Everything you need to know about short-term rental apps, including our top picks and how to make the most out of them.

The Most Useful Airbnb Apps for Hosts in 2024

Airbnb apps for hosts streamline operations and help scale your business while saving time.

From key exchange to cleaning schedules to marketing your rental, there’s an app for that. 

Tools like Uplisting by AirDNA roll many of the top Airbnb app features into one so you’re never overwhelmed by too much tech. 

Technology offers some of the best airbnb tools out there. Ever since smartphones went mainstream, apps like Airbnb have helped hosts and property owners create and manage listings for travelers looking to book a short-term rental. As the vacation rental industry grows, more and more host tools have sprouted up to streamline the process and ease both sides of the transaction. 

Let’s talk about some of the best Airbnb apps for hosts and how they can take your short-term rental business to the next level. 

Plan your STR strategy based on real booking activity and trends—plus, see how things change year over year.

Airbnb offers Host Assist, a collection of apps by companies who have partnered with Airbnb, but it’s hard to know the strength of those recommendations. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the vast number of options available to help you run your vacation rental business. 

It’s a blessing and a curse—to have so many choices and yet not know how to compare them against each other. We suspect that’s why you’ve turned to our guide!

We narrowed down the apps featured in this article according to their user ratings and whether they’re a prominent player in the industry. When available, we looked at customer feedback through online review communities (TrustPilot, Capterra, GetApp or a combination) and eliminated any contenders that had a poor rating overall. 

In addition to those filters, we’ve loosely organized apps for airbnb hosts into categories. Best Apps Overall encompass options with comprehensive services, from property management to guest messaging to bookkeeping. Our favorite apps are the ones that can do it all!

Not every software in this category offers the same products. However, each one has a prominent position in the industry and consistently high reviews that speak to their strength as one of the best apps for airbnb.

We recognize, however, that not everyone is looking for an all-in-one host tool. Perhaps you need help with a specific task, or need a tool to complement your existing property management strategy. The remainder of our categories sort host apps by their function:

Guest Messaging: There are great Airbnb apps for hosts that offer instant and automated messaging to help short-term rental hosts promptly address guest inquiries and concerns.

Guest Experience: These are apps that guests interact with directly, whether that be through a Welcome app like TouchStay or through a smart home and key exchange app like Operto.

Cleaning & Maintenance: Cleaning apps can standardize your cleaning processes and automate cleanings in accordance with your booking calendar.

Insurance and Guest Screening: From preventative risk assessments on potential guests to insurance policies that cover you in a disaster, these apps offer a safety net for your STR business.

Marketing: If social media isn’t your jam, specialized marketing tools can help you reach the guests you need through SMS and email marketing, among other strategies.

Keep in mind that the Best Apps Overall and other categories are not mutually exclusive. In fact, many of our top picks cover some or all of these specific functionalities. Uplisting, for instance, offers guest messaging, tools for marketing your business through a unique booking website, guest screening, and more. 

Lastly, some tools didn’t make the cut because their services weren’t specific enough to short-term rentals. Avalara, a tax compliance software, and Ascent, a payment processing solution, are good examples. They are finance and accounting tools that can benefit Airbnb hosts but don’t offer enough value to warrant more than an honorable mention.  

With the methodology explained, let’s dive in!

Uplisting: With Uplisting, you can send pre-booking messages, instantly accept direct guest bookings, and spin up booking pages for your rental’s website effortlessly.

Guesty: This comprehensive Airbnb property management platform has tools to automate processes, improve guest communication, and effortlessly manage listings across different rental platforms.

Hostaway: Hostaway simplifies booking and guest management with calendar synchronization, automated messaging, and integrations with multiple booking platforms.

Lodgify: This app lets hosts create eye-popping vacation home websites, manage reservations, and accept direct bookings. 

Operto: Operto provides smart home automation like keyless entry, remote temperature control, and noise monitoring, all accessible from a mobile app.

Uplisting: Uplisting’s guest messaging tools empower hosts to automate messages to guests across Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo to save time and keep guests happy. 

DACK: DACK is a comprehensive guest experience platform that includes advanced messaging capabilities for Airbnb hosts. It integrates with smart home devices and offers in-app communication features.

Enso Connect: This popular guest messaging app is designed specifically for vacation rental hosts. It focuses on automating communication and providing a centralized platform for managing guest interactions.

Duve: This host tool is a guest management platform that elevates the guest experience through personalized communication and streamlined operations. It offers a range of features from pre-check-in to post-check-out. Duve can also integrate with various property management systems.

TouchStay: With Touch Stay, vacation rental owners can create interactive welcome guides for guests to access via a mobile app. Guides can feature local recommendations, house rules, check-in instructions, and tips on what to do nearby.

In addition to TouchStay, Akia is an honorable mention for digital guidebooks.

Ease of access to your property is one of the most important “first impression” experiences a guest will have. If you’re particularly interested in key exchange apps, we recommend:

RemoteLock: RemoteLock provides cloud-based smart lock solutions that empower property managers to remotely control and monitor access to their properties. 

Yale Access: Yale Access lets hosts grant property access codes to guests via a mobile app, eliminating the need for physical keys and simplifying check-in.

Igloohome: The Igloohome App provides unique PIN codes and Bluetooth keys for each guest. The app also offers real-time entry and exit logs, as well as offline access capabilities to ensure reliable access in areas with poor connectivity.

KeyCafe: KeyCafe’s lockboxes let property managers store physical keys that guests can retrieve using a unique access code upon arrival. 

Breezeway: With Breezeway, hosts can create cleaning checklists and schedules while tracking the completion of tasks in real time. 

Turno: Turno helps hosts organize and automate their property cleaning schedules. Create cleaning tasks, assign them to cleaners, and monitor cleaning progress across multiple properties through the Turno dashboard. Keep track of inventory as well so that cleaners always have supplies at the ready. 

Spruce: Spruce is an all-in-one housekeeping and cleaning service platform for multifamily properties, including short-term rentals. It offers a range of services from standard cleanings to deep cleanings, to maintenance tasks.

 Use Smart Rates™ to optimize your pricing strategy.

Proper: Proper Insurance provides an all-encompassing insurance policy that includes coverage for property damage, liability, and loss of income. Unlike standard homeowner policies, Proper Insurance is specifically crafted to cover the unique exposures of short-term rentals, including guest-caused damages and liabilities. 

Safely: Safely offers guest screening services that check guests' backgrounds and provide risk assessments, helping hosts make informed decisions about their bookings.  It also provides comprehensive insurance coverage for short-term rentals.

AutoHost:  AutoHost automates the guest screening process, including ID verification, background checks, and risk assessments. The platform also ensures compliance with local regulations and supports security protocols such as credit card validation and watchlist checks.

SendSquared: This platform offers tools for email and SMS marketing, allowing hosts to send personalized messages to guests at key points in their journey. 

StayFi: This tool enables hosts to create a branded WiFi login page, collecting guest information and providing secure internet access. Additionally, StayFI offers marketing tools, allowing hosts to communicate with guests during and after their stay.

Tips for Using Apps to Manage Your Vacation Rental Business Efficiently

Airbnb apps for hosts are great at making life easier by using software to solve common problems. 

Stay in Touch: Guests shouldn’t have to wait long for answers to their questions. Apps can provide fast responses to common inquiries. 

Automate Repetitive Tasks: Simple tasks like managing bookings and scheduling cleanings can be a headache for property managers. If those processes don’t often change, save time by automating them. 

Optimize Pricing: Dynamic pricing will help you maximize revenue potential, but knowing how to price short-term rentals requires understanding demand, seasonal trends, and competitor pricing—all of which apps are great at calculating.

Maintain Your Property: Apps that help with guest screening and short-term rental insurance help you make informed decisions about guests to preserve the longevity of your rental. 

Provide a Personal Touch: Guests love things like welcome gifts, local recommendations, and clear house rules. Apps offer opportunities to provide those personal touches.

Stay Informed: Stay up-to-date with industry trends, regulations, and best practices to keep your short-term rental business competitive.

Collect Guest Feedback: Encourage guests to leave reviews and feedback so that you can identify areas to improve. Apps can automatically follow-up with guests during and after their stay.

Network With Other Hosts: Fellow Airbnb hosts can provide helpful insights. Look at the user reviews of the apps you’re interested in and connect with others who use the same systems to compare notes on best practices.

Apps for Airbnb hosts can help improve the guest experience while earning more money. The better you understand them, the easier it’ll be to keep your rental properties occupied, profitable, and pleasant for guests. 

With a reliable platform, you can focus on growing your business and not waste time with double bookings, unhappy guests, upset clients and worrying what might go wrong next.

Find the focus you need to scale your business.

Airbnb apps for hosts make it easier to simplify short-term rental management while earning more. Get the complete list of top Airbnb apps for 2024.

The Most Useful Airbnb Apps for Hosts in 2024

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