The amount of revenue your short-term rental business generates typically depends on two key factors: the average daily rate you set and the occupancy rate you achieve. To maximize rental income, finding the optimal balance between nightly rates and bookings is essential. The way to achieve this is to apply dynamic pricing which takes into consideration current demand for short-term rentals in the local market, the supply of rentals by your competitors, and the rates that they charge.
Yet, manually adjusting daily rates demands significant effort, involving data collection, analysis, and constant revisiting of your Airbnb listings. For this reason, many hosts prefer to rely on automated tools to handle this task more efficiently. Indeed, to optimize the performance of your property, it’s important to select a reliable pricing tool. In this article, we’ll assess the 4 best Airbnb pricing tools, evaluating their features, costs, integrations, pros & cons, and customer reviews.
While these tools can be powerful to increase revenues, they are not without complexity and using them to their full potential requires time and expertise. This is why pricing tools are useful but not sufficient in themselves to achieve your maximum level of income. Instead, most property managers would benefit from hiring an outsourced revenue manager, like Helio Hospitality, who specializes in revenue management strategies for short-term rentals. Among the services that Helio Hospitality offers, we can help you to make full use of your pricing tool’s functionalities and take care of all the daily adjustments required to maximize your revenues.
How to select the best pricing tool available?
In the following analysis, we’ve used various metrics to find out which pricing tools offer the best overall features and value for money. We talk about our own experience of using those tools as a revenue management firm and also about the direct feedback from property managers with whom we work. This feedback, combined with thorough research and analysis of reputable third-party reviews, is ultimately what determined our evaluation.
- 1. Host Recommendations: We prioritized tools highly endorsed by Airbnb hosts for their ability to improve property performance.
- 2. Available Features: We sought pricing tools offering a diverse array of features, such as market data analysis and integrated booking calendars.
- 3. Airbnb Pricing Model: Our focus was on tools that employ dynamic pricing strategies based on factors like supply, demand, and historical data.
- 4. Integration Options: We favored dynamic pricing tools capable of seamless integration not only with Airbnb but also with other relevant platforms.
- 5. Cost-effectiveness: We included Airbnb pricing tools that are reasonably priced and do not excessively impact hosts’ profits.
- 6. Online Reviews: We took into account the volume of customer feedback on third-party websites to ensure objectivity, as well as the overall ratings of each tool.
- 7. Value Proposition: Our ranking prioritized Airbnb pricing tools that strike a balance between the benefits they offer and their associated costs.
Based on our list of criteria, we’ve chosen PriceLabs as our top pick and best overall pricing tool for the short-term rental industry. It’s arguably the most popular pricing tools among Airbnb hosts and for good reasons. It is particularly valued for its compatibility with various vacation rental property types and high-level of customization.
Features of PriceLabs Dynamic Pricing:
This tool automates daily rate adjustments using market data and individual listing performance analysis. Factors such as base price, seasonality, days of the week, lead time, and events/holidays inform dynamic pricing recommendations. Hosts can customize their strategy by setting minimum prices, last-minute adjustments, orphan day prices, days of the week pricing, and occupancy-based adjustments to align with their preferences.
Cost of PriceLabs Dynamic Pricing:
PriceLabs offers a 30-day free trial and subscription plans start at $19.99/month for a single listing, with pricing increasing for additional listings. It also offers the option to charge 1% of revenue for those who refer with a variable pricing plan.
Integrations with PriceLabs Dynamic Pricing:
Integration is available with Airbnb, Vrbo, and a variety of property management systems (PMS), including Lodgify, iGMS, Smoobu, Smartbnb, Hostfully, Hostaway, Guesty, among others. PriceLabs covers the global market and supports independent units like vacation rentals and multi-units such as serviced apartments and hotels.
Pros and Cons of PriceLabs Dynamic Pricing:
Pros:
- Flexible dynamic pricing structure
- Integration with major channels and PMSs
- Global coverage and compatibility with various property types
- Offers significant discounts for larger portfolios
- Includes useful features like Portfolio Analytics and Market Dashboard
Cons:
- Lack of clarity on whether bookings or revenue is prioritized
- User Interface is not the most straightforward and requires a steep learning curve
Reviews of PriceLabs Dynamic Pricing:
Online reviews of PriceLabs are plentiful across platforms like Capterra, GetApp, Software Advice, and Trustpilot. Satisfied users highlight easy setup, seamless integration with Airbnb, management of multiple rentals and channels, and improved rankings in Airbnb SEO results. Some users mention challenges with complex data interpretation and a steep learning curve.
Conclusion:
PriceLabs Dynamic Pricing offers a very compelling solution for property managers with diverse portfolios in the short-term rental market. Its high level of customization and flexibility makes it a top contender among popular pricing tools.
Wheelhouse is our 2nd pick after PriceLabs. It’s well liked among Airbnb hosts for its powerful features, extensive integrations and flexible pricing structure.
Wheelhouse Dynamic Pricing Features:
The Wheelhouse Dynamic Pricing tool uses a data-driven approach to provide personalized recommendations for nightly pricing. This approach is based on individual rental property and local market analysis.
Wheelhouse allows Airbnb hosts to set up many settings and see how each one of them affects their pricing strategy. The settings include base, minimum, and maximum price, minimum stay, last-minute discounts, weekend rate adjustments, seasonality adjustments, long stay discounts, and far future pricing.
One of the best features of the Wheelhouse Dynamic Pricing tool is that it optimizes revenue rather than bookings. The platform claims that it helps to achieve on average a 10-40% increase in revenue.
Wheelhouse Dynamic Pricing Cost:
Airbnb hosts and property managers can choose between two pricing plans. Pro Flex costs 1% of revenue for a minimum of $2.99/month. Pro Flat starts at $19.99/month for 1 listing, with discounts available for large portfolios.
There is also an Enterprise plan for those managing 100+ vacation rentals.
Wheelhouse Dynamic Pricing Integrations:
Wheelhouse Dynamic Pricing integrates directly with Airbnb. For integration with Vrbo and Booking.com, hosts need to use one of Wheelhouse’s PMS partners including Guesty, Hostaway, Hostfully, iGMS, Rentals United, and others.
Wheelhouse Dynamic Pricing Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- Integration with all major listings websites and PMSs
- Rental revenue optimization
- Multiple setting options
- Flexible pricing structure
Cons:
- Complex settings for beginners
- Steep pricing for multiple short-term rental properties
Wheelhouse Reviews:
There are a few hundred online reviews of Wheelhouse Dynamic Pricing.
You can find Wheelhouse reviews on:
- Capterra: Currently 4.8/5 stars based on 161 reviews
- GetApp: Currently 4.8/5 stars based on 161 reviews
- Trustpilot: Currently 4.4/5 stars based on 125 reviews
- G2: Currently 5/5 stars based on 50 reviews
Happy Airbnb hosts who use Wheelhouse report the ease of using the platform, the accurate data, the boost in income, and the friendly customer support team. Unhappy Wheelhouse users complain about occasional technical bugs and inaccurate pricing on certain dates (like holidays).
Conclusion:
Wheelhouse Dynamic Pricing is a great solution for hosts and property managers operating across multiple platforms. Its robust features, extensive integrations, and focus on revenue optimization make it our top choice in the Airbnb pricing tools landscape.
Beyond, also known as Beyond Pricing, is an Airbnb pricing solution designed to optimize both occupancy and revenue. The platform claims that they can increase income by up to 40%, in line with Wheelhouse.
Features of Beyond Dynamic Pricing:
Utilizing the top three factors impacting demand—seasonality, local demand, and days of the week—the Beyond Dynamic Pricing tool adjusts nightly rates for short-term rental properties. Hosts gain access to real-time market data on vacation rentals and hotels, including daily rates and occupancy rates, to ensure listings are booked at the optimal price and time.
Cost of Beyond Dynamic Pricing:
Beyond employs a unique pricing structure, charging hosts with up to 10 listings a fee equivalent to 1% of revenue. This incentivizes the platform to maximize hosts’ income, albeit it may become costly for hosts with extensive portfolios. Hosts with over 10 rentals receive custom pricing plans.
Integrations with Beyond Dynamic Pricing:
The tool works seamlessly with listings on Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com, and integrates with various property management systems (PMS), such as Lodgify, Guesty, BookingSync, and Avantio.
Pros and Cons of Beyond Dynamic Pricing:
Pros:
- Maximizes bookings and revenue
- Integration with multiple listing platforms and PMSs
- Affordable pricing for hosts with a limited number of vacation rentals
- Pulls data from Airbnb, but also VRBO, Homeaway and TripAdvisor
Cons:
- Lack of complete transparency regarding how both occupancy and income are maximized
- Expensive for hosts with multiple short-term rentals
Reviews of Beyond Dynamic Pricing:
Numerous reviews of Beyond Pricing are available across platforms such as G2, Capterra, GetApp, and Software Advice. Satisfied customers commend the seamless integration with listing platforms, accurate rate and occupancy optimization, and helpful customer support. However, dissatisfied hosts highlight technical glitches, integration issues, a challenging calendar interface, and high costs.
Conclusion:
Beyond provides a compelling Airbnb pricing tool for hosts seeking to strike a balance between bookings and revenue.
AirDNA Smart Rates has been a dominant force in the Airbnb dynamic pricing sector for a while now. It continues to be one of the best Airbnb pricing tools out there, primarily due to its algorithmic capabilities that enable hosts to prioritize their preferred outcomes, whether that’s maximizing bookings or revenue.
Features of AirDNA Smart Rates:
AirDNA’s Airbnb pricing tool assists hosts in setting optimal nightly rates, improving rental income, and transforming their vacation rentals into lucrative investments by offering tailored recommendations based on competitors’ rates and performance. This tool analyzes real-time demand to provide personalized pricing suggestions for each available booking date on a host’s calendar.
The functionalities of the AirDNA Smart Rates tool empower Airbnb hosts to customize their short-term rental pricing strategy based on their specific priorities. Users can set their own minimum and maximum daily rates, apply discounts for various occasions, and adjust the level of aggressiveness in their pricing strategy.
Cost of AirDNA Smart Rates:
Airbnb hosts can access the AirDNA dynamic pricing tool with a free registered account to view Smart Rates for their listing(s) for the next 30 days. However, for full access to all features and to view Smart Rates for the next 11 months, a paid subscription is required.
Paid plans for AirDNA start at $15/month for a single neighborhood, suitable for hosts with properties in one area. For hosts operating in multiple markets, higher subscription plans are necessary, with monthly costs potentially exceeding $599 for global market access. The pricing remains unaffected by the number of Airbnb properties managed.
Integrations with AirDNA Smart Rates:
AirDNA Smart Rates seamlessly integrates with Airbnb to push suggested daily rates directly to listings on the platform. Hosts can also connect their properties to Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, and Google Vacation Rentals, but need to use Futurestay to extend integration to those channels.
Pros and Cons of AirDNA Smart Rates:
Pros:
- Consideration of both local supply and demand for short-term rentals
- Daily updates on data and analytics
- Flexible pricing strategies: conservative, balanced, or aggressive
- Global coverage of the vacation rental market
Cons:
- High cost for coverage across multiple markets
- Dependency on Futurestay for channel integration
- Relatively poor customer reviews
- Total revenue includes cleaning fees, which can be misleading
Reviews of AirDNA Smart Rates:
Online reviews of AirDNA are limited, with fewer than 200 available.
Reviews can be found on:
- Trustpilot: Currently rated 3.3/5 stars based on 159 reviews
Satisfied Airbnb hosts appreciate the valuable data, intuitive platform interface, additional widgets, and onboarding materials. Dissatisfied customers raise concerns about persistent technical issues, questionable subscription plans, and inadequate customer service.
Conclusion:
AirDNA Smart Rates is a good Airbnb pricing tool, offering hosts the flexibility to personalize their strategies without sacrificing automation.
Main Takeaway
Your preferred pricing tool is likely to depend on the number of listings you manage and the type of integration you’re looking for.
Overall, Helio Hospitality has chosen PriceLabs as its preferred pricing tool, for its great features, integration coverage, high level of customization and the effectiveness of its automated pricing algorithm in maximizing revenue. As revenue managers, we also favor pricing tools which offer features for portfolio analytics and market insights. We find that PriceLabs and Wheelhouse and are the most effective tools in this category.
If you’d like to have more details about the pros and cons of each pricing tool, you can request a free consultation for your business by contacting us.
On a last note, it’s important to remember that using a pricing tool, regardless of the one you choose, is not a guarantee that you will be able to maximize your revenues. Although pricing tools can be powerful, they’re only as effective as the people using them. There is no substitute for sound revenue management strategies and daily adjustments based on market analysis – something that requires daily work and a good level of expertise.
The best way to achieve your portfolio’s full potential is to combine the use of a pricing tool with the services of an outsourced revenue manager. In this article, we talk about the 5 benefits of hiring an outsourced revenue manager for your short-term rental business and explain how this strategy could help to increase your revenues and to outperform your competitors.
