How to find the best channel manager for a short-term rental

While most STR homeowners rent their property out through Airbnb, many have also started listing on other platforms similar to Airbnb​, such as Vrbo or Booking.com. By listing your property on multiple distribution channels, you can increase your visibility and your chances of converting a booking.

However, while there are many benefits to listing your property on multiple websites, it’s important to note that there are challenges involved with listing your short-term rental on multiple platforms. This includes:

• Navigating the different rules & fee structures, 
• learning new systems,
• managing multiple payment processors,
• setting prices with the correct mark-ups to account for different platform fees,
• communicating with guests through a non-centralised inbox, and
• a risk of double bookings from unsynced calendars.

This is where a short-term rental channel manager comes in — if you’re planning to list your property on multiple short-term rental platforms, an Airbnb channel manager is a must-have to streamline your workload and avoid any mishaps with regard to managing your listing.

What are vacation rental channel managers?

Channel managers are third-party tools that allow hosts like you to manage your listing across various short-term rental platforms through one centralised system to perform tasks such as::

• Set pricing, 
• sync calendars across Airbnb, Vrbo & Booking.com to avoid double-booking
• view all guest messages through a unified inbox, 
• and more.

When you change something on your listing through your short-term rental channel manager, such as the prices, calendar availability, or the content and photos, it will be updated on all the platforms where your listing is connected to. Similarly, when a guest books one of your properties on Airbnb, the dates they booked will be automatically made unavailable on Vrbo and Booking.com, preventing other guests from double-booking.

Note that Airbnb channel managers come at an extra cost, and that the Airbnb host fee structure may also change when you connect your account to a channel manager.

What are the benefits of using short-term rental channel managers?

Some advantages of channel managers for Airbnb include:

• Boosts visibility of your property through listing distribution, potentially leading to increased revenue & occupancy,
• saves time spent updating listing information across multiple channels,
• prevents double bookings for a property, and
• reduces pricing discrepancies between various online channels.

Are there any limitations to short-term rental channel managers for Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo?

Channel managers can be a big help, but they are still primarily built around creating a centralised platform for you to manage your listings. While they can be a good starting point for homeowners who want to optimise their operations, most hosts who want to scale their operations eventually have to get other third-party tools for:

• Short-term rental dynamic pricing,
• access to Airbnb occupancy rates and pricing trends,
• tracking inventory, 
• hiring & coordinating tasks with cleaners & maintenance persons,
• and more.

If you’re a hands-on, do-it-yourself type of homeowner who has the time to learn all of these new Airbnb tools, then you can consider this option. But each of these tools will come at an additional cost, and the expenses will start to pile up which may eat into your budget — especially if you’re already operating on a limited budget or at a loss.

However, if you’re looking for a more hands-off approach or want to move from managing a property to maximising your earnings, it might be time to bring in a partner who lives and breathes short-term rentals. An Airbnb management company like Hometime can be a good alternative to Guesty, Lodgify, and other short-term rental channel managers — aside from listing management and distribution, you’ll also get a team of experts dedicated to helping you reach your property’s full potential with the following services:

• Dynamic pricing tailored around your property’s unique earning potential,
• guest vetting and communication, including any emergencies, from local hosts that live near your property,
• listing optimisation through Airbnb SEO, professional photographers, and property stylists,
• a reliable network of cleaners that deliver a high-quality clean every time, and
• access to the Homeowner Portal, our very own property management software for Airbnb, where you get 24/7 visibility into your booking calendar

The result? On average, Hometime properties saw an 11% rise in occupancy and a 9% revenue increase during peak season.

Want to earn more from your property? Schedule a chat with us below and get a free Airbnb earnings estimate:

What’s the best channel manager for short-term rentals?

The best short-term rental channel manager will vary depending on your individual needs. Base features, optional upgrades, and prices vary across products, so you’ll need to do research to determine which one is best-suited for you. Some popular channel managers include:

• Rentals United
• Guesty
• Lodgify

You can also book an obligation-free chat with Hometime for more information about how to best run your short-term rental.