Scaling a vacation rental business is impossible without a channel manager or a property management system. When selecting a channel manager for your Airbnb, there are many factors to consider: cost, features, customer service and integrations provided.
After careful consideration, we have compiled a comprehensive guide for the 15 most sought-after channel managers in Europe for 2023. This guide outlines each tool’s core capabilities and features.
What is a channel manager for Airbnb?
With a vacation rentals channel manager, you can easily manage listings and bookings on multiple travel agencies (e.g. Expedia, Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO) in one place, ensuring that your rental property is never overbooked or double booked.
All vacation rental channel managers are different. Some may be ideal for experienced hosts with larger portfolios, while others can provide the core services at a low cost.
Channel managers make it easy for property managers to keep availability and pricing information up-to-date across multiple channels, giving potential guests reliable details about their rental properties.
This is a much faster way of setting up hosts’ listings than the traditional one-by-one approach. As a result, hosts complete more settings and tasks, and their listings become more accurate and converting. And here you have more bookings with less stress.
We have thoroughly researched some channel managers, their official pricing plans and features to determine the best fit for a typical host.
Best channel managers for vacation rentals
We had no predetermined criteria when grading the brands for this article (although we are biased). However, we did focus on the popular tools among the mid-level hosts operating in Europe.
Your.Rentals
Your.Rentals is one of the best choices for small and medium level hosts who want to grow their listings at no extra cost. This is possible due to their pay per booking pricing model.
Your.Rentals only earns money if the host or property managers get bookings, therefore they are looking forward to making your business profitable.
Your.Rentals is a danish company created in 2016 with headquarters in Malmö, Sweden, and Hanoi, Vietnam. Your.Rentals has the channel manager functions, but it also qualifies as a property management system.
Your.Rentals provides a simple and stress-free way to manage your vacation rental business. With one easy-to-use account, you can list your property on 30+ popular channels, including Airbnb, Booking.com, TripAdvisor, Expedia, VRBO and more.
Your.Rentals also makes it easy to track and manage bookings, requests, and payments from all the different channels in one place. You won’t have to waste time logging into each channel to keep up with your business – Your.Rentals will do the work for you!
Pricing
5% commision per approved booking (discounts apply).
No signup fee, no monthly or annual fee.
Ease of use
Very easy and friendly interface.
- Onboarding demo: yes
- Trial: yes (free for use)
- Listings import from Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO and TripAdvisor
- Listings optimization expertise
- Live support for hosts with 5+ properties
- 24-hour payouts
Ideal for
Small and mid-large owners and managers as they have a fee-based commission
Channel manager Features – Your.Rentals
- No need to create an account in each channel
- Simple listings builder with import
- Channel manager
- Calendar synchronisation
- Guest payments & host payout
- Direct booking website at a price of hosting
- Home monitoring (Minut integration)
- Guest messages
- Market insights (AirDNA integration)
- Collaborator accounts
- Guest reviews
- Account manager (e.g. for multiple payment methods)
- Concierge and support services in Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, German and English
Channel manager rating & reviews – Your.Rentals
Pros – Your.Rentals
- Subscription free tool, unlimited listings for all, pay per booking billing.
- Advanced payouts option
- Concierge and support services for the bigger hosts (5+ properties), including manual listing optimization on OTAs.
Cons – Your.Rentals
- No mobile app (this is pending as of mid 2023)
- No dynamic pricing (on-demand settings apply)
Ideal Host – Your.Rentals
Your.Rentals is perfect for property managers and owners that are starting or scaling in the vacation home rentals industry. Very intuitive interface, proactive support and Your.Rentals commission fee policy, makes it an easy entry point.
Still, Your.Rentals has established relationships with premier customers who have up to 500 listings by offering them unique assistance in their operations.
Guesty PMS
Guesty.com is the perfect platform for established short-term property managers, offering a comprehensive suite of cloud-based tools to simplify operations.
Guesty links to 60+ channels, yet there are specific conditions which must be met for certain hosts (for example, a minimum listing requirement).
Guesty’s Property Management System (PMS) was established in 2013, headquarters in Barcelona and Tel-aviv, Israel.
With an array of powerful features such as a channel manager, multi-calendar, unified inbox, mobile app and 24/7 guest communication services, the platform centralizes all booking data from multiple listings into one.
Pricing from
€44 month (1 listing)
€66 month (2 listing)
€99 month (13 listing)
Plus onboarding fee.
Ease of use
Very easy and friendly interface.
- Onboarding demo: yes
- Trial: 14 days free
- Listings import from Airbnb, Booking.com, and Travelnest
- Guest communication services for additional fee
Ideal for
For mid-size vacation rentals owners and property managers
Channel manager Features – Guesty
- Accounting tools
- Analytics
- Automation tools
- Guesty websites builder
- Channel manager
- Extended stays
- GuestyPay
- Manual reservations
- Mobile app
- Multi calendar
- Multi units
- Owners portal
- Pre-stay tools
- Reporting tools
- Revenue management
- Task management
- Unified Invox
- 24/7 guest communication services in English, French, Italian, Spanish, German and Portuguese
- Open API
Channel manager rating & reviews – Guesty
Pros for hosts – Guesty
- One of the most successful PMS and channel managers of the market
- Useful automation and analytics tools
Cons for hosts – Guesty
- Untransparent subscription policy.
- Fee-based onboarding.
- Fee-based guest communication services.
- Limitations to list on some channels (minimum listings requirement).
Ideal Host – Guesty
Owners and property managers with previous experience in the PMS sector may find that a monthly fee subscription is better suited for their needs. Although Guesty’s annual fees might appear to be less expensive, hosts become committed to them for an entire year leaving you vulnerable if you no longer desire or appreciate their services.
Travelnest
Travelnest positions itself as an all-in-one solution for property managers who want to automate their pricing strategies.
British-based, Travelnest has a partnership with more than 30+ listings platforms to provide the good reachability of the client’s properties.
With its automated channel management, guest communication tools, and analytics and reporting, Travelnest is a good fit for professional hosts and property managers.
Pricing
5% fee per booking paid weekly. No signup fee, no monthly or annual fee.
Ease of use
Very easy and friendly interface.
- Onboarding demo: yes
- Trial: free to use
- Paid weekly
Ideal for
Small and medium property managers and owners. Perfect for the British hosts.
Channel manager Features – Travelnest
- Listing optimisation
- Listing automation
- Calendar synchronisation
- Dedicated support
- Global exposure
- Messages: automated guest messaging, personalized responses, guest review management
- No need to create an account in each channel
- Simple listings builder
- UK-based support team
Channel manager rating & reviews – Travelnest
Pros for hosts – Travelnest
- Pay per booking pricing, no subscription, no signup fees
Cons for hosts – Travelnest
- Payment: paid weekly, not after every booking
- Customer support mainly in English language, unlike other channel managers support team which are multilingual
Ideal Host – Travelnest
Ideal for beginners or single-property hosts due to its booking commission fee policy. Moreover, Travelnest has a lot of experience in the sector and if you’re a British citizen or an English native speaker this platform could suit you better than others.
Octorate
Octorate is an italian channel manager that works mostly with hoteliers and tries to provide them with the best solutions in hotel software technology.
Octorate claims to link to 120+ channels including OTAs as well as GDS/IDSs (Global/Internet Distribution Systems), metasearch engines and wholesalers. The software includes products such as a PMS, channel manager, booking engine, web concierge and metasearch (listings promotion services).
Octorate is fully integrated with the main PMSes. No need to create an account on the different channels.
Octorate products are easy to set-up, easy to use and affordable for all types of structures, whether it be a small bed breakfast or a large chain of hotels.
Pricing
Per service
Channel Manager:
From €13 / month / per 1 channel
From €23,6 / month / per 3 channels
From €38,4 / month / per 8 channels
From €47,2 /month / per unlimited channels
Other services:
Booking engine EVO €25 / month
PMS – Real planning €49 / month
Web concierge €9 / month
Metasearch €25 / month
Vacation rental software:
€39 / month (4-9 properties)
€79 / month (10-19 properties)
€109 / month (20-49 properties)
Custom prices from 50+ properties
€0,5 fee on each night booked.
Ease of use
User-friendly interface
- Onboarding demoL yes
- Free trial: 14 days
- Mobile app: yes
- Available in 10 different languages (ES, FR, EN, PT, DE, RO, PL, HR, EL, TR).
- WordPress, Joomla and Drupal integrated
- Compatible with Facebook and mobile devices
Ideal for
Hotel managers, as it has been designed to work mainly with Hotels, but also for vacation rental managers.
Channel manager Features – Octorate
- API ready building for 2 way integrations
- Interface in 10 different languages
- Advanced payments feature
- Possibilite to integrate bookings with Excel/XML
- Booking engine EVO (direct booking widget)
- Residence Tax
- Children rates management
- Possibility to implement restrictions for future bookings
- Connection to 120+ OTAs and GDS/IDS, wholesalers, direct bookings
- Synchronisation of availability, rates, content
- Invoice management
- Advanced statistics
- Interactive calendar
- PMS integrated with BE & channel manager
- Self-check in
- Website builder
- Price analysis and forecast tools
- Guest app
- Metasearch (Google Hotel Ads, Trivago e TripConnect)
- Enhanced room services
Channel manager rating & reviews – Octorate
Pros for hosts – Octorate
- Ideal for hotel managers and owners
- Promotion tools (metasearch)
- Airbnb Premium Partner and Booking.com Premium Partner Plus
Cons for hosts – Octorate
- Customer support available only in 5 languages in Italian timezone
- Per service pricing
- Specifically designed for Hotels, not appropriate for other kind of vacation rental businesses
Ideal Host – Octorate
Ideal for hotel managers who are mainly looking to use the main channels, as the fee policy is highly based upon the number of enabled channels. It also includes typical features demanded by hotel managers such as self check-in and many others.
Bookiply
Bookiply offers a property management tool for vacation rental owners and for agencies. Their product aims to simplify online distribution and the process of booking.
Bookiply was founded in 2016 as a part of Holidu Group in Munich. Since its foundation it has opened offices in 20+ countries all across the EU. (Balearic Islands, in Andalusia, Germany, Canary Islands, Italy, Portugal, Spain)
Today, Bookiply is partnered with channels, such as Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, and Holidu. They list more than 20000+ properties at the moment.
Bookiply welcomes users from all over Europe, but with a focus on France, Italy, and Spain.
Pricing
5 – 8% commission fee per booking.
One-time activation fee of 80-150€.
Ease of use
Very easy and friendly interface.
- Onboarding demo: yes
- Free sign-up
Ideal for
Private owners with 1 or a few properties.
Channel manager Features – Bookiply
- Channel Manager
- Professional photos
- Assistance with optimising prices
- Personalised website
- Optimised text description
- Calendar synchronisation
- Invoice & payout management
- Access for collaborators
- Booking management
- Bookiply App
- Customer service 7 days a week (in English, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, French, Catalan)
Channel manager rating & reviews – Bookiply
Pros for hosts – Bookiply
- Mobile app
- Manual price optimisation for seasonal rates, optimisation suggestions in the app
- Available in 8 languages
Cons for hosts – Bookiply
- High commission fee per bookings (5-8%)
- One-time activation fee
Ideal Host – Bookiply
Bookiply is focused on providing services to individual hosts, who have 1-2 properties that they would like to rent out.
Lodgify
Lodgify is designed with small to medium hosts in mind, and their vacation rentals website builder serves as their cornerstone service.
Lodgify was established in Barcelona, Spain in 2012. Lodgify can mainly connect clients to the top 5 major online travel agencies (OTAs) including Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, and TripAdvisor and many more.
Hosts can utilise Lodgify to establish a polished website, handle reservations, streamline guest communication, and handle payments. Moreover, hosts have the ability to synchronise their calendars with external booking platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com to prevent any overlapping bookings.
Pricing
3 types of subscriptions (monthly amounts for 1 property):
- Starter: €14/month + 1.9% booking fee
- Professional: €40/month (no booking fee)
- Ultimate: €61/month (no booking fee)
Annual fees with up to 20% off.
Ease of use
Onboarding:
- demo for users with 5+ listings
- demo account for all.
- Trial: 7 day free.
Ideal for
Small to medium property managers focused on running a book direct website.
Channel manager Features – Lodgify
- Channel manager
- Task management
- Mobile App
- Accounting tools
- Automated communication tool
- Website builder
- Website templates
- Top 5 OTA channels
Channel manager rating & reviews – Lodgify
Pros for hosts – Lodgify
- Mobile App
- Website Builder with themes
Cons for hosts – Lodgify
- Limited functionality
- Limited access to features based on subscription type
Ideal Host – Lodgify
Lodgify works with vacation rental owners and property managers who may have 1 to 100 vacation rental properties. Since Lodgify offers fairly lower prices than some competitors, it might be suitable for small business owners with a few properties. As a large business with 200+ you might consider another option that offers more than 5 OTA channel connections.
Hostfully
Hostfully is suitable for all segments in the short-term-rental business: beginners and also already established hosts.
Hostfully, originally founded in 2016 under the name Digital Guidebooks. In 2018 they merged their property management platform Orbirental with Digital Guidebooks, since then they offer property management and guest experience software for short-term rentals.
Their software involves tools that simplify management and other operations such as, channel manager, central calendar, unified inbox, direct booking website, and mobile app.
Hostfully links their customers to 20+ channels including Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com and many more. They also offer live chat and customer support 7 days a week.
Pricing
- Starter: $109≈102.012/month – up to 4 listings
- Pro:
- $199≈186.243/month – up to 11 listings
- Pro Plus:
- $249 ≈233.037/month – up to 19 listings
- Premium:
- $260 ≈243.332/month – 20+ listings
Ease of use
Easy and friendly interface.
Onboarding:
- Free live demo weekly
- 3 one-hour implementation calls with onboarding specialist
- 24/7 customer support via email and chat
- Only available in English
Ideal for
Small to large businesses with 250+ listings.
Channel manager Features – Hostfully
- Channel Manager (20+ OTAs)
- Booking Pipeline
- Unified Inbox
- Hostfully Open API
- Mobile App
- Payment Processing
- User Permissions
- Task Management
- Direct Bookings Site
- Owner Financial Reports
- Central Calendar
- Guidebook Integration
- Pre-Arrival Forms
- Digital Signatures
- SMS messaging
- Whatsapp messaging
- Application Integration
- Communication Automation
- 24/7 Email & Chat Support
- Customer Success Manager
- Custom Engineering (Negotiable)
- Dynamic Pricing Tools
- WordPress Direct Booking Widget
- Cleaning & Turnover Management
- Accounting Tools
- Insurance & Guest Screening
- Digital Signatures
- Marketing Automation
- Space Visualisation
- Smart Home Tech
- Data Analysis
- Luggage Storage
- Reviews Automation
Channel manager rating & reviews – Hostfully
Pros for hosts – Hostfully
- Many automation features
- Mobile app
Cons for hosts – Hostfully
- Customer support available only in English
- Limited to 3 live one-on-one’s with support for onboarding
Ideal Host – Hostfully
Hostfully is suitable for a wide range of customers, including small business owners with up to 4 listings and property managers with 20+ listings. Plus, they also welcome boutique hotel managers among their customers.
