What Muniao does

Muniao (木鸟民宿), operated by Beijing Aiyoutech Co., Ltd. (北京爱游易科技有限公司), is a Chinese C2C online marketplace for short-term vacation rentals and homestays, founded in May 2012 and headquartered in Beijing's Haidian District. The platform connects individual property hosts with travelers seeking temporary accommodation, offering 1.75 million verified listings across approximately 700 cities domestically and internationally and serving over 100 million cumulative users since launch. The company is cited as holding approximately 28% market share in China's online short-term rental market and as the only independently operated, continuously profitable vertical platform in the segment after 14 years.

The platform is delivered through a multi-channel mobile-first product stack including a PC website, native iOS and Android applications, plus WeChat and Alipay mini-programs. Core trust and quality features include 100% manual property verification, real-identity verification via China's public security system, Taiping Insurance-backed guest accident coverage, smart-lock promotion, and credit-score integrations with Zhima Credit and Xiaobai Credit that enable deposit-free check-in and 'Pay After Stay' (先住后付). A differentiated quality standard called Four Wood Listings (四木房源), launched in 2017 and benchmarked to four-star hotel service with 70+ detailed requirements, sits alongside value-added services such as the 'Landlord Hospitality' (地主之谊) local-recommendation layer, the curated Internet-Famous Homestay (网红民宿) category, and a Mid-to-Long Term Rental (中长租) option for extended stays.

Muniao's business model is a take-rate marketplace: hosts list for free and pay a 10% service fee only upon a successful completed stay, with an optional review-cashback mechanism that incentivizes guest feedback. The company targets post-90s and post-00s young travelers as its primary persona, with secondary segments spanning family and group travelers, mid-to-long-term guests, pet owners, and parent-child travelers. Go-to-market is product-led and community-led through user-generated reviews, host stories, and destination guides. The company has raised disclosed Series A funding (RMB 60 million from Plum Ventures in July 2015) plus undisclosed Series B, B+, and B2 rounds from Dachen Ventures, Huocheng, and Huaguan Capital between 2016 and 2019, and remains privately held.

Name

Muniao

Legal name

北京爱游易科技有限公司

Website

https://muniao.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Muniao (木鸟民宿) is a Chinese C2C online marketplace that connects individual hosts with travelers seeking short-term vacation rentals and homestays, offering 1.75 million verified listings across 700+ cities and serving over 100 million cumulative users in China's short-term rental market.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Vacation Rental Marketplace

NAICS

Traveler Accommodation (7211), Other Traveler Accommodation (72119)

SIC

Hotels, Rooming Houses, Camps & Other Lodging Places (7000)

akta.pro primary industry

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Home-Sharing Marketplaces (THAMALAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Vacation Rental & Short‑Term Stay Marketplaces (THALAFAC), Rentals & Lending (P2P) Marketplaces (CRAFAKAJ)

Keywords

• Vacation rental marketplace
• Short-term rentals
• Homestay booking platform
• Online accommodation booking
• C2C property rental

Headquarters

HQ city

Haidian

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Transaction Commission: Platform charges hosts a 10% service fee on the total transaction value for each successful booking. Hosts pay the fee only after a confirmed transaction, with no upfront listing fees.
2. Review Incentive Program: Optional review-based cashback program where hosts can set a percentage (minimum 1% recommended) of room price as incentive for guests to leave reviews. Platform deducts this from host earnings.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Muniao operates a C2C (consumer-to-consumer) online marketplace that connects individual property hosts with travelers seeking short-term vacation rentals, homestays, and unique accommodations across more than 700 cities in China and internationally. The platform monetizes via a 10% transaction commission on completed bookings, with hosts listing properties for free and paying the fee only after successful stays. Its 1.75 million listings are manually verified, integrated with public security identity systems, credit scoring (Zhima Credit, Xiaobai Credit), and WeChat Pay for deposit-free and Pay After Stay services.

Product overview

木鸟民宿 operates a C2C (consumer-to-consumer) short-term rental marketplace as a unified platform connecting travelers with accommodation providers. The ecosystem consists of the main guest-facing app (木鸟民宿) for searching and booking properties across 700+ cities, a dedicated landlord app (木鸟房东端) for hosts to manage listings and transactions, and a WeChat mini-program for seamless booking within the WeChat ecosystem. The platform layers value-added services including the 四木房源 quality certification standard, 地主之谊 host services, a curated 网红民宿 category, BNPL-style 先住后付 payments, and mid-to-long term rental options. Together these products form a full-stack short-term rental platform spanning discovery, booking, payment, and stay management.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• 四木房源: 对标四星级酒店服务与设施标准的品质房源体系，2017年7月上线，在硬件设施、卫生、服务等方面有70多项细化要求。
• 地主之谊
• 小木鸟
• 木鸟民宿APP
• 木鸟房东端

Products and services

• Muniao Online Vacation Rental Marketplace C2C online marketplace connecting individual property hosts with travelers seeking short-term vacation accommodations, homestays, and unique stays across 700+ cities in China and internationally. Includes 1.75 million verified listings, search, booking, secure escrow payment, guest insurance, identity verification, and post-stay review functionality. Available via web, iOS, Android, WeChat Mini Program, and Alipay Mini Program.
• Muniao Guest Mobile App (木鸟民宿 App) Native iOS and Android application for travelers to search, browse, and book verified short-term rental accommodations. Includes multi-condition search, real-time booking, in-app communication with hosts, order tracking, and 24/7 customer support.
• Muniao Landlord App (木鸟房东端)

Quantifiable outcome

• Platform has served over 100 million cumulative users
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Taiping Insurance (太平保险)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInsurance partner providing accident coverage for guests. Platform offers free insurance policy to guests booking through PC or app, covering personal safety during stays. Partnership addresses safety concerns for both hosts and guests.
• Ant Financial - Zhima Credit (蚂蚁金服-芝麻信用)coreTechnology or IntegrationCredit scoring integration enabling deposit-free check-in for users meeting credit score thresholds. Provides trust infrastructure for the platform's sharing economy model.
• WeChat Pay (微信支付分)coreTechnology or IntegrationLaunched 'Pay After Stay' (先住后付) service in August 2019 using WeChat Pay credit scoring, enabling users to pay after completing their stay rather than upfront.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Agoda: Asia-Pacific-focused OTA under Booking Holdings with strong alternative accommodation offerings. Relevant peer given Muniao's Asia focus and Booking Holdings' ownership of multiple vacation rental brands.

Broad incumbents

• Booking.com: World's largest OTA with a significant alternative accommodation category. Comparable as a global booking platform serving international travelers who may also use Muniao's outbound offerings.
• Trip.com Group (携程): China's largest OTA, parent of Tujia, offering accommodation booking including alternative stays. While primarily a hotel OTA, it competes with Muniao for accommodation bookings in China and provides a benchmark for travel platform economics.
• Fliggy (飞猪): Alibaba-owned OTA platform that absorbed Xiaozhu. Fliggy competes with Muniao in online accommodation booking, leveraging Alibaba's payment and traffic ecosystem similar to Muniao's WeChat/Alipay integration.
• Tongcheng Travel (同程旅行): Major Chinese OTA focused on lower-tier cities and value-conscious travelers, with a growing presence in alternative accommodation. Competes with Muniao for budget and emerging-market travel segments in China.

Direct peers

• Tujia (途家): China's largest vacation rental platform backed by Ctrip (Trip.com Group), offering P2P and managed inventory across China. Tujia is Muniao's most direct domestic competitor, sharing the same C2C home-sharing category and Chinese market focus.
• Airbnb: Global leader in P2P home-sharing, with a re-entered China presence. Directly comparable in core marketplace mechanics, though Airbnb operates at much larger scale and with a different brand positioning globally.
• Vrbo (Expedia Group): Global vacation rental marketplace owned by Expedia Group, focused on whole-home rentals. Operates in the same category as Muniao internationally, particularly in destinations frequented by Chinese outbound travelers.
• Xiaozhu (小猪短租): Established Chinese P2P home-sharing marketplace that was acquired by Fliggy (Alibaba) in 2018. Directly comparable to Muniao as a C2C platform focused on unique, personally hosted properties in China.
• Meituan B&B (美团民宿): The short-term rental vertical of Meituan, China's dominant local services super-app. Competes directly with Muniao for Chinese leisure travelers and benefits from Meituan's massive traffic and merchant network.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors5 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Muniao