Owning an Airbnb is absolutely worthwhile – if you go about managing it properly. From both financial and personal perspectives, such an endeavour requires lots of investment in order to run sustainably. Luckily, we live in an age where technology can help fill the gap for busy business people like yourself. It’s called property management software (PMS). In this article, we’ll review some of the most popular options out there and compare how they differ from one another.
What Is Property Management Software?
Specific features and user plans aside, all property management software ultimately serves the same purpose and end user.
Short-term rental hosts, landlords, and property managers use it to handle daily operations. All the tools needed to run a rental business – calendars, guest communication, financial tracking, and performance analytics – are consolidated in one place for simplified access and use. That’s a major boon if you've got multiple properties or complex needs.
Property management software can automate tasks that would otherwise require manual effort or multiple separate apps, all while reducing the risk of double bookings and maintaining consistent pricing and policies across channels like Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo. See a breakdown of core features below.
Multi-Channel Integration: Connects your Airbnb and other booking platforms in real time to prevent overlaps and sync calendar updates automatically.
Automated Messaging: Sends customized replies to guest inquiries, confirmations, and check-in instructions without manual intervention.
Dynamic Pricing: Adjusts nightly rates based on occupancy, seasonality, local demand, or competitor pricing trends to maximize revenue.
Payment Processing and Accounting: Handles rent collection, deposits, and expenses, often integrating with tools like QuickBooks for detailed financial insights.
Housekeeping and Maintenance Scheduling: Automatically assigns cleaning tasks after each booking and tracks maintenance work orders.
Reporting and Analytics: Offers insights into booking performance, revenue growth, and occupancy trends to help you make data-driven decisions.
Three Property Management Software Solutions to Consider
The market has plenty of options when it comes to property management software. That’s a good and bad thing in the sense that you’ve got several decisions to make. In this section, we list and summarize three equally viable solutions used by Airbnb hosts today.
Hostaway
Hostaway is designed as a scalable, all-in-one solution that suits both individual Airbnb hosts and large-scale property managers. It stands out for its customizable pricing, industry-leading integrations (over 200 tools and platforms), robust automation, and 24/7 global customer support. Hostaway is ideal for professionals aiming to grow their short-term rental businesses without outgrowing their software, thanks to flexible workflows, comprehensive reporting, direct booking tools, and a unified dashboard for operations of any size.
Guesty
Guesty targets enterprise-level property management companies or hosts managing large portfolios. It offers advanced features such as deep automation, CRM tools, revenue management, and extensive integrations, but comes with higher, revenue-share-based costs and a steeper learning curve. Guesty provides powerful systems for organizations that require complex workflows, dedicated account management, and sophisticated business intelligence – best suited for ambitious operators who prioritize feature depth over simplicity.
Hospitable
Hospitable specializes in user-friendly, automation-centric solutions tailored to small and mid-sized hosts or co-hosts. Its strengths are transparent flat-fee pricing, seamless setup, fast support, and essential features like guest messaging, calendar syncing, and review management. More recently, developers wove in AI features capable of assisting with up to 90% of messaging communications.
Hospitable is the preferred option for those who want to automate communications and tasks with minimal overhead and no long onboarding. It is ideal for hosts with a handful of listings who want to keep things simple without sacrificing effectiveness.
Which Property Management Software Is Best?
There’s no single answer here. If one property management tool was truly better than the rest, there wouldn't be any competition to begin with.
Each platform excels for distinct user types – Hostaway for flexible scaling and integrations, Guesty for enterprise feature sets and depth, and Hospitable for affordable, intuitive automation for growing hosts.
Does Price Matter?
Price is a crucial factor when selecting property management software, but it should be considered alongside features, scalability, and support to determine true value. Hostaway, Guesty, and Hospitable each offer different pricing models tailored to various types of hosts and property managers, making cost a significant but context-dependent consideration.
Hostaway employs a customizable pricing structure, generally considered moderate, that scales based on portfolio size and feature needs, making it appealing for both small hosts and larger portfolios seeking long-term growth without hidden fees. Guesty’s tiered and often higher-priced plans, which include a percentage of bookings or custom quotes, are best suited for established, large-scale property management companies that need extensive automation and advanced tools. Hospitable offers transparent, flat-rate pricing per property, making it a budget-friendly option for small to mid-sized operations that prioritize automation and ease of use without incurring steep costs.
While upfront costs matter, evaluating the potential return on investment – such as increased automation efficiency, better guest communication, and streamlined operations – can outweigh initial expenses. The choice ultimately depends on the scale of operations and growth ambitions.
Property management software options are clearly far from one and the same. Yet the overall value of having any tool like it to begin with is consistent across the board. We highly recommend doing your research on and selecting a solution based on case-specific needs. The best investment will be one that balances cost with the value derived from streamlined operations, improved guest experiences, and data-driven insights. Thoughtful selection tailored to your business goals will help maximize the long-term return on your property management software investment.
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