If you’re an Airbnb host or real estate investor, you know that having accurate analytics is essential to your success. Fortunately, there are a number of great programs out there that can help you make the most of your Airbnb business.
(And to help create your overall marketing strategy.)
In this article, we’ll take a look at AirDNA and explain why we believe it might be the best Airbnb analytics option for you.
Table of Contents
Unlock the Secret to Maximizing Your Airbnb Revenue
What To Look For In Airbnb Analytics Programs
When it comes to analytics programs for Airbnb and short term rentals, there are plenty of them out there from free options that give you basic data to more comprehensive programs that can cost hundreds of dollars per month. But what’s the point of shelling out for one of these programs?
Basically, they can help you make more money.
At least, in theory.
A tool is only as good as the user, of course. But if you’re using it correctly, an Airbnb analytics program can help you price your listing more accurately, find new opportunities for growth, and make better decisions about where to invest your money.
Here are just a few things to look for when choosing an Airbnb analytics program:
Accurate Data
What good is your analytics program if the data it’s giving you is inaccurate? Not much, right? You need to be able to trust the numbers that your program is spitting out. After all, they’re the foundation of all your decisions about your Airbnb business.
AirDNA, for example, offers real-time data on Airbnb occupancy and revenue trends in over 8,000 markets worldwide. This information can help you make informed decisions about your rental properties and adjust your prices and strategies accordingly.
Robust Reporting Capabilities
A good Airbnb analytics program should also offer robust reporting capabilities. This way, you can track your progress over time and see how your decisions are impacting your business.
Reports should include detailed information on things like listing performance, monthly revenue, and even seasonality trends. This data can be extremely valuable as you work to grow your business, particularly if you’re in a competitive or seasonal area that requires you to be nimble with your pricing.
Detailed Analytics
It’s difficult to get actionable data if you don’t have access to detailed analytics. A good Airbnb analytics program should offer insights that go beyond just a broad overview, because it’s the details that can matter most.
For example, AirDNA’s Market Minder tool gives you a detailed look at how your listing is performing in comparison to similar properties in your area; and you can separate this data by number of rooms, guests, beds, etc. This kind of information can help you identify areas where you might need to make some changes in order to stay competitive.
It’s also an area that can help you determine what types of rentals or properties to invest in. When we went through our data, we found that smaller units for only 2 guests rented for much more per night than 2 bedroom apartments.
Easy To Use Interface
Of course, none of this data is going to do you any good if the program you’re using has a complicated or difficult to use interface. A good Airbnb analytics program should be easy to navigate and understand, even if you’re not a data expert.
Fortunately, AirDNA’s platform was built by engineers but designed by User Interface and Experience experts that know how to make data digestible, even for those of us who don’t have a background in it.
Affordable Price
Finally, you don’t want to spend a fortune on your Airbnb analytics program, particularly if you’re new an inexperienced. After all, you’re in business to make money, not spend it. Many programs out there charge hundreds of dollars per month, which can quickly eat into your profits; and other programs are free, and are worth just as much. A good analytics program will allow room for growth, but won’t break the bank in the meantime.
Why AirDNA Is The Best Airbnb Analytics
AirDNA is a company based in Denver, Colorado that offers real-time data on Airbnb occupancy and revenue trends in over 80 countries.
If you’re new around Skyline STR, you may not be familiar with our story and how we used AirDNA to save our short term rental from certain disaster.
In a nutshell, we were running our Airbnb business like most hosts. We would occasionally check our occupancy rate and monthly revenue, but other than that we really didn’t pay attention to the data. This all changed when we realized that our listing was significantly underperforming compared to others in our area, we just didn’t know by how much.
We signed up for AirDNA, and through meticulous research we found out that we were actually outperforming 90% of similar listings in our market. I don’t want to spoil too much, you can watch the video we made about it below:
In short, AirDNA completely changed the way we do business and helped us save our short term rental. Of course, we wouldn’t have had much success if it wasn’t for the following reasons.
#1) AirDNA Has The Most Comprehensive Data Set In The Industry
AirDNA gets its data from a variety of sources, including public records, direct data feeds from Airbnb, and user submissions. But the best part is that AirDNA’s data is the most comprehensive in the industry.
However, many people report that some of AirDNA’s data is inaccurate and underestimates revenues in some areas, while overestimating revenue in others. While we found this to be true if you used the free Rentalizer tool, which only gives you an average of all the listings in your area, we found that AirDNA’s data was much more accurate when we looked at the data under a microscope and actually considered the differences in property types.
This means that you can trust AirDNA’s data to be as accurate as possible for certain areas, like ours in Washington. And because AirDNA has such a large pool of data, it can offer detailed insights that other analytics programs can’t.
#2) AirDNA Is Constantly Updated With The Latest Information From Airbnb
What good is data if it’s outdated? Many of the free and paid analytics programs out there only update their data once a month, or even less frequently, in order to save on server resources so they can cut costs.
This means that you could be making decisions based on information that’s already outdated.
AirDNA, on the other hand, is constantly updated with the latest information from Airbnb. In fact, AirDNA updates its data once per day, so you can be sure that you’re always making decisions based on the most up-to-date information.
This is a huge advantage, particularly if you’re in a rapidly changing market like we are, where one single event can change the entire landscape.
For example, when the coronavirus pandemic hit, we were able to quickly pivot our business and adapt to the changing market conditions because we had AirDNA’s data to guide us.
As a result, we not only survived the pandemic, but we actually thrived during it. And we wouldn’t have been nearly as successful if we didn’t have AirDNA’s data to help us make informed decisions.
Because AirDNA is constantly updating its data, we were able to quickly react to changes in our market and make changes to our listing that
#3) AirDNA Is Easy To Use and Navigate
Now I’ll admit that charts and graphics aren’t everything. But they sure do help when you’re trying to make sense of all the data. If you ever tried to make heads or tails of the data in Airbnb’s host dashboard, you know what I’m talking about.
And that’s one area where AirDNA really shines. The interface is clean and easy to use, and the charts and graphics are easy to understand. This is important because it means that you don’t need to be a data analyst to use AirDNA.
#4) AirDNA Offers a Wide Range of Helpful Features
AirDNA not only offers comprehensive data, but it also offers a wide range of helpful features to help you track your performance and market trends.
For example, AirDNA offers a feature called “Performance Insights” that allows you to see how your listings are performing compared to other listings in your area. This is a great way to see how you’re doing relative to the competition and make changes if necessary.
AirDNA also offers a feature called “Market Trends” that allows you to see how the Airbnb market is trending in your area. This is great for gauging whether now is a good time to invest in a particular rental or not.
If you see that a particular market is trending downwards, you might want to wait to invest until the market turns around or think about another area altogether. On the other hand, if you see that a particular market is trending upwards, you might want to jump on it while it’s still early and there’s less competition to be had.
Overall, AirDNA is packed with features that will help you track your performance and stay ahead of the competition.
#5) AirDNA Is Affordable and Accessible To Everyone
One of the biggest complaints we hear about AirDNA is that it is too expensive, which is absolutely baffling to us. If you compare a $20 report to a failed business, like what almost happened in our case, there’s really no comparison. Check out our story here.
This is usually because AirDNA’s global plan, where you can see the market information for any city or area in the world, is $599.99/month if billed annually. But who is looking to buy up rentals across the globe? Certainly not the average investor.
What people who say AirDNA is too expensive forget to tell you is that if you only need data for one specific city or region, their plans start at just $19.95/month.
- AirDNA’s Neighborhood plan starts at just $19.95 per month
- AirDNA’s City Plan is only $39.95/mo – which is still less than $1.35 per day.
We think this is incredibly affordable, especially when you compare it to the cost of other business intelligence tools on the market. And yet, we still hear people say that they can’t afford AirDNA.
Now call me crazy, but I imagine that if you’re running a short term rental business, you’re probably making a hell of a lot more than $1.35 per day. So the idea that AirDNA is expensive is just absurd.
In our opinion, the extra revenue brought in by using the data provided by AirDNA more than pays for itself. And that’s why we think it is the best Airbnb analytics tool on the market, hands down.
Final Thoughts
So there you have it, our top five reasons why we think AirDNA is the best Airbnb analytics tool on the market. We hope this article has helped you understand why data is so important for short term rental businesses and why we believe AirDNA is the best way to get that data.
If you’re not already using AirDNA, we highly recommend that you give it a try. And if you are using AirDNA, we hope this article has given you some ideas on how to get even more out of the tool.
Of course, we’ve also written articles on alternatives to AirDNA, so if you’re not convinced that it’s the best tool for you, be sure to check those out as well.
What do you think? Is AirDNA the best Airbnb analytics tool on the market? Or is there another tool that you prefer? Let us know in the comments below! And if you found this article helpful, please share it with your friends and followers!
2 comments
Sharona
Thank you for your great blog posts! I’m getting ready to launch our Airbnb and the info has been super helpful. I read your post on AirDNA. Is this a similar service to what PriceLabs, Wheelhouse, and DPGO offer? Trying to weigh the options. I need the dynamic pricing capability for sure.
Benjamin Harty
You’re welcome and thank you for the comment! AirDNA does have a dynamic pricing tool for subscribers of MarketMinder, but honestly they are better for full-blown analytics down to the room level; while Pricelabs, Wheelhouse, etc. are dedicated dynamic pricing solutions for connecting your Airbnb account to their system. Some of them also have analytics but might not be as in-depth as AirDNA. Beyond has market insights and does dynamic pricing as well, so you might be interested in how it might compare to Wheelhouse: https://www.skylinestr.com/blog/beyond-pricing-vs-wheelhouse/