AirDNA vs Mashvisor: Comparing the Best Data Tools for AirBnB Investors

To invest in short-term rentals, you need reliable data. Short-term rental (STR) data providers like AirDNA and Mashvisor can help. They aggregate and organize vacation rental data with AI and present it in a way that’s easy to understand.

AirDNA is geared exclusively toward STRs, while Mashvisor is for short-term and long-term rentals. Both services will streamline your property analysis and can be yours for under $50 per month. In this article, we’ll explain which platform is better. 

TL;DR: AirDNA is better because it relies on more data sources and updates its data more frequently.

Looking to invest in a vacation rental or Airbnb property? The Awning Airbnb Estimator is here to help! With our free tool, you can easily analyze any U.S. address to get an estimated income from Airbnb. Simply enter the address, number of bedrooms, number of guests, and whether the property has a pool or hot tub.

AirDNA vs Mashvisor: Overview

Here’s a quick overview of Airdna vs Mashvisor:

AirDNA vs Mashvisor: Features

AirDNA has more STR investing features, but Mashvisor offers more features overall if you invest in short-term and long-term rentals.

Both platforms have tools to help you find, analyze, and compare STRs by rental income, occupancy rates, cap rates, cash-on-cash return, and more. They also help you forecast property performance. 

Here’s a breakdown of where the two services differ: 

Unique features of Mashvisor:

Mashvisor includes a color-coded heat map tool that lets you quickly see how areas perform under different metrics (like rental income, occupancy rates, cap rates, etc.). 

Another feature unique to Mashvisor is its ability to compare how a property will perform as a short-term vs. a long-term rental. 

It’s also worth noting that Mashvisor pulls most of its data from publicly-available sources only (like the MLS, Zillow, Rentometer, Airbnb.com, and the Census Bureau).

Unique features of AirDNA

Unlike Mashvisor, AirDNA focuses exclusively on short-term rentals. As a result, it not only gets data from Airbnb and VRBO but gathers data from its partnerships with other channel managers, property managers, and individual hosts, allowing it to provide highly dynamic pricing recommendations. 

AirDNA also aggregates STR data on over 10 million properties in over 120,000 international markets. 

AirDNA vs Mashvisor: Costs

Mashvisor’s plans are generally a little cheaper. However, AirDNA offers more comprehensive data, including data on markets outside the US. 

You can also find discount codes on plans for both platforms online. Just do a quick Google search and you may save a little on your subscription. 

AirDNA Pricing

AirDNA sells subscriptions to their service by market: 

• If you want data for one market with less than 100 active listings it costs $19/month. 
• For one market with 100-1,000 active listings, it’s $39/month. 
• And for one market with more than 1,000 active listings, it’s $99/month.

AirDNA also offers custom offers for enterprises and an unlimited access plan for $999/month that gives you insights on markets in 191 countries and 120,000 global markets. 

You can save 40% on any of AirDNA’s plans by getting an annual (instead of a monthly) subscription. AirDNA also offers a free trial version with limited features and a full-fledged demo version of the Santa Monica market.

Mashvisor Pricing

Mashvisor offers three major subscription plans:

• The Lite plan for $17.99/month, which includes traditional rental and Airbnb income and ROI analysis for individual properties.
• The Standard plan for $49.99/month, which adds market comparisons between different cities and neighborhoods and is the most popular plan. 
• The Professional plan for $74.99/month, which adds the ability to analyze large datasets and use more search filters.  

Please note that each Mashvisor plan is billed annually despite being marketed with monthly rates (which has led to confusion and frustration among many first-time users). All three plans offer a free 7-day trial, after which you are billed the full annual price. 

AirDNA vs Mashvisor: Terms

Here’s how the terms and conditions of AirDNA and Mashvisor stack up: 

• Sign-up requirements: To sign up for Mashvisor, you must be a US resident and at least the age of majority in the state where you live. To sign up for AirDNA, you must be at least 18 years old or 13 years old with the consent of a parent or legal guardian. 
• Accepted payment methods: Both Mashvisor and AirDNA accept credit cards, and AirDNA also accepts direct bank transfer and PayPal for their custom plans.
• Cancellation policy: AirDNA lets you cancel your plan anytime. However, you must cancel it 2 or more working days before your subscription renewal date to stop the charges on the next billing term. Mashvisor lets you do the same at any point during the current billing period. 
• How to cancel: You can cancel an AirDNA subscription by logging into your online account or sending an email to hello@airdna.co with the email address you used to sign up. To cancel a Mashvisor subscription, you simply go to the billing tab on your online portal and hit “cancel plan.”
• Refund policy: Both Mashvisor and AirDNA state that they don’t issue refunds, other than in exceptional cases. 
• Restrictions: Neither platform allows you to modify, reproduce, or redistribute its software in any way. It’s intended for your personal use only, and commercial uses are strictly prohibited. You’re also not allowed to disable or circumvent either software’s security mechanisms or tamper with its algorithms or data.
• Termination policy: Both platforms can terminate your account access at any time without notice. However, this is typically reserved for cases in which you violate the law or the platform’s terms and conditions. 

Taken together, AirDNA and Mashvisor have similar user policies and are about equally restrictive. One word of caution is don’t wait till the last minute to cancel a subscription to either platform. Many users have complained about getting charged without notice and against their will.

For example, one Mashvisor user wrote, “Billing service is not clear and can easily get caught in renewing without intending.” An AirDNA user wrote, “They process renewals without any warning and then hide behind their terms of service when asking for a refund.”

AirDNA vs Mashvisor: Customer Reviews

The best place to find recent customer reviews of AirDNA and Mashvisor is Trustpilot. Here are the biggest takeaways from reviewers:

What users love about Mashvisor: 

• The affordable pricing.

What users dislike about Mashvisor: 

• Listing data is sometimes outdated or inaccurate.

What users love about AirDNA: 

• Real-time listing data is well-sourced and usually accurate.

What users dislike about AirDNA: 

• Expensive pricing (especially if you invest in multiple markets)

Best Alternatives to AirDNA and Mashvisor

Alternatives to AirDNA and Mashvisor include:

• Awning Estimator: Free alternative that offers comparable properties, historical performance, seasonality, and advanced filters for any address in the United States.
• AlltheRooms: $19+ per month that service that offers tailored region explorer and an Airbnb income calculator. Free trial is available.
• Airbitics: $149.95 program that offers regional data and an Airbnb income calculator.
• Wheelhouse: $19.99+/month: Offers dynamic pricing, market reports and sets of comparable listings. Free trial available.
• DPGO: $18 per listing per month and offers real-time market data, pricing predictions, and dynamic pricing rules. Free trial available. 

How We Evaluated AirDNA and Mashvisor

To evaluate AirDNA and Mashvisor, here’s what we did:

1. Researched the airdna.co and mashvisor.com websites to identify features, pricing, terms and conditions, and policies
2. Checked reviews on trustpilot.com and other sites to gather customer feedback
3. Watched YouTube tutorials on how to navigate and use the platforms
4. Used a demo version of each platform to test the service for ourselves

The insights gained from these 4 research methods forms the basis for our comparison of AirDNA and Mashvisor. 

AirDNA vs Mashvisor Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is AirDNA owned by AirBNB?

No. AirDNA gets its name from AirBNB and was created to help AirBNB hosts, but the two companies are not affiliated. 

Are AirDNA and Mashvisor accurate?

Real estate is inherently dynamic so data on short-term rentals won’t ever be 100% accurate. That said, both platforms pull data from many sources to provide the best possible estimates.

Is AirDNA or Mashvisor worth it?

Investing in short-term rentals can be time consuming. An STR analytics platform like AirDNA or Mashvisor can save you a lot of time, making it well worth the cost.

Takeaway

Ultimately, AirDNA is better than Mashvisor because it uses superior data. Try both and see which one better reflects your market. And if neither works for you, give Awning a try. 

Looking to invest in a vacation rental or Airbnb property? The Awning Airbnb Estimator is here to help! With our free tool, you can easily analyze any U.S. address to get an estimated income from Airbnb. Simply enter the address, number of bedrooms, number of guests, and whether the property has a pool or hot tub. Our machine learning algorithm will use historical data from all U.S. Airbnb listings to provide you with the best possible estimate. Plus, you can browse nearby active Airbnb listings to see how your property stacks up against the competition. With the Awning Airbnb Estimator, you can answer questions like: how much can I Airbnb my house for, what are my estimated earnings from converting my rental into an Airbnb, how much money can I make on Airbnb as a host, and more. Try it out today and make informed investment decisions with the Awning Airbnb Estimator.