Last Updated: July 28, 2023
16 Airbnb Alternatives To Book Your Next Getaway
There are some Airbnb alternatives out there that offer similar but perhaps more affordable and even better services.
Airbnb has had a monopoly over all vacation rental sites for a long time now. Most of us have used Airbnb and let’s be honest, it is a great service that is easy to use. But, there are drawbacks!
Join me as I run through all the best Airbnb alternatives that you should consider using and why. From RV rentals to glamping, apartment rentals in Asia, and more, there are Airbnb alternatives to match your vacation rental, trip type, budget, or property type.
Table Of Contents Show All
List Of Airbnb Alternatives
Here are 16 great Airbnb alternatives:
- VRBO
- Booking.com
- Homestay
- TripAdvisor Rentals
- Plum Guide
- Agoda
- Sonder
- One Fine Stay
- Vacasa
- Glamping Hub
- Outdoorsy
- Home Exchange
- Flipkey
- BlueGround
- 9flats
- Homes and Villas by Marriott International
VRBO
VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner) is Airbnb’s biggest competitor and it is one of the cheapest Airbnb alternatives you should be searching on when you want a comparison.
VRBO has been operating since 1996, 12 years earlier than Airbnb got started, and has more than one million vacation rentals across the world,
VRBO doesn’t use the same model as Airbnb though. They only offer vacation rentals which means you always have the whole property to yourself. There is no staging in a room in someone’s house, or having a hosted experience.
VRBO is great for couples, families, and groups who want a longish vacation property all to themselves.
Using VRBO isn’t quite as easy as using Airbnb, but it still works and is always worth searching as well as Airbnb when booking a holiday. It is often more affordable than Airbnb and when you search, it shows the total price with all fees, unlike Airbnb.
Property owners can either pay an annual fee or a fee per booking when using VRBO.
ALSO READ: IS VRBO LEGIT?
Booking.com
Booking.com is by far one of the best sites like Airbnb, but for hotels. I always use booking.com when I have to spend a night between airports or want a hotel instead of an apartment.
Their prices are the best, you get value points which equate to extra discounts, and the booking process is smooth.
It is also great if you want to compare prices and choose between a hostel, hotel, or Airbnb-like property.
Booking.com is also one of the alternative sites you should check along with Airbnb as it also lists apartments and vacation rentals on its website. It is a great Airbnb alternative and while it doesn’t have the same number of properties as Airbnb, it is still worth searching on.
Booking.com is great for property owners too as it is easy to use and you pay a fee per booking, which makes life simple.
Homestay
Homestay holds a special place in the vacation rental space as it only offers one particular vacation rental program that is exactly like an old school Bed & Breakfast.
When you book through this alternative to Airbnb, you are always booking a room in the host’s home, just like a Bed & Breakfast, and breakfast is always included too.
This is one of my favorite Airbnb alternatives in the vacation rental industry as you get to stay with a local, meet someone new, and have a genuine experience too. It is also great for budget travelers in expensive cities like London and Paris.
While Airbnb has over a million properties, Homestay doesn’t have quite as many, meaning a lot of their properties are often booked. But, it is definitely one of the alternatives to Airbnb to do a quick internet search on.
TripAdvisor Rentals
We have all heard of TripAdvisor, but how about TripAdvisor Rentals? Yes, one of our favorite travel review sites is in the vacation rental market.
TripAdvisor Rentals is one of the great long and short-term rental sites and thus one of the best Airbnb alternatives. It has properties in over 200 countries and more than 900,000 properties listed.
The site has plenty of reviews for each property so you can be sure it is a good one to go for. The search and booking process is simple, and the cancellation terms are more flexible.
TripAdvisor Vacation Rentals is certainly one of the Airbnb competitors to look out for.
Plum Guide
Plum Guide is one of the Airbnb competitors that do things a little differently. While almost any property owner can list a house or room on Airbnb, Plum Guide is a lot pickier.
Every single property that is live on the Plum Guide website has been vetted against 150 criteria. Plum Guide checks everything from how sharp the knives are to how fluffy the pillows are.
Only 5% of the properties that try to be on Plum Guide get on the website. This means that there are fewer properties to choose from, but whatever property you book on Plum Guide is going to be pretty spectacular.
Agoda Homes
Agoda is a part of the hotel booking website Agoda which is based in Singapore.
Agoda is a well-known portal for hotel bookings, but they also have an apartment rental offering known as Agoda Homes which is another of our favorite Airbnb alternatives.
On Agoda Homes, you can find anything from luxury villas to apartments, bungalows, vacation rentals and more. The website has close to 1 million properties listed, giving you a very large choice, like Airbnb.
But, Agoda only offers entire apartments, there are no hosted services, and you get 12% off as a solo traveler too.
Sonder
Sonder is one of the best Airbnb alternatives if you want to rent a property with guaranteed standards. Sonder operates differently from Airbnb as they actually own or lease all the properties listed on the website.
This gives Sonder complete control over quality and therefore they can guarantee things like great coffee, good WiFi, good bedding, and lots more.
You can book both long-term and short-term rentals on Sonder, so they are one of the top alternatives to Airbnb if you are looking for your own space.
While they do not have as many properties as Airbnb, they do have options in over 27 cities globally.
If you own a property and want complete hassle-free income then Sonder is great for you. They will give you a steady monthly income by leasing your property and do everything else for you, so you don’t have to.
One Fine Stay
One Fine Stay is all about luxury vacation rentals and is one of the alternatives to Airbnb Luxe. All the properties are high-end, unique in a way, and are only available on One Fine Stay’s website.
You can tailor your booking to suit your needs. You will be checked in by one of their staff, who shows you around the property and has helpful tips about the area and things to do.
You can also book a private pick-up to get you to the property, book a private chef to cook up some local delicacies, and lots more.
One Fine Stay only has these amazing properties in specific parts of the world. These include luxury apartments in the USA, Europe, and Sydney. Villas in Hawaii, South Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, and Central America. Plus, chalets in the best ski spots in the USA.
Vacasa
Vacasa has a website that blows sites like Airbnb out of the water. The company uses such impressive technology that it makes the entire process as an owner or a renter as seamless as possible
Every property has a 3D tour attached to it and the quality is insane. You could buy a house off the back of one of these 3D tours without much hesitation.
Its technology doesn’t stop there. Vasca offers 24-hour owner and guest customer service. The booking process is super simple, and you get all the info about the property you are renting in the app, from how to work the electric stove to the Wifi.
Vacasa only hires locals on the ground for all the management of the property which means they support local tourism and local jobs. The properties are excellent too!
The one downside to Vacas is they only have properties in North and Central America at the moment but the list is growing.
Glamping Hub
Glamping Hub (as you might have guessed) is all about connecting you with glamping properties all around the world. It is a great site to use when you want to rent a property that is a little different and is usually in the heart of nature.
You can find cabins, tents, yurts, huts, tree houses, and lots more in some beautiful places around the globe.
Glamping Hub has more than 30,000 properties on its website and it works just like Airbnb. You can search by location with your planned dates and filter by cost, type of property, amenities, etc.
The booking process is easy and you’ll then be connected with the owners for check-in.
Outdoorsy
Outdoorsy is the Airbnb of the campervan and RV world. The site has more than 14 million campers and RVs listed and you can search by drivable, towable, and deliverable options.
If you have always dreamed of taking a long road trip around the United States then Outdoorsy is a great place to start. You can rent big modern RVs with all the trimmings, old-school airstreams, campers, Winnebagos, and lots more.
Every listing comes with custom reviews so you know what you are getting and the site works just like Airbnb, connecting you with the RV/camper owner.
Home Exchange
Home Exchange is another Airbnb competitor that works a little differently from Airbnb and a lot like Airbnb too.
Home Exchange allows you to swap homes with other users on the website for selected dates that work for both parties. Every member of the site has to pay a membership fee to use it which brings both validations to the users and ensures that everything is legit.
Home Exchange has close to 100,000 properties in over 150 countries for you to choose from. It also works as an alternative to Airbnb as you do not have to swap homes to book a property, you can also just rent them too.
FlipKey
Flipkey is one of the other Airbnb competitors you should take a look at when trying to search for a vacation rental for a group of people.
Most of their properties accommodate between 4 and 6 people so it is one of the alternatives to Airbnb you should take a look at for family and friends getaways,.
Flipkey is owned by TripAdvisor meaning you get a load of reviews about each property so that you can be sure it is the right rental for you.
It also has all the data you could ever need about every property which allows you to search very specifically in order to find the perfect property for you.
The main difference is that the properties are very much holiday homes, so lack the personal touches of some Airbnbs and you won’t get a hosted experience.
BlueGround
BlueGround is similar to Airbnb but they only list apartments for long-term rentals of 30 days or more. If you are looking to live around the world as a nomad, or need a stopgap while moving homes, then BlueGround is a great place to look.
BlueGround does not own the apartments but they are in control of all the interiors and amenities. This allows them to uphold excellent standards across all their properties guaranteeing good WiFi, towels, linens, kitchens with sharp knives, etc.
Their website is easy to use, true costs are on display, and you can pick from 5,000 properties across Europe and North America, plus Dubai, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
9Flats
9flats is a lot like Airbnb as it has vacation homes for rent on its site that are owned by individuals. The difference is that 9Flats works more like a travel agent search engine and also lists private and hotel rooms on their site.
It drags properties from other sites like booking.com so you can search for them all in one place. This makes life simple and it means that you have access to over 6 million properties with one click, instead of searching on multiple different sites.
Once you have chosen a property, it takes you to the website the property is listed on to do the booking. It is very similar to flight comparison sites in how it works!
9Flats has properties on every continent in the world bar Oceania so it is certainly worth searching on when you want to do a comparison to Airbnb.
The only downside is that they do not have many unique properties, as they are mostly aggregated from other sites. But, the number of homes listed directly on 9Flats is growing, so you will start to find more and more unique listings.
Homes & Villas by Marriott International
Homes and Villas by Marriott International are run by the world-renowned Marriott Hotel brand but instead of staying in one of their hotels, you can choose from one of their private properties in more than 45 countries.
Like Airbnb, the properties are not owned by Marriott but they are managed by Marriott’s high-end property management company. This means you get some guarantees when renting with them such as 24/7 support, high standards, fast WiFi, and lots more.
You can also earn Marriott points when booking with them, and use your points to reduce the cost of your booking too.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is safer: Airbnb or VRBO?
Both VRBO and Airbnb are safety-conscious organizations and have implemented measures to ensure that both guests and hosts are safe when booking accommodation through their platforms.
Identity verification, background checks, 24/7 support, secure payment systems, and guest reviews all ensure that you are safe and that you get what you pay for.
So, I would say they are both as safe as each other and it is up to you which one you feel more comfortable booking with.
What is the best Airbnb alternative in Europe?
If you are looking for a vacation rental in Europe, the best alternatives to Airbnb to search on are VRBO and 9Flats. They have the most properties, are easy to use, and are often more affordable than Airbnb too.
What is the best Airbnb alternative in the US?
Again, I would recommend both VRBO and 9Flats as between them you will search through a lot more properties. Booking.com also has a lot of great properties in the US, but their listings also show up on a 9Flats search, along with others.
What is the best Airbnb alternative in Asia?
Agoda Homes is by far the best Airbnb alternative to search for when you want to book an apartment or entire home in Asia. It has the most listings in Asia and being based in Singapore, they are very popular in the Asian vacation rentals market.
Are travelers turning away from Airbnb?
It is almost impossible for travelers to turn away from Airbnb as it has such a large market share and it is one of the easiest rental companies to use, as everyone is familiar with it.
But, more travelers are looking at other sites as well as Airbnb to make their bookings. This may be due to the annoyingly high service and cleaning fees, or to simply look for a deal.
In the end, Airbnb is a monster in this market place and it would be naive for anyone not to search for a property on Airbnb as well as a few alternatives as they hold so many.
About the Author Anna Timbrook
Anna is the co-owner of expert world travel and can't wait to share her travel experience with the world. With over 54 countries under her belt she has a lot to write about! Including those insane encounters with black bears in Canada.
