A Comprehensive Comparison of Lodgify and Smoobu Vacation Rental Software

If you’re in the market for vacation rental software and find yourself torn between Lodgify and Smoobu, this comparison is designed to simplify your decision-making process.

Overview: Lodgify vs. Smoobu

Lodgify stands out as user-friendly vacation rental software known for its robust channel manager and direct booking website builder. It empowers property owners to create custom websites for direct bookings and seamlessly sync reservations with online travel agencies (OTAs).

On the other hand, Smoobu offers a comprehensive, all-in-one solution that shares many features with Lodgify, albeit at a lower price point. Regardless of the number of properties managed, Smoobu includes all features in its pricing, making it a favourable choice for smaller property management companies.

Pricing

Both Smoobu and Lodgify are great choices if you are starting out and have less than 9 properties. However, if you are planning to grow past 9 properties then maybe it is best to spend a little more early on to be on the right platform from the beginning.  

As our focus is on growing and ambitious agencies, we have compared prices based on 20 properties.

Lodgify

• Plans start at £35 per month.
• Offers a 7-day free trial.
• Volume discounts are available based on the number of properties.
• A lower-cost plan starts at £13 per month with a 1.9% booking fee and an annual payment requirement.
• For 20 properties the price starts from £193 per month

Smoobu

• Plans start at £26 per month.
• Provides a generous 14-day free trial.
• Offers a 20% discount for yearly subscriptions.
• For 20 properties the price starts from £175 per month

Winner: Smoobu

Smoobu emerges as the more cost-effective choice due to its lower monthly rates and extended trial period.  However, it is worth noting that the professional plan only offers 1 user and the team plan starts from £322 for 20 properties which makes it more expensive than Lodgify ‘Ultimate’.

Based on the entry-level pricing, then Smoobu is clearly the winner. However, if you have more than 5 units and need to manage your housekeeping the ‘Ultimate’ version of Lodgify provides more functionality than is available with Smoobu.

If you are an agency with 20 properties or a goal to achieve that within 12 – 24 months, then maybe iPRO would be a better fit for you and your business.

Getting Started

Smoobu and Lodgify are signup-and-go platforms, which means you are responsible for uploading your properties and importing your bookings.  If you have years of historical booking data then this will be lost. 

They offer comprehensive help sections so that you can onboard with little help or assistance.

Features

Both Lodgify and Smoobu offer essential features for effective property management, such as:

• Multi Calendar for streamlined booking management.
• Unified Inbox for message handling across various channels.
• Channel Manager for syncing listings across platforms.
• Booking Website Builder for creating customized booking sites.
• Owner Portal for property owner access and monthly reports.
• Performance Reports for revenue and booking analytics.
• Automation Tools for streamlining guest communication and check-ins.
• Task Management (Lodgify) and Task Integration (Smoobu) for team coordination.
• Digital Guest Guide (Smoobu) for personalized property information.

Winner: Lodgify

Lodgify boasts advanced options like accounting features, automation tools, and a robust booking website builder. Additionally, it offers more website templates compared to Smoobu.

The channel manager on both Smoobu and Lodgify is limited, in that it only syncs Rates and Availability.  This means content and images must be added to each website you advertise on, which is fine when you have 1 or 2 properties but when you have 10 or more this can be a huge administrative burden. 

Website Builders are limited and custom designs are not possible.  

Task management is limited in lodgify, however integrations to applications such as VR Scheduler, Properly etc.. mean that Housekeeping can be managed successfully but with another subscription.

Reports for Lodgify as more functional, however, we found reporting in both applications to be limited and doesn’t provide the kind of analysis we would expect and that we know is needed to successfully run a short-term rental agency.

Integration and customisation

Smoobu and Lodgify integrate with a wide array of vacation rental tools, spanning cleaning and maintenance, online check-in, smart locks, payments, and more. While Lodgify offers an additional Zapier integration, facilitating connections with over 1,000 apps.

Customer Support

Both platforms offer friendly and professional customer support. Lodgify provides support seven days a week in five languages, while Smoobu’s team is available six days a week in seven languages. Reports on customer support experiences are generally similar, with occasional mentions of support representatives lacking knowledge or delays in response times.

Conclusion: Lodgify or Smoobu?

When comparing Smoobu vs. Lodgify, both offer compelling solutions. Lodgify stands out with its advanced features and superior website builder, while Smoobu is a budget-friendly alternative that compensates for its lack of built-in features with an extensive list of integrations which of course will mean the overall cost is much higher than the basic Property Management System price. Smoobu is especially appealing to private owners and smaller property management companies looking for a cost-effective solution.

Fortunately, both platforms offer free trials, allowing you to evaluate them without any commitment.  

When doing a trial, it may be hard to gauge the value due to the moving parts involved with short-term rentals i.e. how do you test the website integration? How do you see how bookings are received by Airbnb, booking.com etc…

How will a statement look when you have many bookings and many deductions for housekeeping, repairs, and replacement items etc…

We recommend that you consider everything we have discussed and decide what is more important for you and your business, you then have to decide on your business goals and you should choose the PMS which aligns most effectively with those.

Alternative to Lodgify and Smoobu

If you’re exploring additional alternatives to Lodgify and Smoobu, consider iPRO as an affordable option. Our iPRO vs. Lodgify comparison provides insights to help you make an informed choice for your vacation rental management needs.