Vrbo Owner vs Guesty
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Receive booking alerts
- Reply to inquiries
- Approve/decline bookings
- Manage guest messages
- Update reservation calendar
- Edit listing details
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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.
Guesty
Manage your hospitality business efficiently from your mobile device. This app provides a unified inbox for guest messages, task management for operations, and oversight of reservations. It offers performance highlights and areas needing attention on the homepage.
- Performance highlights
- Unified guest message inbox
- Operations and task management
- Reservation monitoring and modification
- Team management
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Never miss a beat with the power of Guesty in the palm of your hand. The new Guesty app is your ultimate partner in managing your hospitality business. The Guesty app empowers you to: - Put your priorities first: Access performance highlights and areas requiring attention directly on the homepage - Engage with ease: View and respond to all guest messages directly from one unified inbox - Master operations on the go: From maintenance tasks to team management, take command of your operations - Stay on top of reservations: Modify and monitor your bookings effortlessly, ensuring seamless oversight of reservations Put the most advanced technology to work for you. Manage, automate, and streamline your business on the go – all within one powerful app.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Vrbo Owner at 4.6 against Guesty's 4.2. Vrbo Owner also leads on ratings volume (152K vs 558) and monetization model (ad-supported vs freemium). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Vrbo Owner holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Vrbo Owner has 152K ratings behind it against 558, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 23% of Vrbo Owner's written reviews are positive against 17% of Guesty's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Vrbo Owner | Guesty |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (152K ratings) — better | 4.2 (558 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 23.3% of reviews — better | 17.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 152K — better | 558 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 398 MB | 89 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | HomeAway.com, Inc. | Guesty |
Customer experience
Vrbo Owner
Guesty
User reviews
Vrbo Owner
From 152K App Store ratingsWhat 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
Guesty
From 558 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Stable and easy to use
- 💡 Great for managing short-term rentals
- 👍 Useful calendar and messaging features
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🔍 Limited functionality in mobile app
- 🕰️ Unreliable notifications and sync issues
- 🔒 Poor customer support and communication
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
Guesty
Reported bugs
4 issues- Calendar and check-in/out dates not syncing correctly
- Repeated login issues and password reset problems
- Inability to perform key actions like declining reservations
- Constant app crashes and freezes
Requested features
4 requests- Improved mobile app with more functionality
- Ability to manage tasks and checklists on the go
- Better integration with other rental platforms
- More customization options for pricing and policies
In-app purchases
Vrbo Owner
No in-app purchases
Guesty
No in-app purchases
