The days of guesthouses being our only choice for lodging are long gone. Not only can you locate rooms, apartments, and vacation rentals through Airbnb competitors, but you can also stay at resorts for a fraction of the cost. Here are some Airbnb competitors you should consider.
#1. Turnkey Vacation Rentals
- Founded: October 1, 2012
- Headquarters: Austin, Texas, United States
Need to know
TurnKey Vacation Rentals (www.turnkeyvr.com) was established in 2012 in Austin, Texas by T.J. Clark, formerly an executive at Hotwire and Limos.com and John Banczak, formerly an executive at HomeAway and began working in January 2013.
It provides asset management services to owners who lease out their homes during vacations. TurnKey, like a property management company, handles inquiries, bookings, schedules, inspections, and security. Repairs, maintenance, cleaning, restocking, security, and other services are outsourced to local third-party companies. The Owner Dashboard is used by property owners to request services and track movements. Guests can book a home via their website in places such as Austin, Texas, Santa Barbara, California, Seattle, Washington, and others.
#2. Agoda Homes
- Founded: 2005
- Headquarters: Singapore
Need to know
Agoda Homes (www.agodahomes.com) was established in 2005 by Robert Rosenstein and Michael Kenny in Singapore. Michael Kenny had earlier established two hotel booking websites, PlanetHoliday.com and PrecisionReservations.com. He later merged the two hotel booking website to form Agoda.com in 2005. With its headquarters in Singapore and a branch in Bangkok, the company now employs over 4,000 individuals in 30 countries.
It allows the homeowner to list a full apartment, bungalow, house, or villa. Unlike other sites, Agoda Homes are for the complete home, which means the host will not be present with you. You may also utilize their platform to list and host your home and earn extra money by gaining access to millions of quality travelers every day.
#3. VRBO (Vacation Rentals by Owner)
- Founded: 1995
- Headquarters: Austin, Texas, United States
Need to know
Vacation Rentals by Owner (VRBO) (www.vrbo.com) was established in 1995 in Aurora, Colorado by David Clouse in order to rent his Breckenridge Ski Resort apartment. VRBO progressively grew to list over 65,000 rentals in its first ten years. VRBO was bought out by HomeAway in 2006, and then Expedia Group bought it out on December 15, 2015.
It is a service that allows homeowners to lease out their residences for a short period of time. Previously, vacation rental services were only available through classified ads, management services, and rental compilations based on different places. You can choose between a pay-per-booking subscription and a yearly membership to market your home on Vrbo. From the dashboard, you’ll be able to manage every aspect of your vacation rental listing.
#4. Vacasa
- Founded: 2009
- Headquarters: Portland, Oregon
Need to know
Vacasa (www.vacasa.com) was established in 2009 by Eric Breon along with attorney Cliff Johnson, after facing difficulties trying to manage his family vacation home in Long Beach, Washington. The company presently operates more than 14,000 vacation homes in the United States, Europe, South Africa and others. Vacasa has expanded from two people to over 2,500 employees in just nine years.
It offers vacation rental management services, assisting homeowners with the purchase, management, and sale of their holiday homes. Vacasa’s comprehensive technology and services platform offers homeowners all over the world vacation rental property management solutions. Guests staying in Vacasa homes have access to an easy-to-use mobile app, professionally cleaned homes, and a dedicated guest assistant services team available 24 hours.
#5. Booking.com
- Founded: 1996
- Headquarters: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Need to know
Booking.com (www.booking.com) was established in 1996 when Bookings.nl (established in 1996 by Geert-Jan Bruinsma) merged with Bookings Online (established by Sicco and Alec Behrens, Marijn Muyser, and Bas Lemmens) in 2000. The company’s name and URL were changed to Booking.com, and Stef Noorden was nominated as CEO. Booking.com is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and has 198 offices in more than 70 countries, including Accra, Amman, Amsterdam, Antalya, Bangalore, Barcelona, Beijing, Berlin, and others.
It offers an online lodging reservation service via which accommodation providers, such as hotels and other providers, may advertise their products and booking services, and platform users can make bookings.
#6. Housetrip
- Founded: 2010
- Headquarters: London, United Kingdom
Need to know
Housetrip (www.housetrip.com) was established in 2010 by Arnaud Bertrand and Junjun Chen in Switzerland. Housetrip has raised $60 million in financing, has a presence in 20,000 destinations, and has over 300,000 residences listed on its website as of May 2015. Since its launch in January 2010, HouseTrip has booked over 6,000,000 nights. HouseTrip has offices in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Portugal.
Individuals and vacation rental management firms can use it to lease out their properties to visitors. It works on a peer-to-peer basis to provide vacation rentals. Housetrip caters to two types of clients: landlords, or anyone with the right to lease their properties, and customers who require holiday accommodation. They focus on a house rather than individual rooms.
#7. Sonder
- Founded: 2014
- Headquarters: San Francisco, United States
Need to know
Sonder (www.sonder.com) was established in 2014 by Davidson and Martin Picard in Montreal, Canada. It was first named flatbook but later renamed sonder. Sonder has more than nine thousand rental apartments in cities like New York, San Diego, Austin, Miami, New Orleans, London and others.
Sonder offers a variety of flexible lodging options in more than thirty five markets and nine countries, including top business destinations such as Dubai, New York, London, Dallas, Toronto, Philadelphia, and more, ranging from individual hotel rooms to full apartments, available for one-night or multi-day stays. With fully-equipped kitchens, living areas, numerous bedrooms, and en suite laundry, many of Sonder’s accommodations provide a pleasant location to stretch out and work remotely for business travelers and groups planning long-term visits.
#8. Hipcamp
- Founded: 2013
- Headquarters: San Francisco, United States
Need to know
Hipcamp (www.hipcamp.com) was established in 2013 by Alyssa Ravasio in San Francisco, United States. Hipcamp began with campsite coverage in the San Francisco Bay Area. As at March 2015, hipcamp had extended to include all of California, Texas, Florida, and Oregon. As of 2018, it offers nationwide accommodation coverage. Hipcamp had significant growth in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic; that summer, they generated three times the leads they had in 2019.
It has a website and a mobile app that offer outdoor stays and camping experiences. Depending on the listing type, location, terrain, activities offered, and facilities, users can browse and book private landowners’ campsites, glampsites, reserved spaces, and cabins. Hipcamp offers real-time availability, details, customer reviews, and images of public campgrounds in national parks, in addition to offering overnight accommodation on private land.
#9. Thirdhome
- Founded: 2010
- Headquarters: Brentwood, Tennessee, United States
Need to know
Thirdhome (www.thirdhome.com) was established in 2010 by a real estate developer, Wade Shealy, in Brentwood, Tennessee, United States. It started with a portfolio of 120 properties and has since expanded to over 11,000 properties in 95 countries.
It offers rentals and exchanges of homes all around the world. There is no yearly cost (only a rental fee each time you book), you don’t exchange homes or money directly with another member, and every property is evaluated for quality of location, furnishings, and value. They’ve just introduced a reserve level of high-end apartments, as well as a series of small-group adventures conducted by experts in respective disciplines.