Comparison

Vrbo Owner vs Keycafe

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Vrbo Owner

Manage your vacation rental business on the go. Stay connected with travelers, respond to inquiries, and manage bookings and your calendar from your smartphone. Update listing details and policies with ease.

Highlights
  • Receive booking alerts
  • Reply to inquiries
  • Approve/decline bookings
  • Manage guest messages
  • Update reservation calendar
  • Edit listing details
Features
Read full description

The Vrbo Owner Mobile App makes it easy to manage your vacation rental. Stay connected with travelers, manage your bookings, and run your business, anytime and anywhere. NEVER MISS A BOOKING Get alerted every time you receive an inquiry or booking request! You can reply to an inquiry and approve or decline bookings directly from your smartphone. QUICKLY REPLY TO MESSAGES It’s easy to stay connected to guests before, during, or after their booking. You can read and reply to your messages quickly, with all of your conversations in one place. EASILY UPDATE YOUR CALENDAR Add, edit, or cancel a reservation in your calendar in just a few taps. Need to block dates? That’s easy, too. AND MORE Edit your listing, update your house rules and policies, and stay in control with the convenience of an app.

About

Keycafe

This app facilitates secure key management for various organizations and individuals. It integrates with smart lockboxes to control access, track usage, and verify users in real-time. It's useful for businesses needing to grant temporary access and for individuals participating in the sharing economy.

Highlights
  • Control access to keys by minute
  • Provide anytime access to staff/guests
  • Complete access history tracking
  • Real-time photo ID verification
  • Manage fleets of keys
  • Utilize public smart lockbox network
Features
Read full description

Keycafe is a key management system. Ideal to manage fleets of keys for property management, auto dealerships, car rental agencies, trucking companies, facilities, universities, hospitals, municipalities, commercial and retail offices. This app works with an IOT connected key lockbox called a Keycafe SmartBox. You can purchase your own SmartBox or use our publicly distributed SmartBoxes in 50 cities around the world. - Control who has access to your keys down to the minute - Provide anytime access to your staff, contractors and guests - Complete history of who accessed your keys - Never lose track of keys again - Real-time photo ID verification The distributed network of public locations is ideal for busy urbanites participating in the on-demand economy for cleaning, dog walking, package delivery, Home services, property management and real estate. As well as for the sharing economy, for Airbnb and Guesty. Who do you need to let in? The service is currently available in the following cities: New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Victoria, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego, Paris, Lyon, Marseille, London, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Rome, Florence, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Copenhagen, Tokyo, Nagasaki, Miami, Washington DC, Koloa, Atlanta, Baltimore, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, Oakland, Portland, Austin, Sydney, Melbourne. More cities coming soon. Sign up on our site at www.keycafe.com/locations to be notified when we launch a location near you!

Screenshots

Vrbo Owner4 screens
Keycafe4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Vrbo Owner at none against Keycafe's shown. Vrbo Owner also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (152K vs 330). Keycafe's advantage is iOS requirement (10.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Vrbo Owner against 4.7 for Keycafe. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Vrbo Owner has 152K ratings behind it against 330, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 24% of Vrbo Owner's written reviews are positive against 28% of Keycafe's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Vrbo Owner ships an update weekly, Keycafe every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Vrbo Owner versus Keycafe: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVrbo OwnerKeycafe
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (152K ratings)4.7 (330 ratings) — better
Positive reviews23.8% of reviews28.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings152K — better330
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 6 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.010.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size401 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHomeAway.com, Inc.Keycafe Inc.

Customer experience

Vrbo Owner

All ratings151,798 ratings
Positive89.9%
Neutral4.3%
Negative5.8%
Written reviews924 reviews
Positive23.8%
Neutral14.3%
Negative61.9%

Keycafe

All ratings330 ratings
Positive92.7%
Neutral1.2%
Negative6.1%
Written reviews39 reviews
Positive28.2%
Neutral5.1%
Negative66.7%

User reviews

Vrbo Owner

From 152K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 👍 Helpful customer service
  • 💡 Useful marketing tool
  • 🚀 Great exposure for listings

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Glitchy app and website
  • 🔒 Lacks guest verification
  • 💰 High fees and commissions
  • 👎 Poor communication with owners
  • 🔒 Inadequate owner protections

Keycafe

From 330 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great idea for service
  • 👍 Works flawlessly sometimes
  • 👍 Good for contactless key exchange
  • 👍 Simplifies key exchanges

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Clunky auto-refill
  • 🐛 Impossible to connect/authenticate
  • 💰 Very expensive
  • 👎 Horrendous user interface
  • 👎 System is unreliable

Bugs and requests

Vrbo Owner

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Calendar sync issues
  • Booking request problems
  • Unreliable notifications
  • Frequent login issues

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved mobile app functionality
  • Better calendar management tools
  • More transparent pricing and fees
  • Enhanced owner-guest communication
  • Stronger fraud prevention measures

Keycafe

Reported bugs

13 issues
  • Bug to authenticate when opening account
  • System offline frequently
  • Touchscreen unresponsive
  • Codes not working
  • Box disconnected multiple times
Show 8 more
  • Fob not scanning
  • App doesn't import key from host
  • App doesn't open/stuck on loading screen
  • App not working most of the time
  • 24/7 chat link not working
  • Customer service calls on hold indefinitely
  • App doesn't load on iOS
  • Locker would not scan fob when returning

Requested features

7 requests
  • Option to turn off auto-refill
  • Improve app interface design
  • Provide better instructions for setup
  • Allow offline functionality for codes
  • Improve customer support responsiveness
Show 2 more
  • Clarify payment terms and conditions
  • Allow guests to see PIN without app download

In-app purchases

None

Vrbo Owner

No in-app purchases

None

Keycafe

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Vrbo Owner free?
Vrbo Owner is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Keycafe free?
Keycafe is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Vrbo Owner or Keycafe?
Keycafe is rated higher. Vrbo Owner averages 4.6 out of 5 from 152K ratings, while Keycafe averages 4.7 from 330 ratings.
Do Vrbo Owner or Keycafe have ads?
Keycafe shows ads; Vrbo Owner does not.
Which is updated more often, Vrbo Owner or Keycafe?
Vrbo Owner ships an update weekly, and Keycafe every 6 months. Most recently, Vrbo Owner was updated on September 29, 2026 and Keycafe on September 27, 2026.

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