Vacation rental properties can be a good way to provide recurring revenue with minimal time investment. However, if you’re a vacation rental owner or manager, then you know how quickly a poorly run property can suck your time dry.
One way to avoid the time suck is to stay on top of your online channels.
Staying connected to all of your booking channels is essential in order to get bookings and keep your business running smoothly. If you can get channel management down, you’re well on your way to maximum bookings will minimal effort.
That’s why we’ve put together a list of the 7 best channel management software for vacation rentals!
What is the Best Vacation Rental Channel Management Software?
The best sales engagement platforms should have good rates and connect with major vacation rental listing channels. This will allow you to reach a wider audience and potentially increase your bookings.
Some channel managers have platform-specific APIs built-in which streamlines setup and provides quality assurance to data synchronization.
Here are some of the major vacation rental websites your channel management software should be able to connect to:
- Airbnb
- Booking.com
- Vrbo
- Tripadvisor,
- Expedia
- Agoda
- HomeToGo,
- Housetrip
- Stayz
Pricing synchronization is also important, as it will help keep your rates competitive and ensure you make maximum profits from each booking.
Finally, booking process automation can save you a lot of time and effort by handling the tedious details of each reservation. Automation saves you time and also reduces the likelihood of human error. By taking all of these factors into account, you can choose the best sales engagement platform for your business.
1. Lodgix
Overview
Lodgix is a web-based vacation rental channel management software. Key features include online booking, comprehensive guest management, easy-to-use interfaces, and exceptional flexibility.
Highlights
- WordPress-powered vacation rental website builder plugin
- send automated email and text to your guests, team members, and owners
- create rental agreements, confirmations and more from your guest contact and invoice data
- 0.5% for channel reservations on VRBO and AirBnb and 2% for all other booking channels
- collaborate with teammembers with multiple logins for housekeeping, maintenance, front desk, and more
- integrations with other rental management solutions such as lock providers, dynamic pricing, analytics and web design
- generate reports for critical metrics such as income, receivables, occupancy, expenses, guest management and more
- built-in housekeeping scheduling tools
- 30-day free trial
Pricing
- from $69.99 per month (based on the number of properties managed)
Bottom Line
The Lodgix vacation management system provides an outstanding way for new vacation rental managers to get up and running. The platform offers good rates for connecting to multiple channels, an intuitive interface, and user experience, and gives smaller properties the ability to look professional immediately. Take advantage of the 30-day free trial to try it out for yourself.
2. Smoobu
Overview
Smoobu is an all-in-one vacation rental management software. As part of a full suite of rental management tools, the Smoobu channel manager provides an easy way for you to book rentals on multiple booking portals. Sync listing and booking information across the major channels to keep organized and save time on each guest engagement.
Highlights
- complete vacation rental management system with a channel manager, reservation system, website builder, and guest guide.
- connect and sync calendars on over 100+ channels
- book property as individual units and as sub-units
- synchronize pricing across all major portals and set markups for each channel individually
- external app integrations including dynamic pricing tools
- 14-day free trial
Pricing
- Free
- Professional – $29.53/month
- Team – $193.44/month
Bottom Line
The Smoobu channel manager is part of a well-put-together suite of tools. Although they have a free version, you will have to go pro to get access to the channel manager. Since they charge a flat rate per listing, you don’t have to worry about being nickel and dimed with commissions. As you grow, you can easily add more properties to the plan and scale your vacation rental empire.
3. Lodgify
Overview
Lodgify is a calendar-focused vacation rental channel manager. Sync all major channels through API integrations to manage your bookings from one central platform.
Highlights
- Centralized property management system to manage calendars, bookings, rates, and payments
- automatically sync calendars, rates, and reservations info across rental listing channels
- integrate with top listing channels via third-party certified APIs
- display calendar data and room availability across iCal-enabled platforms
- synchronize rental pricing across channels to markup based on each channel’s individual commission rates
- 7-day free trial
Pricing
- Lite – Free (3.9% booking fee)
- Starter – $12/month (1.9% booking fee)
- Professional – $32/month (0% booking fee)
- Ultimate – $56/month (0% booking fee)
Bottom Line
Lodgify channel management operates on the wider Lodgify vacation rental software. They really show their commitment to hosting solid API integrations by getting third-party certification on the major platforms. Lodgify really shines on the calender integration front. Their pricing structure also allows you to save on monthly fees if you only book a handful of rentals. Get the free trial to see if you like it!
4. Zeevou
Overview
Zeevou is a property management system and channel manager built into one. Automate channel operations from one central dashboard. Learn and receive support from the Zeevou community and Zeevou academy.
Highlights
- sync rates and availability in real-time to all listing channels
- automate pricing, booking processes, guest vetting, guest communications, and more
- unified inbox for cross-channel communications
- Direct booking website builder
- real-time reporting and analytics platform for financials and operations
- learning academy and support community for rental property hosts
- 200+ listing channel integrations
Pricing
- Spark – Free
- Glow – $28.99/unit/month
- Blaze – $45.91/unit/month
- Dazzle – $83.36/unit/month
Bottom Line
Zeevou is a well-supported vacation rental channel management software solution. Take advantage of its over 200+ integrations to manage all your property bookings centrally. What really sets Zeevou apart is its learning and support networks. The academy and support hub give new and growing property managers the tools and strategies they need to run a successful vacation rental business.
5. Hospitable
Overview
Hospitable is an Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo-centric vacation rental software with a built-in channel manager. Streamline booking processes with pricing and calendar integrations, team and task functionality, and machine-learning guest communications.
Highlights
- update booking calendar across platforms
- integrate major listing channels including Airbnb, booking.com, and Vrbo.
- connect with dynamic pricing tools to sync smart pricing across channels
- automate guest communications with machine learning across channels and direct bookings alike
- Collaborate with teammembers by adding multiple users to the task management platform
- website builder and webpage booking widgets
- collect data and generate financial and operational reports filtered by property, guests, dates, tasks, teammates, and more
- 14-day free trial
Pricing
- $40/month starting
Bottom Line
Hospitable is a powerful vacation rental channel management solution. For rental property management businesses that are growing in properties, bookings, and teammembers, the Hospitable suite of tools can help keep you organized. tedious parts of the booking process can be automated and delegated away with AI-powered communications and task management functionality. Use the 14-day free trial to try out the Hospitable interface for yourself.
6. Uplisting
Overview
Uplisting is a rental business channel management platform with a focus on process automation and external integrations. Features such as automatic guest messaging, smart pricing synchronization, and 1000s of external app integrations create an efficient web of channel management tools.
Highlights
- display your listing across all top booking sites
- direct booking through your personal Uplisting website
- automate messaging, reviews, cleaning scheduling and more
- thousands of external integrations and app partners
- calendar synchronization and automated scheduling
- manage prices, availability, and restrictions across booking sites from one dashboard
- smart pricing capability to adjust markup across channels
- 14-day free trial
Pricing
- from $100/property/month
Bottom Line
Get Uplisting if you want to automate your rental property management business as much as possible. While you’ll be paying a little more than other options on the market, uplisting justifies its price tag with a suite of highly integrated tools. Small or growing vacation rentals businesses can make channel management a chinch with the Uplisting platform.
7. Hosthub
Overview
Hosthub channel management is an easy way to synchronize your listing across major channels plus your website. Use the Hosthub direct API to connect with over 200 channels and automate prices, calendars, and availability across all guest touch points.
Highlights
- direct API integrations with major partner channels including Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Expedia, and more
- synchronize calendars across 200+ channels including your property’s website
- booking analytics reporting on key metrics such as nights booked, average nights per stay, occupancy rates, and more
- team member and task management functionality
- streamlined setup process
- 24/7 support with an average under 5-min response time
- 14-day free trial
Pricing
- from $19/property/month
Bottom Line
If you’re looking for an easy sure-fire way to synchronize listings across all the major channels, get Hosthub. This platform has multiple failsafe built in to ensure that all listings are completely in sync and double bookings are eliminated. It’s very easy to set-up starts at a very reasonable price point, and includes a 14-day free trial to get you started.
What is Channel Management Software?
Channel management software is a tool that vacation rental property managers can use to list and manage their properties on multiple vacation rental booking websites.
This type of software typically includes a calendar sync feature, which allows managers to keep their listings up-to-date across all channels, as well as a rate management tool, which helps managers to optimize their pricing across different websites.
Channel management software can save vacation rental property managers a significant amount of time and effort, maintain a professional presence across major platforms, and help increase bookings and revenue.
Summary
After reading this blog post, you should have a better understanding of what channel management software is and how it can benefit your vacation rental business. This list of the best channel management software programs should provide you with the options you need to avoid some serious headaches.
If you’re ready to take your vacation rental business to the next level, we recommend investing in one of the options here. With the right tools in place, you’ll be able to manage your listing channels with ease, make more money, and save time to just enjoy life.
