PriceLabs Vs Wheelhouse Review: From Our Team of Superhosts

Finding your base price and making price adjustments on the fly is always among the hardest things to do for a rental. The Airbnb Smart Pricing tool is notoriously off. Luckily, dynamic pricing tools are readily available to help hosts maximize their revenue. The question is, which one?

PriceLabs and Wheelhouse are among the most popular dynamic pricing tools for Airbnb hosts and property rental managers. Tailored to meet the dynamic demands of the market, both platforms offer BNBCalc users the leverage to optimize pricing, enhance time management, and maximize revenue. We’ve created this review to help our users decide which tool will be most effective for their short-term rental business.

PriceLabs and Wheelhouse’s Dynamic Pricing Capabilities

Both Pricelabs and Wheelhouse work pretty similarly. They analyze your listing and your local market to determine a base price. Their respective pricing algorithms then automatically adjust your prices over time, based on the evolving market conditions. This includes changes within seasonality, local events, special occasions, demand, and others that factor into their data analytics software.

PriceLabs helps you set a base price and provides granular customization, with options for weekday/weekend pricing, orphan day discounts, date-specific overrides, custom profiles, and other controls. They also feature smart presets for setting rules to follow, and AI insights to convert data and charts into easily digestible content. Their highly customizable settings give users precise control over their chosen pricing strategy.

Wheelhouse determines the base price for you using factors like bedrooms, listing type, and historical performance, providing minor customization options like last-minute discounts and day-of-the-week prices. However, they do offer different pricing recommendations - conservative, recommended, and aggressive. Conservative typically lower prices in favor of higher occupancy, Aggressive prioritizes revenue at the cost of reservations, while Recommended is a good middle ground between the two. These preset modes allow for quick and easy strategizing, without the need for persistent tinkering.

We found Pricelabs to be more customizable overall, which is great if you want that level of control and perfect for advanced users. However, Wheelhouse's simpler approach may be preferable if you're newer to dynamic pricing.

Market Data Insights

Understanding your local market is key to an effective pricing strategy. Both tools provide market insights, but they differ in scope and presentation.

Wheelhouse offers Market Reports with historical and forward-looking data, as well as Comp Sets to benchmark your listings against top performers in your area. This holistic view of the market helps you monitor your performance, and spot potential opportunities, with detailed reports and forecasts.

Pricelabs provides market dashboards that show price and occupancy trends, amenities data, and more. They offer comprehensive insights into market trends and performance metrics, enabling data-driven decision-making and a wide range of statistics for a full understanding of your rental properties.

In our opinion, Wheelhouse's market insights are presented in a more user-friendly way with their interface being very intuitive and making it easy to gain actionable insights. However, PriceLabs’ depth and breadth of analytics provide a deeper dive for those who has the knowledge to absorb all of the information.

Integration and Automation

Integration with your PMS and booking channels is crucial for hands-off dynamic pricing. Pricelabs and Wheelhouse both offer a good range of integrations with popular platforms. Here’s a list of their supported property management and channel management systems:

PriceLabs Integrations:

• Airbnb
• VRBO
• Houfy
• Hospitable
• WeChalet
• Guesty
• Hostaway
• Lodgify
• Hostfully
• Beds24
• iGMS
• OwnerRez
• Smoobu
• 365Villas
• Cloudbeds

Along with over 100+ other PMS and channel managers.

Wheelhouse Integrations:

• Airbnb
• Guesty
• Hostaway
• Hostfully
• iGMS
• OwnerRez
• Smoobu
• Uplisting
• Barefoot
• LMPM
• Smily
• Tripadvisor
• Hosteeva
• Rentals United
• Avantstay

Along with a handful of others, totaling about 35 PMS and channel managers.

Overall, PriceLabs definitely offers more integrations than Wheelhouse. However, there are some that are only available on Wheelhouse but not on PriceLabs, and vice versa. So, we highly recommend doing your own research first and finding which platforms support your preferred property management system and channel manager.

While both offer solid integrations, one key difference is that Pricelabs charges an extra fee for API usage and additional daily price syncing, while these are included with Wheelhouse plans. Keep this in mind if you require frequent syncing or use a custom PMS.

We appreciate how Pricelabs lets you map similar listings so price changes automatically sync between them. Wheelhouse doesn't have an equivalent feature built-in.

Wheelhouse Vs PriceLabs: Ease of Use and Customer Support

Some of the most overlooked features when choosing a dynamic pricing tool are its user-friendliness and support. Most users think that the pricing engine will do everything by itself and you won’t have to lift a finger. Unfortunately, the reality is, that it still needs human intervention, especially if you want to fully maximize your revenue. If the software is too advanced this will make it harder for you to optimize your prices. So, try to choose one that fits within your level of knowledge.

Wheelhouse is often praised for its clean, user-friendly dashboard that makes dynamic pricing less intimidating for beginners. The platform also provides educational resources to help you get the most out of the tool.

Pricelabs has a steeper learning curve due to its many features and granular customization options. PriceLabs offers excellent customer support, a rich knowledge base, and a community forum where users can exchange insights and best practices.

In terms of support, both companies are highly rated on review sites like Capterra and TrustPilot, with users citing helpful and responsive customer service. Wheelhouse scores an excellent 4.8 stars out of 5 on Capterra, with 4.6 stars out of 5 over on TrustPilot. For PriceLabs, users gave it 4.9 stars on Capterra, and 4.3 stars on TrustPilot. Most users seem to be satisfied with both products, with the reviews to support it.

As longtime users of both tools, we've found Wheelhouse easier to use overall, while Pricelabs is our go-to for more complex pricing strategies. This seems to be a trend across most of the features that the two platforms have to offer.

Pricing

Finally, let’s talk about the pricing and available plans for PriceLabs and Wheelhouse.

How Much is PriceLabs?

PriceLabs’ Dynamic Pricing tool starts at $19.99 per listing per month. However, they also offer discounts if you’re managing multiple listings. They also have a fixed 1% booking revenue fee if you prefer to go that route. Portfolio Analytics is free, all you have to do is add your listings.

Their Market Dashboard tool starts at $9.99 for access to 1,000 listings, $19.99 per month for up to 5,000 listings, and $39.99 for up to 10,000 listings. They also offer a Revenue Estimator Pro tool worth $10/month for 2 estimates, $45/month for 15 estimates, and $125/month for 50 estimates.

As mentioned earlier, PriceLabs also charges $1 per listing per month for connections via their API and another $1 for additional daily sync schedules per listing per month. These charges can quickly add up, so be sure to keep this in mind when computing your expenses.

How Much is WheelHouse?

Wheelhouse offers similar pricing options for their dynamic pricing tool. Their Pro Flat rate starts at $19.99 per listing per month, with a slight discount for users with 10-49 listings at $16.99 per listing per month. They also offer a flexible 1% of booking revenue, with a minimum of at least $2.99 in monthly charges.

Wheelhouse also provides a custom Enterprise plan for big-time hosts or property managers with 50 or more listings. You’ll have to contact Wheelhouse directly to find out their discounted rates.

Finally, Wheelhouse also has a Dynamic Sets plan which costs $12.99 per set per month. This gives you access to their Wheelhouse Navigator, allowing you to explore listings in an innovative mapping interface and create custom Sets for your pricing strategies.

Overall, we’d say that both platforms offer similar pricing models and it will likely boil down to what you prefer as a user. You should also take into consideration the extra features and tools built into the platform to make your decision.

Final Thoughts About PriceLabs and Wheelhouse

Pricelabs and Wheelhouse are both powerful dynamic pricing tools with their own strengths. We’d recommend Pricelabs for hosts and managers who want maximum control and customization. It’s for those seeking to dive deep into the number and analyze the statistics, squeezing out every inch you can get. Wheelhouse is for those who value ease of use and actionable market insights. If you’re just starting out or have simple dynamic pricing needs, then it’s definitely a safe bet. The right choice will ultimately depend on your preferred pricing optimization strategies, dynamic pricing needs, and personal preferences.

Whichever you choose, both Pricelabs and Wheelhouse are solid tools that can help take your pricing strategy to the next level. As Superhosts, we've seen firsthand how powerful dynamic pricing can be for maximizing revenue and saving time.

Our biggest tip? Take advantage of the free trials and test the features most important to you. And don't be afraid to switch tools as your business evolves and your needs change.