Vacation Rental Desk

What Vacation Rental Desk does

Vacation Rental Desk (operating as VacationRentalDesk.com) is a privately-held U.S. SaaS company founded circa 2003 and headquartered in Irvine, California. The company provides a cloud-based vacation rental management platform that combines a website builder, online booking engine, availability calendar, and reservation management system targeted at do-it-yourself vacation rental owners and small professional property managers managing up to approximately 100 units in the United States. Core products include the Vacation Rental Website builder, Direct Online Booking Software, an Availability Calendar with nightly/weekly/monthly/seasonal rate configuration, and add-on modules for credit card processing, keyless entry integration (Igloo and RemoteLock), damage and travel protection, Google Vacation Rentals listings, and calendar synchronization with VRBO, Airbnb, and FlipKey.

The platform operates on a product-led, self-serve distribution model with a freemium entry point (free 30-day trial, no credit card required, and a permanent free tier) converting to a per-rental subscription starting at $12/month, with bulk pricing tiers up to 100 rentals ($420/month) and a 2.75% flat-rate credit card transaction fee processed via Yapstone. The company has historically been self-funded with no disclosed venture capital or private equity investment, no public revenue figures, and no disclosed headcount. The technology stack includes native integrations with Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, GoDaddy, YouTube, and Google Maps, but no documented API, SDK, MCP, or AI/ML capabilities. Geographic operations are restricted to the United States for payment processing and damage/travel protection services, with travel protection additionally available to Canadian residents.

Name

Vacation Rental Desk

Legal name

Vacation Rental Desk

Website

https://vacationrentaldesk.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Vacation Rental Desk is a U.S.-based, self-funded SaaS platform that provides DIY vacation rental owners and small property managers with a website builder, online booking engine, availability calendar, payment processing, and smart lock integrations on a per-rental subscription model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Vacation Rental Management Software

akta.pro primary industry

Lodging & Vacation Rental Booking Platforms (BPAMAIAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Vacation & Short-Term Rental Management (BPAJAFAI)

Keywords

• Vacation rental software
• Online booking software
• Property management software
• Direct booking platform
• Vacation rental websites

Headquarters

HQ city

Irvine

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Subscription Software (Per Rental): Monthly subscription pricing calculated on a per-rental basis. Each reservable rental unit has a fixed dollar monthly fee billed in advance. Starting at $12 per rental per month with bulk discounts available for managing multiple properties.
2. Credit Card Transaction Processing: 2.75% flat rate fee on credit card transactions for Visa, MasterCard and Discover. U.S. properties only. No setup fees, monthly statement fees, or PCI compliance charges.
3. Freemium Software Access: Free version available with basic features including website builder, calendar, and reservation dashboard. Advanced features like credit card processing and Google Vacation Rentals require paid subscription upgrade.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Vacation Rental Desk operates a cloud-based SaaS platform that enables vacation rental owners and property managers to build mobile-friendly, SEO-optimized vacation rental websites, accept direct online bookings, manage availability calendars, process credit card payments, and automate guest communications. The platform includes free core features and optional paid add-ons such as keyless entry integration, damage and travel protection, Google Vacation Rentals listings, and calendar synchronization with VRBO, Airbnb, and FlipKey.

Product overview

Vacation Rental Desk offers a free vacation rental software platform with optional paid add-ons. The core offering includes a website builder (Vacation Rental Websites) with integrated online booking software (Vacation Rental Software), an Availability Calendar for rate and booking management, and Google Vacation Rentals listings. Paid modules include Credit Card Payments for online payment processing, Keyless Entry Door Locks for keyless access management with Igloo and RemoteLock integrations, Damage & Travel Protection for damage waivers with $1M liability coverage, Calendar Synchronization to sync with VRBO/Airbnb/FlipKey, Owner Logins & Statements for property management reporting, Booking Activity Graph for trend visualization, and SSL Certificates for secure websites. The platform emphasizes direct booking to eliminate guest service fees charged by listing sites.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Vacation Rental Websites Website builder that allows vacation rental owners to create mobile-optimized, search engine optimized websites with HD photo galleries, availability calendars, and online booking capabilities in minutes.
• Vacation Rental Software Online booking and reservation management system enabling property managers to take reservations directly, manage availability calendars, process payments, and automate guest communications.
• Direct Booking Calendar Availability calendar allowing property managers to set nightly, weekly, monthly, holiday and seasonal rates, customize minimum stays and check-in/check-out days to maximize occupancy.
• Credit Card Payments Online payment processing accepting all major credit cards and electronic checks at a 2.75% flat rate with instant approvals for last-minute bookings and secure guest reservations.
• Keyless Entry Door Locks Keyless entry system providing temporary access codes that activate at check-in and expire at check-out, integrating with Igloo smart locks and WiFi locks from RemoteLock.
• Damage & Travel Protection Damage waiver and travel protection program where guests purchase low-cost damage waiver at booking, eliminating need for large refundable deposits. Includes $1 million liability coverage and bedbug protection.
• Google Vacation Rentals Free listing on Google Vacation Rentals channel for increased bookings without paying guest service fees or commissions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Save up to 65% with bulk pricing compared to per-rental rates
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration14 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• YapstonecoreTechnology or IntegrationYapstone is a leading payment provider for the vacation rental industry. Their partnership enables Vacation Rental Desk to offer lower merchant processing rates (dropped from 2.59% to 2.50% flat rate) to all vacation rental owners and managers. The partnership eliminates transaction fees and includes no PCI compliance charges, monthly statement fees, or long-term contracts.
• Google Vacation RentalscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerFree integration allowing Vacation Rental Desk users to list properties on Google Vacation Rentals, the fastest growing channel for vacation rentals. Properties marked as 'Published' under Settings >> Channels & Booking Tools >> Google Vacation Rentals are automatically listed. Users receive map filtering for visibility among travelers searching on Google.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Hostaway: Vacation rental property management software with channel manager, unified inbox, and website builder. Targets professional property managers with multi-property portfolios, directly competing for VRD's 'professional managers on a budget' segment.
• Guesty: End-to-end property management platform for short-term and vacation rentals serving professional managers. Comparable core product (PMS, channel manager, payment processing, websites) but skews upmarket and is venture-backed.
• OwnerRez: Vacation rental software for owners and property managers with booking, channel management, payment processing, and guest-facing websites. Closely aligned on direct-booking + channel-sync positioning and SMB target market.
• Streamline VRS: Vacation rental software for property managers with reservation management, channel distribution, websites, and owner reporting. Overlaps VRD on bulk management and owner statements for SMB managers.
• iGMS: Vacation rental management software offering channel manager, automated messaging, cleaning schedules, and direct booking websites. Targets individual hosts and small managers, a near-identical ICP to VRD.
• Tokeet: Vacation rental property management platform combining PMS, channel manager, and direct booking sites for individual owners and small managers. Directly comparable in scope and target customer.
• Lodgify: Vacation rental website builder and all-in-one property management platform targeting individual owners and small managers. Closely comparable to VRD on website builder + booking engine + channel manager bundle for the SMB market.

Broad incumbents

• Airbnb: Largest vacation rental booking platform globally and the primary competitor that VRD's zero-fee pitch is designed to bypass. Not a direct software peer, but the dominant marketplace whose fee structure and host tools frame the SMB software opportunity.
• VRBO: Major vacation rental booking marketplace owned by Expedia, charging guest service fees that VRD positions itself against. Not a software peer, but a major adjacent platform whose policies directly shape VRD's value proposition.

Emerging players

• Hospitable: Newer AI-driven short-term rental automation platform focused on messaging automation and guest communication. Partial overlap with VRD on multi-channel management but differentiated by AI-led automation for individual hosts.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/vrentaldesk
• Facebookfacebook.com/vrentaldesk
• Instagraminstagram.com/vacationrentaldesk
• Pinterestpinterest.com/vacationrentald

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Vacation Rental Desk