5 Of The Best Vacation Rental Platforms That Aren't Airbnb, According To Travelers

Have you ever booked a whole-house Airbnb with a "fully stocked kitchen" only to arrive and find a pan but no spatula? Or agreed to a hefty cleaning fee only to realize you've also agreed to a list of check-out chores? Posters on social media have noted that Airbnb fees seem to keep going up — to avoid those fees, some clever travelers have figured out hacks for finding ways to book directly with properties they find on Airbnb. Meanwhile, the quality of the experience hasn't always kept pace even as the number of hosts has grown. Too many new hosts with dollar signs in their eyes instead of hospitality in their hearts, perhaps?

Even if you love Airbnb, you may have specific needs in a property that Airbnb's search algorithm doesn't surface, or want to know more information than Airbnb makes available prior to booking, like an exact location. Competition is a healthy thing for any marketplace, including the market short term rentals, so why not check out some alternative platforms before booking your next stay? We've done the legwork, combing through forums and social media, from Reddit and Quora to Tripadvisor and Trustpilot, in our search for the five best alternatives to Airbnb.

Most travelers don't realize that VRBO is 13 years older than Airbnb. While Airbnb has over 7 million listings, VRBO (that stands for Vacation Rentals By Owner) has just 2 million, all of them whole homes. These larger properties cater to groups and families, who make up 85% of VRBO bookings, whereas Airbnb's wider variety is more useful for solo travelers. Increasingly, hosts cross-post listings to both platforms, as do vacation rental management services like Vacasa. VRBO is owned by Expedia, which also owns Hotels.com. All three brands share a cashback loyalty program, OneKey, that even offers a rewards credit card, so if you travel frequently for work and stay in hotels, you can collect a lot of credit to later use on your family vacations

What's the VRBO vibe? One Redditor who has been renting private vacation homes for 25 years claims that VRBO experiences have been better overall than Airbnb, while others complain that the VRBO experience feels more corporate, with more rentals managed by real estate companies rather than individual hosts. Choosing between Airbnb and VRBO can come down to personal preference. In short: if you want personal and quirky, stick with Airbnb, while if you want to earn cashback or be hosted by a pro, go VRBO.

The denizens of Reddit's r/digitalnomad forum love Booking.com. These are veteran travelers, many of whom have used multiple platforms extensively, so even if you're booking a vacation instead of a month or three for working remotely, their advice is pure gold. They like that the site has transparent pricing, is easily searchable by any number of variables, and includes hostels, hotels, and properties from management companies, as well as private properties. Some Redditors note that in many locations, most properties on Airbnb are also on Booking.com.

And it's not just long-term renters who love the site. Redditors in r/Europetravel also like that the map feature on Booking.com shows exact locations, and that there are never surprise chore lists upon checkout. Booking.com is also one of Rick Steves' favorite travel apps, and travel savvy forum posters on his website also note that it includes additional photos that give a better preview of a property's features and condition than other platforms.

But we think the killer feature may just be that vaunted searchability. Looking for a lakefront villa with a private pool on Lake Como, rated 9 out of 10 or higher? A quick search surfaces several options. How about a vacation home in Colorado with a saltwater pool and a power outlet near the bed? You got it. The level of detail is epic, making it likely your trip will be too.

Fairbnb is a unique travel startup and the primo choice for all you ethical tourists who want to have a positive impact on the communities you visit. "Airbnb kills our cities," writes one Redditor in r/Europetravel, blaming unethical tourism for destroying their community. "If you care about the place you're staying in...don't use Airbnb and similar flat rental places, it would be far less damaging to throw every piece of litter you have on the street." In answer, Fairbnb's motto is "community powered tourism." That means that it selects rentals in cooperation with communities, and donates 50% of booking fees to local projects.

This is a great alternative to Airbnb in cities like Paris and Barcelona that have taken steps to curb the short term rental market in order to preserve the local housing stock. In Paris, for example, you can rent an elegant, historic apartment in bustling Montmartre (pictured) that's owned by a philosophy professor, and a portion of your booking fees benefit an education program for refugees. What a way to practice enlightened travel in the City of Light. Plus you're only steps from the Paris Metro, which you can ride to Anthony Bourdain's favorite restaurant, Le Dôme, where you can splurge on escargot with all that money you saved by not staying at the Ritz. The only downside to this platform (at fairbnb.coop) is that it currently only serves some areas of Europe, including the U.K., Spain, and Italy.

Tripadvisor forum members highly recommend redweek.com as an Airbnb alternative for those who prefer hotel and resort stays. The platform matches timeshare owners with renters, often at a tremendous discount — and no high-pressure timeshare sales pitch to sit through. This site is worth checking out before your next tropical vacation to a destination like Hawaii, as the state recently enacted stricter laws limiting the number of short term rentals in an effort to create more affordable housing for permanent residents.

How about a seven-night stay at the Marriott Kauai Beach Club, which has a 26,000-square foot swimming pool (pictured) and makes a perfect base for hitting all the best snorkeling spots in Kauai? On redweek.com, rooms range from around $150 per night for a hotel-style room, up to $500 and up for a two bedroom villa. On the Marriott website, those same rooms start at around $500. You'll be getting a week at a resort-style accommodation for a fraction of the same hotel's market rate, and you can sleep easy in the air conditioning knowing that you haven't contributed one bit to displacing your surf instructor or dive boat captain from the housing market.

Sometimes it pays to think outside the box — or in the case of short term rentals, outside the room. If your plans include an epic road trip to visit the most iconic National Parks on the East Coast, for example, you could book motels and Airbnbs along the way, but why not rent an RV and stay at campgrounds inside the parks themselves? Outdoorsy lets you do just that. As a peer-to-peer RV sharing site, it functions much like Airbnb does, allowing you to rent directly from RV owners. 

Ranging from self-contained motor homes, to off-road trailers, to Airstreams, there is something for every taste and budget. And if you don't have a tow vehicle, some will even set a trailer up at a campsite you reserved, then take it down when you depart. (Check to make sure the park allows this.) Not sure if #vanlife is for you? Rent a Vintage VW or a Sprinter on Outdoorsy and find out. And though the prospect of renting something with as many moving parts as an RV can be daunting, Outdoorsy users have had largely positive experiences. The company has a strong 4.1-star rating on Trustpilot compared to Airbnb's 1.3 stars.

We read through forum posts, ratings and reviews on Reddit, Tripadvisor, Trustpilot, Rick Steves' Travel Forum, and more, looking for hot tips from experienced travelers, on which platforms they preferred to Airbnb and why. Then we investigated those platforms further to see how well they connected people to short term rentals in an effort to find something for every travel style. What works for a business trip to Buffalo likely isn't right for a Hawaiian honeymoon, and an experience-seeking digital nomad in Paris doesn't always have the same goals as a family on a road trip to Yosemite, but exploring these alternatives to Airbnb can help you find the best vacation rental for your needs.