Vacation Rental Desk
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.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2003
- HeadquartersIrvine, United States
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
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.
Vacation Rental Desk firmographics
Firmographics- 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
Vacation Rental Desk industry classification
Industry- 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
Where Vacation Rental Desk is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Irvine
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Vacation Rental Desk business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Standard Per-Rental Plan - $12/rental/month |
| Subscription | Monthly | Bulk Pricing - Save up to 65% |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Credit Card Processing - 2.75% flat rate |
| Freemium | Monthly | Google Vacation Rentals - Free listing |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Damage & Travel Protection - No cost to property manager |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Vacation Rental Desk product offering
Product offeringCore 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
Companies that use Vacation Rental Desk
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Vacation Rental Desk technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration14 records
Feature8 records
Vacation Rental Desk partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- YapstonecoreYapstone 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 RentalscoreFree 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
Vacation Rental Desk competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect 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
Vacation Rental Desk social profiles
Digital presenceVacation Rental Desk financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Vacation Rental Desk leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Vacation Rental Desk funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Vacation Rental Desk M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Vacation Rental Desk
What does Vacation Rental Desk do?
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.
Is Vacation Rental Desk a public or private company?
Vacation Rental Desk is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Vacation Rental Desk founded?
Vacation Rental Desk was founded in 2003.
Where is Vacation Rental Desk based?
Vacation Rental Desk is headquartered in Irvine, United States, in the North America region.
How does Vacation Rental Desk make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Subscription Software (Per Rental) is the primary driver. The others are credit Card Transaction Processing and freemium Software Access.
Who are Vacation Rental Desk's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Hostaway, Guesty, OwnerRez, Streamline VRS, iGMS, Tokeet and Lodgify. Broad incumbents are Airbnb and VRBO. Hospitable is listed as an emerging player.
Does Vacation Rental Desk have an API?
No public API is recorded for Vacation Rental Desk.
What industry is Vacation Rental Desk in?
Vacation Rental Desk's product category is Vacation Rental Management Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAIAC, Lodging & Vacation Rental Booking Platforms, with a secondary code of BPAJAFAI, Vacation & Short-Term Rental Management.