VaultSTROur take
AirDNA is the best market-level data source in short-term rentals, and the number your investor clients will quote at you before you've finished pulling comps. Here's our call: use it for market selection and comp research — the Research plan at $34/month (billed annually) covers most advisory work — but never hand a client a raw Rentalizer projection. Independent accuracy tests put property-level estimates 15-30% off actual performance, usually on the optimistic side. AirDNA is where your underwriting starts. It is not where it ends. VaultSTR may earn a commission from partner links on this page; that never changes what we recommend — our methodology is below.
| Best for | Market research and comp sets — the "which market, which property type" conversation |
| Starting price | Free tier; Research plan $34/mo billed annually ($125 month-to-month) |
| Rating | 4/5 — category leader on data, overconfident at the property level |
| The one-liner | Trust the market data. Discount the property projection. |
How we evaluated
- Pricing, verified directly. Plans and prices below come from AirDNA's published pricing as of August 2026, not cached review-site numbers (several popular reviews still list a discontinued plan structure). The full plan-by-plan math is in our AirDNA pricing breakdown.
- Accuracy, from independent testing. We compared AirDNA's projections against published accuracy tests and operator-reported actuals rather than taking the marketing claims at face value.
- The agent lens. Every feature was scored on one question: can you defend this number to a client's CPA and lender?
- Alternatives, honestly. We name the tools that beat AirDNA at specific jobs, including free ones — see the full AirDNA alternatives roundup.
What AirDNA is
AirDNA tracks performance data — revenue, ADR, occupancy, seasonality — for over 10 million short-term rentals across roughly 120,000 markets, sourced from scraped listings plus direct partner data from property managers. Its two core products are MarketMinder (market-level dashboards) and Rentalizer (address-level revenue projections). For an agent advising investor clients, it's the fastest answer to "how does this market actually perform?" It sits alongside the other platforms we cover in STR market analytics.
AirDNA pricing in 2026
| Plan | Annual (per mo) | Month-to-month | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | Limited Rentalizer, limited market insights |
| Research | $34 | $125 | Full Rentalizer, unlimited searches, historical data, comp sets, future demand |
| Host | $50 | $150 | Research + benchmarking, competitor rate calendars, bundled PMS (Uplisting, up to 3 listings) |
| Property Manager | Custom | Custom | Portfolio tooling for 6+ properties |
Two things worth telling clients. The annual-versus-monthly gap is unusually wide — $400/year versus $1,500/year for the same Research plan — so month-to-month only makes sense for a single deal sprint. And the Host plan's bundled PMS is real value for a client who ends up self-managing, but irrelevant to the buy decision. Full math in the pricing breakdown.
What it does well
- Market-level data nobody matches. Coverage, history depth, and revenue percentiles (25th/50th/75th) that let you show a client the realistic middle of a market, not the trophy listing at the top.
- Comp sets that hold up. Customizable comparables with real performance history — the raw material of a defensible pro forma.
- Future demand signals. Booking-pace data most competitors don't have.
- A free tier that's actually useful for a first pass on a market.
Where it breaks down
- Rentalizer skews optimistic. Independent tests and operator reports put address-level projections 15-30% off actuals in either direction, with the misses clustering high. A workable rule: underwrite year one at 60-75% of the Rentalizer number — the full Rentalizer accuracy breakdown explains why.
- Occupancy can mislead. Blocked calendars read as demand. In second-home markets, reported occupancy runs hotter than bookable reality.
- The learning curve is real. MarketMinder rewards someone who lives in it. Your client won't. That's the gap you fill.
- Smart Rates trails the dedicated pricing tools. If the conversation is revenue management rather than research, PriceLabs and its peers win — see our AirDNA vs PriceLabs comparison.
What to tell your client
Your client doesn't need an AirDNA subscription — they need you to have one, plus the judgment layer on top. The move: pull the market data and comp set from AirDNA, run the address through your own underwriting with conservative occupancy, layer in the regulatory check AirDNA doesn't do (start with our state-by-state regulations guides), and hand them a branded pro forma with both numbers shown — AirDNA's projection and yours, with the gap explained. That's the difference between forwarding a screenshot and giving investment advice worth a commission. For a fast second opinion on any address, run it through the free VaultSTR Airbnb revenue calculator.
Alternatives worth knowing
- Rabbu — free address-level projections; thinner history. Fine for a first pass, not for a defensible memo.
- Mashvisor — better at traditional-vs-STR comparison during acquisition.
- AllTheRooms — the other data vendor; ownership and sourcing differences matter, see our AirDNA vs AllTheRooms breakdown.
- PriceLabs Market Dashboards — cheaper market data if you already pay for PriceLabs.
All four are covered in depth in the best AirDNA alternatives roundup.
Bottom line
AirDNA earns its place in the agent stack: no other source matches its market data, and at $34/month the Research plan is the cheapest credibility upgrade available. Just treat Rentalizer as a starting estimate — the agents who lose clients are the ones who presented it as a promise. This is not financial advice. Underwrite every deal on its own numbers.