Smoobu vs Lodgify

Smoobu’s Starter plan is remarkable value: €17/month covers up to five listings with the channel manager, unified inbox, calendar sync and a basic direct booking site. Growth (€29) adds automation rules and analytics; Pro (€49) adds API access and priority support. No setup fees, no contracts — it scored 9/10 on value.

Lodgify also scored 9/10 on value but starts higher: $30/month for one rental (with a 2% payment fee that disappears on the $50 Professional plan). For a host with 3–5 listings, Smoobu can cost a third of Lodgify’s equivalent tier. What you’re paying Lodgify extra for is the website — which brings us to the next section.

Lodgify’s website builder — rental-optimised templates, real payment processing, built-in SEO and marketing tools, embeddable booking widget, custom domains — is the best in the PMS space, and every plan takes zero commission on direct bookings. If you’re serious about building an OTA-independent channel, this is the tool.

Smoobu includes a multi-language direct booking website with payment integration at no extra cost, which is honestly impressive at €17. But it’s a template site, not a builder: design control is limited, SEO tooling is thin, and it reads as “a page for your guests” rather than “your brand’s storefront”. A freebie versus a flagship.

Smoobu scored 9/10 on both usability and setup — the cleanest, fastest onboarding we’ve tested at any price: connect channels, and the unified inbox and calendar just work. It’s the PMS we’d hand to a host who’s scared of software.

Lodgify (8/10 usability, 7/10 setup) is also friendly, but building a website you’re proud of takes real time, and some design customisation feels boxed in. Neither requires a sales call.

Smoobu punches above its price on sync: 13/15 in our rubric across Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo and Expedia, with quick conflict resolution and no double bookings in testing. Lodgify’s 11/15 covers the same majors dependably but showed more edge cases as calendars filled. For a budget tool to out-sync a pricier one is exactly the kind of detail that decides this tier.

Both platforms scored 7/10 on automation, and both are honest about their limits. Smoobu’s Growth tier brings message and task automation rules that cover the basics; Lodgify handles automated messages and payment reminders. Neither offers AI answering, deep task orchestration or the event-based guest-journey automation of a Hospitable.

If automation is actually your priority, the answer isn’t either of these — it’s Hospitable, whose free plan undercuts both (see our Lodgify vs Hospitable comparison). Buy Smoobu or Lodgify for their strengths, not for automation.

Smoobu’s analytics arrive on the Growth tier and stay basic; accounting is limited and lock/accounting integrations can need manual setup. Lodgify’s reporting is similarly rudimentary, with owner statements gated to the $70 Ultimate tier. One shared bright spot: both export data cleanly (top marks in our portability testing), so neither traps you if you migrate someday. Either way, plan on a spreadsheet or bookkeeping tool alongside.

Both scored 8/10 on support — responsive email and chat in business hours, with priority handling on their top tiers (Smoobu Pro, Lodgify Ultimate). Reliability matched at 8/10; neither dropped a sync in our testing window. Smoobu’s support and interface are notably multilingual, a real plus for European hosts.