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Travel · head to head

Smoobu vs Wheelhouse

Smoobu logo

Smoobu

Travel

All-in-one channel manager and PMS for hosts with a handful of holiday rentals

From
€29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Wheelhouse logo

Wheelhouse

Travel

Dynamic pricing and market data for short-term rental operators

From
$19.99/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Smoobu the Flex plan carries a 0.9% fee on every booking, which on an apartment turning over €40,000 a year costs more than the entire annual subscription saving, and the pricing page presents Flex as the cheaper option.; Wheelhouse the two plans cross over at roughly $2,000 of monthly booking revenue per listing, and Wheelhouse does not flag which plan is cheaper for you, so most users are on the wrong one.
  • They diverge on capability: Smoobu covers Channel manager, Wheelhouse covers Dynamic nightly pricing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Smoobu and Wheelhouse actually diverge.

Attributes where Smoobu and Wheelhouse differ
AttributeSmoobuWheelhouse
Starting price€29/month$19.99/month
Pricing modelPer unit per monthPer listing per month or percentage of revenue
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, iOS

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Travel).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Smoobu

  • Channel manager
  • Website builder
  • Guest messaging
  • Unified calendar
  • Invoicing and e-invoicing
  • Mobile apps

Only in Wheelhouse

  • Dynamic nightly pricing
  • Strategy controls
  • Market reports
  • Dynamic Sets
  • Channel push
  • Portfolio view

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Smoobu

  • A host with three apartments in Berlin who needs Airbnb and Booking.com calendars kept in sync and wants a direct booking site to cut OTA commissionnot Wheelhouse
  • An owner wanting automated check-in instructions and pre-arrival messages sent per channel without logging into each extranetnot Wheelhouse
  • A small manager who needs guest invoices that meet German documentation requirements without adding a separate accounting toolnot Wheelhouse
  • A host testing dynamic pricing through the bundled trial before deciding whether to subscribe to PriceLabs separatelynot Wheelhouse

Wheelhouse

  • A host with two cabins in a seasonal market who wants rates shaped by booking pace rather than a fixed summer and winter ratenot Smoobu
  • A manager with sixty units wanting one pricing strategy applied across a portfolio with per-unit floorsnot Smoobu
  • An owner with a low-occupancy listing who prefers to pay 1% of revenue rather than a fixed monthly fee in quiet monthsnot Smoobu
  • An analyst benchmarking a new acquisition against neighbourhood occupancy and ADR before setting an offer pricenot Smoobu

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Smoobu

  • The Flex plan carries a 0.9% fee on every booking, which on an apartment turning over €40,000 a year costs more than the entire annual subscription saving, and the pricing page presents Flex as the cheaper option.
  • Pricing is per unit, so a ten unit portfolio pays roughly €31.50 plus nine additional units at about €9.60, and the headline monthly figure covers a single apartment only.
  • Write access is charged per account beyond the included seats, so a cleaner, a co-host and an owner all needing to edit bookings turn into a recurring per seat cost.
  • There is no trust accounting or owner statement generation, so anyone managing units on behalf of third-party owners has to build payout reporting outside the system.
  • Housekeeping and maintenance dispatch is minimal compared with manager-grade platforms, so cleaning coordination happens in WhatsApp or a separate tool once you are past a few units.

Wheelhouse

  • The two plans cross over at roughly $2,000 of monthly booking revenue per listing, and Wheelhouse does not flag which plan is cheaper for you, so most users are on the wrong one.
  • Dynamic Sets, the tool for defining accurate comparable sets, is charged separately at $12.99 per set per month, so genuinely good market analysis costs more than the pricing engine itself.
  • Data quality depends on local listing density, and in thin or rural markets the recommendations become unreliable because there are too few comparables to model against.
  • Rate pushes depend on channel and PMS connections, and a lag or failed sync means a stale price sits live on the OTA with no obvious alert to the operator.
  • The strategy controls that make it attractive to professionals also mean the tool underperforms if left on defaults, so an operator who wanted to set and forget will not get the benefit they paid for.

Pricing, plan by plan

Smoobu

€29/month
  • Professional Flex$29/month
    • One unit included
    • 0.9% fee on every booking
    • Channel manager, website builder, messaging
  • Professional Prepaid$31.5/month
    • One unit included
    • No booking fee
    • Website builder, invoicing, chatbot, API access
  • Teams Pro+$49.5/month
    • Everything in Prepaid
    • E-invoicing
    • Two write-access accounts, extra accounts from about €12 each

Wheelhouse

$19.99/month
  • Pro Flex$undefined/month
    • 1% of booked revenue
    • $2.99 minimum monthly fee
    • Billed at reservation time, refunded on cancellation
  • Pro Flat$19.99/month
    • $19.99 per listing per month
    • $16.99 per listing at 10 to 49 listings
    • Custom pricing above 50 listings
  • Dynamic Sets$12.99/month
    • $12.99 per set per month
    • Navigator mapping interface
    • Eighteen filter categories for comparable selection

Which should you pick?

Choose Smoobu if

  • You need channel manager.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want website builder.
Smoobu review

Choose Wheelhouse if

  • You need dynamic nightly pricing.
  • You work on Web, iOS.
  • You also want strategy controls.
Wheelhouse review

Questions people ask

Is Smoobu or Wheelhouse better?
Neither clearly leads. Smoobu starts at €29/month and Wheelhouse at $19.99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Smoobu or Wheelhouse?
Smoobu starts at €29/month and Wheelhouse at $19.99/month.
Does Smoobu or Wheelhouse run on more platforms?
Smoobu runs on Web, iOS, Android. Wheelhouse runs on Web, iOS.
What is Smoobu best used for?
Smoobu is most often used for a host with three apartments in berlin who needs airbnb and booking.com calendars kept in sync and wants a direct booking site to cut ota commission, an owner wanting automated check-in instructions and pre-arrival messages sent per channel without logging into each extranet, a small manager who needs guest invoices that meet german documentation requirements without adding a separate accounting tool, a host testing dynamic pricing through the bundled trial before deciding whether to subscribe to pricelabs separately. Of those, a host with three apartments in berlin who needs airbnb and booking.com calendars kept in sync and wants a direct booking site to cut ota commission and an owner wanting automated check-in instructions and pre-arrival messages sent per channel without logging into each extranet are not what Wheelhouse is typically brought in for.
What can Smoobu do that Wheelhouse cannot?
Smoobu covers Channel manager, Website builder, Guest messaging, Unified calendar. Wheelhouse covers Dynamic nightly pricing, Strategy controls, Market reports, Dynamic Sets.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Smoobu: Which plan is actually cheaper, Flex or Prepaid?

Prepaid, for almost anyone with real occupancy. The 0.9% booking fee on Flex exceeds the subscription difference once annual revenue passes a few thousand euros.

Wheelhouse: Which plan should I be on?

Flat below about $2,000 of monthly revenue per listing is the more expensive option; above that Flat is cheaper. Compare 1% of your actual monthly booking revenue against $19.99.

Smoobu: How many properties does the entry price cover?

One. Every additional unit adds roughly €9.60 per month.

Wheelhouse: Does it push prices to Airbnb directly?

Yes, and to Vrbo, plus through connected property management systems.

Smoobu: Does it include dynamic pricing?

Only two months free on the Teams tier. Ongoing dynamic pricing means subscribing to PriceLabs or similar.

Wheelhouse: Is there a free option?

You can create an account and see market reports without paying, but rate automation requires a paid plan.

Smoobu: Is there a contract?

Billing is monthly, yearly or two-yearly, with 30 days notice required to cancel; longer terms buy 10% or 20% off.

Wheelhouse: Is there a contract?

No lock-in. Flex is billed at reservation time and refunded if the booking cancels.

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