Wheelhouse vs. Beyond Pricing vs. PriceLabs – A Pricing Tools Complete Comparison
January 10, 2021 | wheelhouse
A complete comparison of Wheelhouse vs. Beyond Pricing vs. PriceLabs. Today’s top 3 revenue management tools.
Whether you are managing a rental property portfolio or a spare room, as soon as you list properties online, you are not only a property manager, you are a revenue manager.
And, thanks to software, it’s as easy today to have a sophisticated revenue strategy, with dynamic pricing customized completely around your unique market & property, as it is to set the same price every night.
And, since dynamic pricing can increase your revenue by more than 20%, it’s never been a better time to leverage data-driven pricing tools to drive your rental business forward.
Many hosts have realized you can maximize your income potential by changing your rental prices to hit the sweet spot where demand meets availability. The problem is that rental markets are fluid and volatile. Moreover, prices can crash – or skyrocket – at any point. Trying to stay on top of this yourself will always feel like you’re one step behind.
This is where dynamic pricing tools like Wheelhouse (our tool), PriceLabs and Beyond Pricing come in.
While dynamic pricing tools have entered the market a number of years ago, 2020 saw rapid development in our space, including a whole new platform from Wheelhouse. In short, pricing keeps getting both (a) stronger & (b) simpler for professional property managers, owners and companies to leverage.
And, since different teams & companies are seeking a different approach to revenue management, we wanted to write-up some of the key differences between Wheelhouse, PriceLabs & Beyond Pricing, to help you evaluate which platform is best.
Whether you are managing a rental property portfolio or a spare room, as soon as you list properties online, you are not only a property manager, you are a revenue manager.
And, thanks to software, it’s as easy today to have a sophisticated revenue strategy, with dynamic pricing customized completely around your unique market & property, as it is to set the same price every night.
And, since dynamic pricing can increase your revenue by more than 20%, it’s never been a better time to leverage data-driven pricing tools to drive your rental business forward.
Many hosts have realized you can maximize your income potential by changing your rental prices to hit the sweet spot where demand meets availability. The problem is that rental markets are fluid and volatile. Moreover, prices can crash – or skyrocket – at any point. Trying to stay on top of this yourself will always feel like you’re one step behind.
This is where dynamic pricing tools like Wheelhouse (our tool), PriceLabs and Beyond Pricing come in.
While dynamic pricing tools have entered the market a number of years ago, 2020 saw rapid development in our space, including a whole new platform from Wheelhouse. In short, pricing keeps getting both (a) stronger & (b) simpler for professional property managers, owners and companies to leverage.
And, since different teams & companies are seeking a different approach to revenue management, we wanted to write-up some of the key differences between Wheelhouse, PriceLabs & Beyond Pricing, to help you evaluate which platform is best.
What can Dynamic Pricing Tools do?
Dynamic pricing tools are software designed to help short-term rental owners using booking marketplaces like Airbnb maximize their rental income.
How do they do this?
In short, by crunching billions of data points daily, analyzing market performance, taking into account trends and seasonality, observing every booking in the market & more.
These tools collect and analyze more data than a team of data analysts could manage – and in a fraction of the time.
How do they do this?
In short, by crunching billions of data points daily, analyzing market performance, taking into account trends and seasonality, observing every booking in the market & more.
These tools collect and analyze more data than a team of data analysts could manage – and in a fraction of the time.
What can’t Dynamic Pricing Tools do?
They can not replace you, entirely.
While Wheelhouse, PriceLabs & Beyond Pricing all enable you to automate pricing, it’s still critical that you set the strategy for your listing, by adjusting certain settings on your property that help you achieve your own unique revenue goals.
At Wheelhouse, we like to say that you (the customer) are in charge of the strategy & settings, and we can help by providing insights, automation & support.
Currently, software + you will win, every time.
While Wheelhouse, PriceLabs & Beyond Pricing all enable you to automate pricing, it’s still critical that you set the strategy for your listing, by adjusting certain settings on your property that help you achieve your own unique revenue goals.
At Wheelhouse, we like to say that you (the customer) are in charge of the strategy & settings, and we can help by providing insights, automation & support.
Currently, software + you will win, every time.
(If you want to learn more about how you can leverage a tool like Wheelhouse, you can review our recent webinar here, which teaches you four key revenue management skills)
Should You Use a Pricing Tool?
If you’re renting properties using online marketplaces, yes!
As a property manager, there is literally no reason not to use a pricing tool. Sure, the best tools aren’t free. But you’re going to cover the tool’s cost and then some in the gains you’ll make from the data.
Not to mention they take the time-consuming task of setting different seasonal pricing and manually checking competitors off your hands.
For example, as a landlord or property owner, without using a pricing tool, you will typically set different prices for peak and off-peak months, right? You may even have some special seasonal rates.
You hope you’re going to price correctly and maximize revenue. But you’re never really quite sure.
If you use a pricing tool, your pricing will be more flexible and dynamic all year round. Instead of just seasonal pricing, you’re using real-time pricing data to set your prices daily.
They also take into account your competitor’s occupancy. Giving you the edge by dropping your price if demand is low, and vice versa when it’s busier.
With this in mind, here’s a look at Wheelhouse vs some of the other best pricing tools on the market:
As a property manager, there is literally no reason not to use a pricing tool. Sure, the best tools aren’t free. But you’re going to cover the tool’s cost and then some in the gains you’ll make from the data.
Not to mention they take the time-consuming task of setting different seasonal pricing and manually checking competitors off your hands.
For example, as a landlord or property owner, without using a pricing tool, you will typically set different prices for peak and off-peak months, right? You may even have some special seasonal rates.
You hope you’re going to price correctly and maximize revenue. But you’re never really quite sure.
If you use a pricing tool, your pricing will be more flexible and dynamic all year round. Instead of just seasonal pricing, you’re using real-time pricing data to set your prices daily.
They also take into account your competitor’s occupancy. Giving you the edge by dropping your price if demand is low, and vice versa when it’s busier.
With this in mind, here’s a look at Wheelhouse vs some of the other best pricing tools on the market:
Wheelhouse vs Beyond Pricing vs PriceLabs
Wheelhouse
Wheelhouse is a dynamic pricing engine for hosts and rental managers.
Built by world-class data scientists, the Wheelhouse Pricing Engine analyzes 10 billion data points every night.
Our users report seeing up to a 40% increase in revenue when pricing with Wheelhouse over trying to set prices manually, with some writing online that they increase their revenue 100%!
Critically, Wheelhouse has the longest running pricing experiments in the space – having had a team, led by a PhD Data Scientist – that has collaborated together for more than 6 years. That is extremely rare.
Moreover, it is the only platform that has had their algorithm tested & approved by external marketplaces – as they co-developed their pricing with both VRBO & TripAdvisor’s data science team’s inputs & feedback.
In addition to the performance of the model (which in 2020 increased revenue by 22.6% for the average listing), Wheelhouse has some other strengths.
For example, it’s the easiest platform to use – and gets rave reviews for it’s simple & clean design, as well as the powerful settings that allow each user to customize their pricing engine, however they like.
You can then set your own base price or go with one of the base price strategies recommended by the platform. Then all you have to do is click a button to activate it’s pricing.
You’ll then see suggested prices in your calendar for every day, months in advance. As you secure more bookings, you’ll have more data to work with on the back end. This enables you to refine your pricing over time.
The current drawbacks to Wheelhouse are the fact that we are only integrated with 9 PMS software partners, and only cover 700 markets, worldwide. While it is available on many leading PMS & on all 6 continents, there is still room for improvement here.
Built by world-class data scientists, the Wheelhouse Pricing Engine analyzes 10 billion data points every night.
Our users report seeing up to a 40% increase in revenue when pricing with Wheelhouse over trying to set prices manually, with some writing online that they increase their revenue 100%!
Critically, Wheelhouse has the longest running pricing experiments in the space – having had a team, led by a PhD Data Scientist – that has collaborated together for more than 6 years. That is extremely rare.
Moreover, it is the only platform that has had their algorithm tested & approved by external marketplaces – as they co-developed their pricing with both VRBO & TripAdvisor’s data science team’s inputs & feedback.
In addition to the performance of the model (which in 2020 increased revenue by 22.6% for the average listing), Wheelhouse has some other strengths.
For example, it’s the easiest platform to use – and gets rave reviews for it’s simple & clean design, as well as the powerful settings that allow each user to customize their pricing engine, however they like.
You can then set your own base price or go with one of the base price strategies recommended by the platform. Then all you have to do is click a button to activate it’s pricing.
You’ll then see suggested prices in your calendar for every day, months in advance. As you secure more bookings, you’ll have more data to work with on the back end. This enables you to refine your pricing over time.
The current drawbacks to Wheelhouse are the fact that we are only integrated with 9 PMS software partners, and only cover 700 markets, worldwide. While it is available on many leading PMS & on all 6 continents, there is still room for improvement here.
Pros:
- Newly launched market reports give excellent insight into each of our 700+ markets.
- The strongest design in the space – and it’s very easy to navigate
- We have extremely high quality customer support (as noted by this customer)
- Dynamic dashboard – perfect for managing a single listing or a full (1000+ listing) portfolio
- Strongest algorithm & only externally validated pricing platform (read more about it here)
- Very customizable – includes dynamic minimum stays, customizable last minute discounts, weekend rate adjustments, seasonality adjustments and more.
- Predictive pricing algorithms help you stay one step ahead of your competitors and outperform your comp set.
Cons:
- Double check our markets, as we have limited coverage in Asia, Africa & South America
- Only 9 PMS integrations – so you might need to connect to them via our API
- No VRBO pricing – as of January 2021, we can not price you on VRBO
What it costs:
You can get started for free, so there’s no reason not to give it a try.
Wheelhouse also offers 3 different pricing tiers. See below:
Wheelhouse also offers 3 different pricing tiers. See below:
Beyond Pricing is an automated dynamic pricing solution for vacation rental managers.
This software offers pricing solutions for property managers and will connect with Airbnb and HomeAway/Vrbo. There are also some options to connect with managers that have their own property management system.
Once you’ve connected your account, you’ll see a calendar with prices added to each day based on your rental property.
These prices are made up of a base amount and a dynamic amount based on the market. Beyond Pricing uses just three key metrics to generate their prices:
This software offers pricing solutions for property managers and will connect with Airbnb and HomeAway/Vrbo. There are also some options to connect with managers that have their own property management system.
Once you’ve connected your account, you’ll see a calendar with prices added to each day based on your rental property.
These prices are made up of a base amount and a dynamic amount based on the market. Beyond Pricing uses just three key metrics to generate their prices:
- Seasonality
- Day of week
- Events
Pros
- The UI is intuitive to use
- Can connect with your Airbnb or HomeAway/Vrbo account
- You have a lot of control over base rates, minimums, etc., and can sync pricing on top at a click of a button
- Can see past bookings on each calendar
- Set rates for 12+ months in advance
- They have multi-user support, which can help teams co-manage listings.
Cons:
- Support is strictly via email. You can’t chat with someone in real-time if you get stuck.
- It’s the most expensive tool in the space, by a lot.
- It is not very accurate after 3+ months
What is costs:
Beyond is the most expensive platform, so given some of their limitations, it is wise to consider whether they are worth the value.
You can start with a 30-day free trial to test out the platform. After that, Beyond Pricing charges 1.25% of bookings made during a month-long period.
That’s assuming you sign up for an annual plan. If you want to pay month-to-month, they change 1.25% on all bookings.
You can start with a 30-day free trial to test out the platform. After that, Beyond Pricing charges 1.25% of bookings made during a month-long period.
That’s assuming you sign up for an annual plan. If you want to pay month-to-month, they change 1.25% on all bookings.
PriceLabs is a rental tool that analyzes listings and makes daily recommendations based on several key factors.
To start today, all you need to do is connect Pricelabs to your Airbnb account, PMS, or channel manager, then input some limits, and PriceLab’s AI will do the rest.
You’ll see suggested prices to let out your property for. To calculate these prices, the key factors PriceLabs uses are:
You’ll see suggested prices to let out your property for. To calculate these prices, the key factors PriceLabs uses are:
Base price – This is the rate they start with before adding future adjustments.
Historical trends – Their algorithm learns from historical trends to better price your rental.
Future forecast – PriceLabs incorporates future-looking data into their calculations.
Customizations – You can set your own maximum, minimum, or specify any other custom changes.
Seasonality – Seasonality rates will be applied based on the market and other factors specific to your rental location.
Like all smart pricing tools, it takes the guesswork out of setting a price for your rental. It’s unrealistic to expect to know about every annual event, current availability, and so on. PriceLabs calculates all of this, so you don’t have to.
Historical trends – Their algorithm learns from historical trends to better price your rental.
Future forecast – PriceLabs incorporates future-looking data into their calculations.
Customizations – You can set your own maximum, minimum, or specify any other custom changes.
Seasonality – Seasonality rates will be applied based on the market and other factors specific to your rental location.
Like all smart pricing tools, it takes the guesswork out of setting a price for your rental. It’s unrealistic to expect to know about every annual event, current availability, and so on. PriceLabs calculates all of this, so you don’t have to.
Pros:
- A powerful suite of analytics to get detailed insights into market data and trends.
- Calculates the base price for you instead of some tools like Beyond Pricing, requiring a base amount from you.
- The use of red/orange/green indicators makes it easy to spot trends at a glance.
- Once you’ve connected your accounts and set up your preferences, it’s hands-off for the most part.
Cons:
- The interface and menus are not as intuitive to navigate as some other software.
- It’s one of the most expensive pricing tools on the market, but there’s no denying it’ll add more to your bottom line.
PriceLabs Pricing
Their pricing is structured based on how many listings you’re tracking and where your properties are based.
For example, one listing in the U.S. costs $19.99. This scales down to $14.99 each if you have 2 to 5 listings, and so on. You also get a discounted rate if your listings are outside of the USA, Canada, and European countries.
For example, one listing in the U.S. costs $19.99. This scales down to $14.99 each if you have 2 to 5 listings, and so on. You also get a discounted rate if your listings are outside of the USA, Canada, and European countries.
Things To Consider When Choosing a Rental Pricing Tool
As you will have noticed from the tools reviewed above, not all pricing tools are created equal.
Each software pulls data from a collection of different sources. They also prioritize different factors when calculating a price, display the information differently, and ultimately suit different rental managers.
Here are some of the most important factors to consider when weighing up pricing tools against one another:
Each software pulls data from a collection of different sources. They also prioritize different factors when calculating a price, display the information differently, and ultimately suit different rental managers.
Here are some of the most important factors to consider when weighing up pricing tools against one another:
Accuracy of Model
All pricing engines will pay for themselves. However, the difference between the algorithms is substantial, and an algorithm that returns even 2% more is going to be WELL worth the investment.
Price
The best thing about pricing tools is that they will almost certainly return a positive ROI in the gains you get from your rentals.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider the price of the tool, though. As a business owner, we’re sure you’re always on the lookout for the best value – as are we.
Some tools, scale with the number of properties you own. It’s worth running the numbers on how much you can expect to pay in fees before signing up.
Wheelhouse pricing was set up to help hosts optimize earnings as they scale.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider the price of the tool, though. As a business owner, we’re sure you’re always on the lookout for the best value – as are we.
Some tools, scale with the number of properties you own. It’s worth running the numbers on how much you can expect to pay in fees before signing up.
Wheelhouse pricing was set up to help hosts optimize earnings as they scale.
Target Market
One of the most important considerations affecting the data’s accuracy is how much information a tool has on your market.
Always check they cover your geographic market. This is especially important if you don’t know the area well. It’s often the small things, such as knowing about annual special events resulting in the highest price increases.
Always check they cover your geographic market. This is especially important if you don’t know the area well. It’s often the small things, such as knowing about annual special events resulting in the highest price increases.
Customer Service
Good customer service is always essential. Honestly, we don’t anticipate you’ll need to talk to a customer service rep for any of the above tools often. But if the need arises, you want a quick, concise answer.
For example, one of the cons of many users against Beyond Pricing is that their support staff are only contactable via email. While Wheelhouse, on the other hand, has support staff available via webchat.
Being able to speak to someone instantly and in real-time could be the difference between occupying your rental or not.
For example, one of the cons of many users against Beyond Pricing is that their support staff are only contactable via email. While Wheelhouse, on the other hand, has support staff available via webchat.
Being able to speak to someone instantly and in real-time could be the difference between occupying your rental or not.
Ease-of-Use
Running a rental business has enough challenges without spending time navigating pricing software and sorting through numerous reports.
All of the above tools are amongst the market leaders, so we’re happy to say that they are easy to use and have intuitive interfaces for the most part.
All of the above tools are amongst the market leaders, so we’re happy to say that they are easy to use and have intuitive interfaces for the most part.
Conclusion
Which pricing tool should you pick between Wheelhouse vs AirDNA vs Beyond Pricing vs Pricelabs?
Sure, we’re a little biased here, but we recommend Wheelhouse. Get started for free. It consistently earns rental managers up to 40% more in rental income over managing their pricing manually. Learn more here.
Sure, we’re a little biased here, but we recommend Wheelhouse. Get started for free. It consistently earns rental managers up to 40% more in rental income over managing their pricing manually. Learn more here.
Share
Blog search
Recent posts
-
Wheelhouse Presents: Ratestrology
April 1, 2023 | BY Andrew Kitchell
-
Short-Term Rental Agreement: What to Include & Free Templates
January 17, 2023 | BY Hailey Friedman
-
Hostfully Review: Vacation Rental Management Software [2023]
January 14, 2023 | BY Hailey Friedman
-
Escapia Software Review [2023]
January 6, 2023 | BY Hailey Friedman
