What people complain about in Airbnb
5 reported problems name Airbnb as what the person is currently using. Below is what they said was missing, and what they resorted to instead.
- Complaints
- 5
- Avg severity
- 3.2/5
- Would pay to fix
- 0
- Industries
- 3
What they wish it did
Capabilities people described needing that Airbnb does not give them, taken from the highest-scoring problems first. These are individual accounts written in each person’s own terms, so two entries may describe the same underlying gap in different words.
- System to handle guest verification, insurance, and compliance for short-term stays in vacant units
- White-label booking system with WhatsApp integration that replaces manual WhatsApp management and eliminates OTA commissions
- Unified guest communication hub with auto-responses for common inquiries
- Automated cleaning schedule integration with booking calendars
- Dynamic pricing tool that adjusts rates based on market data
- Review management system with sentiment tracking and auto-publishing
- Unified financial tracking without spreadsheets
- Centralized document storage with property-specific folders
- All guest communication in one thread across channels
- Automated recurring task notifications with property context
What they do instead
The manual processes people built around the gap. A long workaround list is the strongest evidence a problem is real: someone is already paying for it in time. Where several people described the same workaround, it is marked.
- manages everything through WhatsApp
- Guest inquiries and check-in questions require manual attention
- Coordinating cleaners manually between stays
- Updating pricing manually to capitalize on seasonal demand
- Responding to reviews without reminders or automation
- Handling maintenance issues reactively between stays
- Uses Google Sheets for revenue and expenses
- Uses Google Drive for documents
- Uses email for guest communication and receipts
- Uses calendar reminders for recurring tasks, insurance renewals, taxes
The problems themselves
Highest opportunity score first.
Property owners/managers struggle with vacant units generating zero income while they still pay utilities and maintenance, and hotel/Airbnb pricing is too high for many temporary guests, but operational risks and management overhead make short-term filling of vacancies seem unfeasible.
3MediumProperty ManagementOperations ManagementVacancyBridge ProShort-term rental operators lose ownership of customer relationships and pay high commissions by relying on booking platforms like Airbnb.
3MediumProperty ManagementClient Communication & ExperienceHostOS DirectShort-term rental hosts are forced to manage hotel-like operations (guest communication, cleaning coordination, pricing updates, review responses) without purpose-built automation, causing them to feel more like managers than investors.
3MediumReal EstateProperty ManagementHostFlow AutomateSelf-managing rental property owners use many disparate tools (Airbnb, Google Sheets, Drive, email, calendar) for bookings, finances, documents, and communication, creating a fragmented workflow that is inefficient and frustrating.
3MediumProperty ManagementOperations ManagementRentalOS HubLocal tour guides lose 25-30% of revenue to large platforms like Viator, Airbnb, and GetYourGuide.
4HighGeneral Business ServicesClient AcquisitionGuideFreedom
Read this fairly
These are complaints, and only complaints — nobody posts to say their software worked. A high count mostly reflects how many people use Airbnb at all, so this page is not a quality judgement and should not be read as one. What it is good for is the shape of the gaps: the specific jobs people could not get done, which are the same whether the tool is popular or not.