Recently, more and more companies are taking notice of this issue and creating solutions custom-designed to help. AirDNA and Wheelhouse are both great programs designed to help hosts with one of the toughest decisions they face: what to charge!
AirDNA Vs. Wheelhouse: How Do They Stack Up?
How does Wheelhouse stack up? We looked at their service using four criteria including price, value, features, and customer impression. Overall, Wheelhouse’s platform was fairly easy to use and did increase our bottom line by quite a bit.
- Many pricing modes and options to choose from
- Email plus chat support offered
- Great user interface
- No VRBO or HomeAway integration
- Automated pricing is sometimes inaccurate
| AirDNA | Wheelhouse | |
| Pros: | Great for investors and property managers Constantly updated real-time reports Custom map of your area (and competition!) | Very easy to use interface. Good customer service Lots of price customization and tailoring available |
| Cons: | No true dynamic pricing or automation Monthly fees based on location, not usage | Less analytics No HomeAway/VRBO integration |
| Overall: | Great for: Larger property managers, investors, business-minded hosts Not for: People who don’t want to process a lot of data | Great for: Hosts looking to increase occupancy and revenue Not for: Highly data-minded people |
Read along below to find out more about how you can get started with these great programs!
AirDNA Overview: Tailored Short-Term Rental Data
AirDNA provides short-term rental owners, property managers, and even real estate investors with tailored data (and a lot of it!) to help them make decisions on how to price and where to direct their investments.
AirDNA Pricing: Worth it?
AirDNA charges a monthly fee to users based on the number of short-term rental listings in their area. This fee varies significantly based on market size; the larger the market, the more you pay. From the perspective of AirDNA, you’re paying for more data and more competition is being studied. However, some reviewers don’t agree with the pricing model and would prefer a flat fee.
Click HERE to see AirDNA pricing…
AirDNA Features
AirDNA is known for its Market Minder feature. This interactive map is a pleasure to use and shows you real-time listing data from competing Airbnbs in your area! It’s pretty cool, not to mention extremely useful to savvy hosts looking to get a leg up on the competition.
You can see things like how many days someone else’s listing has available to rent, what their average daily rate is, their occupancy percentage, and even revenue! When looking at your own Airbnb calendar dashboard, AirDNA shows you which nights are predicted to be high demand so you can price accordingly.
They also have an Investment Explorer that takes potential investors on a virtual tour of US markets to help them find where their money is best spent. If you’re looking to expand your Airbnb business and branch out to another city, this is a great tool for you.
AirDNA Pros: Why We Love This Powerful Tool
AirDNA shines in their data-driven analytics. They probably give the average user much more data than they would know what to do with, so it’s great that they also simplify things with custom pricing suggestions and other tips and tricks to increase revenue.
AirDNA Cons
AirDNA advertises a “dynamic pricing” tool with their Market Minder, but it doesn’t really price your Airbnb for you the way the name insinuates. While it can suggest a price, it’s still up to you to change it yourself. Some don’t mind this, but it does require a lot more legwork than an automated version like Wheelhouse’s.
The monthly fee system is a big con in my eyes, and it doesn’t make sense to me to have users pay based on market size. I can also see it scaring off a lot of smaller hosts in large markets simply due to being priced out of a service that they could have benefitted from.
AirDNA Summary
At the end of the day, it’s hard to beat AirDNA’s data power. They can analyze just about any market (especially in the US) and give you detailed suggestions on how to improve your business strategy. Investors can also make great use of it as it makes it easy to find up-and-coming rental property opportunities.
I’m convinced, give me an AirDNA FREE promo code!
Wheelhouse Overview: The Power of A.I.
Wheelhouse has a fantastic user interface, allowing even the least tech-savvy hosts to make use of its helpful features. It allows you to set your own price or choose from its preset values based on how aggressively or competitively you want to list. It integrates with Airbnb and a few smaller booking websites, but unfortunately not HomeAway/VRBO.
Its pricing model is a bit more appealing (in my opinion) than AirDNA’s, making it less intimidating to smaller hosts wary of spending too much money upfront. It has less robust data available than AirDNA, but it somewhat makes up for this by using an ever-learning AI to predict future trends.
Check out our in-depth Wheelhouse Review HERE!
Wheelhouse Cost
Wheelhouse’s standard plan uses a percentage-based pricing model and doesn’t charge a monthly fee, unlike AirDNA. The percentage price you pay goes down a bit if you list more than 10 properties with them. They also offer a flat fee for certain scenarios.
Click HERE to see Wheelhouse’s current pricing!
Wheelhouse Features: Why Hosts LOVE It
Once you create an account with Wheelhouse and sync your listings, you select a base price that it will understand as your “typical” nightly rate. It will then begin to generate personalized suggestions for pricing over time, with the results getting more and more accurate as its algorithm learns how your Airbnb runs.
You can also set a minimum price, last-minute discounts to increase occupancy, and higher rates for seasonal times or weekends.
Wheelhouse Pros
The ability to choose to price conservatively, aggressively, or stick with the recommended price simplifies things down for people who might otherwise get bogged down with finer details. You’re also able to set your own custom price at any time.
Wheelhouse has great customer service, with a chat representative always available. As mentioned above, their interface is super simple and a snap to figure out. No prior knowledge is required!
Wheelhouse Cons
There are a lot less analytics available than with AirDNA, which might be a disadvantage to someone who wanted to be very hands-on and dive into the details. This isn’t to say that Wheelhouse doesn’t give you anything, but you won’t get the same spreadsheets of information that AirDNA gives.
There also is no integration (as of yet) for HomeAway/VRBO, so you’re limited to Airbnb and a few smaller sites. This isn’t great, since market demands can vary a lot by site and you may want your prices to reflect that.
If you’re not too keen on Wheelhouse, check out our article AirDNA Vs. Beyond Pricing here…>>
Wheelhouse Summary
Wheelhouse is an awesome tool for someone looking for a “plug and play” experience with custom short-term rental pricing. It’s easy to use, user-friendly, and relatively cost-effective. The algorithm learns with you, so it gets better the longer you use it.
If you’re leaning toward Wheelhouse, make sure to apply your Wheelhouse promo code here…>>
Rental Recon Tip: There are tons of options out there when it comes to short-term rental management tools. Not every tool is right for every budget, and some people want more bells and whistles than others. Also consider what websites you list on, as not all programs support every booking platform. For two of my top recommendations, click HERE!
Overall…
Both Wheelhouse and AirDNA are superb pricing tools for any Airbnb host. I would recommend Wheelhouse for smaller hosts looking to gain a competitive edge, and AirDNA for those with a little more capital to invest in their properties.
