PriceLabs vs Airbnb Smart Pricing: is the paid tool worth it?

Airbnb's Smart Pricing is free and PriceLabs is not. Whether PriceLabs is worth paying for depends on how many sites you list on and how much control you want over the price.

What Smart Pricing does

Smart Pricing changes your nightly price on Airbnb based on demand. Airbnb says it weighs hundreds of factors about your listing and area. You set a minimum and a maximum, and you can type a custom price on any night without turning it off.

Airbnb's help centre lists some catches:

• Discounts such as early bird can take the price below your minimum.
• Weekly, monthly and trip-length discounts override Smart Pricing.
• You have to turn Smart Pricing off to use weekend pricing.
• Rule-sets from professional hosting tools only work with Smart Pricing off.
• Airbnb may switch it off during emergencies to prevent extreme price changes.

It also only prices your Airbnb listing. Vrbo and Booking.com keep whatever price you set there.

What PriceLabs costs

PriceLabs charges $14.49 per listing a month, or a plan priced at 1% of booking revenue. On the 1% plan, a listing earning $17,388 a year pays the same as on the per-listing plan. Below that, 1% is cheaper.

For one listing that's $174 a year on the per-listing plan. For three, $522.

What you get for the money

PriceLabs recommends a base price and minimum stays as well as nightly rates. It connects directly to Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com, and to over 150 property management tools, so the same pricing reaches every site you list on. Smart Pricing can't do that.

One automatic price sync a day is included. More frequent syncs cost $1 per listing a month, and manual syncs are free. PriceLabs offers a 30-day free trial.

Which to use

If you only host on Airbnb and don't want to manage rules, start with Smart Pricing and set a minimum you'd be happy to accept on a quiet Tuesday. Check its prices against similar listings for a month.

If you list on two or more sites, or you want weekend pricing and length-of-stay rules at the same time, a separate tool earns its cost. Some software includes one: Hospitable Host and higher, iGMS PRO+, Lodgify Professional, Guesty Lite and Uplisting Manager all bundle automatic pricing. Our pricing tool calculator compares PriceLabs with the add-ons by listing count and revenue.