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Whether you’re managing strictly vacation rentals or a mix of short-term and long-term rentals, there’s one thing you need both to maximize your time efficiency and to get the most out of your rental properties: rental management software.
And if you're in the vacation rental industry, you may need online vacation rental software.
Rental management systems can come in the form of dedicated vacation or short-term rental software, or they can be a more all-in-one property management software that allows you to handle every kind of property from a single dashboard and offers key features like payment processing, which altogether help streamline operations.
No matter which sounds like it better fits your portfolio, below we’ve put together a list of some of the best tools available for managing your rental properties, whether they're short-term residential units or vacation rentals.
The goal is that you’ll find something that fits your rental property needs and your budget.
For example, DoorLoop is an all-in-one property management software that allows professional property managers, vacation rental managers, property owners, and other real estate professionals and stakeholders to manage their entire portfolio with ease from anywhere.
Vacation rentals, short-term rentals, multifamily homes—you name it. DoorLoop has the features you need to streamline, automate, and simplify your property management needs.
Schedule a free demo today and see what DoorLoop's property management system can do for your short-term or vacation rental business.
7 Best Short-Term Rental Software Tools [2023 Edition]
Each property management system below was chosen because it offers a variety of property management features, especially for managing vacation rentals or other short-term rental properties.
For each tool, we’ve broken down the following:
- Feature set
- Pros and cons
- Pricing
Some important features to look forward to in these vacation rental software solutions are payment processing, accounting tools, revenue management, online booking system, a way to accept direct bookings, the ability to accept online payments, tools to manage reservations, automated messages, and more.
Altogether, these features are indicators for the best vacation rental software.
While we review the different vacation rental management software solution options below, keep in mind the key features that you specifically need, though.
For example, having a cloud-based hospitality platform is a boon for accessibility and mobile access.
Vacation rental owners may want a booking engine or booking management and reservation management system.
A short-term rental business that has multiple properties across property classifications from residential to commercial may want an all-in-one software.
That being said, let's get started. Keep in mind that the property management systems for vacation rental properties and short-term rentals below are in no particular order.
1. Hostaway
Hostaway is a dedicated vacation rental software with a variety of useful features for short-term rentals.
It offers good reporting features and payment automation for property managers as well as some unique ones like cross-listing optimization. It also has a strong list of integrations you can tap into.
However, where Hostaway falls short is mainly in pricing, coming in at roughly twice the monthly price of some comparable solutions.
Hostaway Features
- Good reporting features
- Automated payments
- Basic accounting features
- Owner portal
- Automated messaging
- Website for direct bookings
Hostaway Pricing
Hostaway does not list the pricing for its vacation rental management system online. Property managers and property management companies will have to submit their contact information to receive a quote.
2. Lodgify
Lodgify is a vacation rental software that offers a clean user interface and a solid base of features.
The vacation rental software allows users to input reservations and offers valuable features like a scheduling calendar.
It also has a great website builder.
Lodgify offers a wealth of guides and resources for getting started, making the process easy for property managers and property management companies.
With that said, you’ll be mostly restricted to what Lodgify can do on its own, unless you want to click between multiple apps; the property management system doesn't offer many integrations for property managers.
Plus, users report that the software's automated messaging system doesn’t work especially well.
Lodgify Features
- Reservations
- Scheduling calendar
- Automated messaging
- Task management
- Direct bookings
- Booking management
Lodgify Pricing
Lodgify's pricing plans for the property management system are a bit complex. They're based on the number of units and have an additional percentage-based booking fee.
For example, the Starter plan for the vacation rental software costs $67 per month for up to 20 rentals and has an additional 1.9% booking fee.
3. Guesty
Guesty is a property management software with several strong features that make it a great choice for those looking for a short-term rental solution.
What helps Guesty stand apart from the vacation rental software options thus far is its great customer service, including a premium 24/7 support line for higher-level customers.
It also offers a good list of integrations.
However, Guesty is on the pricey side, so property management professionals looking for an affordable solution might find this a no-go.
Guesty Features
- Online payments
- Work order management
- Owner portal
- Management of direct bookings
- Channel manager
Guesty Pricing
Guesty uses an enterprise pricing model. For managing just one rental, it costs $49 per month. For two, it's $74 per month, and for three, it's $99 per month.
You have to contact Guesty directly to get quotes for anything beyond that for all your properties.
4. LiveRez
LiveRez is a dedicated vacation rental management software with one of the largest collections of features on this list.
Users report that LiveRez's accounting features in particular are strong and offer tools that most competitors lack.
The trade-off in this property management system is that users also report having bad customer service experiences with the company, with either slow response times or, on some occasions, rude customer service reps.
LiveRez Features
- Work order management
- Good accounting features
- Messaging features
- Vendor management
LiveRez Pricing
LiveRez doesn't list the pricing for its property management system anywhere online, so you’ll need to contact its sales team to find out specifics about its pricing plans.
5. RMS Cloud
RMS Cloud has one of the most extensive sets of features compared to the other software on this list, offering everything from work order management to a full CRM.
However, it doesn't offer vendor management, a feature most of its competitors do and users need.
With that said, it's a good option for anyone mostly concerned with features and capability and less on pricing.
RMS Cloud Features
- Online payments
- Work order management
- Robust reporting
- Real-time reservations
RMS Cloud Pricing
Like several on this list, RMS Cloud uses an enterprise pricing model. You’ll need to contact its sales team to find out more about its pricing model.
6. Escapia
Escapia is another great option with solid lead management and booking tools.
The software is relatively intuitive and easy to use, with a convenient smartphone app version you can use on the go.
Unfortunately, while Escapia has a strong set of features, users often report that the software itself can be unreliable and riddled with glitches that make daily use of it a bit difficult.
Escapia Features
- Owner portal
- Reporting
- Reservation calendar
- Basic accounting features
Escapia Pricing
Escapia doesn’t offer its pricing online, so you’ll need to contact its sales team to find out more.
7. DoorLoop
DoorLoop is an all-in-one property management suite designed to make managing your entire portfolio easier.
It includes the tools you may need in vacation rental software as well as solutions for other types of properties, making it a great option for all your properties if you have a mixed portfolio.
It’s perfect for property managers looking for a solution that allows them to manage multiple different types of properties simultaneously, from vacation rentals to multi-family rental properties and anything else.
And if you’re a property management professional looking for something that goes above and beyond for your short-term or vacation rental business, DoorLoop’s affordable pricing, great customer service, and ease of use make it an all-around great choice for getting the most out of your rental properties.
DoorLoop Features
- Rent collection: With automatic payments, payment reminders, payment processing, and more, your rent collection can be easier than ever. There are also multiple options, such as credit card payments.
- Robust accounting features: Looking for a replacement for QuickBooks? You’ve got everything you need. Would you rather continue using QuickBooks and adopt DoorLoop as your dedicated property tool? You can do that too with a convenient QuickBooks Online integration.
- Maintenance management tools: Manage all your maintenance requests, assign to vendors, payout vendors, and more straight from the app.
- eLeasing: Accept applications online and even screen those applicants to ensure you’re bringing in quality tenants you can count on.
- Tenant portal and communications tools: Give tenants one central place to see all their responsibilities and you a convenient place to centralize communications with them.
And there's much, much more than that in DoorLoop's rental software.
DoorLoop Pricing
DoorLoop lets you get started with its rental software for as little as $49 per month when paid annually, giving you access to the lion’s share of its deep feature set.
Schedule a free demo and try DoorLoop today.
Supercharge Your Business with Vacation Rental Software
Managing rental properties with Excel spreadsheets is a thing of the past.
Now, sophisticated property management software allows you not only to streamline complicated systems but also to automate many cumbersome processes for all your properties.
Use the best rental management software to give your portfolio an advantage, and save yourself both time and hassle in the process.
Want to compare more vacation rental software and property management software systems? Download this free whitepaper to get the inside scoop on the most popular picks!
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