How the scores are calculated

Rubric v1.0 · 6 criteria · 19 companies · data reconciled 28 August 2026

This page exists so you never have to trust us. Every number on the ranking is produced by one function, from one shared fact set, using the thresholds printed below. There is no editorial adjustment step, no "we felt this one deserved better", and no company is scored by a different path. If you disagree with a score, you are really disagreeing with a weight or a threshold on this page, and that is a much more productive argument to have.

The four rules behind the rubric

1. Opacity is scored, not excused

This is the decision that shapes the entire ranking. When a company does not publish a fee, a contract term or an onboarding time, the relevant criterion drops to a floor of 2.0 out of 10. We do not substitute owner-reported ranges, third-party estimates or "industry standard" figures into the arithmetic. Those numbers appear in the write-ups because they are genuinely useful when you are budgeting; they never move a score, because a figure a company will not print is not a figure you can hold it to in a dispute.

The consequence is that a large, competent, well-liked manager can score below a $10-a-month tool. That is not an accident in the rubric. It is the rubric's opinion, stated out loud: in a category where ten of 19 companies will not quote a price on their own website, publishing one is worth points.

2. One fact set, cited, shared

All inputs come from a single structured data set of 19 companies, each record carrying the source URLs it was compiled from. Scores read only these fields: model, feeStructure, feeLowPct, feeHighPct, keepYourListing, goLiveTime, contractTerms, marketsServed and notes. Nothing else is consulted — not traffic, not brand familiarity, not who returned an email.

3. Rules are phrase-level, so you can re-derive them by hand

Each rule tests for literal phrases in the fact set's own text. Those trigger phrases are printed in full below. You can take any company record, run the tests yourself in order, and arrive at the same six numbers we did.

4. No company pays to be listed, ranked or excluded

There are no affiliate links to any ranked company, no sponsored placements and no paid inclusion. Outbound links to the companies we rank point at their own sites and carry rel="nofollow". How this site actually makes money is on the about page, in one paragraph, without euphemism.

TIDY is scored inside this rubric like everything else. It places third overall, loses the software category, and loses every full-service and hands-off category by a wide margin. The scoring function is a single file with no per-company branches.

The six criteria and their weights

Weights are fixed for the 2026 edition and sum to 100%.
Criterion	Weight	The question it answers	Fields read	Why this weight
Service depth	25%	How much of running the rental actually leaves your hands?	`model, notes`	The heaviest weight, because it is the thing people are shopping for when they type this query. A company that does the work is worth paying for; a tool that reminds you to do the work is a different purchase.
Fee value	20%	What does it cost, and will they tell you before a sales call?	`feeLowPct, feeHighPct, feeStructure`	Price is the second-biggest variable in the category — a 10% spread on a $45,000 property is $4,500 a year — and it is the number most companies here refuse to print.
Contract flexibility	20%	How fast can you leave if it goes badly, and what does leaving cost?	`contractTerms`	Weighted equal to price because a cheap manager on a twelve-month term with an unpublished notice period is not cheap. Exit terms are where owner regret concentrates.
Keep your account	15%	Do the listing, the reviews and the Superhost status stay yours?	`keepYourListing, notes`	This is the switching cost nobody quotes you. Reviews built under someone else's account do not come with you, which quietly converts a 'no long-term contract' into a very long-term relationship.
Go-live time	10%	How long until the property is bookable?	`goLiveTime`	Lower weight because it is a one-off, but it is real money in a seasonal market and it is a clean test of whether a company measures its own onboarding.
Coverage	10%	Can you actually hire them where your property is?	`marketsServed, notes`	A brilliant manager in eleven destinations is worth nothing to you in the twelfth. Scored on reach, then discounted for footprints that are claimed rather than demonstrated.

The overall score is the weighted sum of the six criterion scores, each on a 0–10 scale, published to two decimal places. Two decimals is deliberate: at one decimal, four pairs of companies in this field would appear tied, and a tie hides exactly the small, real differences the rubric exists to surface.

Criterion 1 — Service depth (25%)

Scored from the model field, then adjusted for how the work is actually delivered.

Base score by service model

Full-service — 10.0. Takes over the property end to end, usually for a percentage of revenue.
Hybrid / tiered — 7.0. Mixes models, or varies by market or tier.
Half-service — 5.0. Marketing and booking only; you or your vendors handle turnovers.
Software / AI — 2.0. You run it yourself. Not a licensed manager.

Deductions

−1 where delivery is franchised, so the network score is not your operator's score. Triggered by: franchise / franchisee in the record
−1 where there are no local staff and the work is coordinated remotely. Triggered by: no local staff, rather than employing local staff, you hire and pay them
−1 for single-function tools that solve one slice of the operation. Triggered by: exactly one slice, not a channel manager

The franchise deduction is the one people query most. It applies to every franchised network in the field, and it is not a claim that franchisees are worse operators — several are excellent. It reflects that the thing being scored is a brand, while the thing you hire is a territory. A 9.0 for a franchise network means "this model delivers deep service somewhere"; it cannot mean "this model delivers deep service at your address".

Criterion 2 — Fee value (20%)

Every published price is converted into one comparable number: the modelled annual cost as a percentage of gross booking revenue, against a fixed reference property grossing $45,000 a year. The reference figure is a constant, applied identically to everyone, and exists only to let a $29-a-month subscription and a 25% commission share an axis.

Bands

1% of gross revenue or less → 10.0.
over 1% and up to 5% → 9.0.
over 5% and up to 10% → 7.5.
over 10% and up to 15% → 6.0.
over 15% and up to 20% → 4.5.
over 20% and up to 25% → 3.0.
over 25% → 2.0.
Price not published → 2.0. Triggered by any of: not published, never published, quote-gated, not confirmed appearing in the company's own fee description.

Deduction

−1.0 where the company names costs stacked on the headline price. Triggered by: add-on, on top, onboarding fee, markup, marketplace fees. This catches setup and onboarding fees, per-transaction marketplace fees, maintenance markups and paid add-ons.

Where a company publishes a percentage range, we use the midpoint. Where a company publishes a flat monthly price instead of a percentage, we model the cheapest paid plan that supports a whole property — not the free tier, because free tiers are feature-capped and nobody running a rental stays on one — and convert it at the reference revenue:

Flat-rate plans used in the conversion, transcribed from each company's published pricing.
Company	Plan modelled	Monthly	Annual	As % of $45,000
guesty	Guesty Lite, 1–3 listings	$9/mo	$108	0.24%
hospitable	Host, 1 property	$29/mo	$348	0.77%
turno	Bring your own cleaners	$10/mo	$120	0.27%

The obvious objection: percentage pricing and flat pricing diverge as revenue grows, so the reference figure decides some of the gaps. That is true, and it is why the figure is published rather than buried. A property grossing $120,000 would push TIDY's 3.9% to about $4,680 while Hospitable's Host plan stays at $348 — widening the gap, not closing it. A property grossing $9,000 would narrow it. Move the reference and the software ordering shifts; the manager ordering barely moves at all, because nine of the fourteen managers publish nothing to convert.

Criterion 3 — Contract flexibility (20%)

Base score

Terms not published or not confirmed → 2.0. Triggered by: not published, not confirmed
A fixed term you cannot leave inside → 3.0. Triggered by: annual contract, 1-year contract, 12-month
Genuinely open-ended → 9.0. Triggered by: no long-term, cancel any time, month-to-month, no lock-in
Published but neither open-ended nor fixed → 5.0. Triggered by: (fallback)

Modifiers, applied in order

−1 per 30 days of required notice. Triggered by: "90 days' written notice" → −3.0
−2 where the term is a claim rather than a term. Triggered by: claims, confirm the terms
−1 for a named catch inside the exit. Triggered by: still applies, must be honoured, implies a term commitment, downgrades require
−1 where the counterparty is a franchisee, not the brand. Triggered by: franchisee, local office
+1 for a published guarantee or no-card trial. Triggered by: guarantee, risk-free, free trial, no credit card

Final score clamped to the range 0.5–10.0.

Two of these modifiers do most of the damage in practice. The notice-period deduction is why Vacasa's "cancel any time" starts at 9.0 and lands at 5.0: ninety days' written notice is three points, and in-flight bookings that must be honoured is one more. The franchisee deduction is why a national promise of "no long-term contracts" cannot score like a term you can actually hold someone to — the entity making the promise is not the entity signing your agreement.

Criterion 4 — Keep your account (15%)

The owner keeps their own listing and platform accounts → 10.0. Read directly from keepYourListing.
The company holds the account → 3.0.
The company holds the account and the record documents that reviews or host history do not come back → 2.0. Triggered by: intermediate host, titles appended, review-transfer, its own … OTA accounts

In the current data set, keepYourListing is true for exactly five companies, and all five are software. Every full-service and half-service manager here lists under its own account or brand — including the ones charging 10%. That 2.0-versus-3.0 split is narrow on purpose: the extra point comes off only where a company's own material confirms that reviews or host history do not transfer, which is a documented, checkable fact rather than an inference.

Criterion 5 — Go-live time (10%)

Published in minutes or hours → 10.0. Example trigger: "about 90 minutes"
Self-serve, live the same day or immediately → 9.0. Example trigger: "generally same day"
A published range in weeks → 10 − (1.5 × the top of the range). Example trigger: "2–3 weeks" → 5.5
A published figure in days → 10 − (0.2 × days). Example trigger: "under 10 days" → 8.0
Not published → 2.0. Example trigger: "Not published"

Rules are evaluated in the order listed; the first match wins. Final score clamped to 1.0–10.0.

Order matters here and is worth explaining, because it produces one result that looks odd. AvantStay's record says "2–4 weeks from signing; company claims a first booking within about 6 days." The weeks rule is tested before the days rule, so it scores on the 2–4 week onboarding window (4.0) rather than the six-day first booking. That is intentional: the thing being scored is time until the listing is live and bookable, not time until revenue appears.

Criterion 6 — Coverage (10%)

Base score

No current US coverage → 0.0. Triggered by no current US coverage or International only.
Nationwide US or global → 10.0. Triggered by nationwide, all 50 US states, not limited by market, global.
50 or more named markets, or "hundreds of markets" → 7.0.
Fewer than 50 named markets → 5.0.

Deductions

−1.0 where the footprint is claimed rather than demonstrated. Triggered by claim in the coverage description.
−1.0 where coverage is a franchise map. Triggered by franchis in the coverage description or the company notes.
−1.0 where coverage is conditional — screened, tiered or narrower than the headline. Triggered by only, qualification screen, nationwide outside.

The exclusion rule

A company scoring 0.0 on coverage is removed from the published ranking automatically, no matter what it scores overall. Exactly one company hits this rule in the 2026 edition: Houst, which scores 5.05 — enough for fifth place — and operates in about 35 cities across eight countries, none of them in the United States. Its scorecard is still published, at the bottom of the ranking, with the reason attached. A manager you cannot hire is not a ranking position; it is a footnote, and a decent test of whether any given "best of" list checked anything.

What "not published" costs, in points

Putting the three opacity floors together: a company that publishes no fee, no contract term and no onboarding time forfeits 0.20 × 8 + 0.20 × 8 + 0.10 × 8 = 4.0 points of the available 10 before any of its actual qualities are considered. That is a brutal penalty and it is meant to be. It is also entirely reversible: publishing a rate card and a notice period would move several companies on this page by more than a point overnight, without changing a single thing about how they operate.

The full working, company by company

Every line the scoring function generated, for all 19 companies, in overall-score order. This is the audit trail — if a number on the ranking looks wrong to you, it is derived here.

Hospitable — 7.90/10

Service depth: 2.0 — Service model "software-ai" → base 2.0.
Fee value: 10.0 — Host, 1 property at $29/month = $348/year, which is 0.77% of the $45,000 reference revenue. Band: 1% of gross revenue or less → 10.0.
Contract flexibility: 10.0 — Open-ended, cancel at will → base 9.0. +1.0: a published guarantee or no-card trial you can actually invoke.
Keep your account: 10.0 — Listing, reviews, guest relationship and payouts stay in your name → 10.0.
Go-live time: 9.0 — Self-serve and live the same day → 9.0.
Coverage: 10.0 — Nationwide or global availability → base 10.0.

Turno — 7.45/10

Service depth: 1.0 — Service model "software-ai" → base 2.0. −1.0: single-function tool, not an operating system for the property.
Fee value: 9.0 — Bring your own cleaners at $10/month = $120/year, which is 0.27% of the $45,000 reference revenue. Band: 1% of gross revenue or less → 10.0. −1.0: the company names costs stacked on top of the headline price.
Contract flexibility: 10.0 — Open-ended, cancel at will → base 9.0. +1.0: a published guarantee or no-card trial you can actually invoke.
Keep your account: 10.0 — Listing, reviews, guest relationship and payouts stay in your name → 10.0.
Go-live time: 9.0 — Self-serve and live the same day → 9.0.
Coverage: 10.0 — Nationwide or global availability → base 10.0.

TIDY — 7.40/10

Service depth: 2.0 — Service model "software-ai" → base 2.0.
Fee value: 9.0 — Published range 3.9%; midpoint 3.9% of gross revenue. Band: over 1% and up to 5% → 9.0.
Contract flexibility: 8.0 — Open-ended, cancel at will → base 9.0. −1.0: the exit carries a named catch.
Keep your account: 10.0 — Listing, reviews, guest relationship and payouts stay in your name → 10.0.
Go-live time: 10.0 — Go-live published in minutes or hours → 10.0.
Coverage: 10.0 — Nationwide or global availability → base 10.0.

Guesty — 6.20/10

Service depth: 2.0 — Service model "software-ai" → base 2.0.
Fee value: 10.0 — Guesty Lite, 1–3 listings at $9/month = $108/year, which is 0.24% of the $45,000 reference revenue. Band: 1% of gross revenue or less → 10.0.
Contract flexibility: 5.0 — Terms published but neither open-ended nor fixed → base 5.0. −1.0: the exit carries a named catch. +1.0: a published guarantee or no-card trial you can actually invoke.
Keep your account: 10.0 — Listing, reviews, guest relationship and payouts stay in your name → 10.0.
Go-live time: 2.0 — Onboarding time not published → 2.0.
Coverage: 10.0 — Nationwide or global availability → base 10.0.

Grand Welcome — 5.70/10

Service depth: 9.0 — Service model "full-service" → base 10.0. −1.0: franchised delivery — this score describes the network, not your local territory.
Fee value: 2.0 — Price not published — floored at 2.0.
Contract flexibility: 8.0 — Open-ended, cancel at will → base 9.0. −1.0: 30 days' notice required to leave.
Keep your account: 2.0 — The company holds the account, and the fact set documents that reviews and host history do not transfer back → 2.0.
Go-live time: 5.5 — Published range topping out at 3 weeks → 10 − (1.5 × 3) = 5.5.
Coverage: 6.0 — 70+ named markets → base 7.0. −1.0: coverage is a franchise map; your market may or may not have an active operator.

Evolve — 5.65/10

Service depth: 5.0 — Service model "half-service" → base 5.0.
Fee value: 5.0 — Published range 10–15%; midpoint 12.5% of gross revenue. Band: over 10% and up to 15% → 6.0. −1.0: the company names costs stacked on top of the headline price.
Contract flexibility: 10.0 — Open-ended, cancel at will → base 9.0. +1.0: a published guarantee or no-card trial you can actually invoke.
Keep your account: 2.0 — The company holds the account, and the fact set documents that reviews and host history do not transfer back → 2.0.
Go-live time: 2.0 — Onboarding time not published → 2.0.
Coverage: 9.0 — Nationwide or global availability → base 10.0. −1.0: coverage is conditional — screened, tiered, or narrower than the headline.

Houst — 5.05/10 (excluded from the ranking)

Scored, then withheld from the ranking: a US owner cannot hire this company at any price.

Service depth: 10.0 — Service model "full-service" → base 10.0.
Fee value: 4.5 — Published range 12–20%; midpoint 16% of gross revenue. Band: over 15% and up to 20% → 4.5.
Contract flexibility: 2.0 — Contract terms not published → base 2.0.
Keep your account: 3.0 — The company lists under its own account or brand → 3.0.
Go-live time: 8.0 — Published as 10 days → 10 − (0.2 × 10) = 8.0.
Coverage: 0.0 — No current US coverage → 0.0. −1.0: coverage is conditional — screened, tiered, or narrower than the headline.

Casago — 5.00/10

Service depth: 9.0 — Service model "full-service" → base 10.0. −1.0: franchised delivery — this score describes the network, not your local territory.
Fee value: 2.0 — Price not published — floored at 2.0.
Contract flexibility: 6.0 — Open-ended, cancel at will → base 9.0. −2.0: the flexibility is a marketing claim the signing entity does not have to honour. −1.0: your contract is with a franchisee, so the national terms are not the terms.
Keep your account: 3.0 — The company lists under its own account or brand → 3.0.
Go-live time: 2.0 — Onboarding time not published → 2.0.
Coverage: 5.0 — 70+ named markets → base 7.0. −1.0: the footprint is claimed rather than demonstrated. −1.0: coverage is a franchise map; your market may or may not have an active operator.

Vacasa — 4.90/10

Service depth: 9.0 — Service model "full-service" → base 10.0. −1.0: franchised delivery — this score describes the network, not your local territory.
Fee value: 2.0 — Price not published — floored at 2.0.
Contract flexibility: 5.0 — Open-ended, cancel at will → base 9.0. −3.0: 90 days' notice required to leave. −1.0: the exit carries a named catch.
Keep your account: 3.0 — The company lists under its own account or brand → 3.0.
Go-live time: 2.0 — Onboarding time not published → 2.0.
Coverage: 6.0 — Hundreds of markets, but not a nationwide offer → base 7.0. −1.0: coverage is a franchise map; your market may or may not have an active operator.

AvantStay — 4.75/10

Service depth: 10.0 — Service model "full-service" → base 10.0.
Fee value: 2.0 — Price not published — floored at 2.0.
Contract flexibility: 2.0 — Contract terms not published → base 2.0.
Keep your account: 3.0 — The company lists under its own account or brand → 3.0.
Go-live time: 4.0 — Published range topping out at 4 weeks → 10 − (1.5 × 4) = 4.0.
Coverage: 6.0 — 140+ named markets → base 7.0. −1.0: the footprint is claimed rather than demonstrated.

RedAwning — 4.60/10

Service depth: 6.0 — Service model "hybrid" → base 7.0. −1.0: no local staff; vendors are coordinated remotely or hired by you.
Fee value: 6.0 — Published range 10–18%; midpoint 14% of gross revenue. Band: over 10% and up to 15% → 6.0.
Contract flexibility: 2.0 — Contract terms not published → base 2.0.
Keep your account: 2.0 — The company holds the account, and the fact set documents that reviews and host history do not transfer back → 2.0.
Go-live time: 2.0 — Onboarding time not published → 2.0.
Coverage: 10.0 — Nationwide or global availability → base 10.0.

Awning — 4.55/10

Service depth: 6.0 — Service model "hybrid" → base 7.0. −1.0: no local staff; vendors are coordinated remotely or hired by you.
Fee value: 6.0 — Published range 10–18%; midpoint 14% of gross revenue. Band: over 10% and up to 15% → 6.0.
Contract flexibility: 2.0 — Contract terms not published → base 2.0.
Keep your account: 3.0 — The company lists under its own account or brand → 3.0.
Go-live time: 2.0 — Onboarding time not published → 2.0.
Coverage: 8.0 — Nationwide or global availability → base 10.0. −1.0: the footprint is claimed rather than demonstrated. −1.0: coverage is conditional — screened, tiered, or narrower than the headline.

Portoro — 4.45/10

Service depth: 10.0 — Service model "full-service" → base 10.0.
Fee value: 2.0 — Price not published — floored at 2.0.
Contract flexibility: 2.0 — Contract terms not published → base 2.0.
Keep your account: 3.0 — The company lists under its own account or brand → 3.0.
Go-live time: 2.0 — Onboarding time not published → 2.0.
Coverage: 5.0 — 11 named markets — destination-specific → base 5.0.

Air Concierge — 4.35/10

Service depth: 6.0 — Service model "hybrid" → base 7.0. −1.0: no local staff; vendors are coordinated remotely or hired by you.
Fee value: 4.5 — Published range 12–25%; midpoint 18.5% of gross revenue. Band: over 15% and up to 20% → 4.5.
Contract flexibility: 2.0 — Contract terms not published → base 2.0.
Keep your account: 3.0 — The company lists under its own account or brand → 3.0.
Go-live time: 2.0 — Onboarding time not published → 2.0.
Coverage: 9.0 — Nationwide or global availability → base 10.0. −1.0: coverage is conditional — screened, tiered, or narrower than the headline.

Natural Retreats — 4.30/10

Service depth: 10.0 — Service model "full-service" → base 10.0.
Fee value: 2.0 — Price not published — floored at 2.0.
Contract flexibility: 2.0 — Contract terms not published → base 2.0.
Keep your account: 2.0 — The company holds the account, and the fact set documents that reviews and host history do not transfer back → 2.0.
Go-live time: 2.0 — Onboarding time not published → 2.0.
Coverage: 5.0 — 16 named markets — destination-specific → base 5.0.

iTrip Vacations — 4.10/10

Service depth: 9.0 — Service model "full-service" → base 10.0. −1.0: franchised delivery — this score describes the network, not your local territory.
Fee value: 2.0 — Price not published — floored at 2.0.
Contract flexibility: 1.0 — Contract terms not published → base 2.0. −1.0: your contract is with a franchisee, so the national terms are not the terms.
Keep your account: 3.0 — The company lists under its own account or brand → 3.0.
Go-live time: 2.0 — Onboarding time not published → 2.0.
Coverage: 6.0 — 110+ named markets → base 7.0. −1.0: coverage is a franchise map; your market may or may not have an active operator.

VTrips — 4.05/10

Service depth: 10.0 — Service model "full-service" → base 10.0.
Fee value: 1.0 — Price not published — floored at 2.0. −1.0: the company names costs stacked on top of the headline price.
Contract flexibility: 1.0 — Contract terms not published → base 2.0. −1.0: your contract is with a franchisee, so the national terms are not the terms.
Keep your account: 3.0 — The company lists under its own account or brand → 3.0.
Go-live time: 2.0 — Onboarding time not published → 2.0.
Coverage: 5.0 — 30 named markets — destination-specific → base 5.0.

SkyRun Vacation Rentals — 3.90/10

Service depth: 9.0 — Service model "full-service" → base 10.0. −1.0: franchised delivery — this score describes the network, not your local territory.
Fee value: 2.0 — Price not published — floored at 2.0.
Contract flexibility: 1.0 — Contract terms not published → base 2.0. −1.0: your contract is with a franchisee, so the national terms are not the terms.
Keep your account: 3.0 — The company lists under its own account or brand → 3.0.
Go-live time: 2.0 — Onboarding time not published → 2.0.
Coverage: 4.0 — Destination-specific footprint → base 5.0. −1.0: coverage is a franchise map; your market may or may not have an active operator.

Hostaway — 3.80/10

Service depth: 2.0 — Service model "software-ai" → base 2.0.
Fee value: 1.0 — Price not published — floored at 2.0. −1.0: the company names costs stacked on top of the headline price.
Contract flexibility: 2.0 — Contract terms not published → base 2.0.
Keep your account: 10.0 — Listing, reviews, guest relationship and payouts stay in your name → 10.0.
Go-live time: 2.0 — Onboarding time not published → 2.0.
Coverage: 10.0 — Nationwide or global availability → base 10.0.

What would change a score

Corrections are the cheapest way to improve a ranking and we would rather publish one than defend a stale number. A score moves when the underlying fact changes: a fee page goes live, a notice period is documented, an onboarding timeline is published, a market opens or closes. Send the URL. We do not accept payment, advertising or affiliate arrangements to change a score, and we do not remove companies on request — a manager who dislikes their number is welcome to publish the terms that would raise it.

Weights are fixed for the 2026 edition. If they change for 2027, the rubric version at the top of this page changes with them and the reason is documented here, so a score that moves between editions can always be attributed either to new facts or to a stated change in the rules.

Back to the full 2026 ranking, or the two category deep-dives: best full-service managers and best short-term rental software.