Build a Website like Airbnb: A Ultimate Guide

You have a business idea in your mind – allowing people to list their property for rent and connecting to the ideal guest like Airbnb. And all you need is a rental marketplace platform to make this business idea work.

But the problem is you don’t have any idea on how to start and do it. Building a website like Airbnb takes a lot of effort and time.

This blog will cover the main things you need to know to build a website like Airbnb instantly.

Predicting the future

In the day and present age that we are living in, convenience, affordability, comfortness, becomes the much-needed things in our day to day life. It is changing the way people travel, ride, work, buy, sell with comfort, affordability, and so on. This calls for the need for the rental industry.

While predicting the future of the rental marketplace, it will continue to expand as we can never imagine at an enormous rate. The prediction of some tech experts is this rental industry, the rental market will stand ahead from the competitors when compared to other industries.

The growth of the rental marketplace has become enormous with surplus opportunities by making it easier to connect both consumers and renters.

When compared with past, the rental industry is gonna be the future and provides loads of opportunities that inspire many digital startups and entrepreneurs to begin their own rental marketplace in a successful and cost-effective way.

Statistics & Revenue prediction 📈

According to statista,

• By 2027, it is projected that the Vacation Rentals segment will have approximately 899.0m users.

• The user penetration in the vacation rental industry is 10.9% in 2023 and it is expected to reach 11.3% by 2027.

• The total revenue in the vacation rental segment is projected to hit US$96.85bn in 2023.

• The vacation rental industry is expected to see 83% of its total revenue generated from online sales by 2027.

Why do you need a website like Airbnb? 🤔

Airbnb is a website that allows property owners to rent an unused space or a spare room open to unknown guests and tourist people to make a fortune out of it.

Reason 1: A website makes it easy for business owners to handle all the booking details, transactions, and payments. This can result in keeping all the sensitive information very safe and secure.

Reason 2: In this technology connected world, today everything can be done online due to uninterrupted internet connection. A website makes it easy to book any rental property online and connect to a genuine host.

It also makes it easy for the host to invite pleasant guests to use their property instead of getting their property vandalized or damaged heavily.

How website like Airbnb works?

• Guests will enter the platform using the multiple login options via Facebook, Google, Email. There will be more listings posted by the host.
• Guests will choose the listings as per their preferences.
• The host will add payout and the guest has to send the booking request for the host via multi booking options including instant booking and request to booking.
• Instant booking options allow the guest to book immediately without delay and request to book options allows the guest to send the booking request and wait until gets the confirmation from the host.
• The host has the option to confirm or decline the request from the guest.
• Once the guest gets approval from the host they can check in the platform.

Necessary steps to create a website like Airbnb

1. Gathering requirement

The first and foremost step in developing a website like Airbnb is the complete analysis, understanding, and gathering of basic requirements. Without the gathering of requirements, it won’t meet the business goals and expectations of the customers.

The benefits of gathering requirements include less rework on the development process, helps in faster delivery, reduces the cost of development, and provides a higher level of satisfaction.

2. Designing

Next comes to the process of designing based on the gathering of requirements. It plays a vital role in the success of creating a website like Airbnb where the user gets attracted by the design and also allows the users to engage in the rental platform.

The purpose of designing is to deliver a seamless and troublesome user experience with a rich look.

3. Process of development

Here comes the most integral part that starts with the process of coding according to the design. The coding requires mainly three parts namely Front end, back end, and APIs.

After the completion of the process of development, it should pass for checking the quality as well as providing the bug-free websites.

4. Verification and Validation

Testing is another essential part of developing any website or application. It will be done at each and every stage of the process of development.

Testing is mainly done to find bugs and helps in resolving them. It will be done in various types including smoke testing, unit testing, functionality testing, performance testing, and so on.

Once the testing is done and bugs are resolved, then the website will be approved for the launch.

5. Maintenance & support

The final stage is launching a site once the testing gets over. The stage of launching makes the beginning of the market phase. Get ready to launch your website like Airbnb with full support from the skilled set of experts.

Technology stack for building a website like Airbnb.

Choosing a tech stack for building your website is a vital process in development. The website design should be future-proof, maintainable, scalable, and adheres to the functional requirements of the business.

Here is an idea for the technology to use for building a website like Airbnb

Front-end: React, Redux, Bootstrap
Back-end: Node JS, GraphQL
Database: MySQL

React
React makes it simple to create interactive UI design. It guarantees higher app performance and better user experience.

GraphQL
GraphQL is an open-source data query language for APIs that allows users request for exact information from the backend and receive the information. Even Airbnb used GraphQL to build their platform.

Node JS
Node.js is an open-source javascript runtime environment that executes JavaScript code in the server-side.

MySQL
It is an open-source database management system that stores all the customer’s data and hosts information in a secure way.

Core features needed in Airbnb like website

1. Seasonal pricing calendar

This feature allows the host to set the pricing for the particular season. This will be done by selecting the specific days in the calendar. This helps to increase the revenue as well as the bookings automatically.

2. iCal integration

iCal integration assists the host to display special days with a calendar. It allows the guest to book after checking the availability of days. Bookings done on one platform will be notified automatically to the other platforms. There is an option for the host to block the days that have been already booked by the other users. It assists the host to avoid multiple bookings at a time done on the other rental platforms.

3. Stripe connect

Supporting stripe to make the process of payments more secure and hassle-free manner for the guest. It helps provide reliability and helps increase the conversion rate of the customers.

4. Multi-language and Multi-language option

The most needed feature in Airbnb like website is multiple currencies and multiple language options to simplify the booking process. It allows getting information in more than one language as per their preferences. It also helps in offering a better user experience with hassle-free transactions.

5. Diverse booking options

A guest has both options to book using the Instant book options and Request to book options. Instant book options allow the guest to book immediately and request to book allows the guest to send a request regarding booking to the host and guests should wait until they get a confirmation.

How website like Airbnb makes money?💰

Commission fee

The first and foremost lucrative model of generating revenue in the rental marketplace is a commission-based model. The money will be collected for every booking is done. It may be either a fixed fee or a percentage fee based on the amount is being transferred.

Commision fee from host

Host will be charged a certain fee for every booking done through the rental platform. This fee is automatically deducted from the host payout.

Commission fee from guests

Guests will also be charged a particular fee for each and every confirmed booking on certain platforms. They can check the fee on the checkout page before booking listings.

Featured listing fee

Host will be charged a certain amount to list their rentals in the particular rental platform.

Cost to build a solution like Airbnb

First of all, there are two ways to build a website like Airbnb.

• Build the website from scratch
• Customize the pre-built Airbnb clone script suiting your business requirements

If you are building your website like Airbnb from scratch, it takes more than or equal to $50,000 dollars to finish the project.

Pros of building from scratch

You can build the project steadily with a lot of time and discussions
A big opportunity to work with talented and skilled engineers

Cons of building from scratch

Takes more time to finish a whole project
Development cost might increase than the estimated amount

If you choose the customized pre-built Airbnb clone script, it takes a maximum of $3500 to build the complete MVP product for your business.

Pros of using pre-built Airbnb clone script

• Less cost compared to developing a website from scratch.
• Ability to finish the development of the website at the estimated time.
• Good opportunity to work and connect with the offshore team of skilled developers.
• You can be the owner of the source code.

Cons of using pre-built Airbnb clone script

You can’t identify any cons as the pros checks all the expectations and offer more benefits too.

Different solutions like Airbnb

Entrepreneurs are taking inspiration from the Airbnb business model and coming up with unique ideas to implement in their respective industries.

1. A Boat rental marketplace

A marketplace to connect boat owners with their potential customers. The customer can book a boat for cruising into the sea, throw a wedding ceremony or a party, fishing, etc.

2. Bike/cycle rental marketplace

A marketplace to rent a bicycle or a bike to roam around the city. The cycle is an easy vehicle to roam around the city for single travelers and students

3. Hiring Freelancers through a marketplace platform

A marketplace to hire freelancers of various job titles like designers, writers, programmers, cartoonists, graphic designers, etc. It would be easy to hire skilled labor for a short project in an organization.

4. Connecting Tutors to students

A marketplace to help students connect to a tutor. If a student finds it difficult to learn the basics of a topic or clueless about a subject, he can hire an online tutor.

Some other rental business solutions are, equipment rental, car rental, space rental, event venue rental, etc.

Conclusion

I hope this blog gave you enough information to build a website like Airbnb. By now, you would be aware of the necessary steps to create a website like Airbnb, choosing a technology stack to build a website like Airbnb cost to build a website, and the different solution of “Airbnb-like” business model.