Airbnb may have the sleekest site, the catchiest name, and the biggest stockpile of brand equity, but for vacation rental owners, Airbnb is far from the be all and end all. 

Over the years, dozens of websites like Airbnb have cropped up that let you list your vacation rental and increase your exposure and bookings. Even Google has forayed into the mix, adding vacation rentals to its map feature and implementing a “check availability” and “booking” option directly onto the search page. We’ll discuss this huge new development a little lower in this piece.

In this post, we’ll go over 13 Airbnb competitors, explain their fees for owners, how much they charge guests in booking fees, and what guest services they offer.

Airbnb alternatives and Airbnb-type websites include:
1. HomeAway
2. VRBO                                  
3. VacationRentals.com
4. FlipKey                  
5. TripAdvisor
6. Booking.com                                  
7. RedAwning
8. onefinestay
9. Tripping                                  
10. HomeToGo                                   
11. Skyscanner
12. Google Maps                                 
13. Beenest

In many ways, VRBO pioneered home sharing. Founded in 1996 as Vacation Rental By Owner, it was later acquired by HomeAway, which also acquired VacationRentals.com in 2007. In 2015, HomeAway was acquired by Expedia, and growth hasn’t slowed since. Together, the three sites lead the industry, and as of 2018, the HomeAway family offers more than 2 million unique vacation rentals in 190 countries.

Advantages of using HomeAway, VRBO, and VacationRentals.com

• With a single subscription fee of $499/year, you can market your home on all three sites. 
• You have the option of a pay-per-booking fee instead of the subscription, which amounts to 8% of each booking (5% booking fee + 3% credit card fee). Airbnb only offers a 3% pay-per-booking option to list your site.
• You’ll get global exposure from a trusted, recognizable brand.

• High booking fees (up to 12%) are driving guests to look for options besides HomeAway and its subsidiaries, a problem that could worsen in the coming years. We detail the rising guest booking fees here. 
• Cryptic ranking systems and algorithms can lead to a negative feedback loop in which homes continue to drop in rankings. Even the best homes can fall trap to this. 
• If a guest books directly from you, HomeAway will soon try to take a 10% “attribution fee” if they can prove the guest first found your home on a HomeAway site. 

RedAwning is a newer player in the vacation rental industry, and has emerged as a “vacation rental network” that not only lists vacation rentals, it offers a full suite of guest and reservation services. You can see our complete rundown of three of the most popular vacation rental management companies and networks here. 

Advantages of listing with RedAwning

• You’ll receive 24/7 marketing, reservations, and guest services support. 
• It’s becoming increasingly popular with guests, as it does not charge a booking fee. The company also works with vacation rental owners and managers to guarantee what’s seen on RedAwning is equal to or lower than prices on all other OTA websites. 
• Unlike TripAdvisor, the company only offers vacation rentals, boasting more than 100,000 homes in 10,000 destinations. 

• Because of the additional services, you’ll pay 20% per booking to list your home on RedAwning and receive its guest support.
• It doesn’t yet have the same level of brand awareness as the previously mentioned Airbnb competitors.

As we explain here, websites like HomeToGo, Tripping, and Skyscanner provide extensive marketing and exposure for your home, however, there is little you as an owner can do to control your appearance on these sites.

Aggregators pull all of their vacation rentals and hotels from the networks and OTAs listed above, so chances are, you’re already on these websites.

These days, no forward-looking analysis can be complete without at least mentioning the blockchain - an incorruptible public ledger of transactions that’s become the backbone of cryptocurrencies, decentralized applications, and dozens of aspirational startups.

While it’s still too early to consider the Beenest - a middleman-free, completely peer-to-peer home sharing platform - a viable place to rent your home, it’s worth keeping an eye on. The goal of the Bee Token and Beenest is to create a network in which you’ll never pay a fee to list your home, and guests will never pay a booking fee, thanks to the truly decentralized nature of the program.

So there you have it: 13 sites similar to Airbnb, with their own unique offerings, price structures, advantages, and disadvantages.