What AirDNA Provides
AirDNA is a short-term rental data company that aggregates performance data from Airbnb, Vrbo, and other platforms. Their data covers occupancy rates, average daily rates (ADR), revenue per available night (RevPAN), and seasonal demand trends for vacation rental markets worldwide.
In practical terms: AirDNA knows what comparable properties near yours are earning, when demand is high, and what guests are willing to pay. Futurestay pulls that data to surface it directly in your account, so you don’t need a separate AirDNA subscription to benefit from it.
This integration is available on the Amplify plan.
How It Connects to Futurestay
Futurestay connects to AirDNA automatically for Amplify accounts. There’s no manual setup or API key to configure. Once you’re on Amplify, AirDNA data is available in two places: your Comp Set and SmartRates.
Comp Set
Your comp set is a curated group of properties that are similar to yours in size, location, and amenity level. Futurestay uses AirDNA data to suggest an initial comp set based on your property’s characteristics, and you can adjust it to add or remove specific listings.
Once your comp set is configured, you can see how your occupancy and rates compare to those properties over any time period. This is useful for answering questions like: “Am I priced too high for a slow October?” or “Are my competitors selling out weekends in August at a rate higher than mine?”
Comp set data refreshes regularly as AirDNA updates its underlying dataset.
SmartRates
SmartRates uses AirDNA’s demand forecasts combined with your own historical performance to recommend nightly rates for future dates. The recommendations factor in local events, seasonal trends, day-of-week patterns, and how far out guests typically book in your market.
SmartRates appear as suggestions. You can accept them, adjust them, or ignore them. If you use Pricelabs for dynamic pricing, SmartRates and Pricelabs operate independently. Many hosts use SmartRates as a reference point and let Pricelabs handle the automation.
Interpreting the Data
A few things to keep in mind when working with AirDNA data:
- It’s backward-looking by default. Comp set performance shows what already happened. Use it for trend analysis, not as a real-time signal.
- Sample size varies by market. In dense urban markets, AirDNA has rich data. In rural or niche markets, the comp pool is smaller and the data can be less precise.
- ADR includes cleaning fees on some platforms. When comparing your rates to comp set rates, check whether cleaning fee accounting is consistent. A property with a $0 cleaning fee and a $200/night rate is earning less than it appears compared to one that charges a separate cleaning fee.