Last Updated on June 16, 2023 by Rental Recon
As an Airbnb Superhost, I understand that setting your Airbnb nightly rate can be one of the most challenging and impactful decisions you make for your rental business. Recently, I have started using dynamic pricing tools to set my Airbnb nightly rates. With so many apps on the market that advertise dynamic pricing, it can be difficult to choose which one is best. Keep reading for my review of two popular Airbnb pricing apps: AirDNA vs. PriceLabs.
AirDNA vs. PriceLabs: Which is the Better Choice?
AirDNA is the better choice. AirDNA provides more features than competitors like PriceLabs which is more of a basic pricing tool. AirDNA’s MarketMinder platform is the #1 leading platform for short-term rental intelligence. AirDNA’s data is so accurate that it estimated Airbnb’s first-quarter revenue with 99.3% accuracy.
How Does AirDNA Stack Up Against PriceLabs?
AirDNA and PriceLabs are similar short-term rental property management tools. Both programs provide hosts with data and insights about their listing and nearby competitors.
After trying both programs, I found that AirDNA is the better option for dynamic pricing, market data, and insights. I am impressed by the accuracy and comprehensiveness of AirDNA data. AirDNA mines data from over 35,000 short-term rental hosts and over 10 million rental properties.
| Feature | Dynamic Pricing Tool | Market Insights | Investment Potential | STR Strategy Builder | Custom Listing Performance Score | Flexible Pricing Options |
| AirDNA | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| PriceLabs | X | X | – | – | – | X |
AirDNA offers more features, so even though both programs’ prices are comparable, I feel I am getting more bang for my buck using AirDNA.
AirDNA was easy to set up and manage. This program will work well for hosts, whether managing one Airbnb part-time or running a full-time rental business with multiple listings.
What is AirDNA?
AirDNA is a program that provides short-term rental hosts with valuable rental insights and uses that data to optimize your Airbnb pricing strategy. AirDNA’s market research tool, MarketMinder, is powered by over 10 million properties worldwide on Airbnb and VRBO in 120,000 global markets, making it the leading platform for short-term rental intelligence.
What Can Market Research Do for My Short-Term Rental Business?
You may be wondering how market research can benefit your Airbnb rental. AirDNA’s valuable insights into the local rental market, like average nightly rate, occupancy, and competition, can help you better market your listing.
AirDNA also has the following useful tools:
Smart Pricing
AirDNA provides the best smart pricing tool on the market because they have teamed up with FutureStay to optimize and automate Airbnb pricing. Hosts can simply link their Airbnb accounts to AirDNA to get rate recommendations for their rental. AirDNA’s integration with FutureStay gives hosts the best of two programs at one price point. AirDNA does the research while FutureStay automates the smart pricing recommendations.
The STR pricing tool calculates seasonality, day of the week, market demand, booking lead time, and holidays to give you the best nightly rate for your listing.
I love that this tool doesn’t just recommend rates; it actually shows you the reason behind each rate calculation by showing the percentage of different rate factors in calculating the nightly rate.
AirDNA’s smart pricing tool allows you to customize your preferences so you can set minimum and maximum rates, discounts, and how aggressive you want to be with pricing.
Investment Potential Insights
Are you thinking about purchasing a new property to use as a short-term rental? AirDNA allows you to look up any address worldwide to see the property’s investment potential.
AirDNA’s investment tool, Rentalizer, will show you the future projections for annual revenue, occupancy rates, and average daily rates for any property. You will never have to wonder if you are making a good investment.
Monitor the Competition
If your short-term rental is in a tourist area, you are bound to have a lot of competition with other short-term rental properties. AirDNA allows you to stay ahead of your competitors with market insights like:
- Dates people are booking
- How many listings are available on those dates
- The average rate of those bookings
- Median listing price
This data allows you to adjust your nightly rates to beat out the competition and keep your rental booked.
Performance Score
When you connect your listing to AirDNA, you will get a performance score that shows you how well your short-term rental property is performing against your competition in the area.
Don’t like your score? Don’t worry. AirDNA will provide personalized recommendations on how to price your property every day for the next six months to improve your Airbnb’s performance and raise your score.
How Good is AirDNA Data?
AirDNA pulls data from over 35,000 Airbnb hosts, 10 million rental properties, and 1.1 million channel and property management software managers, making their network an industry leader in data accuracy. With AirDNA, you will get data in the following areas:
- The average nightly rate in your market
- Occupancy rates in your market
- Direct competition in your area
- Past trends for booking activity and future insights
- Calculation of factors to accurately price your rental
Is AirDNA Revenue Accurate?
Yes. AirDNA’s revenue data is accurate. AirDNA has consistently estimated Airbnb’s actual revenue data with at least 94.4% accuracy. In 2022, AirDNA’s first quarter Airbnb revenue estimate was 99.3% accurate. AirDNA consistently outperforms similar programs with their data accuracy.
Is AirDNA Owned by Airbnb?
Airbnb does not own AirDNA, but the owner, Scott Shatford, started out as an Airbnb host. In 2015, CEO Shatford launched AirDNA after seeing the need for programs that analyze short-term rental data to maximize income potential.
As an Airbnb host, Shatford understood the difficulties in accurately pricing short-term rentals to get the best results. When you use AirDNA, you know it was designed by someone who has experience in the short-term rental market.
Is AirDNA Worth the Subscription?
Cost is important when deciding if a dynamic pricing program is right for you and your short-term rental business. Some programs are so expensive that hosts with only one property or limited revenue wouldn’t see the benefits.
Fortunately, that is not an issue with AirDNA. AirDNA is worth the subscription because it has simple pricing plans starting at just $19 a month that is based on your short-term rental business’s needs. For larger rental businesses, property owners can contact AirDNA for a custom quote that is tailored to their business.
AirDNA provides customers with a free trial, and it’s risk-free because you can cancel your subscription at any time.
If you are ready to give AirDNA a try, click this link for RentalRecon’s 50% Off AirDNA promo code!
Overall Review on AirDNA
AirDNA is a valuable analytics tool that provides Airbnb hosts with data and insights to better manage their short-term rental company. AirDNA has accurate and helpful market-driven data, a dynamic pricing tool, and real estate investing insights. It provides hosts with data on competing short-term rental properties in the area. It can analyze past market trends to make accurate predictions for the future.
AirDNA is priced very reasonably, so even smaller rental businesses with only one or two properties can afford the program and benefit from its features. AirDNA is competitive with similar programs on the market.
Need more information on AirDNA and everything this program has to offer? Check out our Ultimate AirDNA Review.
What is PriceLabs?
Similar to AirDNA, PriceLabs is an Airbnb dynamic pricing program with data solutions tools. PriceLabs works with Airbnb, VRBO, Vacation Rentals, BnB’s, Apart-Hotels, and serviced apartments to provide property managers with comprehensive data and analytics to better manage their properties.
PriceLabs Key Features
PriceLabs provides users with several helpful key features.
Dynamic Pricing
Dynamic pricing provides Airbnb hosts with automated rate updates based on the market data and your listing performance. PriceLabs will analyze your listing’s historical and future performance to calculate a base rate. Then, the program factors in seasonality, day of the week, lead time, and holidays to suggest the best rate for each night.
Hosts who use PriceLabs can use customization options to set minimum prices, require longer stays over the weekend and holidays, or make last-minute adjustments to the nightly rate.
Portfolio Analytics
PriceLab’s portfolio analytics provide hosts with trends in their bookings. Hosts can view their listing’s performance with insights like monthly revenue or average length of stay.
Market Dashboards
Market Dashboards is a valuable tool that PriceLabs users can access to see Airbnb and VRBO listing data anywhere in the world. This tool gives hosts insights into the current rental market trends so they can better price and manage their own rental.
With the PriceLabs Market Dashboard, a host can:
- Create and track a list of properties
- Filter according to review, occupancy rates, and other categories
- Select specific areas
- Identify properties with specific amenities
- Set prices based on market occupancy rates
- Identify the most popular amenities in the area
Market Dashboards allow hosts to check out their competition and adjust their prices and property descriptions accordingly.
Is PriceLabs Worth the Price Tag?
PriceLabs provides users Portfolio Analytics completely free, and dynamic pricing for one listing starts at just $19.99 a month. You can add market dashboards for $9.99 a month; the price will only increase if you add additional rentals.
Additional benefits of a PriceLabs subscription include:
- Free 30-day trial
- No credit card required
- Flat monthly pricing
- Cancel at any time
Do you want to explore more options for Airbnb dynamic pricing programs? RentalRecon has you covered with our review of the 4 Best Airbnb Pricing Tools for Hosts.
