Airbnb has earned a huge success in the last few years. Millions of people around the world are using it to find a vacation home or to book properties juts like they book hotels. When you are looking for such sites on the internet to book hotels or any accommodation proper then let us tell you that Airbnb is not the only option for you. Well, there are many users who are looking for sites like Airbnb that can be the top alternatives to Airbnb. Here are some of our favorite sites like Airbnb to get you started which includes a couple of curveballs that you might not have expected.
Best 5 Sites like Airbnb 2021
1. VRBO
The first up on our list of Airbnb alternatives is VRBO, which is short for “vacation rentals by owner.” Whilst, perhaps it’s not as well known as Airbnb, these guys have over 1 million properties on their books and have been operating since 1996. Yes, they are rendering service a full 12 years longer than Airbnb. The VRBO model is a little bit different though as they only rent out vacation properties. This means it’s not a hosted experience and generally works best for families or groups of four or more who are looking for a slightly longer stay. Although, there are certainly many properties suited to couples.
Originally, VRBO doesn’t charge guests a service or booking fee. They used to pass this to the host instead but, they changed that in 2016 adding booking fees to bookings. Otherwise, the products are fairly similar. Airbnb offers a slightly sleeker user experience but it is much more popular. If you can’t find what you’re looking for on Airbnb then definitely give VRBO a try and if you’re a property owner then, VRBO has two different models. Either you can pay an annual fee or you can list it for free and pay a fee per booking.
2. HomeAway
HomeAway is the parent company to VRBO. So you would imagine there is a great deal of overlap on their listings. Though, there are some differences as HomeAway does have a bit more inventory on their books particularly, smaller apartments meaning you get a lot more options if you’re traveling solo or as a couple. While there is some overlap between HomeAway, VRBO, and Airbnb, it’s not as much as you might think.
In 2014, only 6% of HomeAway properties were also listed on Airbnb. That number has no doubt increased by now but the bottom line is that if you restrict yourself to Airbnb then you are missing out on a lot of great properties. HomeAway has a similar sort of booking what we see in VRBO and you can either pay an annual subscription or you can pay per booking. So we recommend this site when you are looking for sites like Airbnb.
3. Booking.com
Now when people stay in hotels and someone would come to make the bed and clean the room. Sure, we love apartments but every now and then you just want a good hotel. The best place generally we found for getting a great deal in any hotel anywhere in the world tends to be booking.com. It is one of the best sites like Airbnb when it comes to hotel bookings but you might not have realized is that booking.com also does homes and apartments.
So, if you’re already a fan of the site and want to keep using it for your apartment bookings then you can. The site is easy to use and the prices are usually the best. It’s definitely worth trying for your apartment hunting. For property owners out there, it’s free to list on booking.com with a fee applied for every booking.
4. HomeStay
HomeStay is what Airbnb is supposed to be. This is really one of the best sites like Airbnb. It’s a genuinely hosted experience meaning you stay at a hosts’ home. This means you get real local experience without the feeling of living with a local. Homestay can be used in locations around the world including Paris, Savannah, London, and many other properties in the USA and Asia. You will always have always a wonderful experience.
It is worth mentioning that there are a few downsides of the HomeStay. The main one being availability. Whilst it has properties in over 150 countries they don’t have the treats of somewhere like Airbnb. For example, if you try to find accommodation in New Orleans so there would be hundreds of locations on Airbnb but there’s less than ten on HomeStay. Of course, the number of the properties that are available is always growing and there are a great many listed on HomeStay that you just won’t find anywhere else. In addition to this, all HomeStay properties tend to include breakfast which is a pretty good thing. Finally, if you’re a property owner it’s also free to list on HomeStay.
5. FlipKey
FlipKey is owned by TripAdvisor so even if you haven’t heard of Flipkey itself, you can rest assured that this is no sort of fly-by-night setup. Like the majority of Airbnb alternatives, it has fewer listings. Currently, this site like Airbnb has 300,000 rentals across the 11,000 cities but with that said FlipKey doesn’t offer as shared rooms. It has private rooms or whole properties only. FlipKey has a nifty search feature where you can search for properties that meet certain criteria, such as pet-friendly properties or sea-view properties or even properties with a mountain view and so on, which is pretty neat if that’s what you’re after. It’s also free to list your property and Flipkey
Final words…
If you have any similar sites like Airbnb please comment them down below and also share your experiences with us if you’ve used any of these sites. If you haven’t tried these Airbnb alternatives 2021 then we really recommend you to use them in your future traveling if you are fade up of Airbnb now.