How To Create an Accommodation Platform Like Airbnb

Quick Summary: As a startup, you might be fascinated by the Airbnb app idea, but how to create an accommodation platform like Airbnb? This blog will provide details about the features, costs, and steps to build an accommodation platform like Airbnb.

The rise of technology has made traveling easier and better. Thanks to platforms like Airbnb, people can now quickly book their accommodations, no matter where they wish to go.

Such platforms have allowed travelers to get a comfortable place and property owners to make money. Are you an entrepreneur willing to build your own accommodation platform like Airbnb? 

This guide will take you through the steps to create an accommodation platform like Airbnb, the essential features, and the app development cost.

Let us first look at what exactly Airbnb is and how the app works.

What is Airbnb and How Does It Work?

Airbnb is an online marketplace that lets people find and rent short-term lodging in various locations worldwide. It offers a simple and convenient way for travelers to find affordable accommodations while allowing hosts to earn extra by renting out their homes or spare rooms.

Airbnb rental platform works as a peer-to-peer online platform, allowing individuals to list, discover, and book accommodations worldwide. Hosts can offer their properties for short-term rentals, while guests can browse and book these accommodations, providing an alternative to traditional hotels and other lodging options.

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Business Model of Airbnb

The platform connects hosts with spare accommodations and travelers seeking unique lodging experiences. The accommodation platform generates revenue through a commission-based fee structure, charging hosts a percentage of each booking’s total cost. 

Additionally, guests may pay service fees. The platform’s success is driven by its user-friendly interface, diverse property options, and its ability to facilitate secure transactions and build trust within its community.

Before moving out to the features list of the accommodation platform like Airbnb, let’s discuss the target audience for your rental app.

Target Audience for Your Accommodation Platform 

• Travelers or users who use the platform to find accommodations that match their preferences and budget.
• Property hosts who provide unique and affordable accommodation options for travelers.
• Hosts who want to list their properties for rentals.

Steps to Create a Rental Marketplace Like Airbnb

Now that you know how successful the Airbnb platform is, you must wonder how to build a similar app. This section will discuss in detail the process of building an accommodation platform like Airbnb.

1. Do the Market Research

Market research is essential in developing an accommodation app since it involves obtaining and evaluating information about the target market, potential clients, competitors, and market trends. Understanding consumer preferences, spotting market gaps, and assessing the need for particular features or services are all aided by this procedure.

Further, for building an app like Airbnb, you must also look at how this platform has grown over time. Understanding this app will help you get a clearer picture. Airbnb’s quarterly revenue has seen a jump compared to 2019.

Airbnb has listings in over 1,00,000 cities worldwide and over 150 million users. With its top features and reliable services, Airbnb has made its mark, and people heavily rely on its bookings.

2. Define Your Brand’s USPs

Your brand should provide unique solutions and should fill in the market gaps. Identifying your unique selling propositions (USPs) is crucial in developing an accommodation platform like Airbnb. 

These include creating an easy-to-use platform for listing and reserving accommodation, establishing a solid system of safety and trust, providing distinctive travel experiences, and enabling safe payment options. To create a strong and competitive accommodation app like Airbnb, it is vital to comprehend and integrate these USPs.

Some of the USPs of Airbnb include:

• Diverse accommodation options
• Trust and safety
• Local experiences
• User-friendly interface
• Review-based system

3. Choose the Technology Stack

When developing an app like Airbnb, selecting the appropriate technological stack is essential because it directly impacts the service’s functionality, scalability, and user experience. Popular frameworks like React and Vue.js can be used for the front end to create dynamic and responsive user interfaces. 

When combined with HTML5 and CSS3, these frameworks can offer a smooth and engaging user experience on various devices.

A robust and scalable backend system is necessary to manage the complex functions of an accommodation platform like Airbnb. Node.js can be a good option for the backend because of its excellent performance and scalability. Relational databases, such as PostgreSQL or MySQL, can be used for structured data, and NoSQL databases, such as MongoDB, can be used for flexible and quick data retrieval.

4. Choose the Right Features

The features and functionalities of an app decide its success. It is vital that you provide all the right solutions to your users and that they get the best from your platform. Here is the list of all the must-have features.

Feature List of the Guest App

• Search: The search function in Airbnb and similar apps empowers users to explore options aligned with their preferences. Users can customize their search based on budget, location, amenities, reviews, etc. Airbnb’s search goes beyond offering property availability checks for added user convenience.
• Favorites: The “Favorites” feature lets users bookmark preferred stays for later and discover similar options quickly.
• Chats: After guests decide on a stay, they can request it from the host or landlord. Once approved, both sides can communicate further about the property. This chat function also supports sharing photos and videos. Additionally, developers can enrich the user experience with status indicators like “reading,” “typing,” and “online.”
• Payment: To create a compelling Accommodation platform/app for Android and iOS, ensuring its value is paramount. Essential steps include integrating a robust payment gateway that supports diverse methods. Users should enjoy the convenience of adding/removing cards hassle-free. This way, your platform offers accommodation and streamlines transactions, enhancing overall user satisfaction.
• Trip cancellation: Trip cancellation is a feature on the platform that allows users to cancel their booked accommodations if their plans change. Hosts set A cancellation policy that outlines the terms and conditions for canceling a reservation. Depending on the policy chosen by the host (flexible, moderate, strict, etc.), guests may receive a full or partial refund if they need to cancel their trip.
• Booking: The concluding phase involves order placement. Successfully requesting and securing a stay approval equates to a completed booking.

Feature List of the Host App

• Accommodations: The central function of an Airbnb-like app is to serve as a marketing platform for property hosts. They can effortlessly list their accommodations by detailing apartment type, guest capacity, amenities, location, pricing per night, and more. Additionally, providing professionally captured photos and videos enhances client visibility and engagement.
• In-App Calendar: The in-app calendar feature allows hosts to manage their property’s availability. Hosts can mark dates as available or blocked, helping them track when their property is open for bookings. Guests can also use the calendar to view available dates and plan their stays accordingly. This feature streamlines communication between hosts and guests, reducing the chances of booking conflicts and ensuring a smoother booking process.
• Requests: Landlords or hosts hold the authority to accept or decline stay requests at their discretion. They can easily reject them if they feel uncertain about discussions or guest intentions. A dedicated section showcases all received and rejected property requests, aiding seamless management.
• Notifications: Swift notifications from the app enhance responsiveness to client requests, queries, and messages. The prompt host replies foster guest trust. Delayed notifications can lead to missed opportunities, potentially prompting guests to consider other hosts.
• Profile: Accommodation platforms/apps generally cater to two user types: hosts and guests. Both must create profiles by providing basic personal information like name, age, address, phone number, and gender. It ensures user authenticity verification.

💡 Check out a detailed Case Study on RentCraze, a C2C marketplace solution developed by ValueAppz.

5. Design the App’s UI/UX

Prioritizing user experience and straightforward navigation is crucial when designing the user interface and user experience (UI/UX) for an accommodation platform like Airbnb. It is imperative to have a simple, aesthetically pleasing interface that emphasizes excellent graphics and user-generated content. Implementing an easy-to-use search and filtering system is essential so that users can quickly browse and choose rooms that suit their needs. 

The user experience can also be improved by adding interactive maps for location-based searches and offering comprehensive details about each listing, such as features, costs, and reviews. Accessibility and convenience also heavily depend on the use of a responsive design that works with a range of devices and screen sizes.

6. Consider the Cost of Development

Cost is undoubtedly one of the most important factors to consider when building an accommodation platform like Airbnb. The cost of developing an accommodation platform can vary widely based on factors like the platform’s complexity, features, design, development time, and the region you’re hiring developers from. Below are some Consider Here are some cost considerations:

• Development Team: The cost of hiring professional developers, designers, and a project manager can significantly impact the budget. Rates can vary based on location and expertise.
• Features and Complexity: The more features you want, such as advanced search, booking management, messaging, payment integration, reviews, etc., the more development time and cost it will incur.
• Design and User Experience: A user-friendly and visually appealing design may require additional design and development efforts, impacting the cost.
• Platforms: Developing for both Android and iOS adds to the cost. Cross-platform frameworks like React Native or Flutter might be more cost-effective for simultaneous development.
• Backend Development: Developing a secure and scalable backend infrastructure, including database management and server setup, contributes to the cost.
• Payment Gateway Integration: Integrating payment gateways involves security considerations and can add to the cost.
• Testing and Quality Assurance: Rigorous testing for different devices, scenarios, and user flows is crucial and can increase costs.
• Maintenance and Updates: Post-launch maintenance and updates to fix bugs, enhance features, and stay current with technology can incur ongoing costs.

Type of Features Integrated	Develop An Android & iOS
Project Management	-Complete Project management via Agile Methodology -Workplace Communication -Release Management -Change Request Management
Quality Assurance	-Test cases -Functional Test Execution
UI/UX Designs	Creation of Mock-ups & UI/UX Designing
Library Integration and building a framework	Architecture Designing
CPanel	-Domain Management -Website Management
Features for Hosts	Mentioned Above
Features for guests	Mentioned Above
Total Timeline	4-5 months
Total Price	Between USD 30,000 to 40,000

7. Hire a Team for App Development

Now that you know how to design your app and what features it will include, you need a team of professionals to develop it. Hiring the right company is crucial as it will decide your app’s quality and how well you achieve your brand goals and objectives.

A few factors to consider when hiring the team for building an accommodation platform like Airbnb include:

• Team expertise
• Industry knowledge
• Collaboration and communication
• Innovation and problem-solving skills
• Security and compliance
• Cultural fit

Also, consider that the team is well-versed with the tech stack you want the app to develop. Further, you must also look at their portfolio to see if their work matches your demands.

8. Test and Launch the App

Thorough quality assurance procedures are necessary for testing and launching the accommodation platform. These include testing the app’s functionality, performance, security, and user experience. The application should be thoroughly examined using both automated and manual testing approaches to find and fix any problems or difficulties. 

Once the software satisfies the quality criteria, a phased distribution strategy should be implemented to ensure a smooth and flawless launch. To guarantee a smooth and well-received launch of the accommodation platform, it is also crucial to closely monitor it once launched, collect user feedback, and act quickly to address any unforeseen issues.

Create Your Accommodation Platform Like Airbnb With ValueAppz

Now, you know that creating an accommodation platform like Airbnb can be exciting and profitable. A user-centric design, robust functionality, and reliable backend infrastructure are crucial for success. Hence, you need a team like ValueAppz with years of experience helping clients worldwide.

Our teams adhere to the best practices, ensuring that we meet our client’s expectations in the best way possible. 

With us, your Airbnb-like platform can thrive and become a go-to destination for travelers seeking unique accommodations.

Get in touch with us today, and let’s get started.

Key Takeaways

• By establishing a trustworthy online marketplace, Airbnb connects hosts and guests. Diverse options and safe transactions are the reasons for its success.
• Create an accommodation app similar to Airbnb by carefully considering market analysis, USPs, technology stack choices, and feature integration.
• The average cost for Airbnb clone app development ranges between $30,000 to $40,000. The final cost depends on design, features, platforms, etc.
• Prioritize important features like strong search capabilities, safe payment methods, engaging communication tools, and an extensive review system when creating an accommodation app like Airbnb.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How do I make a platform like Airbnb?

To build an accommodation platform like Airbnb, follow these steps:

1. Do the market research
2. Define your brand’s USPs
3. Pick the tech stack
4. Choose the app features
5. Design the UI/UX
6. Consider the app development cost
7. Hire a team for development
8. Test and launch the app

Q2. What platform is Airbnb built on?

Airbnb’s platform uses JavaScript and React.js for the front end and Ruby on Rails for the back end.

Q3. What platforms are like Airbnb?

Other platforms similar to Airbnb are VRBO, HomeAway, Booking.com, FlipKey, and many more.

Q4. How much does an Airbnb clone cost?

The average cost for the Airbnb clone app development is $30,000 to $40,000. The exact price can vary based on design, features, platforms, customizations, etc.

Q5. What is the Airbnb clone app?

Airbnb clone replicates or imitates the original Airbnb app, designed and developed to provide similar accommodation booking services.