Smoobu vs OwnerRez
This article examines Smoobu vs OwnerRez by concentrating on the main features that a hospitality management software should offer. The data has been collected from Smoobu’s and OwnerRez’s websites and help articles. We also checked their reviews at Capterra to find the aspects that the actual users are emphasising.
Guest Review
In Capterra, Smoobu has a rating of 4.5, with the highest score for Customer Service.
Trustpilot introduces Smoobu as an Average tool with a 3.5 TrustScore.
In Capterra, OwnerRez has a rating of 4.9, with the highest score for Customer Service, Features, and Value for Money.
Trustpilot introduces OwnerRez as an Average tool with a 2.8 TrustScore.
Smoobu offers a “native online check-in tool,” through which you can collect guest information for compliance with local laws or for your own safety.
You can customise all the standard fields, including name, gender, nationality, document number, etc. Additionally, you have the option to add custom fields, require e-signature, and allow guests to attach files.
Smoobu’s integration with ChargeAutomation enables you to automate payment collection for reservations, security deposits, refunds, and fees.
While working with OwnerRez, you do not need to worry about the bookings that come from OTAs to which you have an API connection, as everything will automatically be visible in your account.
You can enable push notifications through the OwnerRez’s Web App to receive alerts, such as a new booking notification, on all your devices.
However, you may face some difficulties if your booking is direct. Then, everything should be done manually. Here are the steps:
- Create the booking and enter guest details.
- Activate payment collection and enter their card information.
- Schedule the security deposit.
- Reach out to guests for further information, such as photo ID and signing of the terms and conditions (through the Renter Agreements feature).
After taking these steps, the booking will be created, and it will resemble one created automatically.
Smoobu’s channel manager synchronises all the bookings, calendar blocks, cancellations, and rates. For Vrbo/HomeAway, there is iCal synchronisation.
Smoobu has integration with more than 100 channels; it has an API integration with 15 channels.
Price synchronisation is available for Booking.com, Expedia and Agoda.
You can add a mark-up in percentage to the base rate. It applies to the minimum stay and the price according to the days of the week.
Prices can be exported/imported from one channel into another.
The full API integration is only available for Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com. In addition, you will have full access to all API integrations if you have five or more properties.
When you open the window for each channel synchronisation, you can see the list of your listings with Sync Status, Listing Status, the last time a booking was made for each property, and the last time the information changed or synced again.
Smoobu offers integration with cleaning software such as Properly, TurnoverBnB, and VRScheduler.
OwnerRez offers several ways to keep the cleaners posted about the latest housekeeping tasks:
- Custom Cleaner iCals
Using iCal integration, you can create a custom calendar for your property, export all your bookings there, and share the link with your cleaners.
- Portal Access
With login details, your cleaners can access your calendar, notes, and guest details based on the levels of access you define.
(This feature is available only if you use the Property Management Premium Feature.)
- Custom Trigger Emails
You can create a trigger email in OwnerRez to be sent out after each departure so that the cleaner knows about the latest check-outs.
- Third-Party Alerts
If you turn on Third-Party Alerts for each property and put in the cleaner’s name/email address, the system will email the assignee automatically each time a booking hits, gets cancelled, or changed.
- Stay Report
The stay report shows you who is arriving, departing, and staying. This report can be printed and sent to your cleaners as a schedule.
Smoobu’s “native online check-in tool” helps you to collect information that you need for the local laws or the information you need for your safety as a host.
Smoobu’s integration partners for online check-ins are Checkin, Wishbox, Mymaison, Vikey, Avs, and Check-in Scan.
Smoobu’s integration partners for smart locks are KeyNest, NUKI, igloohome, Keysoft Claud, SCLAK, TheKeys, and Operto.
OwnerRez is integrated with eRentalLock and a couple of other door lock companies for self check-ins. It can automatically generate codes for your many different door locks, including numeric sequence locks and Wi-Fi locks – each time a booking is created. However, you still need to inform the guest about the code.
For that, you can create an email template within the system with your preferred trigger rule. Based on that, OwnerRez will automatically send an email to your guests to enter the property without your presence.
- Smoobu provides you with a direct booking website, which is commission-free. You can add photos, location, description, logo, Google Maps, and policies, and collect payment through Stripe/PayPal.
- You can use it with your domain. Smoobu’s booking engine iFrame can be integrated with your current website.
- You can translate the website into over 25 languages.
- The website covers 50 currencies.
- “You can add custom Javascript.”
- For the website, you can specify rates per person, per night, per booking, and define minimum stays. The availability calendar can be embedded on the website, and the guests can see it.
- The website is responsive on all devices.
- For the website, you can set “min days between booking and arrival, arrival and departure days, long stay discount, and discount code.”
- The website can be integrated with content management systems such as WordPress, Wix, Weebly, Strato, Typ03, Drupal, Joomla, GoogleSite, Jimdo, and Squarespace.
- Smoobu integrates with Google Analytics.
- You can make restrictions regarding check-in and check-out days for your website.
- You can embed Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Youtube, and LinkedIn on your website.
The web pages are NOT generated for different locations.
OwnerRez offers hosted websites for its customers for an extra charge.
If you have one property, the fee for having a hosted website would be $10.00 per month, which may differ based on the number of your listings.
The website includes:
- A page per property
- A booking engine
- An availability calendar
- Your different rate plans for the season
- Images and videos
- Reviews
- Amenities
- Property location
- Google Vacation Rental Structured Data
You can define long-stay discounts with “dynamic minimum length” for your website. For example, after 20 nights, your guests get a discount.
OwnerRez does not include an extended stay option. It means you cannot define different monthly and/or weekly rates.
Extending your guest stay for your direct bookings can be done manually by changing the dates, the charges, and payment collection.
If a booking is coming from an OTA and the guests stay longer in your properties, the change should be made on the OTA webpage directly, even if you use API integration.
- Smoobu automates your communication with the guests by creating message templates like “thank you messages” and setting trigger events. The templates are customisable according to the guest name, check-in, and check-out times.
- Smoobu’s “Dynamic Guest Guide,” generated uniquely for each booking, provides your guests with all the necessary information in 40 languages until they check out.
Smoobu has full integration with Booking.com & Airbnb messaging APIs.
OwnerRez has an option in their check-out process called renter agreement. A signing link can also follow this agreement, which is highly recommended for bookings that come from different OTAs.
There is a suggested renter agreement, but you can create as many agreements as you want and customise them as a host.
After the signature link is used, you can ask your guests or a particular group of them to verify their contact information for you. This way, you will restore your guests’ details even when the booking comes from a listing site.
OwnerRez’s integration with Besty AI automates guest messaging and interactions.
Smoobu’s CRM tool collects all guest contacts from all the connected portals on one page.
You can edit the data and export the list and send SMS and emails through third parties.
You can download the mobile app to be in touch with your guests.
OwnerRez creates a profile for each of your guests regardless of the sources or channels they come from.
To have an organised CRM, you have the option to merge your contacts or team them up.
OwnerRez’s guest CRM shows you the guests’ history, including the number of their previous bookings with a summary, payments, contact information, and some tags.
By creating different tags, you can highlight some characteristics or ideas about the guests, such as great, never again, breakfast, extra bed, and rental boats. The reason for having tags on the CRM level and booking level is to help the owner. The owner will keep in mind the key points that may seem minor but have a considerable impact on their hosting quality to turn the guests into loyal ones or prevent an annoying person from returning to the property again.
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OwnerRez does not seem to have a particular feature dedicated to your maintenance issues. You can create manual tasks if needed.
Smoobu’s mobile app includes a unified inbox.
There is a mobile app for the guests by which they can check Wi-Fi credentials, maps, tours, weather, etc. It is integrated with Smoobu’s tools, and you can cross-sell extra services during their stays.
Smoobu’s app also helps you collect reviews.
OwnerRez supports mobile phones and tablets. Their web version is mobile responsive, meaning that you can work with the system the same way you do from your PC. It can also be installed as an app on your mobile devices.
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You can use OwnerRez internationally. They allow for multiple currencies, which can be set per property. You can have multiple different credit card processors to accept different currencies, as well.
Smoobu’s “central operations cockpit” shows you the key performance indicators such as occupancy and distribution rates, current bookings, and a list of upcoming guests.
You can add a booking on this page.
OwnerRez can help you manage your housekeeping to some extent, but it needs manual interference and supervision (it will not be done automatically).
However, it is clear that some more extensive operations with more complex scheduling involved, including housekeeping, maintenance, and other support staff, need an advanced solution. To meet this, OwnerRez has partnered with ResortCleaning and VRScheduler.
You can share your Smoobu’s account with your partners and cleaning teams, allowing them access to general account settings, guest data, properties, messages, and prices.
OwnerRez’s PM (Property Management) area gives you a wide variety of options, provided that you use the Premium plan. You can configure owners and assign the properties that you manage for those owners, including some settings like your commission.
You can grant portal access to owners to see your calendar. You can also generate monthly owner statements so that owners can see their booking earnings and the expenses you have charged them. In addition, your grand total for the month will be calculated.
Smoobu creates custom invoice templates. Cross-selling items from the bookings will be shown in the invoice. You can insert PayPal links automatically to the invoice.
Smoobu integrates with Stripe, PayPal, Sumup, and Swikly. The payment integration is just for the booking engine.
Smoobu charges card details.
You can choose how you want to receive payment on your website (Bank transfer, Stripe, Patpay, Payment on Arrival, and iDEAL for Dutch users).
- You can directly collect payments. You can configure payment methods in the financial settings to accept credit cards, cheques, or PayPal.
- You have integration with Quickbooks for your accounting. All the invoices will get generated automatically using Quickbooks’s integration with all the data needed, such as taxes, add-ons, etc.
- You can generate partial payment links, meaning the system generates two invoices for you. It is also possible to set reminders for the guests, which will be sent to them via email.
- Regarding security deposits, OwnerRez offers its optional Damage Protection programme with an insurer called RentalGuardian. The other possible ways are either to hold a security deposit or to have a Refundable Damage Deposit or “RDD.” These can be created manually in the system.
- They offer API integrations with Payeezy, Authorize.net, Bambora, Lynnbrook, Stripe, and more payment processors for payment collection. You can check them out on their website.
Smoobu’s “Statistics” enables you to break down the reports by “revenue, bookings, cancellations, occupancy rate, dates, properties, and nights.”
You can download the list of reservations in Excel, PDF or CSV formats.
On the “Cockpit Page,” you can check the occupancy rate and channel.
- OwnerRez offers various reports which can be exported to Excel/CSV files.
- The booking summary report helps you compare your booking percentage over different periods. You can also compare property by property.
- You can apply other filters like Airbnb or channel bookings only.
- You can also have a Line Item Pivot report where you have the list of all your bookings on a list with all the information you may want to check.
Smoobu’s dynamic pricing integration partners are Beyond and PriceLabs.
Using OwnerRez, you can define seasonal rates and spot rates. You can have the rates applied to only random days in a month, certain days repeatedly, or the entire month. The rate plans from one property can also be batch copied to a destination property.
Under rate rules, you can create last-minute discounts.
OwnerRez also offers integration with Beyond and PriceLabs for dynamic pricing.
The link of help articles and instructions are uploaded on the platform, and you can check them while you set your system up.
You can schedule a call to ask your questions.
Upon logging into the system, you can be in touch with a representative through email.
Once you sign up, the OwnerRez’s support team will reach out to schedule a free 1-hour 1:1 call.
OwnerRez has a ProConnect (Concierge) Setup apart from support documents and asking for help.
The OwnerRez team will go through your account’s onboarding process entirely by themselves based on the information you provide for them. At some points, like the part for website setup, your presence will be needed.
There would be a charge for this service based on the number of your properties. The service will only be available for your existing listings, not the ones you add later on. It is also good to know that Concierge Setup is not an express service, and it might take 3 to 6 weeks to complete.
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OwnerRez offers a Line Item Pivot where you have the list of all your bookings on a list with all the information you may want to check. You can see your booking data, rent price, cleaning, surcharges and discounts, taxes, host fees, charge totals, transaction totals, and PM totals. You can export these to Excel, as well.
Remember that this information will be generated for each booking, not for your organisation, like the monthly profit report in total.
However, OwnerRez can generate monthly owner statements to see their booking earnings and the expenses you have charged them. In addition, the total of the month will be calculated.
OwnerRez integrates with Quickbooks for your bookkeeping tasks.
Having PM services (calculating commissions, generating owner statements and recording expenses) and integrating QuickBooks require an extra fee to be paid to OwnerRez on your base plan.
The messages from various booking platforms will be allocated to the bookings, and you can chat and see the conversation history online or via the mobile app.
OwnerRez does not have a Unified Inbox beyond Airbnb messaging. However, you can have your Airbnb and Vrbo messages sent to OwnerRez automatically, and you can answer them back from your OwnerRez account directly.
You can have your enquiries forwarded into OwnerRez from Vrbo or TripAdvisor, but your replies will be sent out as a traditional email to the guest.
Some pre-set email templates can be sent out to guests automatically using the triggers. They can be turned off for the bookings that you may choose from your list. You can also create your email templates based on your needs.
Pricing
Smoobu offers three packages. One is free and covers limited features. The Professional and Team packages have three plans: monthly, yearly, and two years. As the number of units goes up, around £7 will be added to the price for each unit. Smoobu offers a custom price for more than 20 properties.
OwnerRez pricing starts from $40 (31 GBP) per month. The more properties you have, the less you will pay. However, the default plan only includes Channel Management and Digital Signatures. If you want to have the Property Management feature (to calculate commissions, generate owner statements, and record expenses), QuickBooks integration, hosted website, and SMS messaging, you need to include them in your base plan and pay extra for each. OwnerRez does not have a free version, but they offer a 14-day free trial.
Smoobu vs OwnerRez: Which Property Management System to Choose?
Smoobu is the right choice if you want an affordable, easy-to-use system with a PMS, channel manager, and website builder. With Smoobu’s guest app, you can provide your guests with a happy and pleasant experience. Furthermore, by accessing a contact list, you can directly connect with your guests or use the list for your email marketing. Since Smoobu does not offer cleaning, maintenance, and operations management, you should be mindful of other expenses you might have to pay for buying other software or hiring staff members. As your business grows, or if you decide to manage properties for other owners, Smoobu may not be able to meet your expectations because of the lack of functionalities in reporting, accounting, expense allocation, and profit splitting.
OwnerRez will help you manage your properties as there are lots of features available for each aspect of managing a short-rental business. There are also so many integrations that can be used. However, you need to keep in mind that, to have some of the features, you need to pay an extra amount per property to have them activated. OwnerRez can be an excellent solution for small and large multi-location companies and those who work with Vrbo, Booking.com, and Airbnb.
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