variety of supported third-party integrations;
• Multi-calendar for efficient reservation management;
• Channel manager;
• Property damage protection & cleaning management.

Cons:

• Templates can’t be viewed before registration;
• Airbnb listing is required for proper website functioning.

📗 Build your knowledge: How to Create an Early Bird Promotion for Hotel

10. Lodgify

Lodgify is a solution similar to Guesty and is one of its best alternatives. Aimed at helping you get more bookings with the help of varied tools and technologies, this platform also offers a detailed and easy-to-use, one of the best website builder for short term rentals. When signing up for one of three pricing plans starting from $13 and a 1.9% booking fee (Starter plan only), you also get access to a wide selection of templates designed for short-term rental businesses.

Additionally, you can experience all the advantages of a developed and constantly updated vacation rental software. They include a diverse variety of integrations allowing you to connect your accounts on other BNB-related platforms (such as Booking.com or Expedia) to your installation of Lodgify. As a result, you can keep track of all your current and potential property visitors and clients.

Pros:

• Visual Lodgify website builder with multiple available layouts;
• SEO-friendly templates;
• Custom domain option included;
• Integrated booking engine with online payment support;
• Translation-ready themes.

Cons:

• The starter plan includes a booking fee of 1.9%;
• Accounting features are available only with the Ultimate plan;
• Advanced property management options aren’t included with the Starter plan.

11. Boostly

Many professionals and beginners in the sphere of vacation rentals know about Boostly. Founded by a former vacation rental property owner, Mark Simpson, this service provides a wide choice of extra tools to help you with direct booking management. From website templates for WordPress to a property management system synced with your website, Boostly provides diverse options even for the most demanding vacation rental companies.

When it comes to pre-designed templates, Boostly fully relies on WordPress as a vacation rental website builder. This means if you have ever worked with other abovementioned CMS, you won’t have any trouble integrating Boostly plugins, themes, and related solutions into an already existing or new short-term rental property website. You can get access to all of the Boostly services and other features with a single payment of $2000 and $62 monthly fees.

Pros:

• Diverse vacation rental website design options pre-built for WordPress;
• Customizable web design with your branding;
• Plugin for guest reviews;
• Integrated online payment gateways;
• Tools for improving your email marketing campaign.

Cons:

• Costly pricing options for small short-term rental properties;
• Knowledge of using WordPress may be necessary for proper work with Boostly templates.

12. Hostaway

Hostaway is another software-based solution that includes various tools for modern short-term rental properties. It can be used as an alternative to Lodgify or Guesty, especially if you are looking for one-size-fits-all software. Unlike previously mentioned platforms, this one provides customized pricing options to every client meaning you need to get a quote first to begin using their services.

Speaking about the services and advantages they offer, it should be mentioned that Hostaway provides a dedicated vacation rental website builder with a booking engine. This means you can build a vacation rental website easily using the pre-made solutions or integrate the booking system into your Wix account or WordPress installation if you already have a site on these platforms. Moreover, Hostaway comes with an integration marketplace and channel manager to help you get more bookings at once from different platforms.

Pros:

• Easy-to-edit booking website template based on WordPress;
• Customizable booking widgets for WordPress & Wix rental website;
• Integrated property management system;
• Channel manager & cross-listings;
• Marketplace with diverse integrations.

Cons:

• No free trial available;
• No clear pricing information.

13. OwnerRez

If you are looking for the best website builder for vacation rentals to manage your bookings and help you with website development, OwnerRez can help. This award-winning solution allows you to not just build a website for your BNB but also host it. Besides, for $55/month you get a property search system integrated into your website alongside the channel manager, which is provided for free.

The platform offers a customizable pricing plan that can go as high as $100/month with all options included. Some of them even allow you to integrate a QuickBooks account and connect your OwnerRez account to a WordPress website if you don’t intend to use the platform’s vacation rental website builder.

Pros:

• User-friendly website builder;
• Property search & availability calendars;
• Integrated ratings & reviews with support of third-party listings;
• SEO-optimized booking website;
• Dedicated WordPress plugin & widget support.

Cons:

• A credit card is required for account registration;
• Simple website design;
• SMS messaging, property management, and some other features aren’t included in the default price.

📄 Download: Free Hotel Registration Templates

14. Floorspace

The last mention on our list of website builders and services for vacation rentals is Floorspace. Like Boostly, it relies on WordPress as a vacation rental website builder. However, it is centered strictly on web design. This is a great choice for those BNB owners who don’t want to develop a website on their own.

With Floorspace, you get a ready-made website template and hosting as well as qualified support and other tools aimed at promoting your rental property for $29/month. Unfortunately, booking management solutions aren’t provided by Floorspace and require the integration of a third-party service.

Pros:

• WordPress-based website builder;
• Website hosting included;
• Friendly & qualified customer support;
• Free assistance with website setup (for a limited time).

Cons:

• Only one template is available;
• Booking functionality is dependent on third-party solutions;
• Customer support is provided only via e-mail.

Conclusion: Build vacation rental website with ease

We hope this overview of useful web design & customization tools has helped you choose the right best website builder for rental business. With all their pros and cons as well as multiple features, both multipurpose and BNB-oriented web development solutions certainly deserve your attention. Now, let’s check out the key features to look for when choosing the best website builder for rental property:

• Mobile responsive design: With the major part of the Internet being mobile-friendly, it is now mandatory for any website to be responsive and compatible with mobile devices.
• Customizable templates: This is one of the most important factors that define the choice of a builder since with easy-to-edit templates any user can create a fully unique experience for their website visitors.
• Built-in booking system: Without this feature, no rental property website can exist nowadays. Fortunately, even those builders that don’t provide this feature by default often support the integration of custom-made HTML booking forms and embeddable widgets.
• Integration with analytical tools: Another vital feature for any short-term rental website is connected with analytics. Through proper tracking of your visitors’ activity and analyzing it, you can improve your business’s reputation and offer what your potential guests will love.
• Search engine optimization: For an even greater positive impact, the best website builder for short-term rentals needs to be SEO-friendly. This includes integration with Google Search Console and Google Analytics as well as on-page optimization. Other SEO techniques can be implemented by the property owner if necessary.