Airbnb competitors

The full list of Airbnb competitors. This article is your guide to the most popular Airbnb alternatives and Airbnb competitors worldwide.

Airbnb competitors - the "big five"

The "big five" refers to the biggest and most popular Airbnb competitor sites. Like Airbnb, their brand names are strong and known worldwide. These sites have millions of visitors and a vast number of services:

1) The largest Airbnb competitor: Flipkey by Tripadvisor

Tripadvisor is the largest travel site in the world with millions of users worldwide. If you have heard of TripAdvisor, that is probably because you interacted with their site to find the best things to do when vacationing. TripAdvisor, however, offers more than advice on the good things to do, they have a booking service feature to allow you to book vacation rentals, rent cars, book flights, and even book cruises. Tripadvisor has it's own private vacation rental section where property owners can advertise for free and travellers can read trusted reviews from previous guests.

Property owners can sign up here, it's fast, easy and free and travelers can search 1000's of private vacation rentals or hotels here. Did you know that advertisers on Flipkey earn in average $ 26000 per year?

Tripadvisor vs Airbnb

In a comparison of the site to Airbnb, TripAdvisor is more like Booking.com. The site offers a variety of other services apart from booking accommodation. Other things you might need when on vacation are available. TripAdvisor has an upper edge compared to Airbnb because you can use it to plan the things that you want to do on your trip. You can easily find the best shopping centers, restaurants, attractions sites and, more. For both sites, based on booking the accommodations there is no significant difference between them.Note: FlipKey is owned by TripAdvisor and there is no much difference between them in terms of accommodation booking. The properties listed on TripAdvisor are the same ones listed on FlipKey hence no need to cover FlipKey. Also, HouseTrip has same properties as them although its design is slightly different.

2) Booking.com

What's Airbnb's biggest competition? Hotels! And Booking.com is one of the worlds largest search engines with millions of hotel offers in almost every country and city.

Furthermore, booking has launched it's own homestay section to directly compete with websites such as Airbnb. Apart from booking hotels with Booking.com there are options to book several other property types, like villas, serviced apartments, cabins, and vacation homes, etc. Considering Booking.com as Airbnb competitor, Airbnb offers the same property types but with Booking.com it is easier in sorting out the different property types.

The site is not only focused on accommodations for vacation. Booking.com is a business site that allows you to search for and book flights, airport taxis, car rentals, and hotels. They also offer deals which let you book a flight and a hotel all in one package.

Booking vs Airbnb - price comparison

On price comparison, the options vary as much on both Booking.com and Airbnb. Campsites can go for as much as $15 per night and penthouses can go up to $1,500 per night. Booking.com although excels at one main thing, it lets you book everything for a full vacation without leaving the site. Book your flight, accommodation, and a rental car. It makes it easy and perfect for those travelers who want an all-inclusive package.

3) Expedia

Expedia is also more like Booking.com. The site lets you book flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and vacation rentals. It is, however, more focused on a vacation bundle that mostly includes a flight/hotel/car rental. Expedia is available around the world and you can book places anywhere. Expedia has accommodations for travelers on a European vacation, Australia, New Zealand, and even African safari.

Expedia vs Airbnb

The main difference, when compared to Airbnb, is that Expedia mainly focuses on hotels in its offerings for accommodation. Expedia does not allow clients to book apartments or houses. Also, the experience is less personal compared to Airbnb because the properties in Expedia mostly belong to large holding groups or companies not owned by individuals. With Expedia, it is like staying in a hotel, only that in this case you get more space.

Expedia vs Airbnb - price comparison

The prices on Expedia are also a bit higher than those in Airbnb on average. This is because with Expedia you get to choose the entire home not rooms in a home or shared spaces. Using Expedia the budget aspect is a bit high for travelers but the other benefit of space comes in depending on your needs.

Other Airbnb competitors:

Homestay

Homestay is a platform that helps you find accommodations services around the world in the homes of families. It only focuses on accommodations that are shared, unlike Airbnb whose services are broad.Homestay is for the idea that apart from just getting a place to stay, you will get to interact with a different family and experience their culture. Homestay is not a free service platform but it is less transactional compared to Airbnb. Therefore the rooms in Homestay tend to cost less than Airbnb rooms.The difference comes in because the places on Homestay that you decide to stay in can be pretty basic considering their accommodations. If your purpose of traveling is to experience a new culture or learn a new language then Homestay is a perfect option to use to get accommodation. Homestay specifically would be fit for students who are studying abroad based on the constrained student budgets. It also offers them a great way to interact culturally compared to staying in a dorm.

HomeAway

HomeAway and Airbnb share some similarities at the first glace as they are both online marketplaces for vacation rentals. They both target travelers on vacation, but they can also be used for clients with other purposes, such as business travelers.

The main difference between the two is that HomeAway exclusively focuses on whole homes for rent. There will not be any sharing of apartments or rooms in the houses that are up for rent on HomeAway. Here you can book the whole place and it comes with all the available comforts of home.

HomeAway offers a wide range of options in their inventory. You can find whatever you want; urban apartments, luxury seaside villas, and rustic cottages and cabins. When looking you can sort the homes according to price, location, property type, and amenities available.Generally, on HomeAway, the properties will tend to be a bit more expensive compared to those on Airbnb. The reason is that in HomeAway all properties that are listed are entire homes. The Airbnb options are cheaper because the home hosts are not renting the whole place, they can rent out rooms or just air mattresses on their floor.

Comparing them both based on the whole home rental option their prices tend to be similar.Based on locations, HomeAway has properties to boast of in several countries. If it is a flat in Europe, a Florida beach house, or a villa in the countryside in Asia; you will be able to find what you want on the platform. To find out more information on comparisons about HomeAway and Airbnb, check out our comprehensive guide on Airbnb vs. HomeAway. Note that VRBO and VacationRentals.com are both owned by HomeAway and virtually both websites are identical to HomeAway. The properties offered on all of them are almost the same hence they will not be discussed separately.

Airbnb competition in Europe: Wimdu

In many Central-European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria Wimdu is the biggst Airbnb competitor. Check out Wimdu here. Altough the company is based in Germany, Europe, it offers vacation rentals in most cities and coutries worldwide.