Effectively Manage Your Airbnb Business.
By using the right tools and management software for Airbnb, you can make your life as an Airbnb host much easier. You can save time, get better reviews, and consequently, earn more money.
How? By optimizing your prices, sending automated messages, providing beautiful guides, and much more. There is a solution for every hosting challenge on Airbnb.
This page provides an overview of various tools and management software available for Airbnb. Go ahead, explore the apps, and find out which one suits you best.
Below, you’ll find an overview of all management apps or software by category. Further down this page, you will find the essential apps that everyone should have and more details about these different applications.
>> Coming Soon: Want to take it to the next level? Discover our Airbnb consulting service
Channel Manager: Essential Airbnb Management Software
Your listing is probably already on Airbnb.
If you are considering listing it on Booking.com, Expedia, and taking direct bookings, you will certainly gain more visibility in the market and likely receive more reservations. However, you will also have to manage multiple calendars.
In this case, there is no doubt: You need centralized management software, also known as a Channel Manager.
Imagine this: to optimize your revenue, would you want to log into every platform every day to update prices?
Or, if you receive a booking on Airbnb now, realize that you’ll have to log into every platform to update the calendar quickly to avoid double bookings…
It might work once or twice… but eventually, it becomes unmanageable. Let’s dive into the details.
>> Coming Soon: Related Training, our Airbnb Listing Optimization Guide
Maximize Your Revenue by Managing Your Short-Term Rental on Airbnb or Booking.com with a Channel Manager
Short-term rentals have become a highly lucrative industry, attracting hosts worldwide to share their properties with travelers seeking unique experiences. Among the most popular vacation rental platforms, Airbnb and Booking.com stand out due to their vast networks. However, with the growing popularity of these platforms, managing listings, pricing, and bookings can quickly become a daunting challenge.
This is where the Channel Manager comes in.
What is a Channel Manager?
A Channel Manager is an essential tool for hosts looking to efficiently manage their listings on platforms like Airbnb or Booking.com. It is a software solution that centralizes the management of all your listings across multiple vacation rental platforms, including Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, and more.
Instead of jumping from one platform to another to update calendars, pricing, and availability, a Channel Manager allows you to do it all from a single location.
Benefits of a Channel Manager
- Time-Saving: One of the most obvious benefits of using a Channel Manager is the significant time savings. Instead of logging into each platform individually to make changes, you can manage everything from one user-friendly interface.
- Avoid Overbookings: When your listings are on multiple platforms, maintaining an updated calendar is crucial to avoid double bookings. A Channel Manager automatically synchronizes your calendar across all platforms, minimizing the risk of overbookings.
- Pricing Optimization: The Channel Manager allows you to implement dynamic pricing strategies. You can automatically adjust prices based on demand, seasons, and local events, thereby maximizing your revenue.
- Centralized Reservations: All your reservations, regardless of the platform they come from, are centralized in one system. This makes guest management, payments, and communication much easier.
- Performance Analysis: The best Channel Managers provide detailed reports on your listing’s performance. You can track occupancy rates, revenue per available room (RevPAR), and other key metrics to refine your strategy.
How to Choose the Right Channel Manager?
When searching for a Channel Manager, consider several factors:
- Platform Compatibility: Ensure the Channel Manager supports all the platforms where you want to list your properties, particularly the most popular ones with seamless integration.
- Features: Look for features such as pricing management, calendar synchronization, reservation management, and detailed reporting.
- Ease of Use: The Channel Manager’s interface should be user-friendly and intuitive for efficient usage.
- Pricing: Compare the prices of different Airbnb Channel Managers. Some charge a monthly fee, while others take a percentage of your bookings.
- Customer Support: Check the availability and quality of customer support. You’ll want to get help quickly in case of any issues.
Recommended Channel Manager: Superhote
Superhote is a Channel Manager that allows centralized management of listings on Airbnb, Booking, and other platforms.
Its main features include:
- Automatic calendar synchronization.
- Advanced pricing management.
- Automated messaging.
- Deposit and rental contract management.
- Detailed booking reports.
Superhote offers a 30-day free trial with no commitment.
Superhote Application:
The Superhote mobile application allows you to easily view your calendar, booking list, client interactions, apartment statistics, and much more.
Message Management via Email, SMS, and WhatsApp: You can communicate with your guests through Airbnb messaging, SMS, and WhatsApp, all centralized in a single system.
Comprehensive and Detailed Dashboard: Superhote offers a detailed dashboard to help you calculate the profitability of your property investments and develop business plans. You will find information such as total gross revenue for the month and year, occupancy rate, number of nights booked, average price per reservation, and much more.
Deposit Collection and Other Payments: Superhote enables you to automatically send payment links via Stripe for security deposits, giving you peace of mind during the guests’ stay. You can also set up payment links for additional sales such as bike rentals or welcome baskets.
Automated Nightly Pricing: You can connect Superhote to Price Labs to automatically update rates in your calendar, optimising your revenue.
Self Check-in: Superhote allows you to automate the check-in process, whether by providing codes via message for a manual key box or using partners such as Igloohome, Nuki, or Netatmo.
Superhote: A Community-Driven Channel Manager: Superhote fosters a community spirit, with a dedicated Facebook group and a suggestion box for improvements. The software is continuously evolving.
Customer Support: Accessing customer support is easy, whether on desktop or mobile. The support team is based in France and guarantees a response within 24 hours.
What is the cost of Superhote?
Unlike some other channel managers, Superhote does not apply additional fees for specific features but offers a single price that includes all functionalities.
The base price, before any discounts, for managing 1 to 3 apartments is 67 Euros per month, excluding VAT.
After that, there is an additional fee of 7 Euros per month, excluding VAT, for each additional apartment.
For example, managing 5 properties would cost 67 (for 3) + 7 (4th) + 7 (5th), totaling 84 Euros, and so on.
In any case, it is a necessary investment if you are listing properties on multiple platforms.
Try Superhote free for 30 days
Dynamic Pricing
Dynamic (and automated) pricing applications were among the first Airbnb tools made available to hosts.
In my opinion, they provide the best opportunity to improve your Airbnb listing’s results. Therefore, I believe it is almost essential to subscribe for one of two reasons.
First, intelligent pricing will certainly increase your listing’s revenue as it will set lower prices in low season and higher prices in high season when demand is strong. Has it ever happened that someone booked your place for New Year’s Eve 11 months in advance at a ridiculously low price because you forgot to adjust it? It has happened to us… 🙂
Secondly, by updating your listing’s prices several times a day, your ranking in Airbnb’s search results will improve, giving your listing more visibility and leading to more bookings.
One of the best aspects of dynamic pricing applications is that they connect directly either to your Airbnb listing or, even better, to your channel manager.
This allows these applications to update prices for you automatically, meaning you no longer need to worry about pricing while still maintaining some control. You can set a minimum and maximum price for your listing if you wish.
Advantages of dynamic pricing:
- Increased revenue;
- Time-saving;
- Automatically updated calendar;
- Prices adjusted based on market supply and demand;
Dynamic Pricing: PriceLabs
PriceLabs covers more markets than any other pricing application. It has a very useful customisation option that allows you to set a minimum number of nights via the app.
The application also enables easy management of multiple listings from its well-designed dashboard.
Although entirely in English, PriceLabs is simple to use, and many tutorials are available online.
PriceLabs charges $19.99 per month for the first listing. The price then decreases for additional listings, down to $4.99 per month for clients managing more than 100 listings.
But rest assured, your investment will pay off with the first booking, as the pricing will be optimised 😉
PriceLabs
PriceLabs: Pricing
Their pricing system is tiered based on the number of properties you add. We have compiled it into a small table for clarity:
| Number of properties | Price/month (USD) |
|---|---|
| 1 | $19.99 |
| 2 | $34.98 ($17.49 per property) |
| 3 | $49.97 ($16.65 per property) |
| 4 | $64.96 ($16.24 per property) |
| 5 | $79.95 ($15.99 per property) |
| 6 | $90.94 ($15.16 per property) |
| 7 | $101.93 ($14.56 per property) |
| 8 | $112.92 ($14.12 per property) |
Table compiled in September 2023, subject to change. You can check their pricing directly on their website.
PriceLabs: Our Recommendation
After two years of intensive use, we highly recommend subscribing to a dynamic pricing service, even if only to avoid having to update your prices daily or weekly for upcoming seasons or local events. The low subscription cost makes it a safe investment and can be very profitable.
For instance, we once made the mistake of automatically opening one of our calendars for the next 12 months during the year. Everything was fine, and the prices were correctly set—until New Year’s Eve. Caught up in other matters during the busy season, we forgot to update our prices. As a result, someone managed to book our property for the next New Year’s Eve at a “normal” daily rate… when it should have been three or four times higher. A costly mistake.
Market Research
Airbnb is a HUGE business, and there are many opportunities to earn extra income, generate full-time revenue, or even create seven-figure businesses through the platform.
However… as the short-term rental market matures and competition increases exponentially, it means that if you want to do well, you need to understand your market.
You could go on Airbnb and browse through hundreds of listings in your area to try to get an idea of which properties perform well, but that takes a lot of time.
Fortunately, powerful tools are available to help you obtain the necessary data without spending hours and hours browsing Airbnb listings.
If you don’t have time to manage your Airbnb listing but don’t want to pay the high fees charged by short-term management companies (usually 20–30% or more), using an online management service is a good option. These companies can handle all online activities such as messaging, coordinating cleanings, and managing check-ins with your cleaner or check-in manager.
The downside is that you still need to find someone to do the cleaning and inspections unless you opt for keyless check-ins, of course. The good news is that you’ll save a lot of money since online applications charge only a fraction of what a full management company would, typically around 3–5% of your Airbnb revenue.
Market Research: AirDnA
I would say that AirDnA is a must for anyone looking to grow their Airbnb business or increase its profitability.
There is plenty of free information available, but if you really want to dive deeper, you can purchase a subscription. Prices start at $39.99 per month for neighbourhood plans and $149 for entire cities.
Without a doubt, AirDnA is the market leader in Airbnb market research. You can spy on competitors in your area, see exactly how much they earn, their occupancy rates, and much more.
You can even enter any address worldwide and get a revenue estimate based on historical values from an analysis of over 4 million short-term rentals globally.
