PriceLabs VS AirDNA: Which site is more accurate for determining potential revenue?

Question

I'm trying to understand the potential revenue that my property can bring in annually for AirBNB/Vrbo. Using the revenue calculators for both PriceLabs and AirDNA, the results are drastically different (PriceLabs projects far less income and occupancy than AirDNA).

Does everyone find one of these sites more accurate than the other in regards to occupancy, avg price per night, total revenue, etc.?

Any guidance from people who might have short term rentals and how your revenue matches up to the projections from these sites would be super helpful!

Andrew Steffens · Answer

I do not have experience with PL but have plenty with AirDNA. Depending on the uniqueness of the property AirDNA can be a great tool but you NEED to have a subscription. For example you have a 3/2 pool home in Florida. In my experience with nice finishes and nice furniture it will bring in $80-100k in rental revenue. However sometimes when I run one through AirDNA it may say $157k or $32k. It may say $157k because it is pulling in waterfront homes that are spectacular and skewing the number higher. Or it may pull $32k because most of the comps they pulled do not have pools. If you have the subscription you can see the comp set and toss out irrelevant ones giving you a much clearer picture.

Sarah Kensinger · Answer

@Andrew Steffens Is right on with how to use Airdna! Most people don't take the time to learn how to use the data correctly or they've only used it a handful of times and not hundreds/thousands of times. I don't know where the thought that Airdna isn't accurate came from, but they have a system and process for pulling the numbers they do. I just underwrote a house this week using Airdna, I also had the numbers from the owner that the property made last year. And wouldn't you know Airdna was spot on! Lenders use them to decide if a property is worth lending on, and so do many of the major STR PM. If it was that off those companies/banks would consider it a data point to avoid. Airdna is about to add a bunch of neat features soon, and they'll pretty much trump every STR data source. Can't wait to see and use what coming!

Sameul Ahsan · Answer

Great question — I run a short-term rental management company (Knightly Properties), and I’ve compared both tools across multiple properties.

Here’s what I’ve found:

• AirDNA is better for big-picture potential, but often too optimistic on occupancy and rates.
• PriceLabs is more conservative, but their comp sets are tighter, which makes it better for setting dynamic pricing week to week.

AirDNA is better for big-picture potential, but often too optimistic on occupancy and rates.

PriceLabs is more conservative, but their comp sets are tighter, which makes it better for setting dynamic pricing week to week.

Best advice: verify comps manually on Airbnb/VRBO, filter by properties with 10+ reviews, similar amenities, and seasonality.

For walk throughs, I always use AirDna, it gives me a baseline and it helps build off it. It's never 100% accurate because you have to factor in amenities and bunch of other criteria's that differ you from the rest.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Computer algorithms are useful for evaluating a general market. I would not recommend using them to evaluate a specific property because there are too many variables. What's the layout of the kitchen? What's the view out the front window? How quiet is the back yard? How wide is the hallway? Is sound muted between rooms or can you hear mom and dad getting busy two rooms over?

Collin Hays · Answer

Neither is particularly accurate. It's best to do your own research and check calendars and rates in your peer group. We have several clients that bought houses based on some AI-generated numbers who are deeply underwater.

Chai Xiong · Answer

I just follow what VRBO gives me

Craig Jones · Answer

AirDNA can scrape the occupancy and ADR for that exact property directly from AirBnB. So it's always going to be spot-on for a property that's already in use as an STR.

Steven Le · Answer

I initially heard a bunch of recommendation to use Airdna and then I heard the opposite. Appreciate the insight

PriceLabs VS AirDNA: Which site is more accurate for determining potential revenue?

PriceLabs VS AirDNA: Which site is more accurate for determining potential revenue?

Most Popular Reply

10 Replies