Airbnb completely revolutionized the travel accommodations industry, but their massive success hasn’t come without some growing pains.
Sky-high cleaning fees, sub-par customer service experiences, and unforgiving cancellation policies are all problems I’ve encountered using Airbnb. While it once was, Airbnb isn’t my go-to booking site anymore, and plenty of other Airbnb alternatives have come onto the vacation rentals market in recent years.
Airbnb created the possibility of renting a room or a property straight from another person, but I’ve learned that Airbnb isn’t always the best choice for vacation rentals anymore. Other companies have stepped in offering lower fees and better support and service, often making an alternative to Airbnb an easy choice if you know where to look.
There are so many other sites like Airbnb, which makes it hard to know which ones to use and when. Every apartment and spare room has the potential to serve as a boutique hotel, and there are some top-notch alternatives to Airbnb for booking a vacation home or vacation rental that you might not know about.
Whether you’re looking to make bookings or sign up as a host, here’s a list of sites like Airbnb you should definitely check out.
I’ve only tried Roomorama once. I’ve heard it first before I knew about AirBnb’s existence. I thought they closed already. I’ve also heard of Wimdu before, though i’m not exactly sure if they’re still in business.
Thanks for sharing #2 😀
Wimdu is another great choice, and they’re especially good in Europe. There are so many sites I could have included, but there’s just no need to list them all–it gets too confusing 😉
Hi there Jeremry what is some great websites to advertise your property on for short stay accommodation in Australia
Great article! I’ve used Airbnb and HomeAway but a lot of these other sites I didn’t even know existed! I’ll definitely be saving this to refer to next time I travel. I’m especially excited to try #2. I wasn’t aware that you could rent timeshares, sounds pretty cool! Roomorama also sounds like a good option for longer stays.
Yeah, there are more than a few other great alternatives. Airbnb has the publicity, and I do love their service, but it’s not always the best fit!
Renting timeshares definitely sounds cool! All of the benefits you get from a resort without the commitment and maintenance fees you get sucked into when owning a timeshare. Also, you can choose to try out different ones instead of going back to the same place every year! Nifty.
Exactly! Now, to pick which one…
I use Airbnb quite often. I’ll definitely look into some of these other. Thanks for the heads up.
Awesome article. I’m excited to try the SellMyTimeShareNow option. I had no idea this was possible, but seems like a great way to save some cash when traveling!
Thanks for the suggestions! I’ve used Wimdu once, for a trip to France. Overall, a good experience. However, I remember the owner of the apartment saying that Airbnb was cheaper.
Not necessarily. Remember, each host sets their own price, so the rate can vary wildly on every platform.
These are some great options and I’d never have thought to try renting a time share but it’s a clever idea
Yeah! It’s a lesser known “trick” to get resort stays for pretty affordable prices.
#2 is a great find! I am writing this one down for the next family trip. Like the idea of getting into some non-traditional inventory this way. Ones I have had good luck with are Homestay.com and surprisingly, Hotels.com.
Useful sharing, these sites will help me find the room easier for the next trip, thanks a lot
Does Home away rent rooms in houses or just the whole house ?
Roomarama link is now dead.
Thanks for letting me know! Looks like they went under! I’ll be updating this article soon.
HolidayPorch.com is another alternate to Airbnb. They charge the lowest service fees and also offer cash backs on every booking. Plus, most properties offer free cancellation.
There should be more competitors in market so it will really help travelers on budget to find awesome deals.
Airbnb used to be my go-to stop for all bookings, mostly because I could negotiate with the host. Then HomeAway was the second option, but then Airbnb started to have a lot of spammy hosts and listings. I would message the host for a reasonable host and they would flood my mail box with junk email about apartments for purchase and stuff. I complained to the staff but it became worse. HomeAway is good, but I;m yet to check out the rest. Pretty handy if you can;t find in one website. Thanks, man.
This is awesome! I love the Airbnb concept, used it twice last summer in Manchester (cool hippie coop house) and Los Angeles (gorgeous little cottage with our own pool). I’ve never even considered the possibility of other sites having the same services, it’s fun how you get stuck with the one that has kind of monopoly on the concept.
I did not know that booking.com also have apartment rentals now!
Thanks for sharing this list, it opens up a whole bunch of new opportunities for accomodation when traveling!
I’m so glad! I hope this list of sites like Airbnb helps 🙂
the facts have been discussed is really important.keep doing that. Thank you so much for sharing a great article.
Thank you for this article. I have used Airbub previously. I ,loved it. I’m a 70 year old lady that loves to travel by car. I need just a very inexpensive place to sleep and show for 1, maybe 2 nights at a time. This article has given me a few more options. Thanks.
Really a nice list compiled. thanks for it.
A great alternative for property owners is Neighbor.com! It requires way less work to make money than Airbnb.
Thanks for this list! What about Couchsurfing, Craigslist and Hipcamp? They are also alternatives to finding lodging with their own unique pros and cons.
Air B N b has many different pricing and fees that are computed differently in different countries. Such fees like service are charged by air b n b can snout to 2 to 3 times room rates. So more of such alternatives is great. Thank you.
Amazing list. Loved it! could you please let us know about the travelling services that accepts crypto currencies? Thanks.
An employee at VRBO just told me that, “VRBO is JUST an advertising platform!” in no uncertain terms. I’ve had a HUGE issue with a homeowner for a condo in Hawaii that we rented to stay in for our daughter’s wedding week. Due to Covid-19, the travel to Hawaii was shut down and we had to postpone the wedding to next year. We tried to work diligently with the homeowner to no avail. Contacted VRBO, and that was the assistance I received. NOTHING! Robert from VRBO even stated that they would refund their fees of almost $800, but then IMMEDIATELY backpedaled claiming that we were not traveling within the Covid-19 time period (our arrival to the condo was to be June 7, 2020.) THEN he added that although the homeowner has a separate rental agreement that we adhered to, with an adjustment by the homeowner, that the current cancellation statement on the website stood. Let’s just go back to what Airbnb did for all of their renters…..no fee cancellation for Airbnb. What is VRBO doing? NOTHING….”they are just an advertising platform.” Think again, there is a HUGE difference between Airbnb and VRBO. Airbnb did the right thing.
I’m sorry to hear you had this experience with Vrbo. Indeed, they’re just a marketplace where homeowners can list their properties. It’s the same thing as Airbnb, just a different company.
Really Awesome Artice!
So glad you found it helpful!
Interesting blog. Nice to read something like this. Its great.
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BookingWithEase.com is a great one to use for owners