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About Smoobu

The All-in-One Software for Short-Term & Vacation Rentals. One subscription, all tools. 14-day free trial. No credit card required.

Learn more about Smoobu

Pros:

The SMOOBU property rental management software package gives us all the above and several other options that we don't use. Very good value for money when one considers its vital role.

Cons:

I guess so they could add it to their feature list, but it is completely useless.

Smoobu ratings

Average score

Ease of Use
4.5
Customer Service
4.5
Features
4.4
Value for Money
4.5

Likelihood to recommend

8.4/ 10

Smoobu has an overall rating of 4.5 out 5 stars based on 186 user reviews on Capterra.

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Filter reviews (186)

Stefano
Stefano
Owner in Italy
Verified LinkedIn User
Hospitality, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

best management software around for vacation rentals

5.0 4 years ago

Comments: made my life easier, and automatized many processes that were manual before. and it's still cheap!

Pros:

The simplicity of setup and use, great performances, money for value, made life easier Exceptional Italian customer support!

Cons:

some minor features, compared to other software, were still missing, but they are minor and I know the Dev team keep working to improve

Ryohei
Property Owner in Japan
Hospitality, Self Employed
Used the Software for: 1-5 months
Reviewer Source

Alternatives Considered:

Best viable solution for small property owners with great CUSTOMER SUPPORT, CLEAN FEATURES & PRICING

5.0 5 years ago

Pros:

Firstly, for someone who has hardly used a channel manager, the learning curve is always going to be a thing no matter which service you decide to use. This was the case for me, after reading countless reviews I decided to trial Smoobu and am now a paid user. And when the learning curve is unavoidable, Smoobu truly shines with their CUSTOMER SUPPORT - it is definitely one of their best features. Their chat team works in German-time (and they are not available 24/7), but it was definitely handy when you're based overseas. Their e-mail support team I find are VERY experienced, fast, helpful, patient, understanding and respectful - I seriously only have praise for them! They truly helped a novice channel manager user like myself troubleshoot, configure, and set up the optimal solution that works best for my particular business size and workflow. Regarding the SOFTWARE FEATURES, I think we always tend to want more, and more of the available features offered more seamlessly and automated, so I don't think it's even fair to expect EVERYTHING, and the simplicity of Smoobu's software - both in UI and UX, once you get a grip on it, is a HUGE asset that eliminates and minimises all the headaches we go through as owners and managers. And finally - PRICING. Based on my own research I think their overall quality offering is astounding vis a vis the cost. I am thoroughly impressed with the service and am grateful that I found something I am happy to pay for and proud to continue using!

Cons:

EMAIL SUPPORT > CHAT SUPPORT: Though chat support is easier to access, for an actual conundrum or a multilayered question you're facing I would definitely go through their e-mail support since they can constructively engage with your problems (maybe also because they have more time to respond?), and you really feel that they are there to help you! But the chat team is great too for small questions you might have (but sometimes they disconnect in the middle of a question - but don't be discouraged and take that to e-mail or maybe call though I haven't tried that personally!) GOOD DESIGN BUT NOT YET MIND-BLOWING: It is minimal, clean and ticks all the right boxes in terms of UI / UX and it is not at all problem for internal admin use, but for someone who comes from a creative industry background (e.g. used to the intuitive approach of Apple products and have done consumer-facing communication work) I do think their consumer-facing features (like their new GUEST APP and WEB EMBEDDABLE BOOKING TOOL) can be further reimagined based to align themselves with consumers who are spoiled by Apple, Google et al. providing great design to the mainstream. So in sum, based on a philosophy that good design → looks great and ALSO heightens practicality. TWO-WAY SYNCS VS iCAL SYNC: Not a con but a note - with Airbnb when you sync via their two-way sync it makes it impossible to view or edit your calendar on Airbnb. It's great but I found it easier to iCal sync like the rest of the platforms!

Mark
President in US
Real Estate, Self Employed
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Don't use if you use Expedia/VRBO

1.0 2 years ago

Pros:

Simple when it works, but unfortunately that doesn't last long

Cons:

Regularly disconnects channel management price sync with Expedia/VRBO. Support on the latest disconnect May 2023 has gone weeks with no solution or update. I'm researching alternative platforms and warning others.

Xabier Txomin
Owner in Spain
Leisure, Travel & Tourism, Self Employed
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Great software i would not hessitate to recommend

5.0 5 years ago

Comments: It is really easy to use. No complications, no difficult to set up functionalities. The property web facility is a plus. The support team is really friendly, knowledgeable and listens to customers!. I am getting lots of emails from competition but I am not planning to move from Smoobu. I really love Smoobu simplicity.

Pros:

Pros: 1.-It is a very easy to use software. Getting familiar with smoobu is really simple, practically instantaneous. 2.-The migration to Smoobu is really simple and staff is always willing to help. 3.-They have a very useful and very easy to configure web functionality. 4.-I love the functionality of being able to synchronize rates from smoobu with the most important sales channels. 5.-The synchronizations works perfectly. It has never failed so far. No double bookings at all. 6.-The system rarely crashes down and if it does, it is momentarily for maintenance. 7.-You can set up Smoobu in different languages. It is truly multi-lingual. 8.-Perhaps this is one of the strongest points of Smoobu. It is true that communication with the customer service department is easy, fast and always in a friendly and professional tone.

Cons:

Cons: Given that it is a software that it is designed to be easily usable and does not complicate its functionalities, there may be people who miss less avant-garde features but in my case in particular I love that everything Smoobu offers works perfectly and without complications. They are currently developing a solution for the new PSD2 regulations, which is more than welcome.

Daniel
Manager in Belgium
Hospitality, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Alternatives Considered:

Full featured, user-friendly and very stable

5.0 4 years ago

Comments: When your business depends on a software you really need to be able to talk to a real person in case you hit a wall. The people at Smoobu are always there for you whenever you need help. 5 stars !

Pros:

Smoobu allows to pull in different airbnb and booking accounts into one software environment. As a property management company specialised in short term rental this was the software to manage our business. The setup was quick. The software is very easy to use. Smoobu allows to program automatically sent personalised messages to guests. Airbnb has now added this feature but the Smoobu version works better. When a booking comes in 3 days before the guests arrival but the message is programmed to be sent 6 days in advance than airbnb does not send the message, but Smoobu does ! When handling numerous client accounts it is nearly impossible to handle client communication without a channel manager. Smoobu has worked without any glitches, it is as reliable as a Mercedes-Benz !

Cons:

Nothing really. I have no negative comments.

Patricia
Owner in US
Hospitality, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: Free Trial
Reviewer Source

Did not work for my Vacation Rentals

1.0 4 years ago

Comments: I used this software about every minute of the free software trail, switching both my airbnb and vrbo 5 listings from current software to Smoobu. what a nightmare. I've been using Bookerville which is loaded with features, but doesn't quite have the smooth look of Smoobu. Instead of throwing my efforts into Bookerville, I thought all Softwares were the same.... No they are not. My Smoobu experience had be fall in LOVE with Bookerville and take the effort to expand my use of their numerous fully developed features. Describe my overall experience with Smoobu? Above all it convinced me that I had the best vacation software in Bookerville over all its competition.

Pros:

Very attractive. It has a very clean feel to it and nicely visual

Cons:

There were quite a few issues that I thought they may over time address, but I'd have to say the absolutely most shocking shortcoming of this software was an inability for guest who comes to your website to get an itemized quote. I actually called and arranged a VERY early morning conference call with this European based company.... and this is just one of the crazy, head scratching things about this software. It allows you to imbed a link from them to your own company website for guests to get a quote; but this is a total quote.... No itemized quote. So if you've got a $1000 refundable deposit, guests don't know that, its just this HUGE total, without details on cleaning fee, taxes, options, refundable deposit, etc. From here, the guests can contact you for the itemized quote and book. What the heck? why can't they book on line? why can't they see an itemized quote? This is just one of the things that Smoobu knew hosts would want, but that they didn't bother to do right.... and unfortunately one of so many half way done things .... I guess so they could add it to their feature list, but it is completely useless. Just having an itemized quote and booking the guest later would have been a huge help, but they couldn't be bothered to do this.... and with refundable deposits in one HUGE total ... hosts will have to clutter their websites with explanations.

Smoobu Response

4 years ago

Dear Patricia, thanks for your review! I quickly checked all your tickets and I understand where you are coming from. What you are looking for is a high end agency solution that can cover all your details for your business. we are however targeting owners and we are providing a very affordable solution. So indeed our software may not be what you need. But please also note that a product you are looking for will cost you a multiple of Smoobu. Also e.g. if you want to put a deposit you can add it to the extras that will not be displayed in the overall costs of the booking. So for your main point there is actually a solution we can offer. Wishing you all the best Philipp

Anya
Business Owner in South Africa
Leisure, Travel & Tourism, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Alternatives Considered:

Smoobu Is a valuable tool

5.0 4 years ago

Comments: It is always a pleasure to work with the Smoobu team. I have even managed to contribute to the upgrades in features with some of my suggestions....which shows that the dev team is dedicated to producing a product that suits their client's needs.

Pros:

I love that you are able to create a booking tool and website from the portal, and customise the bookings from various portals that are clearly identifiable by colour coding.

Cons:

It would be great if there was more API integrations automatically available to all portals - especially in South Africa.

Allan
Director in UK
Hospitality, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 1-5 months
Reviewer Source

Alternatives Considered:

Tokeet to Smoobu

4.0 4 years ago

Comments: Overall, our experience has been great. We have lost a couple of features, however what we have gained far outweighs this.
Customer support also very kindly offered to import existing direct bookings which was very helpful.

Pros:

The features that drew us to Smoobu were the automated messaging, Igloohome integration, the guest guide/portal and the additional option selling.

Cons:

I would say the only negative point we have so far is the handling/recording of invoices. Payments need to be recorded manually, whereas Tokeet would handle this automatically and made it very easy to schedule invoices, and track sent, outstanding and paid invoices.

Ganache
Responsable in France
Hospitality, Self Employed
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Alternatives Considered:

Opinion Costebelle Conciergerie

4.0 4 years ago

Comments: Very good exchanges with the team in place, especially [SENSITIVE CONTENT] who manages the French clientele.

Pros:

sharing schedules with the teams and the booking site

Cons:

No PMS. Technical difficulty in setting up certain data (booking engine, and connectivity with platforms)

Jason
Jason
Director in Thailand
Verified LinkedIn User
Financial Services Software, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: Free Trial
Reviewer Source

Avoid....caused me a load of extra work.

1.0 5 years ago

Comments: Dreadful, time consuming, very poor online support, who were surprisingly rude.

Pros:

The idea is great but it doesn't work in practice. There are better alternatives.

Cons:

Smoobu was a disaster for me. Using Sboobu cuts you off from using the portals (Airbnb, Agoda, Tripadvisor etc). You are actually blocked from using the portal platforms & must only update listings & bookings on the Smoobu platform. You can't even access the calendars anymore. You can no longer communicate with guests through portals, only through Smoobu. The worst thing is, if you have any blocked dates in the portal calendars they are ignored by Smoobu & then deleted on the portal. Suddenly all your blocked dates become available & you must re-block them all on Smoobu. It's awkward, difficult to use & the support is hopeless. They have no training, they are rude & don't understand the platform. AVOID! The set up is too time consuming.

Smoobu Response

5 years ago

Hi there! Let me say sorry for your bad experience first of all. We tried to do our best supporting you in the setup. Airbnb blocks some functionality on their side, which then you can access through Smoobu directly. In the end this is the central point of a channel management system. The other portals are not blocked. They remain exactly the way they were before connecting. So you can work on both ends. I looked at the support cases and we did not have a chance to help you out as you had already started disconnecting once we were coming in. So I am happy to give it a new chance to show you how the system actually works as addressed in several messages. Best regards Philipp

Samantha
Owner in UK
Real Estate, Self Employed
Used the Software for: 1-5 months
Reviewer Source

Highly Recommended

5.0 last year

Comments: The customer services are absolutely fantastic and they make everything so easy for me to run my business.

Pros:

The speed of the synchronisation, the ease of use and the customer service team are amazing to help resolve any issues.

Cons:

There are some features that could be more advance e.g. scheduling a conditions email would save more time than some manual work I need to do.

enrico
/ in Italy
Real Estate, Self Employed
Used the Software for: 6-12 months
Reviewer Source

Top channel manager

5.0 2 years ago

Pros:

Fantastic layout, easy to understand basic functions

Cons:

Sometimes it’s quite complicated to do some tasks and the guides available rarely are helpful.

Gian Marco
Director in Caribbean Netherlands
Real Estate, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 6-12 months
Reviewer Source

Alternatives Considered:

Awesome product.

5.0 2 years ago

Pros:

Best software I have used so far for Vacation Rentals. Very user friendly. Easy to set up. Well thought infrastructure.

Cons:

Everything works perfect, so nothing that we don't like.

Smoobu Response

2 years ago

We really appreciate you taking the time to leave us a review, Gian Marco! These are the things that keep us so motivated to continue doing what we're doing, and we're so happy to hear that you had a great experience using Smoobu. Let us know if we can do anything else for you.

Nico
Accommodation hosting services in Greece
Hospitality, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Best channel manager in this price category

5.0 3 years ago

Comments: Covers all my basic needs.
Gets better every year.
Has a reasonable price.
The support is just top.

Pros:

Smoobu is probably the Channel Manager with the best 'Features/Price' ratio. We state that after we have done seriously evaluations for two years. It has all functionality a small - middle accommodations managing service will be needing. The subscription is very reasonable too. They haven't stoped improving since I know them and they have the perfect support :)

Cons:

There are some minor functionality issues with the user interface. This does not affect the functionality, it is just that sometimes one can not but notice that some things could be a bit more 'up to date' in the user interface.

Verified Reviewer
Verified LinkedIn User
Hospitality, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Alternatives Considered:

Not what it used to be

2.0 4 years ago

Comments: This was a great PMS two years ago, not anymore.

Pros:

When we first started testing different vacation rental software, Smoobu stood out as a great option, seamless and quick. But it has only been downhill from there. Their development team has made the interface clunky, their servers are down often, my team now hates Smoobu.

Cons:

Extremely slow interface in 2021. If you manage more than 10 listings, please do not use this software. We had previously used Hostaway and Lodgify. We have had more double bookings with Smoobu by far than with any other PMS.

Heidi
Owner in US
Hospitality, Self Employed
Used the Software for: 1-5 months
Reviewer Source

This product is geared towards Europeans

2.0 4 years ago

Comments: I have had a terrible experience with Smoobu and do not recommend this product to anyone

Pros:

The guest app was a nice feature. This product was less expensive than others

Cons:

The customer service for this product is terrible. It is difficult to speak to anyone by phone and if you are able to finally get through it has to be during European hours so if you can't talk first thing in the morning you are out of luck. Many features on the included booking website are geared towards Europeans and cannot be fixed. For example, Sq meters instead of sq ft, the format for the date is day/month/year, the website has the word domicile as a tab which should say home but they have yet to fix, I never could get the website to work properly for direct bookings (whenever I tried certain dates it said that those dates weren't open even though they were). I also could not get PayPal to work with the booking website and when I asked customer service for help with they asked me to send them a screenshot of the problem (that's usually what they wanted for everything). Lastly, the most frustrating thing about this program is that after the free trial I decided to pay for a year upfront and now that I have discovered how much I don't like the program and want to cancel they won't give me a prorated refund.

Smoobu Response

4 years ago

Hi heidi, thanks for your feedback. Let me apologize for your experience. We are a Europe based company, indeed. We are still adapting some minor issues for the US market (exactly these 2), but we have +1000 happy clients in the US already. The PayPal issue that you were having must be a setup issue, happy to get it fixed with you. The fact that you did not have any days available were because you had not yet set your prices. No prices = no availability. Indeed we do not pro rate refunds. You had the choice to opt in for the monthly subscription, no questions asked. Plus you had a 14 day trial without any obligations whatsoever. Happy to hear your thoughts. Best regards Philipp

cristin
CEO in Dominican Republic
Hospitality, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Excellent Starter channel manager

5.0 3 years ago

Comments: Good for a good start.

Pros:

The friendly dashboard is incredibly easy to use.

Cons:

They have to upgrade more functionality like reports and finance intergrations. expenses on every listening.

Maximilian E.
Owner in Germany
Hospitality, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Great Tool, Great People Behind, Simple and efficient

5.0 5 years ago

Pros:

More than 3 years ago, when I was looking for a simple but well thought through Chanel Manager, I came across Smoobu. Implementation was quite easy even for me as an inexperienced user of Chanel manager. In the last 3 years Smoobu has developed enormously and still offers me everything I need to successfully market my almost 20 accommodations. The support is always fast and efficient and suggestions are taken seriously! I'm sure I'll be happy working with Smoobu for many yearsand look forward to the next development steps.

Cons:

I do not habe any complains about smoobu. For me nothing is missing

Jennifer
Owner and manager in Italy
Hospitality, Self Employed
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Smoobu is the best

5.0 5 years ago

Comments: Smoobu is a useful tool which helps me run my business more efficiently. The easy interface enables me to manage reservations better and faster. In general, I am very satisfied with the product because it helps me stay on top of things.

Pros:

Smoobu is easy to use from any mobile device and it helps me save a lot of time. The support staff are friendly, helpful and readily available to answer questions and solve issues.

Cons:

I have no complaints. My only suggestion would be to further scale the annual price to adjust for (extra) small businesses.

Kenneth
Owner in Australia
Hospitality, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Intuitive to use - Great support

5.0 4 years ago

Comments: The multiple functions it offers eg communication templates, automated messaging make admin much easier. Although intuitive to use there are sometimes glitches (probably mostly self inflicted) but support is great.

Pros:

I have been using Smoobu for around 4 years. I started off with 4 rentals and now manage 10 and couldn’t do this effectively without this application. [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN]and the team are quick to help and resolve issues that crop up from time to time.

Cons:

I cannot set up multiple season rates with intelligent pricing (discounting longer stays)

Tara
Director in Ireland
Hospitality, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: Free Trial
Reviewer Source

Ticks more boxes that you need for less money!

5.0 5 years ago

Comments: We'd been comparing platforms for a few weeks and found that Smoobu was not only more cost-effective but that it ticked so many more boxes than we had even envisaged. The Smoobu team are super helpful and respond very quickly to the few queries I had but really, they have explained everything exceptionally clearly that you'll rarely need to reach out! I'd highly recommend Smoobu and can't imagine moving to any other platform especially with their continuous improvements and new integrations which I think will be very useful when normality returns to our hospitality business!

Pros:

Cost-effective and incredibly easy to set up all the integrations with everything explained exceptionally clearly that you'll rarely need to reach out but the team are super helpful when you do and respond very quickly! Ticked so many more boxes than we had even envisaged. The Guest App is genius and we can't wait for our guests to benefit; as well as upselling feature!

Cons:

That I didn't discover it sooner. It didn't appear in my google searches but luckily discovered it via an online ad :)

Petra
Owner in UK
Hospitality, Self Employed
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Smoobu just works

5.0 6 years ago

Comments: The most important consideration for me was to be able to sync instantly across multiple booking channels, including my own website. Now that I can do this it means I can have instant booking switched on without the stress of worrying about double bookings. Smoobu just works great

Pros:

I really love using Smoobu in my business, it is so easy to use across platforms, and it allows me to run my business the way I envisaged it when I started, by being responsive to the needs of my guests. It helps me to be professional and to stay on top of everything. It also helps me to sleep at night

Cons:

There is nothing that I dislike about the software, I recommend that anybody in the room rental, holiday letting or hotel business gives it a try

Hugo
Home Owner in Portugal
Hospitality, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

A must for any property manager

5.0 4 years ago

Comments: Couldn’t imagine managing my reservation without a central tool like Smoobu.

Pros:

-Website -Booking engine -Ease of use / configure -Price -support team interaction

Cons:

-Not all portals have API integration but this is a limitation from the portal side and not Smoobu as I understand they are working to get it.

Mathias
Owner in Switzerland
Hospitality, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Best vacation home rental software

5.0 3 years ago

Pros:

Very clear and everything you need for renting a holiday apartment.

Cons:

Visitor's tax for children cannot yet be calculated separately

Michael
Director in Germany
Commercial Real Estate Software, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Best value for money, actually best value overall

5.0 6 years ago

Pros:

I have been looking at different alternatives for quite some time. I had heard about a supposedly awesome dashboard that Smoobu had to . Turns out is was true. Also super reliable Channel Manager. They focus on the right things and make it super easy to use. Customer service was actually more knowledgeable about portals that the portals themselves.....

Cons:

Would be nice to see some more external integrations. But they said there was more coming up