AirDNA is one of the first providers of short term rental data and analytics, but if you're looking for the best AirDNA competitors due to pricing or data issues, you've come to the right place! And, while AirDNA can be a great tool, its features also may not fit your specific needs.
AirDNA was founded in 2014 to help Airbnb hosts boost the performance of their investment properties across the U.S. and has since then significantly expanded its scope of services and coverage. Currently, AirDNA aims to meet the needs of both individual and business stakeholders in the short term rental and hotel industries via global vacation rental data, various analytics tools, and comprehensive solutions. The platform allows investors to find top-performing markets and properties, hosts and managers to enhance the performance of their portfolios via dynamic pricing, and real estate tech companies, hedge funds, and investment banks to analyze trends in local and global short term rental markets.
Nevertheless, AirDNA does not always offer the best data and tools to meet the diverse needs of different groups. Sometimes vacation rental operators need to look elsewhere to find the right data and tech platform for their needs. This article reviews the best AirDNA alternatives for various individuals, businesses, and situations. In our comparison between AirDNA and its competitors, we look at how each alternative works, what it does, and what its pros and cons compared to AirDNA are.
The best AirDNA competitors for owners, property managers, and investors include:
- Summer Forecast: Best for Property Managers and Funds
- DIY Research and Analysis: Best for Individuals on a Budget
- Mashvisor: Best for Comprehensive Services
- Rabbu: Best for Property Analysis
- Airbtics: Best for Market Intelligence
- Individual Underwriting: Best for Purchasing a Property
1. Summer Forecast: Best for Property Managers and Funds
Summer is the best AirDNA competitor for vacation rental managers, designed and developed by experienced vacation rental managers. The platform has the power to also help STR investors as well as real estate funds that need accurate data to make profitable investment decisions.
Summer was founded in 2021 by Paul Kromidas, who used his experience as an Airbnb alumni and property manager to build a one-stop-shop for short term rental investors, owners, and managers. The company offers investment property search, design, and management services to individuals and comprehensive solutions to property managers.
Recently, Summer Forecast was born out of the need for truly comprehensive, accurate, and easy-to-use Airbnb data to buy and manage vacation rental assets that other AirDNA alternatives fail to provide. It's your go-to platform for building a high-performing Airbnb portfolio. Our institutional-quality Airbnb data and forecasting tools are designed to help property managers and investors like you make smarter decisions. With intuitive insights on revenue, occupancy rates, market trends, and comps, Forecast enables you to evaluate new investments, optimize your portfolio, and stay ahead in the competitive short-term rental market.
Whether you're managing a few properties or a large portfolio, Forecast simplifies the process and puts all of your essential data in one place.
How Summer Forecast Works
Summer Forecast provides the following functionalities to property managers as well as investors:
- Customizable and intuitive workflows: Locate and analyze any property in the U.S. market, building from intuitive workflows for property managers.
- Access to both data and insights: Forecast offers all the short term rental data that property managers need to make their own decisions, but it doesn't stop there. The platform provides ready insights on the most important points, eliminating the guesswork from Airbnb investment and management decisions.
- Focus on the numbers that matter: Forecast helps property managers and investors access and understand the revenue figures that matter to them. The platform provides calculators and shortcuts to evaluate investment and management decisions easily and accurately.
- Analysis customization and prioritization: Users can customize the Forecast tool to their exact portfolio including building their own comp sets, defining their market, modifying and building new graphs and interfaces, and adding custom notes.
- Features made for the industry: Forecast was built with professional-owner focused features, such as underwriting, pro forma, and term sheet tools
Short term rental property managers can use Summer Forecast to analyze new markets before venturing into them, research new potential properties before onboarding them, and set up owner expectations based on comps performance. In addition, Airbnb managers can compare their portfolio to the average market performance, identify underperforming properties, and build strategies to enhance results.
Meanwhile, Summer Forecast can help vacation rental investors analyze expected performance before purchasing a property as well as understand how their properties perform compared to competitors in the market.
Summer Forecast vs AirDNA
Choosing Forecast over AirDNA has important benefits as well as some drawbacks that need to be taken into consideration when making your decision.
The major advantages of Summer Forecast as the top AirDNA alternative for property managers and funds are:
- All-in-one data solution for large, national vacation rental property managers and firms as well as individual investors
- Access to institutional-quality Airbnb data
- Comprehensive set of STR rental data points and insights including but not limited to booking revenue, cleaning revenue, ADR, occupancy, cash flow, and more
- Intuitive, user-friendly interface
- Scalability as the platform capacities grow along with your Airbnb management business
- Customizable workflow and analysis
The main limitation of Summer Forecast as compared to AirDNA is:
- No international/global data (focus on the U.S. market)
Comparing Summer Forecast vs AirDNA, the former emerges as the best vacation rental data solution for big-scale property managers, funds, and even investors. The platform allows users to structure, organize, and customize data access and analysis in the way that makes the most sense for them. Learn more about Summer Forecast now!
Better data, smarter decisions: Summer Forecast
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2. DIY Research and Analysis: Best for Individuals on a Budget
Instead of relying on Airbnb data analytics platforms like AirDNA, individual, small-scale, and part-time investors can do their own research to collect, organize, and analyze the data that they need to locate profitable opportunities in the market. Individual hosts, meanwhile, can manually check the performance of competitors in the area to set up a dynamic short term rental pricing strategy for their listing.
How DIY Research and Analysis Works
Doing DIY research and analysis refers to the traditional method of finding good Airbnb markets and properties for sale and setting up the pricing of listings for rent. To do this, investors need to gain access to market- and property-level data from different sources including publicly available websites, other hosts in the area, public records, and more.
As soon as they have the relevant data, you'll enter it into a spreadsheet, organize it, and clean it before starting calculating market aggregates to decide if a certain location makes sense for vacation rental investments or not.
For property-level data necessary to find Airbnb properties to buy, investors can use short term rental comparables, or short term rental comps. These are properties that are of the same type and size, have similar features and amenities, and are located no more than a few miles away from your property. Their performance can be used as a benchmark for forecasting the expected results of a property that you're considering purchasing for renting. Moreover, their daily rates can be the base for pricing your own Airbnb listing in a competitive manner.
While this AirDNA alternative might sound time-consuming, it is feasible for individual investors and hosts who plan to buy or already own a single property. The main advantages are that you can focus your research on the markets and properties that make sense from your point of view and that you don't have to pay subscription fees like when using AirDNA.
Pros and Cons of DIY Research and Analysis vs AirDNA
Conducting your own Airbnb data research and analysis instead of using AirDNA comes with some advantages and disadvantages.
The main pros of DIY research and analysis include:
- Focus on your selected market(s) and properties
- Reliable results as long as it's implemented carefully and diligently
- No subscription costs
The major cons of this strategy are:
- Time- and energy-consuming
- Financial and data expertise needed
- Prone to human errors that easily multiply across spreadsheets
- Limited availability of free data
- No city/national outlook
Considering the pros and cons of the traditional approach to vacation rental data collection and analysis, this method could be a good choice for individual Airbnb investors and hosts who are just getting started and do not have the budget to use tech tools like AirDNA, which can get rather expensive for access to all necessary tools and data.
3. Mashvisor: Best for Comprehensive Services
Mashvisor is the closest AirDNA competitor for the needs of both property investors and managers. The company was launched in 2016 to provide readily available Airbnb data analysis to find the best short term rental markets as well as top-performing properties for sale. It quickly expanded beyond short term rentals to also cover long term rentals, which makes it unique compared to other AirDNA alternatives. Currently, Mashvisor also offers Airbnb management software tools in an attempt to support investors along the entire process.
How Mashvisor Works
Mashvisor has a wide range of Airbnb data-based tools for investors/hosts and small-scale property managers that include:
- Short term and long term rental data at market and property level including rental income, daily rates, Airbnb occupancy rate, cash on cash return, cap rate, cash flow, and rental expenses
- Airbnb calculator to analyze addresses across the U.S.
- Property marketplace to find and analyze available listings for sale
- Vacation rental management software including dynamic pricing
Comparing the short term rental data analytics capabilities of AirDNA and Mashvisor, the former seems to be the better platform. Where Mashvisor outperforms AirDNA is the availability of long term rental data and the wider selection of tools for Airbnb property management.
Pros and Cons of Mashvisor vs AirDNA
Mashvisor has certain advantages and disadvantages compared to AirDNA that investors and property managers need to consider when choosing between the two.
The most considerable Mashvisor benefits include:
- Access to both short term and long term rental data (if you ever need to switch strategies)
- Comprehensive short term rental management software platform
At the same time, where Mashvisor falls short is:
- Data accuracy issues reported by customers in their Mashvisor reviews
- Focus on the U.S. market
- Usability limited to small-scale property managers
All in all, Mashvisor is better fit to meet the needs of beginner investors (who are still choosing between short term and long term rentals) and small-scale property managers. The Mashvisor products help along the entire Airbnb investment process, from locating good markets and properties for sale, to automating the management of the property. However, using the platform is somewhat cumbersome for managers with multiple rentals in their portfolio and the available tools do not properly support property management business growth.
4. Rabbu: Best for Property Analysis
Rabbu is a good AirDNA alternative for some investors that are finding, buying, and selling Airbnb investment properties. The company was founded in 2016 with the goal of helping short term rental investors make more money from their investments. Rabbu stands out for their detailed vacation rental analysis for properties for sale. However, unlike AirDNA, Rabbu does not offer any support to investors post-purchase (unless they decide to sell their property).
How Rabbu Works
Rabbu works as an Airbnb data analysis platform that highlights both the best Airbnb markets and the top listings for sale to turn into a vacation rental. Moreover, it offers additional support to investors buying and selling short term rentals.
Rabbu can help with:
- Finding top locations
- Analyzing addresses
- Performing in-depth Airbnb investment property analysis including annual revenue and cash on cash return
- Accessing properties for sale
- Connecting with real estate agents working with investors
- Qualifying for short term rental financing or DSCR programs from lending partners
- Selling properties as sales by Rabbu, sales by agent, or sales by owner
Comparison of AirDNA vs Rabbu shows that the former is the more comprehensive platform for different types of stakeholders in the short term rental industry and across different stages of the investment process. However, the latter offers more detailed analysis of investment properties as well as access to a support network including agents and lenders, which is crucial for beginners in real estate investing.
Pros and Cons of Rabbu vs AirDNA
As an AirDNA competitor, Rabbu comes with both pros and cons that investors need to take into account when choosing which platform to go for.
The most significant advantages of Rabbu over AirDNA include:
- Available listings for sale
- Detailed short term rental property analysis
- Support in finding, buying, and selling STRs
- Access to a network of agents and lenders specializing in Airbnb properties
- Some usability for agents and lenders
- Some free tools
Meanwhile, the main disadvantages of Rabbu include:
- Limited to U.S. data
- Limited to no use for property managers
- No pricing information on the website
Between Rabbu and AirDNA, the former is the better option for first-time investors who need help in finding and analyzing available opportunities as well as access to real estate professionals who can help them get started. The property-level analysis is particularly detailed, which is an important feature for those who are new to STR investments and don't have alternative tools for analysis. Where Rabbu falls short compared to AirDNA is the lack of solutions for Airbnb hosts and property managers.
5. Airbtics: Best for Market Intelligence
Airbtics is a close AirDNA alternative in the field of short term rental market data and analytics. Unlike other AirDNA competitors, Airbtics really delves into market intelligence and covers global markets, not only the U.S. The company was started in 2019 with the mission to monitor vacation rental listings worldwide and provide valuable insights to investors, property management companies, tourism boards, DMOs, researchers, and journalists. The historical and present data offered by Airbtics serves the needs of different players in the Airbnb industry.
How Airbtics Works
Among AirDNA alternatives, Airbtics is a top choice for STR market intelligence that covers international locations and destinations. This can really help investors identify the top short term rental markets for their specific requirements. Having said that, the company does not offer the same detailed property-level Airbnb analytics like AirDNA, Summer, Mashvisor, and Rabbu.
Airbtics functionalities and capabilities include:
- Access to historical data since 2021
- Vacation rental market overview and details
- Guest and host insights
- Listing overview and details
- Different filters including amenities and performance
- Various view and download options
- Airbnb calculator with detailed insights
Airbtics offers a free plan with limited functions, while more sophisticated Airbtics plans are more affordable than AirDNA, especially taking into consideration the level of detail.
Pros and Cons of Airbtics vs AirDNA
Airbtics has its own benefits and drawbacks that need to be considered when deciding whether this platform is able to meet your needs.
The top Airbtics pros include:
- Focus on detailed market intelligence, globally
- Multiple Airbnb data points including revenue, daily rates, and occupancy as well as general real estate trends such as home values, population, and wages
- Limited free access
- Less expensive individual plans
At the same time, Airbtics has the following cons compared to AirDNA:
- Limited property-level data
- Shorter-term historical data coverage
- Limited functions for managing vacation rentals
Airbtics is capable of meeting the vacation rental market analysis needs of different stakeholders, from individual investors and hosts, to large-scale managers and analysts. Data coverage is global, unlike other AirDNA alternatives. Nevertheless, Airbtics is not able to help with property-level analysis as much as other options out there.
6. Individual Underwriting: Best for Purchasing a Property
As a final alternative to using AirDNA, investors can resort to individual underwriting when considering whether to buy a certain investment property to rent out on a short term basis. Investors who don't have enough experience and expertise in the market can hire different professionals to do the necessary investment property analysis for them and provide feedback on its feasibility as an Airbnb investment.
How Individual Underwriting Works
Having a professional or a team of professionals analyze investment opportunities for you is quite different from subscribing to a tech-driven platform such as AirDNA. Generally speaking, this option is best for beginner investors who plan to buy one or more vacation rental properties, who don't want to over-rely on technology, and who have substantial financial resources.
The process entails finding and hiring an expert or a team of experts who specialize in real estate market and property analysis. This can be a local expert with intimate knowledge of the area and its investment opportunities or a large company with national or international presence that has access to the data and tools necessary to analyze multiple markets.
The main types of professionals who can help buyers with their analysis and decision include:
- Real estate agents specializing in Airbnb investment properties
- Property managers with long experience in the market
- Experienced STR investors and hosts with analytical skills
- Professional vacation rental data analysts or firms
The best way to find a human review team for your investment properties is to ask for referrals. While you can rely on online reviews of tech- driven AirDNA competitors, customer reviews are less frequently available for specific professionals or firms. Thus, it's a good idea to ask other investors who have successfully launched an Airbnb business with the help of underwriters for recommendations.
It's important to note that working with an individual analyst is likely to take significantly more time than using AirDNA. With AirDNA, you can see data and analytics right away, while the team you hire will probably need a couple of weeks to complete their analysis. The results, however, will be customized to your specific property and situation, which makes them more detailed and reliable.
Pros and Cons of Individual Underwriting vs AirDNA
Working with an Airbnb analysis specialist rather than using AirDNA has major advantages and disadvantages for investors.
The most crucial pros of individual underwriting include:
- Custom market and property analysis
- Personalized reporting
- More accurate results tailored to your specific situation
- Incorporation of more factors in the analysis
The main drawbacks of hiring a professional team are:
- Longer timeframe
- Potentially prohibitively high cost
- No post-purchase support
Hiring an individual or a whole team to analyze potential investments and provide feedback is a good option for investors who are looking for the best opportunities and are not concerned about the budget. It's a particularly strong fit for those planning to buy a large multifamily property or multiple properties within the same market due to the increased investment size which calls for a more custom approach to analysis. Meanwhile, this option might be cumbersome or expensive for small-scale investors purchasing a single property.
Bottom Line
AirDNA has established itself as a leader in the short term rental data and analytics market, both for investors and property managers, as well as funds, banks, and academia. However, that doesn't mean that it is always the best possible solution for stakeholders in the Airbnb industry. There are many AirDNA competitors that do a much better job at certain tasks and in specific situations.
Summer Forecast is the top alternative to AirDNA for building a high-performing Airbnb portfolio. Designed by property managers for property managers, our institutional-quality Airbnb data and forecasting tools help property managers and investors like you make smarter decisions. With intuitive insights on revenue, occupancy rates, market trends, and comps, Forecast enables you to evaluate new investments, optimize your portfolio, and stay ahead in the competitive short-term rental market.
Whether you're managing a few properties or a large portfolio, Forecast simplifies the process and puts all of your essential data in one place. Learn more about Summer Forecast now!
Better data, smarter decisions: Summer Forecast
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