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← Back to ‘The World’s Best Airbnbs’
The vacation rental industry has gone haywire in the last few years. Airbnb (along with a few others) has revolutionized the way people go about finding accommodation for their trips, whether it is a vacation, a business trip, or even any other kind of situation that requires travel. But is it just Airbnb? Is there more out there? We at AllTheRooms have put together a list of the 8 Airbnb competitors you should know about. Enjoy!
AllTheRooms
We have to throw ourselves on the list. But seriously, we belong here. AllTheRooms combines sites like Expedia, Airbnb, and Jetsetter, plus many others, to offer its users the ability to compare the best prices on any accommodation they are looking for. Because of our ability to gather data from an extremely wide range of sites, we have the largest accommodations aggregate data of any of these sites. So, when you book through us you know you’re covering all your bases. We also provide content like this so that travelers can learn more about travel trends and awesome locations that might just become their next vacation destination.
HomeAway
One of the true VR industry giants, HomeAway offers travelers property profiles with all the basic details and options for them to pick and choose the place that best fits their needs and budget. As it continues to be toward the top of results on Google´s searches for most popular rental sites, HomeAway allows users to interact with the property owners and reserve a place for about 10-50% upfront. This option is pretty good both for property owners and travelers who like a little extra communication to address any doubts.
Flipkey
Flipkey has an inventory of over 300,000 properties in more than 160 countries and its properties are distributed to other sites like TripAdvisor, making it one of the main Airbnb competitors. This platform offers free-to-list capabilities for property owners and allows them to list all of the important details of their properties, like the number of beds and bathrooms, amenities, descriptions of the space, management information, photos, and weekly availability. As with other rental websites, cancellations policies vary by property, and users can search based on different parameters such as low-cost, family-friendly or luxury. They can also include a type of trip like city, beach, mountain, and so on. With all these options and key factors, Flipkey is certainly worth checking both for owners and travelers.
Tripping.com
Founded in 2009 in San Francisco, Tripping.com is a search engine for vacation rentals with over 10 million listings and covering 150,000 destinations in which users can search for properties. They’ve partnered with several rental providers in the industry, like Booking.com, to allow users to easily compare vacation and long-term rentals across providers. Tripping prides itself on being a one-stop place for all rental needs.
Booking.com
Part of the Priceline Group, Booking.com is one of the newer competitors in the space-rental industry, but it’s already ahead of the competition thanks to its traveler-friendly interface and inventory that can be booked instantly. Since Booking.com has over one million rentals and more than 100 million reviews, they can be considered the largest booking site in the world, and they add the advantage of having traveler-friendly cancellation policies that give more flexibility for travelers. Despite having had most of their rental inventory in Europe in the past, they’ve been working to expand their reach into the United States, Asia-Pacific and other markets in the rest of the world.
Trivago
One of the most remarkable features of Trivago is its easy-to-use interface. A mostly European hotel rental site at first, Trivago has expanded to many other markets and is including in its inventory a wide array of serviced apartments, vacation homes, hostels, and bed and breakfasts. Find these options on the site by going into the “extra filters” option and adding the “types of lodging” you´re looking for. Most of the accommodations on Trivago are professionally managed, so there are no hosts, for those of you who prefer that type of deal.
Roomorama
According to site stats, Roomorama is one of the fastest growing rental sites in the world, with over 50,000 visitors a day and offering more than 60,000 properties in 4,000 locations around the world. Some of the advantages it offers are no-cost listing for owners, as well as no processing fees or commissions. Instead, they charge users a booking fee for their rental. Additionally, Roomorama has gained popularity among travelers by offering perks like discounts on local services such as restaurants and spas. It has also put into motion the “ShoutOut” program to allow travelers to post what they’re looking for so that property owners can make them an offer.
VRBO
VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) was founded in 1995, making it one of the pioneers in the industry. It offers worldwide accommodations from owners who are looking to rent their space. On the site, they can fill out their profiles with details such as bedrooms, bathrooms, reviews, photos, stay requirements, amenities, and other details, making their services very similar to those of Airbnb. VRBO was acquired by HomeAway Corporation in 2006 but continues to be one of its biggest competitors, carrying more travelers and having an average of 127 inquiries per property per year.
