best apps for vacation rentals

Apps are a great way to make your vacation rental business as easy to run as possible. They allow you to do everything from accept payments remotely to improve your property listing’s visibility, saving you valuable time and helping you attract more guests.

Vacation rental apps are getting smarter and more user-friendly all the time, so it’s important to keep up with what’s new.

Here are some of the best apps for vacation rentals:

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best apps for vacation rentals

Which are the best vacation rental apps?

If you want to book a vacation rental on your mobile device, these apps are worth checking out:

Screen shot of a vacation rental app to illustrate a story about the best vacation rental apps in the world.

Airbnb

Airbnb is the best known of the vacation rental apps. It promises to deliver “unforgettable travel experiences” on your smartphone. (Download it for iOS and Android.)

Pros: The app is easy to use. It allows you to do everything you can do on the Airbnb website: search listings, make a reservation, and look at local experiences. Setting parameters like your dates and number of guests is a snap. The Airbnb app also makes it easy to communicate with your hosts. “AirBnB’s app is great,” says Jordan Gary, a project manager from Chicago. “Very simple and easy communication.” 

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Cons: Airbnb won’t let you use the app without creating an account. That’s unfortunate for anyone who wants to just browse the listings, which you can do on the website without an account. Also, the app doesn’t display a full price when you’re shopping — only a “nightly” rate that looks deceptively low. Once you click the “book” button, Airbnb adds all the taxes and fees for your stay. 

Screen shot of a vacation rental app to illustrate a story about the best vacation rental apps in the world.
CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT

Booking.com

Booking.com boasts access to over 27 million options across the world. Like TripAdvisor (see below), it handles a lot of travel inventory. But it specializes in accommodations. Booking.com owns a variety of online travel companies, including Agoda, Cheapflights, Kayak, Priceline and Rentalcars.com. (Download it for iOS and Android.)

Pros: Booking’s interface is easy to use and fast. You can specify your desired destination and dates quickly. It also displays an all-in price for a rental. No messing around with a tricky “per day” or “per week” rate.

Cons: Its rental inventory is somewhat limited in the United States — and expensive. Also, by default, its app tries to put you in a hotel. You have to click on “filter” and select “property type” and “vacation homes” to access its inventory.

Screen shot of a vacation rental app to illustrate a story about the best vacation rental apps in the world.
CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT

HomeToGo

HomeToGo is a vacation rental aggregator. It lists 17 million properties from all of the major sites, including Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo. (Download it for iOS and Android.)

Pros: The app gives you a quick overview of what’s available and then sends you to the site to make a reservation. (Think of it as Kayak for vacation rentals.)

Cons: Users complain about the ads and inaccurate prices on HomeToGo.

Screen shot of a vacation rental app to illustrate a story about the best vacation rental apps in the world.
CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT

TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor, which bills itself as the “ultimate travel companion,” incorporates vacation rentals in its app. You can access inventory from FlipKey, Holiday Lettings and Niumba. All are owned by TripAdvisor. (Download it for iOS and Android.)

Pros: TripAdvisor’s app is the Swiss Army Knife of smartphone apps. It allows you to book vacation rentals and much more. It gives you access to its vast database of user-generated reviews. It also quotes rates by the week and for the entire stay, avoiding the price games other apps play.

Cons: The vacation rentals on TripAdvisor tend to be far more expensive than on other apps. Also, there are complaints about fake reviews and the app being “pushy” about other TripAdvisor products. Like other apps, they are trying to sell you something. 

Screen shot of a vacation rental app to illustrate a story about the best vacation rental apps in the world.
CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT

Vrbo

Vrbo offers to set up the “perfect vacation” with its smartphone app. You can search more than 2 million unique places to stay in 190+ countries. (Download it for iOS and Android.)

Pros: Vrbo’s new Trip Boards, integrated into its app, make it easy to find and share vacation rentals with friends and family. The app is great at showing instead of telling, putting big photos front and center.

Cons: Occasional complaints about glitchy software or currency confusion for non-American renters. Vrbo renters also gripe about high fees. 

What’s the best way to use a vacation rental app?

So which of these apps should you download? If you live in vacation rentals (like I do), the answer is: All of them.

  • An app like HomeToGo offers a broad overview of what’s out there. If you’re just trying to get an idea of pricing and availability, it’s a good place to start. 
  • Airbnb has a lot of inventory and is easy to use. Many travelers just default to Airbnb, believing they’ll always get the best deal. They might. Then again, they might not.
  • Vrbo is hands-down the winner when it comes to collaboration tools (scroll down for details). Although its prices are a little higher than Airbnb’s, sometimes its hosts are willing to negotiate a lower rate if you ask.
  • Booking.com is a must-have app if you’re planning a trip overseas, especially to Europe.

Although these apps have been thoroughly tested, they are far from perfect. As a regular user of all of these programs, I’ve found a glitch or two and have had to revert to booking on the website. 

Even if you prefer booking on a desktop, you should still consider having an app on your phone. The reason: One of the standout features for all of the apps is their messaging capability. You can easily communicate with a host through most of these apps. Best of all, there’s a written record of your communication. That can come in handy if there’s a dispute.

short term rental management apps

Note that the products listed below are ranked by order of preference with HotelMinder experts, customers & website users. It’s important to understand that one solution cannot suit all types of properties: The best Short Term Rental Software for a 500 bedrooms luxury hotel in Las Vegas has little in common with the one for a 25 rooms boutique hotel in the middle of rural Tasmania.

At HotelMinder we work with small and medium independent hotels and chains of hotels ranging from around 15 to 150 rooms. The solutions listed below are the ones our clients use, as they match the needs and budget of those types of properties.

For more Short Term Rental Software choice, have a look at our Partners Marketplace. If you are looking for professional guidance on what solution to choose for your hotel business, how to choose it, install it, etc — then look no further as it’s exactly what we do. If you only need a little bit of help, consider booking a 1-to-1 Expert Session.

Feel free to request more information for the solutions listed below, several of them with special offers and discounts only for HotelMinder users!

Cloudbeds Special Offer
Cloudbeds Logo
Cloudbeds is a complete cloud based suite consisting of a Property Management System, a Channel Manager and a Booking Engine. It is modern, simple to use and used by many types of properties all around the globe.

As Cloudbeds Property Management System, Channel Manager and Booking Engine are integral parts of the same system, you can rest assured that any change made in the system will reflect on your live website and connected OTA portals instantly.

HotelMinder Special Offer — Sign up for a demo here and receive $50 free credit!
We Recommend For
All types of properties! Small & medium hotels, hostels, guesthouses and apartment / vacation rentals. Cloudbeds should also be considered as an option for small hotels chains. Cloudbeds is a popular solution for properties on all markets and the Support team works round the clock.

Pricing
Starting at €90 for the all-in-one solution including PMS, Channel Manager and Booking Engine – for a few units and for the most basic package. Price increases depending on the property size, number of units and functionalities. Modules like PIE can be added for an additional fee.

Popular Integrations
AdsHotel | Authorize.net | breezeway | CartStack | Civitfun | Elavon | GuestRevu | hoperator | Hostellers | Lightspeed | Oaky | Paypal | Stripe | TrustYou | UpsellGuru | Whistle | Wishbox | Zapier |

Visual(s)
Cloudbeds Screenshot
Cloudbeds Screenshot
Cloudbeds Screenshot
Cloudbeds is a HotelMinder Expert Partner
HotelMinder Special Offer — Sign up for a demo here and receive $50 free credit!
WuBook Special Offer
WuBook Logo
Wubook is the company with which you can work easily and smoothly for the management of your accommodation. Using Zak, the All-in-one software that provides PMS, Channel Manager, Booking engine and Restaurant Management you can save time and ease your hotel management and online sales, on a daily basis.

The reception is always under control. thanks to native cloud technology you can manage your accommodation anywhere, anytime. Also, with the App, you can take care of your business even from your smartphone or any mobile devices.

You can interact with WuBook users through a dedicated forum and WuBook Support staff is available 7 out of 7 (mail, chat and phone). More than 12k users worldwide already trust us. Around us we have generated an entire ecosystem of Hospitality operators that enhance and inspire our continuous development. We already work in +95 countries.

HotelMinder Special Offer — Sign up for a Free Trial and get 6 months of Free Booking Engine
We Recommend For
For small to medium sized properties, as well as for developers looking for a reliable Channel Manager to integrate with.

Pricing
No activation cost – from €55 per month for the All-in-One Software (PMS, Booking engine and Channel Manager), but you can also choose not to activate the full suite, the choice is free, depending on your needs. The cost is per package, not according to the number of rooms.

Popular Integrations
Stripe | Paypal | Mercado Pago | Vikey | Roommatik |

WuBook is a HotelMinder Premier Partner
HotelMinder Special Offer — Sign up for a Free Trial and get 6 months of Free Booking Engine
Zeevou Special Offer
Zeevou Logo
Zeevou is a global community that helps you grow your hospitality business through cutting-edge automation, industry-leading training, and world-class support.

Using Zeevou, you can automate every aspect of your short term rental business, such as the booking process, expense tracking, profit analysis, cleaning and maintenance, check-out management, and mobile app, just to name a few. You can also link to more than 200 channels to increase the chance of booking.

All this cutting-edge automation, together with the unrivalled support and up-to-date training content, will take the load off a busy short-term rental manager’s shoulders and offer space for more freedom to grow.

HotelMinder Special Offer — Register for a demo and get 1 Month Free Trial
We Recommend For
Big Property Management Agencies and multi-location, busy, accommodation providers.

Pricing
Spark Package: Free
Glow: from £24 /unit/mo
Blaze: from £38 /unit/mo

Conclusion

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