How Much Does It Cost To Make An App LikeAirbnb?
Airbnb?


What is Airbnb?
Travelling is one of the inevitable essentialities which we undertake for business or pleasure. However, finding affordable and homely lodging on an ad-hoc basis is a challenge. Airbnb br/idges the gap between lodgers and bed-and-br/eakfast businesses with a viable On-demand service model. As an online marketplace for impromptu tourism activities, it digitized the transactional process between guests and "homestay" establishments.
Airbnb's Market Statistics
Airbnb caters to a diverse market of "guest" users searching for economic lodging alternatives; as well as property owners or hosts who wish to list their property up for custom rental and homestay services. Today, Airbnb's service curates different kinds of travel experiences across the globe; their service campaigns present some interesting facts for market statistics.
Statistics from 2019, estimate that Airbnb now accounts for upwards of 20% of the vacation rental industry as a whole. With the entire market valued at roughly $87 Billion in 2020, this puts Airbnb's total revenue in the realms of $20Billion.
- According to some data analysis there are2.9 million hosts on Airbnb worldwide in 2021.
- 14,000 new hosts are joining the platform each month in 2021.
- There are over 7 million listings on Airbnb worldwide in 2021.
- There are 100,000 cities with active Airbnb listings in 2021.
- There are 220 countries and regions with active Airbnb listings in 2021.
The following graph maps Airbnb's business growth over its market timeline:


Guest User Features Required in an app likeAirbnb
In the beginning, Airbnb started with basic features to help users find out if there was a quality guest room available when the br/anded 5-star hotel suites are out of reach. Over time it incorporated essential guest user features that uplifted and showcased a satisfying, transparent bed-’n’-br/eakfast experience.

01.

Registration and Log-in
Guest users can register themselves using their contact information for profile verification. The app should be able to maintain active user sessions once the user registers and logs-in.
02.

Search function
Search function for guest users to find listings available for reservation. Advanced search parameters based on price br/ackets, lodging type, location, along with sorting filters.
03.

Availability lists
Guest users view the listings available for reservation in this panel. These listings are made available based on custom searches or personalized feeds that the guest user has set up.
04.

Listing details
Guest users should have the ability to view each listing, to get information on services, charges, promotional photos, and feedback from other users.
05.

Payment and Account settings
The payment section encapsulates the guest users payment information and preferred payment method. The account settings allow them to control account status, passwords, etc.
Admin Features Required in an app likeAirbnb
Even an MVP On-demand lodging marketplace app needs Admin features to moderate the user activity espoused by the two consumer categories- hosts and guests. The Admin user account should act as a functional hub that helps supervise a good service experience for the customers. Hence, Admin users should pack features, such as:

Dashboard
The dashboard encapsulates all guest and user-related activity and details that concern the admin' s role. It carries notifications for processes that require urgent attention.

User management
Admins supervise your marketplace to ensure a professional and positive experience for all users. They should be able to remove or ban users for violating terms & conditions.

Manage Amenities
Admin can add, update, and delete amenities available under different properties listed on the platform.

Reservations management
The feature provides the liberty to check all the previous and new bookings. There' s also an update on the current status of each reservation. These can also be edited, updated, or deleted.

Payments, promotions & offers
It allows admin to supervise payment-related activities, share promotional content as a part of marketing with the help of newsletters and blogs, and discount offers.

Reports & Analytics
This feature allows Admin to get detailed insights related to bookings and transactions, carried on the Airbnb clone app

Host User Features Required in an app likeAirbnb
Airbnb' s novel business model has opened up more proprietors to the idea of ‘hosting’ their property for various lodging purposes. It has demonstrated growth from its inception as an online peer-to-peer market for bed-’n’-br/eakfast owners; and has manifested into a multi-category, travel-stay booking service. Airbnb caters to various tiers of lodging establishments, and to this effect, ‘host’ users are privy to features such as:
01.

Registration and Log-in
Host users register and log-in after verification just as the guest users. After log-in they can list their property, populate its description with details, and begin customer engagement.
02.

Inventory/ Showcase management
After listing their property, hosts should be able to manage the showcase with more search-engine optimized service descriptions, photos, promotional offers, etc.
03.

Push Notifications
The host will receive an immediate message as soon as the traveler requests a stay. This is in pertaining to hosts of unchecked demands, reservation updates, and approves.
04.

Reservations management
Hosts supervise their property rental availability from this panel. Reservation management allows you to create, edit, update, and delete reservations for your listed property.
05.

Transaction management
This panel houses all the details pertaining to your financial billing. Detailed digital invoices are maintained here to log your customer engagement history and respective billing process.
06.

Account settings
Account settings allow host users to maintain their account and service availability status, privacy, and security, etc. Hosts can also avail service support from here just as other users.

Revenue Model: How to generate money with an app likeAirbnb?
Airbnb has rapidly scaled in its decade and half of existence. It has served as a vital platform for various scales of lodging businesses; and, has also served guest users in search of travel lodging. It has further diversified its services by catering to micro industries for personal/group/family vacations, as well as for business tourism. As a self-proclaimed ‘homestay network’, Airbnb' s digital service model has generated revenue with:

Guest Booking fee
The service provider charges a percentage of the booking fee the guest is liable to pay the host, for facilitating the platform.

Revenue from Hosts
The host is charged a revenue percentage of their earnings from every successful reservation order transacted on the platform.
Who are the probable competitors?
Airbnb's successful business model inspired a number of br/ands to launch their own bed-"n"-br/eakfast-oriented reservation services. These br/ands have added USPs of their own to their service model and thereby helped innovate digital services in the On-demand lodging industry. If you wish to launch such a service br/and of your own, you must expect head-on competition from established br/ands active in this sector, such as:
Advanced features required to build an app likeAirbnb
We have listed the bare necessities for a functional, Minimum Viable Prototype for your On-demand vacationstay reservation application above. However, to launch a truly competitive service that can scale rapidly and stand up to established br/ands, you need to leverage advanced application features, such as:
GPS-powered Maps
Offering an application service is about creating a user-centric experience. In that context, GPS-powered maps can help both types of users. Hosts can use them to accurately pinpoint their services on digital maps, and guests can refer to these integrated maps when they are visiting the site. GPS integration is also another way to ensure that your host users provide a genuine physical address.
Social Media integration
Social media networking and marketing are two critical pillars of digital marketing. Web2.0 has granted users the means to highlight their service experience. This translates into digital word-of-mouth-advertising for your host users and your br/and. Social media is also an exceptional tool for increasing the organic reach of your br/and, promotional marketing, and tailoring user-centric customer services.
Cloud computing for your app service
Cloud computing is the way forward for entrepreneurs who want their br/and to scale in growth rapidly. Cloud-based database storage and servers are pivotal to a fast, omnipresent, app service. Cloud computing reduces hardware and software overhead, and decentralizes your application DevOps. Thus, enterprises can opt for a pay-as-you-go model for operational resources and also accelerate CI/CD for daily service operations.
Multi-language and currency support
Multi-language and currency support are additional features businesses can set aside as crucial depending on a business scale and operation size. Additional language and currency support makes it easier for users from different geographies to accurately use your services in their native language and account for accurate transactional br/eakdowns, respectively.
We are a CMMI level 5 certified company
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How much does it cost to build an app likeAirbnb?
Based on the basic technological features required for an MVP version of an app like Airbnb, the subsequent technological stack requirements, we can estimate the cost of development in the ballpark of 50,000 USD to 65,500 USD. Please note that the nature of engagement opted by the client plays a large role in the hours that will go into building a bespoke On-demand vacation lodging service.
This approximate estimation also excludes any additional features you may ask to incorporate in your application logic. The bigger the list of additional features- the higher the cost of development. Entrepreneurs must also register the fact that the platform(s) they wish to target also have a say in the cost. If you wish to target multiple platforms then you can cut overhead with frameworks that support cross-platform application development. Alternatively, choosing to use native development stacks for launching different versions of your app on individual platforms will drive up costs.
WebClues Infotech's developers have a strong background in developing On-demand services. We have undertaken successful requirements for businesses of various scales. We can offer requirement-specific advisory and software engineering implementation based on your budget and business objective. Our portfolio boasts of successful On-demand vacation reservation marketplace applications we have launched for our esteemed clients.

Timeline to build an app likeAirbnb
We have offered a detailed br/eakdown of the timeline required to cover development for an Airbnb-like application. They can also offer some generic idea of the costs involved in developing an MVP version of an On-demand vacation stay marketplace service.
Deliverables | Description | Estimated Hours | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
General | ||||
Framework setup and configuration | Setup and Configure Framework with Version Control | 32 | ||
Database design | 60 | |||
API For Mobile | 200 | |||
Backend | Web | |||
Login | 4 | |||
Landlord Management | 24 | |||
Users Management | 24 | |||
Accommodation & Facility Management & Filter Management | 80 | |||
CMS Management | 8 | |||
Discount Management | 8 | |||
Email Templates Management | 8 | |||
Manage Notifications | 12 | |||
Dashboard | No of User, No of Landlord, in graphical representation | 16 | ||
Settings Management | Site Information, App Configuration & Information, Google Map API | 32 | ||
Manage Language | English, Portugues, Spanish | 24 | ||
Manage Support | 14 | |||
Frontend - Mobile App User/Traveller | Web | Android | iOS | |
Splash Screen/Home Page | Splash screen for mobile home page for web | 20 | 2 | 2 |
Sign Up | Social media (Facebook, Google) or Email | 16 | 14 | 14 |
Login | Normal Login & Social media(Facebook, Google) | 40 | 32 | 32 |
Forgot Password | Forgot password | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Verification | Verify email with otp | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Reset Password | Change password | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Search | - advanced search system - Users should have an opportunity to set dates of their trip and select the number of guests - After setting the date, users should see a list of suitable apartments/workspace with all the details like photos, descriptions, comments, and more. - Users need to select the appropriate accommodation, check it's availability, and send the booking request | 180 | 160 | 160 |
Favorites | Users to add places they like to the list. After that, they can find these accommodations faster | 12 | 14 | 14 |
Chats | After requesting a stay, the guest and Landlord can start a conversation to discuss all the details. It' s common to provide opportunities to send a photo or video. Additionally, developers can add various statuses like typing, read, etc. | 180 | 160 | 160 |
Profile | Edit their profile and add required personal data like full name, age, sex, and so on | 32 | 24 | 24 |
Payments | It' s good to offer users various payment methods to make this process easy and secure. Also, there should be opportunities to add and remove credit cards - Credit Card - Debit Card | 32 | 30 | 30 |
Facility | User can check the Facility that is been provided by the landlord. | 16 | 12 | 12 |
Discount | User can see the discount that the landlord is providing per day , per week, per year etc. | 10 | 12 | 12 |
Order | The users choose the flat or house to stay in and can book it if the accommodation is available on the selected dates. | 64 | 60 | 60 |
Notifications | Notification to get the status of booking | 8 | 8 | 8 |
Contact US | - Contact us form submission | 8 | 8 | 8 |
View CMS Pages | - About us, Privacy Policy, Terms & Condition | 6 | 6 | 6 |
Frontend - Landlords Mobile | Web | iOS | Android | |
Sign Up | Normal Signup and uploading document | 12 | 12 | 12 |
Login | Normal Login | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Forgot Password | Forgot Password | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Verification | - Verify email with otp - Admin will also verify | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Reset Password | Reset Password | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Manage Advertisements | - create an ad about accommodation - set the apartment type/workspace, the number of guests, and more - uploading photos and videos and setting the price per hour, Per Space Permissions for Co Hosting. | 180 | 170 | 170 |
Facility Settings | Landlord can add the facility that the space is having or the landlord is giving | 16 | 12 | 12 |
Discount Settings | Landlords can provide the discount per day, week, month, year, etc. | 10 | 12 | 12 |
Manage Requests | - List of all request done by user or traveller - Accept/Decline | 32 | 24 | 24 |
Manage GPS Setting | Clients can look through the location where they want to stay in to find apartments, exciting sights, cafes, etc. | 20 | 20 | |
Notifications | Notification to get the new order and delivery status | 24 | 16 | 16 |
Contact US/Support | - Contact us form submission | 12 | 12 | 12 |
View CMS Pages | - About us, Privacy Policy, Terms & Condition | 6 | 6 | 6 |
Other | ||||
Layout Design | App & Web Design | 120 | ||
Design Integration | PSD/SKETCH to APP Design Slicing & HTML | 180 | ||
QA | 300 | |||
PM | 200 | |||
BA | 80 | |||
Total Estimated Hours | 4102 |
Technology Stack
The following is the technological stack opted and recommended by our expert application developers for developing an app like Airbnb:
For Android
Development

For Back-end
Development

For iOS
Development

What do Our Clients have toSay?
Instead of paraphrasing or quoting clients verbatim, we let our clients air their opinions to entrepreneurial peers directly. Our clients vouch for our service voluntarily:
Vacation stay Reservation Marketplace apps developed and launched by WebClues Infotech
Behold our portfolio of successful On-demand vacation stay reservation app services. We are proud to present:
Which Industries are Benefiting from Onlineapps?
WebClues leads a multidisciplinary team of software development experts. We undertake bespoken end-to-end development requirements from business enterprises belonging to diversified domains. Our esteemed clientele has acquired our Progressive Web Application development services for:
Healthcare
On-demand healthcare services to deliver medicinal aid to patients. These telemedicine services have helped patients avail critical medical consultations that have had life-saving ramifications. Businesses can rely on online applications for On-demand pharmaceutical product marketplaces that deliver medicines to patients.
Food
Food and beverage services can deliver services beyond the customer' s doorstep with online service apps. On-demand food delivery digitizes a necessity in our lives, making it easier to consume quality food without having to leave our house. Thanks to Progressive Web Applications restaurants and dine-out services can help their products reach the customer' s dining table.
Entertainment
Online entertainment apps have revolutionized digital entertainment in more ways than one. These days personalized OTT web programming is a more viable channel for consumer reach in the entertainment industry. The business model has emerged to be so profitable that its rival theaters and convincing production houses have launched products on digital entertainment platforms with established viewership numbers.
Delivery
Gone are the days when we had to take the onus for packaging and postal delivery for any item we wished to deliver to another location. Online application services that provide On-demand delivery services are refining quality-driven packaging and delivery services. Users can have their parcel picked up, parceled, and delivered with quality assurance regardless of whether it is fragile, valuable, or otherwise.
Personal Care
In these fast times, few have the luxury to visit specialists for personal care and wellness. But, what if the service made itself available to customers On-demand? On-demand fitness, wellness, and personal care app services are taking the application market by storm. These applications witness millions in downloads as more and more workaholic, fast-food-loving generation users are becoming health-conscious in the process.
Transportation
If you are worried that your whistle is not loud enough to hail a cab, then do not bother; your phone can hail a cab ‘better’! On-demand transportation services are a huge revenue generator. They provide users multiple transport options suitable to the nature of their journey; offer secure cab service availability; facilitate digital payment along with promotional offers to boot.
FAQ's
Are you looking forward to contacting us to develop an Airbnb-like application? Let us clarify any lingering doubts you may have and set expectations.