Your Porter Vs OwnerRez (Airbnb/VRBO)

The debate over Your Porter vs OwnerRez pops up frequently in the Short-term rental world.  New investors will frequently ask which program is the “Best” to help automate STR management.  The responses will breakdown into Your Porter and OwnerRez camps and a new investor is stuck in the middle.

This debate over Your Porter vs OwnerRez is similar to the iPhone and Android debates.  People love their iPhone or Androids and good luck convincing the other side to change phones ;).  So, the truth about these programs is that both are great and the one you choose depends on your management style.

For example, an iPhone is streamlined and easy to use in the Apple ecosystem but it lacks the ability to customize the platform.  While android phones are not as user friendly but allow for greater customization.   That is the same scenario for Your Porter and OwnerRez. 

Your Porter would be similar to an iPhone, it iOS based, user friendly, requires less set up time but has less customization.

While OwnerRez is your Android phone with more customization but also more upfront work.

Neither is right or wrong but depends on how you plan to manage.

So, lets look at some details…

YOUR PORTER

Your Porter is iOS based and has a native app that works great on the iPhone.  In fact the full name is Your Porter App…  Therefore, if you are mobile and phone based then you can probably stop reading now… YP is for you.

But to be thorough lets look at the other features of Your Porter.

Channel Manager

YP has direct API integration with AIRBNB and Booking.com allowing complete control of your listing through Your Porter. 

VRBO and other platforms can be linked with iCal allowing you to sync your calendar and pricing across all platforms

Unified Inbox

This feature was recently updated and allows you to view your messages from all platforms in one inbox.  You can message directly to your Airbnb and VRBO guests through this one inbox. 

There is also an option to set up automated messaging through the Your Porter app that greatly improves your response time with customized messages. You can also set up Auto-Review to make sure you don’t forget to review any guests.

If you have a bad guest you can easily stop the auto-review and write your own review.

One nice feature about the messaging platform of YP is that it allows for pdf attachments.  This allows you to attach guide books and other instructions for your guests.

Messaging in Your Porter allows direct native messaging in Airbnb and VRBO

Cleaning Notifications

You can add automation rules to notify your cleaning crew of upcoming bookings, number of guests and can send the notification to yourself as well. In addition, there is an option for shared calendars. (Click here to read more)

Dynamic Pricing

Your Porter Integrates with Pricelabs, Wheelhouse and Beyond Pricing.

I prefer Pricelabs

Airbnb Rank booster

This is included with Your Porter and adjusts the content on your Airbnb listing to improve your ranking.  In addition, there is an auto-snooze option that can be set up to improve your Airbnb ranking by intermittently setting your listing to snooze.

Create financial reports

This service is included with the Your Porter service. The reports are easy to read and can be exported to excel. (Click here to read more)

Integrated with Schlage Encode

Automatically generate and send access codes to your guests using YP for $0.75 per code.  It is actually worth it.  The only downside here is that it does not integrate with Remote Lock yet so you are limited to Schlage Encode locks.  With that said, Schlage Encode Locks are pretty awesome. (Click Here)

Create your own website

YP has a very nice and easy program to generate a custom website with the click of a button.  The private site is automatically created from your Airbnb listing.  You can then customize your deposit rules and add a Stripe account to collect direct payments. 

Stripe also allows you to place a hold on the card on file for deposit.  It is a nice feature.  You have the option to further customize you site or just go with the autogenerated website.

Other features include custom coupon codes and the site integrates directly with YP, Airbnb, VRBO so you will never have to worry about double bookings.

The downside is that the site is generated from Airbnb so your account needs to be active on Airbnb for your Direct site to work. 

If you are looking to break up with Airbnb then this option might not work for you.

OwnerRez

OwnerRez is computer based and does not have a native iOS app.   For those that manage on the phone this may be challenging.  However, the nice thing about OwnerRez  is that is a robust program that allows for customization and integrates with many products.  The downside is that the set-up is a little more time consuming.

Channel Manager

OwnerRez offers direct API integration with AIRBNB, VRBO, TripAdvisor, Booking.com, and more. Now this may be great for some but it does sound like there are some quirks to this set-up.  I have included a link to the VRBO API description as an example (Click Here).  This is not a plug and play set up. 

Hence the Android (OwnerRez) vs iPhone (Your Porter) comparison.

Unified Inbox

The OwnerRez unified inbox receives Airbnb messages, email messages, and SMS messages.

OwnerRez also includes “trigger messages” to help automate messaging through Airbnb messaging and SMS/email for the other platforms. 

Messaging in OwnerRez allows for Airbnb native messaging but does not allow for VRBO native messaging. (Click here to learn more)

Dynamic Pricing

OwnerRez Integrates with Pricelabs, DPGO and Beyond Pricing.

I prefer Pricelabs…

Integrated with multiple SmartLock companies

Automatically generate and send access codes to your guests by integrating with various smartlock providers: RemoteLock, Point Central, Dormakaba, Brivo, eRemotelock.com….

RemoteLock is a great program and this would be the recommended program to integrate with OwnerRez.  If you are using Schlage Encode door locks then you would register your locks with RemoteLock and then integrate with OwnerRez.

With Your Porter the Schlage encode locks integrate directly without RemoteLock.

Create your own website

OwnerRez provides a robust Website Builder that assists in building your own website.  You can customize your website using “widgets” .

You can add “book now sections”, availability calendars, reviews, and more.

There is also a WordPress plugin if you have your own website and want to integrate with your OwnerRez data.

In addition, you can accept direct payments via their integrated payment processing partners for example:  paypal, stripe, netbilling etc.

Lastly, Digital signatures for contracts can be set up (similar to Docusign). 

(I created a work around for this in Your Porter but it is nice that OwnerRez has this integrated.)

One major advantage of the OwnerRez website is that is a freestanding website and is NOT dependent on Airbnb to function.

The disadvantage is the upfront set up time is more than the autogenerated Your Porter Direct booking site.

Bookkeeping

A nice feature provided by OwnerRez is Quickbooks integration.

COST

Your Porter

Your Porter was recently bought out by Guesty and unfortunately the pricing has increased slightly.  It used to be $18 for your first two properties and then $9 per listing per month but it has increased to:

$29 for 1 property

$39 for 2 properties

$53 for 3 properties

$67 for 4 properties

$81 for 5 properties

There is a calculator on the Your Porter page that allows you to calculate the monthly cost based on the number of properties you will be managing.  They offer a free 14-day trial and a 10% discount for annual plans. 

What is nice about YP is that everything is included in one price: Messaging, Expense tracking, reports, the direct booking site, Airbnb Rank booster and more…

OwnerRez

Owner Rez starts at a higher price range.  The starting price is $35 for the first property but that is the base price and does not include expense reporting, website formation, SMS messaging or Quickbooks integration.

To compare apples to apples I included the add-on costs for the expense reporting, website formation and sms messaging (I left out Quickbooks because Your Porter does not offer that service).  Below is the updated pricing:

$70   for 1 property

$80   for 2 properties

$91   for 3 properties

$102 for 4 properties

$113 for 5 properties

OwnerRez also has a pricing calculator on their website. 

Summary

In the end, the pricing differences may not be much when it comes to managing properties that are generating significant returns and for those that own multiple properties.

Both Your Porter and OwnerRez are robust programs to help you manage your short-term rental properties.  Neither one is perfect.  They both have their own advantages and disadvantages so the key is researching and determining which one works with your management style.

The good news is that they both offer free trials and monthly subscriptions so you can change if one is not the right fit for you.

We hope this post helps in making a choice between the two…

Enjoy your Journey to Financial Freedom