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People are now traveling more than ever. It has never been easier. And with the emergence of an app like Airbnb, not only has it become easy to travel, but it has also made it an accessible medium for users to earn money. With just a few taps, you get to rent a room, villa, homestay, etc., in different parts of the world.
Most importantly, you get to connect with locals and live with them. And you don’t have to worry about the quality of the services you get. Amazingly, you save money that goes to intermediaries.
Airbnb is an online marketplace for hosting and renting lodges, homestays, etc. For those who want to rent rooms and are looking for accommodations, there is no safer and more accessible medium than Airbnb. In 2021, it had over 7 million active listings in more than 220 countries. More than 150 million people use it worldwide. Currently, its valuation in the market is $101 billion.
Moreover, more than 50% of people worldwide choose Airbnb over hotels. Every year, traditional lodges lose $450 million in direct revenues to Airbnb. Such figures are enough to show the people’s choice between an app like Airbnb and traditional hotels.
The popularity of Airbnb is increasing rapidly. And if you are planning to build a similar app and don’t know how much it costs to build an app like Airbnb, stay with us till the end.
How does Airbnb work?
To make an app like Airbnb, you need to consider two users: host and guests.
Working process for Hosts:
Step 1: Log in to the app and complete the profile, including ID for proof.
Step 2: The hosts get approved for hosting.
Step 3: The hosts upload real photos of the property to rent with details, like the price, quality, quiet hours, etc.
Step 4: When a guest request to stay, the hosts can either accept or reject them.
Step 5: The hosts receive the payment within 24-hours of check-in by the guests.
Working process for Guests:
Step 1: Register to the app and complete the profile, including contact details, ID, etc.
Step 2: The guests select a particular location to stay. They search based on location, price, quality, space, stay hours, etc.
Step 3: The guests request hosts for a stay and wait for confirmation.
Step 4: After confirmation, the guests select a payment option.
Step 5: The guests’ check-in. They relax and enjoy their stay.
Revenue model of Airbnb
Airbnb earns revenue from booking fees from both the guests and hosts.
- Airbnb charges a 20% service fee for hosts who offer experiences.
- The guests have to pay a service fee that is under 14.2% of the booking subtotal.
- Luckily, the guests don’t have to pay for experiences.
- Airbnb may also charge VAT besides the service fee depending upon the laws.
Source: Airbnb
Besides these, possible revenue generation can be advertisements. You can charge an additional fee for property owners if they want to advertise their property. Plus, you can let third-party entities promote their products and services in your app.
Features to consider
The app will consist of three panels: host, guest, and admin.
Essential features for Host panel
Registration and Login: To register and log in to the app for using services and for posting their property.
Profile Management: To update contact details.
Property and Booking Management: To add details of the property and either accept or reject the request to stay.
Notifications: To get notifications when a guest requests to stay, booking status, booking changes, updates from the app, etc.
Essential features for Guest panel
Registration and Login: Like a host, guests should also have a way to register to the app to use services.
Profile Management: To manage and update contact details, bookings, etc.
Search and filter: To select a place to stay based on price, location, services, dates, space, number of guests, etc.
Map and GPS: This feature helps guests to select a location and reach the destination successfully.
Notifications: To get updates about booking confirmation, offers, etc.
Payments: To select suitable payment options and add or remove payment methods.
Favorites: To add destinations guests like to visit.
Messages: To contact hosts.
Reviews and Ratings: To share experience regarding the locations, services, etc.
Essential features for Admin panel
Dashboard: To manage users, offers, listings, etc.
Customer service: To see reviews and ratings and respond to feedback and complaints.
Reports: To view reports about user’s behavior, revenue, commission, etc.
Development team and technology stack
Developing an app like Airbnb is a massive project with tons of features to consider. To complete such a project seamlessly and successfully, you need a team of experts. To start the development process, you have the option to either hire a mobile app development company or freelancers.
Whether you go for a company or freelancers, the development team includes:
- Business Analyst
- Project Manager
- Android and iOS Developer
- Quality Analyst
- UI/UX Designers
- Back-End Developer
- Front-End Developer
And talking about the technologies, there are tons to choose from, like React, Ruby on Rails, etc. The technology stack of Airbnb consist of:
- Application and Data: JavaScript, React, NGINX, Java, MySQL, Redis, Amazon S3, Amazon EC2, Sass, Ruby, Amazon CloudFront, Rails, Amazon RDS, Hadoop, Amazon ElastiCache, Airflow, Amazon EBS, Presto, Druid, Airpal
- Utilities: Google Analytics, Amazon Route 53, Twilio SendGrid, Twilio, Mixpanel, Visual Website Optimizer, Braintree, Superset, Lottie, Nexmo, Native Navigation, Urban Airship, Aerosolve, DeepLinkDispatch
- DevOps: GitHub, Webpack, New Relic, Kibana, Sentry, Vagrant, Amazon CloudWatch, Logstash, Datadog, Jest, Chef, Enzyme, Apache Mesos, SmartStack
- Business Tools: Slack, G Suite, InVision, Asana, Campaign Monitor, React Sketch.app, Assemblage
Source: StackShare
Total development cost to build an app like Airbnb
The development cost depends on many factors, like developers’ location, region, number of platforms, size of the project, etc.
Below is a rough estimation of the total development cost to build an app like Airbnb. The price is based on the Asia region ($30/hr).
| Features/Tasks | Android (hr) | iOS (hr) | Web (hr) | Cost ($) |
| Registration and Login | 60 | 60 | 64 | 5,520 |
| Profile Management | 25 | 25 | 35 | 2,550 |
| Search and Filter | 125 | 125 | 160 | 12,300 |
| GPS | 27 | 27 | – | 1,620 |
| Messages | 130 | 130 | 170 | 12,900 |
| Payments | 30 | 30 | 33 | 2,790 |
| Favorites | 18 | 18 | 15 | 1,530 |
| Notifications | 30 | 30 | 35 | 2,850 |
| Request/Order | 55 | 55 | 90 | 6,000 |
| Design | 142 | 160 | 145 | 13,410 |
| Admin Panel | – | – | 235 | 7,050 |
| Quality Assurance | 345 | 345 | 470 | 34,800 |
| Project Management | 180 | 180 | 231 | 17,730 |
| Total | 1,167 ($35,010) | 1,185 ($35,550) | 1,448 ($43,440) | 114,000 |
The final development is estimated at around $114,000.
However, to reduce the cost you also have the option to go for only one platform: Android, iOS, Web.
You can also check out our other article.
In Conclusion
The estimation is based on the features listed above. The total development time goes beyond, which includes research, APIs and libraries integration, multi-currency support, multilingual, hosting, and the list goes on. These advanced features also affect the development cost to some extent. So, you should consult the software company about this priorly.
The use of apps like Airbnb is going to increase in the coming days. So, the development of such an app in the market isn’t going to be a new thing at all. Besides, if you want a detailed estimation to develop an app like Airbnb, you can contact us. We offer free consultation services for customers.
Moreover, if you are looking for a software company to help you build an app like Airbnb, please feel free to reach us. We have 5+ years of experience in developing software. Plus, we recently worked on a similar project, Travelbook. Check out our portfolio section for more detail and inspirations.
Reach us at any time. We will be glad to help you.
