Property Management Software
Lodgify
Vacation rental software with built-in website builder
Best for Small Hosts
Best website-builder PMS for hosts growing into direct bookings
From $16/listing • Free trial
Comparison
Lodgify vs Rentals United
Pricing, pros and cons, and buyer-fit side-by-side. Pick the one that matches your operation — or see why neither should.
Property Management Software
Rentals United
Channel manager with 90+ OTA distribution for professional property managers
Best for Enterprise
Deepest OTA channel catalog for managers who already run a PMS
Contact sales • No free trial
✓Editorial verdict
Which Should You Pick: Lodgify or Rentals United?
Pick Lodgify if you run 1–30 listings and want transparent per-listing pricing from $16/mo with a drag-and-drop direct booking website builder bundled in. Pick Rentals United if you manage 50+ listings, already run a PMS like Guesty, Hostfully, Track, Escapia, or MEWS, and need a distribution layer reaching 90+ channels including niche OTAs and metasearch beyond the big three.
Editorial perspective from the Lodgify side; factual claims about Rentals United are drawn from its review.
Pricing Side-by-Side
Lodgify
Full pricing →From $16/listing • Free trial
Starter
$16/property/mo
Booking fee: 1.9% per booking
- Channel management (Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com)
- Direct booking website builder
- Calendar sync
- Guest communication
Professional
$40/property/mo
Booking fee: None
- Everything in Starter
- No booking fees
- Advanced automation
Ultimate
$59/property/mo
Booking fee: None
- Everything in Professional
- Priority support
- Advanced features
Rentals United
Full pricing →Contact sales • No free trial
Contact sales
Rentals United does not publish numeric pricing. The vendor's pricing page lists property-band tiers (Pro for 5-99 properties, Business for 100-499, Enterprise for 500+) and states 'Our prices are tailored to your business.' Capterra confirms 'Starting Price: Contact vendor for pricing' and 'Free Trial: Not available.' Confirm pricing directly with Rentals United sales.
Try Rentals UnitedWhat each tool does well — and where it falls short
What Lodgify does well
Reliable channel management with real-time calendar synchronization
Lodgify provides instant syncing across Airbnb, Booking.com, and VRBO that prevents double bookings, saving significant time in manual calendar updates.
Easy-to-use direct booking website builder
93% of users rated the interface as simple. The website builder enables property managers to create professional direct booking sites that reduce dependence on OTA commissions.
Strong customer support and onboarding process
Users consistently praise the comprehensive onboarding process along with helpful and friendly customer service staff who assist with platform setup and ongoing issues.
What Rentals United does well
Connects to 90+ listing channels including niche regional OTAs
Every tier advertises certified API connections to 50+ channels and access to 90+ listing channels in total, which is the platform's core differentiator versus PMS-bundled channel managers.
API described by integrators as robust and well-documented
A Capterra reviewer called the API 'absolutely phenomenal' and 'unbelievably robust, brilliantly documented,' and the vendor publishes API documentation as a top-level resource.
Preferred-partner status with Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com
Named preferred-partner programs with the largest OTAs can reduce listing-quality friction for managers routing inventory through Rentals United.
Broad PMS interoperability for managers who already have a stack
The partner page lists integrations with Guesty, Track, Hostfully, Escapia, and Streamline, making it a natural distribution layer behind an existing PMS.
Where Lodgify falls short
Mobile app stability issues and frequent logouts
Users report persistent mobile app stability problems with frequent logouts and limited mobile support for essential daily operations like cleaning and task management.
Limited reporting and operational management capabilities
Reporting features are limited compared to other hotel management software. Task tracking, maintenance, and owner reporting feel too restricted for complex operations.
Channel syncing issues particularly with VRBO
Some users experience ongoing syncing problems and tedious manual input requirements with VRBO integration, which can disrupt automated workflow processes.
Where Rentals United falls short
Interface described as click-heavy and dated
A GetApp reviewer noted that 'navigation through the system requires more clicks than necessary,' which adds up to real daily operator time at scale.
Reports of double-booking incidents and billing disputes
A GetApp reviewer (jeffrey D.) wrote 'They cost me tens of thousands in double bookings and did not pay any of the fees.' This is a minority report but operationally serious when it happens.
No transparent pricing and no free trial
Capterra lists 'Starting Price: Contact vendor for pricing' and 'Free Trial: Not available,' so buyers cannot evaluate cost without a sales call.
Sub-5-listing portfolios are not the core ICP
The vendor's Pro tier starts at 5-99 properties, with only a 'We can still help!' note for smaller portfolios — signaling smaller hosts will not get the typical onboarding path.
Which Should You Pick
Pick Lodgify if
Small to mid-sized property managers (2–20 properties) focused on growing direct bookings and channel management automation.
Skip Lodgify if
You manage 20+ properties with complex operational needs, require advanced mobile task management, or need extensive reporting capabilities.
Pick Rentals United if
Professional property managers with 20+ listings already running a PMS who need maximum OTA distribution breadth across niche regional channels in addition to Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com.
Skip Rentals United if
You have fewer than 5 listings, want self-serve transparent monthly pricing, or only need the top 3 OTAs.
Where Lodgify and Rentals United actually differ
- Lodgify publishes pricing transparently — Starter $16/listing/mo + 1.9% booking fee, Professional $40/listing/mo no fee — with a free trial. Rentals United is quote-only across Pro (5–99), Business (100–499), and Enterprise (500+) tiers with no vendor-confirmed dollar figure and no free trial per Capterra.
- Lodgify is an all-in-one PMS with a drag-and-drop direct booking website builder used by 93% of customers as their primary direct booking site. Rentals United is a distribution layer designed to sit behind an existing PMS — no website builder, no all-in-one PMS workflow.
- Rentals United markets 'Certified API connections to 50+ channels' and '90+ listing channels total' including niche OTAs and metasearch surfaces. Lodgify connects natively to Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, and Google Vacation Rentals — four channels that handle most US STR revenue but a fraction of Rentals United's distribution breadth.
- Rentals United's PMS partner roster includes Guesty, Hostfully, Track, Escapia, MEWS, Streamline, Hostify, StayFlexi, GuestWisely, and Elite Dynamics — designed to slot behind an existing stack. Lodgify is the stack itself and is not pitched as a layer behind another PMS.
- Lodgify is self-serve with onboarding measured in hours and supports 1-listing micro-hosts. Rentals United's sub-5-property path is a contact-sales 'We can still help!' link, and its core fit is 50+ listings — explicitly not designed for small portfolios.
Common objections
- Rentals United reaches 90+ channels versus Lodgify's 4 — am I leaving bookings on the table with Lodgify?
- For most US STR operators, no. Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, and Google Vacation Rentals account for the overwhelming majority of OTA revenue in vacation rentals. Rentals United's 90+ channels matter if you distribute to niche European OTAs, metasearch surfaces, or boutique travel partners — common in multi-market 50+ listing operations. If your revenue comes from the big four plus direct, Lodgify's coverage is sufficient and the website builder is a revenue lever Rentals United structurally doesn't provide.
- Rentals United's API quality is consistently praised — doesn't that beat Lodgify's limited API?
- Rentals United's public REST API at developer.rentalsunited.com is genuinely more open and Capterra reviewers call it 'absolutely phenomenal' for custom integrations. Lodgify's REST API is labeled limited and requires an API key request through the dashboard. But Rentals United's API manages a distribution layer — Lodgify's narrower API sits behind a working all-in-one PMS plus a website builder and Zapier connectivity to 8,000+ apps. If you're technical and building custom distribution tooling, Rentals United is the better foundation. If you want a working PMS without custom development, Lodgify ships more out of the box.
- Rentals United is positioned as a layer behind my PMS — why would I rip out Lodgify to use it?
- You usually wouldn't. Rentals United is designed to sit alongside Guesty, Hostfully, Track, Escapia, or MEWS — not to replace Lodgify. If you're on Lodgify and want more channels, you'd add Rentals United as a second monthly subscription on top, creating two sources of truth for reservations. For most 1–30 listing operators, that's more complexity and cost than the long-tail channel access is worth. Rentals United's layered model is built for established 50+ listing managers who already have a different PMS and need distribution breadth their PMS-native channel module can't deliver.
Keep Digging
Lodgify
Best website-builder PMS for hosts growing into direct bookings
Rentals United
Deepest OTA channel catalog for managers who already run a PMS