Start with your business model
Software built for a manager with owner contracts is overkill for someone running two homes, and a cleaning company doesn’t need a booking engine. Decide which of these you are first.
You own and run your own rentals
One to a handful of homes, usually listed on two or three channels. You need a calendar that never double-books, guest messaging that runs itself, cleaning scheduled from checkouts and a simple record of income and expenses. You probably don’t need trust accounting or owner statements.
You manage homes for other owners
Owner contracts change everything: owner statements, payouts, a portal for owners, and — in many places — trust accounting for guest deposits and owner funds. Your team and contractors need their own logins, and the field side (cleans, inspections, work orders) matters as much as reservations.
You clean or maintain rentals for managers
You don’t take reservations; you take jobs. You need schedules that follow your clients’ checkouts, a phone app for crews with checklists and photos, time tracking, and invoices to each client. A full PMS is more than you need.
What you need at each stage
Buy for where you’ll be in the next two years, not for a portfolio you might have one day. These are the capabilities that usually become must-haves as a business grows.
Getting started (one to a few properties)
- Calendar and channel sync across every site you list on, with no double bookings
- Automated guest messages: confirmation, check-in details, checkout reminders
- Cleans scheduled from checkouts, with the cleaner notified
- A direct booking page, even a simple one, so repeat guests can book you
Growing (a team, owners, more channels)
- Owner statements and an owner portal, if you manage for others
- Field operations: a phone app with checklists, photos, inspections and work orders
- User roles so office staff, cleaners and owners each see only their part
- A shared guest inbox across channels, email and text
- Rate rules or a pricing tool connection
Established (holding owner money, many properties)
- Trust accounting: owner and guest balances, bank reconciliation, month-end sign-off
- 1099 and year-end reporting your accountant can work from
- Business phone lines with call routing and voicemail tied to guest records
- A CRM for owner leads and guests, and automation for repeat jobs
- Reporting by property, owner and channel
The capabilities, and what to ask about each
- PMS and channel manager
- Reservations, calendars, rates and availability in one place, pushed to every channel. Ask which channels connect directly and how quickly a booking on one blocks the others.
- Direct booking
- Your own website and booking engine, taking cards through a processor. Ask who sets the fees, whether the vendor takes a cut and who the merchant of record is.
- Guest messaging
- One inbox for channel messages, email and text, with scheduled messages that use each booking’s details. Ask how it handles a message the guest replies to.
- Field operations
- Cleans, inspections and work orders created from bookings, with a phone app, checklists and photos. Ask whether it works without signal and what crews need to log in.
- Owner statements and trust accounting
- Statements built from bookings and expenses, owner payouts recorded, and trust balances reconciled to the bank. Ask what your accountant gets and what is a separate product.
- Phones
- Business numbers, call routing and voicemail, with calls matched to guests and owners. Ask whether it is built in or a separate subscription.
- CRM
- Owner leads and guest history for repeat bookings and owner acquisition. Ask whether it shares the same records as your reservations.
- Automation
- Rules that create tasks, send messages and update records when something happens. Ask to see one built live, not a slide.
Work out the total cost
Two systems with the same headline price can cost very different amounts once fees, seats and add-ons are counted. Ask every vendor the same questions, and get the answers in writing.
- Is the price per property, per booking, by unit tier or by quote? Price your actual portfolio, not the example on the pricing page.
- Is there a percentage fee on bookings — and is it charged on direct bookings, channel bookings or both?
- Who pays any booking fee: you, or your guest at checkout?
- Are users charged per seat? Count office staff, cleaners, maintenance and owners.
- Which features are add-ons with their own price — accounting, trust, phones, messaging, websites, smart locks?
- Is there a setup or onboarding fee? Is training included?
- Is there a contract term, auto-renewal or early-termination fee? How much notice to cancel?
- Do you have to use the vendor’s own payment processor? Is there a markup on card processing?
- Does the price rise after an introductory period? Is it locked for a term?
- What does it cost to leave — is your data export free and complete?
What pricing models look like in practice
A few examples, each read on the vendor’s own pricing page on the date shown. Prices and fees change — check the vendor’s page before you rely on any of them.
- Barefoot: Published by unit tier: $800/mo for 1–50 units, $1,100/mo for 51–100, $1,400/mo for 101–150, +$300/mo per extra 50 (source, read 25 October 2026).
- Track: No price published — talk with the Track team (source, read 25 October 2026).
- LiveRez: Priced by quote on a “pay-for-performance” model (source, read 25 October 2026).
Fees on direct bookings — bookings through your own website — vary just as much. Card processing is separate from all of these and is not counted here.
| Vendor | Direct-booking fee | Which plans | Who pays | Read on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iGMS | 4% | Every plan using iGMS Direct Booking | host | 24 October 2026 |
| Lodgify | 1% | All plans | host | 24 October 2026 |
| Hospitable | 1% to 4% + 3% | Direct Basic and Direct Premium (Professional plan and up) | guest or host | 24 October 2026 |
| Hostaway | 1.8% | Every plan using the Hostaway booking engine | guest | 23 October 2026 |
| Hostfully | 0.85% + 1% | Growth only (Pro and Enterprise waive both) | host | 10 October 2026 |
| Smoobu | 0.9% | Professional Flex only | host | 10 October 2026 |
| Uplisting | None, or 1.5–3% | Pay as you go only | host | 10 October 2026 |
| Guesty | None | — | — | 10 October 2026 |
| OwnerRez | None | — | — | 10 October 2026 |
| Escapia | None | — | — | 24 October 2026 |
Each vendor name links to the page the figure was read on. More detail, with sources, is on our direct booking fees page.
Ask how you’ll switch
Moving systems is the part most buyers leave until after they sign. Ask first — the answers tell you a lot about the vendor.
- What comes across from my current system: past and future reservations with the money, guests, owners, balances, tasks, documents?
- Is it done from my exports or through a connection to my old system? Who does each step?
- Can I preview what will be created before anything is saved?
- Can both systems run side by side for a while, and how do new bookings get across during that time?
- How is every booking checked against the old system before I switch over?
- What doesn’t come across — message history, saved cards, rates, photos — and what do I do about each?
- My reviews belong to my channel listings: how do I connect the same listings so they stay?
- Is there a fee for the move, and is someone reviewing it with me?
Red flags
- You can’t get a total price for your portfolio in writing.
- A per-booking fee that the pricing page doesn’t show until you ask.
- Features shown in the demo turn out to be add-ons or another company’s product.
- A long contract with auto-renewal and no trial.
- You must use the vendor’s processor, with no clear rate.
- Vague answers about exporting your own data if you leave.
- Anyone telling you your reviews will move to new listings.
- Claims about results you can’t check, or no answer to “show me that live”.
Evaluation checklist
Use one copy per vendor. Tick what you saw working — in a demo or your own trial — not what you were told.
1. Fit
2. Reservations and channels
3. Guests
4. Field operations
5. Owners and accounting
6. Cost
7. Switching
8. Support and trial
Questions to ask in a demo
Ask to see each of these live, with real-looking data — not slides.
- Show me a booking arriving from a channel and blocking the other channels.
- Take a direct booking with a card, then cancel and refund part of it.
- Show me the cleaner’s phone for a same-day turnover, with photos.
- Build an owner statement for last month and show me what the owner sees.
- Show me the month-end trust reconciliation, if I hold owner money.
- Give me the total price for my portfolio, including every fee and add-on.
- Walk me through switching from my current system, step by step.
About us — this section is about VacayOps
Where VacayOps fits
Vacation rental property management software where guests, owners, your team and your crews work on one live record — the PMS, channels, direct booking, phone, field app, owner statements and trust accounting, all in.
One login. One bill. Unlimited users. Priced per property. No seat fees, no setup fee, no contract, and no booking fee on your direct site.
- Property managers (Full Platform): $29/property/month
- Owners running their own rentals: $19/property/month
- Cleaning and maintenance companies (Operations Only): $15/property/month
- Optional add-ons: smart devices at $5/device/month, phone lines at $7/line/month
Keep 100% of your direct bookings. No booking fee, no revenue share — card processing is billed by your own processor at its rates. No setup fee — onboarding, setup, configuration and training included. No contract — month to month, 30 days' notice. 14-day free trial — no charge until it ends. Switching is built in — a self-guided Migration Center, with a specialist reviewing your move.