RentalWise vs. Guesty: What's the difference?

Last updated: November 2024

When exploring vacation rental software options, you will undoubtedly come across various solutions. RentalWise and Guesty are two of the most favored platforms that property owners and managers use to oversee their businesses. Both provide an array of excellent features. However, key differences exist that should be considered when deciding between the two.

Who is it for?

RentalWise

RentalWise caters to all vacation rental businesses, from single property owners, to property managers with 30-100 rentals, to regional and global distributors with thousands of homes. As it serves all vacation rental business types, it's designed to be intuitive and user-friendly, enabling hosts to effortlessly manage all their operations from one platform.

Guesty

Guesty initially targeted different clients with two separate apps: Guesty and Guesty for Hosts. Guesty focused on larger property management companies, whereas Guesty for Hosts targeted those with three properties or fewer. However, Guesty has since launched Guesty Lite, aimed at vacation rental business owners with one to three listings. Now, Guesty offers three plans for users with one to 200+ properties.

What does it cost?

RentalWise

RentalWise offers the simplest pricing plan in the industry, period. There is only one tier of functionality (ALL) and pricing is per property, per month, charged monthly. This includes all the essential features needed to run your business efficiently and effectively, such as a channel manager, a unified inbox, an automations engine, a customizable and bookable direct website, a reservation and payment system, a homeowners portal, and a property management system (PMS) and more.

RentalWise's subscription plans can be charged in U.S. Dollars (USD), Euros (EUR), or British Pounds (GBP).

Guesty

Guesty pricing varies by region. For U.S. customers, Guesty Lite starts at $16/month for annual plans (or $23/month for monthly plans). Users with more than three properties will need to request a quote for either the Pro or Enterprise plan. Guesty offers no further public information regarding pricing.

RentalWise vs. Guesty: What are the key differences?

Website Builder

RentalWise

RentalWise's vacation rental website builder tool is renowned for its user-friendly interface and customizable templates. With just a few clicks, users can create their own bookable website under their desired custom domain (www.yourvacationrentalbrand.com) in less than five minutes without needing any technical or coding expertise.

What sets RentalWise apart is that its websites are SEO-optimized, and immediately indexable Google Vacation Rentals. Additionally, the website builder enables you to personalize your website, add widgets, and create as many pages as you want—including customized landing pages, or pages with local attractions or content that will help you rank even higher in search results.

For users who already have a website created using WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, or any other content management system (CMS), RentalWise offers seamless integration in a few ways. By embedding the RentalWise booking widget, guests can now book properties directly on your website, even if it was previously not equipped for bookings.

There is also an option for a Booking Engine API connected website. Open API is available to ALL users.

Guesty

Pro, Enterprise, and Lite subscribers have access to Guesty’s booking engine. Pro and Enterprise plans (but not Lite) also have access to a booking website.

The basic website has opportunities for customization. Users can choose to pay $15 per month for connecting their own custom domain or $25 to purchase a new custom domain. It costs an additional $49 monthly to host advanced websites plus 0.5% of direct gross booking volume.

There is also an option for a Booking Engine API, but Open API is only available for Pro and Enterprise plans.

Onboarding

RentalWise

All customers are provided with a free personalized onboarding experience. A RentalWise specialist assesses the user’s business needs and works with them to set up their account, connect their listings, and guide them through all the features needed to successfully manage and grow their vacation rental business. This is generally done in 3-5 video onboarding sessions over the course of two weeks.

Guesty

Guesty offers guided onboarding with its Pro and Enterprise plans and additional “enterprise-ready onboarding” with its Enterprise plan alone. Onboarding is not included in Guesty’s Lite plan.

Channel manager

RentalWise

RentalWise’s custom-built channel manager connects all users, regardless of their plan, with all the major booking channels. To broaden your reach, RentalWise also offers two-way API integrations with popular booking platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Holidu and Expedia, ensuring real-time synchronization of calendars, rates, and more. We're proud to be partners with these top OTAs.

RentalWise can also connect users to any alternative or local channels through iCal or integrated Channel Management extender partners that offer 75+ additional channels.

Guesty

Guesty Lite’s multi-channel distribution is only available for Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo. You have to upgrade to the Pro or Enterprise plan to access unlimited channel distribution.

Unified inbox

RentalWise

RentalWise’s unified inbox simplifies guest communication by allowing users to easily manage inquiries and messages across all channels from one centralized platform. It seamlessly integrates with Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, etc., as well as the user’s own direct booking website. Users can create message templates as well as use RentalWise’s automated responses for communication with guests, staff, homeowners and dedicated inboxes.

Guesty

Guesty’s unified inbox is a messaging tool that centralizes guest communication, including inquiries, emails, and SMS. It’s also possible to message through WhatsApp, but it requires their API users to have a business account.

User messages from the Guesty inbox via WhatsApp and SMS are sent to the guest’s phone number from Guesty’s business account phone number. These messages can be viewed only on the guest’s phone. They will not appear in the relevant booking channel’s inbox.

Integration with Google Vacation Rentals

RentalWise

One of RentalWise’s main goals is to help vacation rental owners and property managers increase direct bookings. As a result, RentalWise offers free integration with Google’s brand-new metasearch engine, Google Vacation Rentals (GVR). All hosts can list their RentalWise powered website through GVR, which will appear above all other organic searches, outranking even the most prominent OTAs.

Once guests find the vacation rental listing on GVR and click to book, they will be sent directly to your custom website.

Guesty

While Guesty does offer a Google Vacation Rentals integration, those who do not have a Guesty Advanced Website must pay $4 USD per listing to take advantage of the offering. What’s more, Lite users do not have access.

Mobile app

RentalWise

Hosts can manage their business on the go with RentalWise’s application on a mobile device, plus a COMING SOON dedicated mobile application which is available for Android and iOS.

Guesty

Guesty’s mobile app is rated 2.5 stars on Google Play and 3.4 stars on the App Store.

Custom rate strategies

RentalWise

RentalWise empowers you with custom rate strategies. Establish weekly, monthly, or custom rates, as well as promotions and coupons, giving you the freedom to attract a wide range of guests.

This flexibility not only helps you optimize your earnings but also enhances your property’s occupancy rate throughout the year, meaning that with RentalWise, you’re in full control of your pricing strategy, ensuring your vacation rental business thrives in any season.

Guesty

While Guesty does appear to offer custom rate strategies, it is not something that’s included in their most basic plan, Guesty Lite.

Customer support

RentalWise

All subscribers and trial users are entitled to free 24/7 customer support via phone, chat, and email, with fast response times. RentalWise’s customer support team (The Wise Guys) is one of the best in the industry, providing comprehensive and personalized support to all subscribers, whether users have one property or multiple units.

Guesty

Guesty offers 24/7 email support as well as support through their dashboard, mobile app, and a form. Lite users can only access Guesty’s chatbot through the dashboard, whereas Pro users have access to a form to submit requests.

There is no sales line for inquiries. Pro and Enterprise users can access “urgent phone support,” but it’s unclear what the parameters of that support are.

What do customers say about RentalWise?

Finding reliable and unbiased information while researching products online can pose a challenge for prospective customers. As a result, a significant majority of consumers, approximately 93%, state that online reviews have a significant impact on their purchasing choices.

When it comes to vacation rental owners and property managers, making informed decisions is crucial for the success of their business. Users can explore and compare RentalWise online, along with assessing the opinions of RentalWise customers.

Here’s where to compare us:

What people on Trustpilot are saying about RentalWise.
What people on Trustpilot are saying about Google Reviews.

Can I try the software before I buy?

RentalWise

You can try RentalWise free of charge with a 14-day trial, which can be extended on request, or discover how RentalWise works by requesting a personalized demo call with a product expert who’ll guide the user through all the features and advise on the best subscription.

Guesty

While you can request a demo, there is currently no option for a free trial to try Guesty premium plans. There is a 14-day free trial for Guesty Lite.

RentalWise vs. Guesty: Which should I choose?

Both RentalWise and Guesty are considered great options for property managers when it comes to vacation rental software. However, it’s important to consider the size of your rental property business and your specific needs before choosing.

RentalWise is the ideal choice for those looking for fairly-priced software that includes next-level features like a highly customizable API and outstanding customer onboarding and support.

Although Guesty Lite seems to be a good fit for smaller vacation rental businesses, keep in mind that it wasn’t initially developed by them; Guesty bought and acquired the Your Porter app and replaced the name with their own.

Meanwhile, RentalWise was meticulously designed to meet the needs of all vacation rental professionals, and we strive to provide the most effective property management tools knowing that our success depends on our customers’ success.

We’re renowned for our professional customer support, unrivaled onboarding service, and empowering business owners around the world. With thousands of satisfied customers, there are many reasons why our customers choose RentalWise over Guesty.