Have you ever wondered who your Airbnb rivals are or why you should advertise your home on sites other than Airbnb? According to Invezz, Airbnb is the most popular platform, accounting for over 20% of the whole vacation rental business. With Airbnb’s year-over-year growth, it’s reasonable to assume that this proportion will continue to climb in the next years.
Listing your rental homes on other websites, on the other hand, is a sensible way to ensure your business’s development. Promoting your listing on Airbnb-alternative sites may help you reach a bigger audience of potential renters. As a consequence, your occupancy rate and profit margins will improve. Differentiating your offerings also prevents you from being too reliant on Airbnb, which has seen its fair share of host complaints and even litigation.
While it seems a good concept, finding a new platform to market your home might be difficult. With so many possibilities, choosing which alternative to Airbnb to utilize might be tough. Examine these Airbnb rivals and learn about their important characteristics to guarantee your spot in the short-term rental industry.
Vrbo
Vrbo, which stands for Vacation Rental By Owner, is another wonderful Airbnb option. Vrbo exclusively lists private houses and apartments.
HomeAway bought VRBO in 2006, and HomeAway and Vrbo were acquired by the Expedia Group in 2015. In 2019 Expedia merged HomeAway and VRBO rebranded them into one company in what we know today as Vrbo (ver-boh).Â
Characteristics:
There are no public houses on the list; only private residences are mentioned.
Vrbo costs $499 for a year’s membership, or 5% each booking + 3% credit card processing fee.
The cancellation and payment rules differ from property to property.
Both paid, and “free-to-list” solutions are available. Paid ones are given an advantage and are generally more visible on the site;
No reviews may be deleted by hosts (both positive and unflattering).
Expedia
When customers search for holiday rentals, Expedia is not often the first site that springs to mind. As a result, many hosts choose to disregard it. Because many hosts are unaware of Expedia, listing your home there might help you get ahead of the competition.
When you advertise a property on Expedia, it will show on several other popular online travel sites, including Hotels.com, Travelocity, Orbitz, Wotif, and others.
Characteristics:
Owners pay 15% of the entire price of each booking as a commission.
Last-minute reservations are possible;
Sites in 33 different nations throughout the globe;
Car rentals, flights, and lodging are all available at one location. Expedia is ideal for visitors who don’t want to spend time looking for the greatest offers.
Booking.com
Booking.com is ahead of the curve with its guest-friendly, easy-to-navigate user interface and immediate booking option, Booking.com is ahead of the curve. This makes it a popular choice among curious visitors. Because of these characteristics, your occupancy rate may rise as more guests choose to book via the Booking.com website owing to its simpler booking procedure.
Booking.com has over 27 million listings in 227 countries and covers over 130,000 locations.
Characteristics:
Upon guest arrival, Booking.com levies a 15% host fee on fulfilled reservations. There will be no charge if visitors cancel or do not show up;
Upgrade to Preferred Member service if desired;
Because of its flexible cancellation options, it is more traveler-friendly.
There are no booking costs for users.
A hotel’s check-in procedure is swift and easy.
System for advanced search and filtering. It displays the results depending on their particular search criteria. This is handy for hosts who want to market their property to a certain demographic.
TripAdvisor
The most significant feature of TripAdvisor is getting input from the travel community. This is also the primary reason visitors choose to use its website to look for places to stay. It was formed in the year 2000 and has amassed many reviews throughout the years. For many tourists, TripAdvisor is a reliable source of information.
Your property listing on TripAdvisor will be instantly translated into 26 languages and shown on 26 TripAdvisor sites. This will broaden your appeal and attract more foreign guests to reserve your vacation rentals.
Your listing will display on FlipKey after it has been published on TripAdvisor.
Characteristics:
Per booking, TripAdvisor charges a 3% host fee. This commission is calculated based on the entire rent paid by the host, including any obligatory and optional fees for the property.
Many reviews for hotels, attractions, and restaurants have been accumulated throughout time;
It is a tourist favorite since it provides auto rentals, the greatest airline discounts, and lodging all in one location. It assists them in arranging their whole vacation and locating the ideal lodging;
It was established in the year 2000. It is a destination with the greatest suggestions and a trusted platform because of its long history.
Outdoorsy
Outdoorsy is the world’s biggest marketplace for motorhomes, RVs, campervans, and other forms of mobile lodging. It’s been compared to the Airbnb of the RV industry since it concentrates only on the RV area.
Outdoorsy is a fantastic Airbnb rival and a viable option to establish a vacation rental company without owning a home. This vacation rental service is useful for attracting people who want to enjoy the outdoors by renting an RV.
Characteristics:
Fee for the host/owner: 20% of the total booking price. It covers the nightly cost, as well as cleaning and any additional expenses, but not the Outdoorsy fees and taxes;
Previous driver reviews that demonstrate your efforts to give an exceptional client experience;
An out-of-the-ordinary experience will broaden your target demographic and attract a more particular audience.
FlipKey
FlipKey is a TripAdvisor subsidiary that provides visitors with various vacation rental alternatives.
FlipKey’s greatest distinguishing feature is its pay-per-booking pricing mechanism. This means you’ll only have to pay once you’ve secured a reservation.
Characteristics:
Per booking, FlipKey charges a 3% host fee. This commission is calculated based on the entire rent paid by the host, including any obligatory and optional fees for the property.
Various booking options are available, including quick booking, inquiries, and booking requests.
There is a “free-to-list” option;
Excellent search filtering options (low-cost, luxury, family-friendly filters, etc.). This will assist you in focusing on your target audience and selecting the appropriate category for your listing.
9flats
It functions similarly to other Airbnb rivals. You may improve your listing by including images, stating the minimum and maximum stay regulations, the number of rooms, and so on.
In 104 countries, 9flats has over 30,000 hosts.
Characteristics:
The commission paid by 9flats hosts is 15% of the total booking price.
Operates on practically every continent, except Oceania;
Guests may easily book the “Book” and “Instant Book” options.
Homestay
This Airbnb rival distinguishes itself by focusing only on hosted accommodations when the host is present.
You may rent a private or shared room, as well as a bed, at pricing that is more affordable for those on a tight budget. This may be a nice place to start if you’re just starting and have an extra room to rent.
Characteristics:
A minor host service fee (3% of the deposit, with a minimum payment of $1);
Excellent platform for hosts who are just starting;
Attracts a larger number of students and young people. If your objective is to attract folks in need of inexpensive housing, promoting your rental on Homestay will make it apparent.
onefinestay
This Airbnb rival takes a unique approach to the holiday rental market. New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Milan, Florence, Rome, Paris, and Sydney are among the cities that provide luxury rentals.
Onefinestay will help you attract more luxury visitors by listing your resort. This will catapult your vacation rental company to new heights.
Owners who advertise their properties on onefinestay may rent them quickly and easily without managing them themselves. Onefinestay aids with property management and marketing, public relations, and other aspects of the business.
Characteristics:
onefinestay calculates your predicted earnings based on your property’s size, design, and location.
Fees for hosting are addressed on an individual basis.
Designed specifically to promote your opulent holiday rental;
Kid and Coe
This amazing Airbnb alternative may bring you more visitors if your rental is family-friendly and you want to attract more families.
This Airbnb rival focuses on creating a seamless experience for families with children by offering family-friendly rooms. As a result, advertising your rental on Kid and Coe will guarantee that more visitors notice it and book it.
Characteristics:
The classification of your home determines the Kid and Coe host charge. To advertise a home, hosts must pay a $99 listing fee. Professional Partners, or those who have dedicated websites to promote their house, pay a fee of 12 percent on reservations. Any reservations for all other private listings are a 10% processing charge.
Professional picture editing services to enhance the appearance of your home;
In addition to your house insurance, the Kid & Coe Community Protection Program offers additional protection for your company.
HomeExchange
HomeExchange is a website that facilitates home swaps, as the name indicates. It has more than 400,000 dwellings in 187 locations. You get unlimited exchanges for a year if you pay $150 for an annual membership.
HomeExchange features a unique “guest point” system that hosts may earn and then redeem for a stay at another member’s house in their preferred location.
In terms of its potential to assist you in establishing your vacation rental company, HomeExchange is scarcely an Airbnb competition. It does, however, provide you with the opportunity to hone your hosting abilities and join a community of like-minded individuals.
Characteristics:
To get an infinite number of home exchanges, hosts need to pay a $150 yearly membership fee.
In the event of a cancellation, platform help will be provided.
Coverage for property damage.
Conclusion
As mentioned earlier, you could wish to use Airbnb to develop a profitable vacation rental company and bring more attention to your home. Increasing your occupancy rate and revenues by promoting your listing on numerous rental platforms can help you attract more visitors.
Integration with some of the most well-known Airbnb rivals is available via Lodgable, making your work much simpler. Our program allows you to manage several homes offered on different rental marketplaces.
With the powerful Lodgable channel manager, you can manage bookings from Airbnb, Vrbo, and other marketplaces from a single dashboard.
