Are you wondering how to find efficient and affordable vacation rental booking software? With more booking management apps appearing annually, choosing one that fits you and your business may seem tricky. That’s why in today’s post, we decided to provide a collection of useful apps for vacation rentals and explain what to expect from them. From analyzing and listing their features to providing software analysis & description, below you’ll find multiple options that will enhance your vacation rentals.
Before we start, let’s take a look at some of the most highly-rated and efficient vacation rental channel management software options.
| Name/Price | Rating | Booking engine | Channel manager | Payment processing | Website builder | Mobile app |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guesty From $39/mo | 4,4 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| BNBForms From $16/mo | 4,3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Lodgify From $16/mo (+1.9% booking fee) | 4,5 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| OwnerRez From $40/mo per property | 4,9 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| RentalReady From 16€/mo per property | 4,9 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Benefits of Using Vacation Rental Software
Vacation home rental software is designed to help hotel & property owners efficiently manage reservations and automate routine tasks. Such an app may be available in various shapes, from desktop and mobile apps to WordPress plugins and turnkey solutions. However, all of them serve a single purpose – to optimize the booking management experience for your STR business. Moreover, this type of software offers diverse benefits:
- Flexibility: Modern vacation rental reservation software provides diverse options for effective STR management. Moreover, such apps are often highly customizable to help you get what you need the most out of a wide variety of offered functionality.
- Reservation & rate management: One of the most highly valued benefits a reservation app provides is connected with booking management. Best vacation rental software for small business come with easy-to-use calendars and booking forms. Dynamic pricing tools and rate adjustment features also present useful opportunities for new & established Airbnbs.
- Improved guest experience: Needless to say by improving booking and property management processes, you also enhance the guest experience. By integrating proper communication and personalization tools, ensuring the guest’s needs are met will be easy.
- Analytics: Finally, with an automated reporting system provided with major vacation rental booking software, you’ll be able to track hospitality trends and popular guest requests. This will help you modify your marketing and guest service strategies where it’s necessary.
Top 12 Vacation Rental Booking Software Options
As you see, online vacation rental software options provide multiple advantages for your STR business. Whether you own a small B&B or a hotel with multiple amenities, managing it will be a lot easier with automated direct vacation rental software. Below we have prepared a selection of 12 feature-rich apps and online platforms for managing short-term rentals that can positively influence your hotel and provide you with easy-to-use booking automation tools.
Guesty
Guesty vacation rental software is one of the most popular apps for hospitality businesses when it comes to booking & property management. It is a fully-featured solution that offers a variety of hotel management tools. They range from vacation rental accounting software and a built-in CRM to multi-calendar and channel manager. Additionally, Guesty provides a mobile app for easy STR management on the go.
Key features:
- Multi-calendar with listing data sync;
- Guesty CRM;
- Payment processing & revenue sharing;
- Unified inbox;
- Booking website builder;
- A wide range of add-ons.
| Name | Developer | Price | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guesty | Guesty Inc. | From $39/mo | 2 weeks |
BNBForms
BNBForms is an affordable and easy-to-use vacation rental booking software that is designed to help you automate and increase direct bookings. With simple and user-friendly integration and support of multiple website development platforms, you can easily add a simple booking widget to your website while managing reservations, controlling revenue, and synchronizing booking over multiple channels without any hassle.
Key features:
- Powerful booking engine;
- Vacation rental software free trial;
- Accommodation & amenity management;
- Mobile-friendly booking widget;
- Tiered rates & discount coupons;
- Integrated payment gateway support.
| Name | Developer | Price | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| BNBForms | BNBForms | From $16/mo/unlimited properties | 1 month |
Hostaway
Hostaway is a well-known online vacation rental software among Airbnb hosts that helps streamline every aspect of your hospitality business. Being arguably one of the most versatile solutions when it comes to property management, this platform provides a user-friendly dashboard for keeping track of reservations, invoices, guest messages, and a lot more. Moreover, the platform also has an integrated website builder with multiple pre-designed templates available.
Key features:
- Integrated property management system;
- Advanced multi-calendar;
- Task automation tools;
- Channel manager & cross-listings;
- Online payment processing.
| Name | Developer | Price | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hostaway | Hostaway | Quotation-based | No |
OwnerRez
If you are looking for reliable and time-tested vacation rental booking software, OwnerRez may be just what you need. Offering an outstanding variety of features for vacation rental businesses, this solution provides efficient tools for property & channel management alongside reporting solutions. With scalable yet affordable pricing plans and built-in vacation rental accounting software, OwnerRez provides cutting-edge advantages and diverse integrations that can positively impact your hospitality business.
Key features:
- Flexible rental management software;
- Integrated CRM functionality;
- Security deposits & financial reporting;
- Messaging templates & integrations;
- Website builder for vacation rentals.
| Name | Developer | Price | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| OwnerRez | OwnerRez, Inc. | From $40/mo per property | 2 weeks |
Lodgify
If you manage a hotel or a vacation rental property, chances are you’ve heard about Lodgify. This top vacation rental software provides a diverse selection of benefits for your business. From a direct booking website builder to a vacation rental PMS, this solution can help you manage your vacation rental business more smoothly and effectively. Similar to many industry leaders, Lodgify provides flexible pricing options allowing you to choose the features you need instead of opting for all at once. Alongside with the multitude of features it provides, this altform can easily be listed among the best vacation rental software for small business.
Key features:
- Easy-to-use reservation system
- Guest management;
- Dynamic pricing tool;
- API-based channel manager;
- Multiple third-party integrations.
| Name | Developer | Price | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lodgify | Lodgify | From $16/mo (+1.9% booking fee) | 1 week |
Hospitable
Hospitable is vacation rental booking software that provides user-friendly functionality fused with AI technology. Whether you are looking for a modern solution that helps you avoid double bookings and allows for easier communication and channel management, this platform has what you need. Aside from useful features for your hotel, Hospitable also provides a diverse knowledge base. It is a perfect source of tips for hosts who want to learn more about property management, direct bookings, and automation.
Key features:
- AI-based guest communication;
- Powerful team collaboration tools;
- Pricing synchronization;
- Review & task management;
- Smart lock integration.
| Name | Developer | Price | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hospitable | Hospitable Inc. | From $29/mo | 2 weeks |
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Hostfully
Hostfully is another vacation home rental software that combines the traditional approach to online accommodation management with innovative achievements in the hospitality industry. For example, this solution provides InboxAI, a versatile communication tool designed to provide knowledge-based responses to your guests. Additionally, this software provides a booking pipeline allowing you to manage all bookings, deposits, payments, and more in a single dashboard. You can check out these and other features in the vacation rental software demo.
Key features:
- Central reservations calendar;
- Customizable direct booking site;
- Integrations marketplace;
- Unified inbox;
- Multi-unit management.
| Name | Developer | Price | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hostfully | Hostfully | From $119/mo | Free demo only |
RentalReady
The next vacation rental booking software we’d like to talk about is RentalReady. Built by property managers, the platform provides the most requested features at an affordable monthly price. From guest communication to payment processing and upselling, this direct vacation rental software comes equipped with everything your hospitality business may need. Thanks to a free demo, you can try out all the necessary functionality before choosing a fitting pricing plan.
Key features:
- Direct booking widget;
- Check-in management;
- Powerful automation technology;
- Stripe integration;
- Mobile apps for staff and property owners.
| Name | Developer | Price | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| RentalReady | RentalReady | From 16€/mo per property | Free demo only |
LiveRez
If you’re looking for vacation rental reservation software that offers more than just essential property management, LiveRez can help. This platform is built to support B&Bs and hotels that need to drive more revenue without investing in multiple solutions. Thanks to lead management, trust accounting, and a variety of other useful tools, you can improve the performance of your rental property. Moreover, with native & third-party integrations, your booking website will help you to achieve more while saving time on routine tasks.
Key features:
- Full control over reservations;
- CRM & lead management;
- Property care system;
- Integrated API;
- Customizable online booking website.
| Name | Developer | Price | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveRez | LiveRez | Quotation-based | Free demo only |
Hotel Booking
Vacation rental booking software comes in various shapes and it can also be a WordPress plugin that improves your hotel site’s functionality. One such solution is MotoPress Hotel Booking. Easy to integrate and use, this WordPress plugin provides a professional reservation system with amenity management and rate customization options. Moreover, it supports the iCal format for quick OTA synchronization. With premium and free plugin versions available, this plugin is an all-in-one solution for vacation rental businesses that rely on the world’s leading CMS.
Key features:
- Mobile-friendly property search;
- Multiple bookable accommodations;
- Flexible rate management;
- Bookable extra services;
- Payment gateway support;
- A variety of free & paid add-ons.
| Name | Developer | Price | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hotel Booking | MotoPress | From $139/year | Free demo only |
Avantio
Are you looking for vacation rental channel management software that can help you automate daily tasks? In that case, Avantio can be of great use to your hospitality business. Providing the essentials every Airbnb host needs, this platform can simplify various core processes. For example, it can streamline booking management across multiple channels and even assist you with establishing a responsive direct booking website. Besides, this vacation rental property software allows you to easily manage your communication with guests and ensure secure online payments for reservations.
Key features:
- Direct booking engine;
- User-friendly channel management;
- Unified inbox;
- Secure payment automation;
- Third-party integration marketplace.
| Name | Developer | Price | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avantio | Avantio | Quotation-based | Free demo only |
ResNexus
For those businesses that manage campgrounds rather than just rental properties, we recommend trying out ResNexus. This vacation rental booking software is a comprehensive tool offering access to reliable property management alongside other flexible tools. Be it secure payment processing, professionally designed websites, or travel protection, this platform supports your business in multiple ways. Moreover, ResNexus provides a vast selection of educational resources to help you and your employees get started with it quickly.
Key features:
- Award-winning reservation management software;
- Integrated channel manager;
- Dynamic pricing management;
- 14+ third-party integrations;
- Marketing service packages.
| Name | Developer | Price | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| ResNexus | Resnexus | Quotation-based | 1 month |
Conclusion
We hope this overview of popular vacation rental booking software options helped you choose the right app for your hotel or short-term property rental business. Depending on your budget and the needs of your hospitality business, you may find one option more fitting than the other. For example, going for essentials and affordability is recommended if you manage an Airbnb. Well-established hotels may require certain features that improve guest experiences rather than just the basics of booking & property management and task automation. If you’re still in doubt, follow these additional tips when choosing an app for your hotel:
- Compare options: If you have already decided on what a preferred vacation rental property software should include, perform research on popular solutions used by STRs and hotels similar to yours. Aside from searching online, we also recommend browsing topic-related websites, watching video reviews, and reading blog posts regarding trending software for vacation rentals.
- Read reviews: After selecting several vacation rental booking software options, read their reviews. For that, you can use such sites as G2, Capterra, and even Google Reviews. They usually provide unbiased opinions and usage experience of various software and booking management platforms.
- Browse learning resources: In case you have already chosen several direct vacation rental software & booking engine variants as your favorites, we recommend taking a look at their educational resources. Most property management apps offer extensive knowledge bases, tutorials, blog articles, etc. You can use them to get acquainted with software early on.
- Test the software: Many top vacation rental software options provide free time-limited demos for those interested in trying out the app’s features. Some developers provide vacation rental software demo combined with a free consultation. This is even more useful than a free trial since such demonstrations are fitted to your needs and require you to register first by providing some information about your hotel.
