Airbnb Management Software: Why Use It and How to Choose One

Airbnb Management Software: Why Use It and How to Choose One
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Airbnb property management software is a perfect solution for busy hosts looking to ease their workload. At the same time, it helps increase the efficiency of their business operations.

In recent years, the popularity of Airbnb has skyrocketed. To keep up with the intensifying competition, Airbnb hosts have become a lot busier. More people are taking the plunge to start their own vacation rental business.

To stay ahead of the curve, many rental property owners are using business automation. Discover the top 7 benefits that Airbnb management software can offer your business.

What Is Airbnb Property Management Software?

Hosting is an extensive job, especially if you manage more than one short-term rental or have them listed on multiple vacation rental platforms. It can become a headache to keep on top of all the repetitive, daily tasks required for property management, even for experienced property managers.

Airbnb management software is a special tool that helps hosts and property managers to automate day-to-day tasks, streamline operations, prevent human error, and save costs.  

Airbnb Management tips

How Does Airbnb Property Management Software Work?

Airbnb property management software provides a connection between your property listings and the software itself. If you have multiple listings and run your rentals on a number of vacation rental sites, this type of software allows you to manage your properties from one place by organizing them within a centralized dashboard.

In addition, it offers various functions that automate vacation rental management tasks. In a nutshell, they include: 

  • Guest messaging 
  • Real-time calendar synchronization
  • Reviews creation and send-outs
  • Cleaning management
  • Team and task management
  • Pricing management, and a lot more.

With these tasks taken care of, hosts can focus on business growth and scaling.

Person using a property management software app

What Are the Benefits of Using Airbnb Property Management Software?

1. Ensures flawless guest communication

Airbnb guests expect on-demand customer service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, no matter if you're managing multiple properties or not. Responding to messages at all hours of the day can eat away at your time.

To handle guest communication, you might already have considered extending your team by looking at property managers.

In fact, an Airbnb host sends about 2,500 messages per month in response to guests’ inquiries. Meanwhile, Airbnb management software can automate over 70% of these messages.

Automated responses ensure flawless communication with your guests. Guests will receive instant and accurate responses to their inquiries at any time of day.

By automating responses, you can reply to more inquiries and get more reservations thanks to property management.

Woman contacting property management companies

Airbnb management software can also trigger and time automated messages. This allows you to keep your guests informed even when you are physically unable to respond to them. Some Airbnb management software solutions offer a property management mobile app allowing you to reply to your guest messaging on the go. 

Another time-consuming task is to keep up with inquiries received from multiple accounts. Airbnb management software with a Unified inbox organizes all messages in one place. This way, you can send responses from the software without logging in to your Airbnb accounts.

With automation, you will be able to deliver better property management customer service with less effort. For example vacation rental software, such as iGMS, saves hosts up to 70% of time on communication. iGMS automated messaging will free up your time so you can focus on business growth. 

Another essential feature is the ability to track and improve guest communication. iGMS offers an exclusive add-on feature called PROtrack that auto-assigns guest support agents to message threads and monitors their productivity in real-time.

Two women, discussing vacation rental business

2. Helps to grow the number of your reviews

Most Airbnb guests don’t bother to leave reviews after their checkout. Recent studies show that only 20% of guests take the time to leave reviews without Airbnb’s reminders.

If you want to grow the number of guest reviews, you should be the one to make the first move. Once you leave feedback for your guests, Airbnb will prompt them to review you in return.

The more reviews you have, the more trustworthy you’ll look in the eyes of potential guests. Additionally, having many positive reviews improves your listing’s position in the search results.

However, busy hosts don’t have much time to write reviews. Moreover, writing reviews doesn’t come naturally to everyone. Airbnb management software can automate your reviews making the review-creation process easier. Reviews should always be seen as a vital part of the property management process.

Property management systems for vacation rentals

For example, iGMS enables you to create templates for guest reviews. This means that you won’t have to write reviews from scratch for every guest. Don’t worry, there won’t be any difference between an automated review and the one written by you.

iGMS also saves you time by allowing you to send reviews automatically via the system. This feature is convenient for managing multiple listings across different vacation rental platforms.

Best Airbnb management software

3. Boosts your Airbnb ranking

Setting up a listing on Airbnb is not enough to make your business profitable. Airbnb uses an algorithm to rank listings in its search results to help guests to find the right listings for their needs. To attract potential guests, your listing should be visible on the first pages of the search results. 

The algorithm factors in various aspects of your vacation rentals, such as the number of reviews, response rate, and so on. Updating your calendar regularly is also essential for ranking high on Airbnb. However, if you manage several Airbnb rentals on your own, it can be difficult to pay attention to each listing.

Vacation rental management software can have a positive impact on ranking factors. For example, by automating your replies, you can enhance your response rate. Also, reviews automation can bring you more positive reviews. Thus, using a property management tool could help your listing to move to the top of the search results. 

Finally, implementing dynamic Airbnb pricing can help to improve your listings’ rankings. Dynamic pricing tools help to keep your rates competitive and your listings relevant. Each time your listing receives a new price, Airbnb ranks it again, and it appears higher in the SERP results.

4. Synchronizes your calendar in real-time

One of the biggest positives of property management is the ease of process. If you list your property on several platforms, it can be a headache to keep the calendars in sync. That’s why finding the solution to keep all your bookings in order can be a lifesaver.

Airbnb management software for hosts

Luckily, automated channel management can relieve your anxiety about receiving double-bookings. Using a software solution allows you to manage multi-channel listings from one dashboard.

If you get a rental booking on one platform, the same dates will be blocked out on the other platforms. The same goes for making alterations. If you or your guests make any changes to the booking, they will apply across all your platforms.

5. Helps to manage multiple Airbnb accounts

Airbnb doesn’t allow hosts to own and operate multiple Airbnb accounts as per their rules. That said, some hosts still chose to do so. When managing more than one property, it can be annoying switching between accounts.

Airbnb management software like ours eliminates the constant need to log in and log out of your accounts. iGMS is a Preferred Partner with Airbnb and integrated with Vrbo, so you get to manage everything more seamlessly. It also syncs up with Google Vacation Rentals (GVR) and Booking.com, expanding your reach and simplifying management across different sites.

Check out the iGMS marketplace too—it’s packed with cool tools and integrations that help you keep everything running smoothly, whether you're scaling up or just keeping things ticking over.

Use property management software designed for property managers

6. Coordinates your teams more efficiently

The greatest benefit of Airbnb software is that it grows your business independently. Automation helps you to make the most out of what you already have.

Using Airbnb management software for vacation rentals such as iGMS, you can boost productivity and reach your business goals faster. This is the case whether you manage your rentals yourself or have a team of support agents.

iGMS ensures the smooth coordination of your teams or subcontractors. You can invite your support staff to join your software system and share work tasks with each member.

By utilizing software, you can create automated schedules. Moreover, with tools like iGMS, you can also auto-assign cleaners to specific properties.

Cleanings are scheduled after each checkout, and your cleaners will be notified automatically. You can track who’s busy and who has already completed a job. This means you won’t have to deal with missed cleanings or maintenance issues anymore.

Property managers discussing property management software

7. Saves time on routine operations

Time is your most valuable currency! So, it makes sense to use it wisely. Doing routine operations over and over again is unlikely to help you grow your business.

The days of manual assignment and supervision of all routine tasks are long gone. Today, hosts can achieve much better results by using software that saves time.

Automating daily operations will allow you to devote more time to activities that will scale your business. In turn, scaling your business is crucial for increasing profitability.

Vacation rental management software doesn’t erase the hard work of running an Airbnb business, but it does make it easier.

Management software ROI

How to Find the Best Airbnb Management Software for Your Business

Follow these steps to select the best option available in the market.

1. Identify your needs and goals

Identify which areas of your business you struggle with the most. Some areas you could look at include guest messaging and calendar syncing. By pinpointing your needs, you will be able to decide what features to look for.

2. Compare different tools

Dig deeper to identify the pros and cons of various tools. A good idea is to check real user reviews on comparison websites such as Capterra, GetApp, G2, and so on. Read reviews to find out what kind of experience customers had when using these software tools.

3. Try it before you buy it

Before you make the final decision, you should try the options that you’ve selected in action. This way, you’ll learn more about the functionalities of each tool and see what downsides they have.

4. Innovative features

Some property management software services offer a range of additional features. These include direct digital marketing services, booking website builders, SEO and marketing services, and task management.

When searching for your ideal property management system, be sure to investigate whether or not these additional features bring benefits. For instance, having a direct booking website builder in 2025 is critical to avoid overpaying fees to booking platforms.

Avoid These Mistakes When Choosing Airbnb Management Software

To make your search for the best Airbnb management tool easier, we try to help you by suggesting typical mistakes to avoid.

Short-term, not long-term property management software

There are many solutions, but not all are made for short-term rentals. Commercial or residential long-term rental tools don’t support the tasks of short-term property management. A software solution isn’t very useful if it doesn’t integrate with Airbnb or Vrbo or offer task management for your cleaners.

Not taking advantage of a Free Trial

Sometimes we get hung up on analyzing features but fail to understand how things work in reality. Free Trials are the best way to make up our minds about a solution.

Not taking into consideration a mobile app

While the web version is important, don’t forget that the mobile app will sometimes be used very frequently. Most tools offer one, but not all of them provide equal user-friendliness and a good mobile experience. For example, a 4.8 rating for iGMS on the Apple Store testifies to high user satisfaction with its app.

Why iGMS?

iGMS is a tool built from the ground up for vacation rental properties. It systematically automates most of the manual work that Airbnb hosts must do daily, such as:

FAQ

Here are the answers to some more common questions people have.

Which CRM does Airbnb hosts use?

Airbnb hosts and property managers actually use a tool called property management software. It is similar to the tools used in the hotel industry but adapted for short-term rentals.

It consists of features and capabilities like a channel manager, task management, automated messages and reviews, and reports.

How do I manage my own Airbnb?

One way to manage your own Airbnb is with the help of property management software. You will decide whether to handle cleaning yourself or hire a cleaning crew and a repairman for maintenance.

Another option, often complementary, is to hire a property manager to do it for you.

About the Author
Callan Riddles is the Content and Social Media Specialist at iGMS. Callan has a passion for finding new ways to help vacation rental businesses thrive. In her free time, she loves to travel, read, and experience all the new things that life has to offer.
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