Smart pricing judicious in 2025?

[Linda4964]

I am new to Airbnb as a host. I booked my home for the first time a week ago, and I am curious on toggle or not the smart pricing for my listing.I have read the previous topic about that. And I would like to know what supehost and other experienced hosts think about that for June 2025 and beyond, like holidays: if you use smart pricing when do you use it? Do you increase the rate for Fourth of July Thanksgiving, Christmas and new year? Also, do you wait to be close to the event or you set them long time before — thank you.

[Joan2709]

@Linda4964 

We do NOT use Smart Pricing...it's not very smart. There are also some bugs with the calendar when turning smart pricing on and off that have not been corrected to date by Airbnb.

I suggest Hosts use a Dynamic Pricing software like PriceLabs attached to their accounts. There are some other ones out there too like Beyond Pricing and Wheelhouse. PriceLabs is $20/month I think and there is a 30day free trial. It's kinda "techy" but they can help you get it setup.

You can also get a pretty good idea how to manually price your listing using Price Tips (magic wand) and/or comparing similar listings to yours and what they are charging.

[Linda4964]

Thank you for your detailed response. Much appreciate. 

[Graeme144]

Airbnb's Smart Pricing has a reputation for low-balling prices. It seems to take whatever you've set as your minimum price and price very close to that minimum all the time.

The 'price tips' on the new interface seem somewhat better, but still quite low.

I agree with Joan2709 that third party dynamic pricing software is the way to go.

I use Beyond (formerly Beyond Pricing). Beyond charge 1% of your booked revenue for their pricing service, so their interests are aligned with yours in maximising your return, unlike Airbnb, who make money on booking fees whatever you price at, so are motivated to keep your prices as low as they can to maximise bookings.

Beyond give you a $50 credit when you sign up, so your first $5000 of bookings are free. To me that seemed worth giving a try and I've been happy enough with it.

[Linda4964]

You have a good point here, thanks. I also noticed that when I toggled Airbnb smart pricing, it always tries to get prices closer to my lower price spectrum. (Funny fact is to know that Airbnb is a non-profit organization, I don't know how they get around with all that, but this is a topic for another time).

It would be nice if everything within the app/site worked seamlessly, making it easier to manage everything on the platform. As @Joan2709 mentioned, it also avoids messing up the calendar. Then the calendar needs to be rectified by overriding it manually. I mentioned in another topic in the community here that I also have this home listed on Vrbo.  Unfortunately, this is what happened there as well, and I lost a customer because I didn't know the issue was caused by their smart pricing, which, ironically, drove prices to the roof... After some research, I found that both smart buttons do somewhat the same things, but not exactly the same. 

[Graeme144]

BTW, the main Airbnb company (airbnb.com) isn't a non-profit. The (much smaller) airbnb.org is.

"airbnb.org is an independent nonprofit organization with its own board of directors, but Airbnb covers its operating costs so that community donations go even further to support people in times of crisis."

See https://www.airbnb.ie/help/article/2921#section-heading-0

[Linda4964]

Thanks for clarifying this! 

[Jason114]

Great question, Linda.. smart pricing can be useful, but it's best to use it with manual oversight. In 2025, Airbnb's smart pricing tends to undervalue high-demand dates like holidays or local events, so many experienced hosts set minimum price floors and then manually adjust rates for key periods such as July 4th, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year.

A good strategy is to enable smart pricing for regular weekdays or off-season dates but review your calendar monthly. For major holidays or big local events, set your rates manually well in advance.. ideally 60–90 days out.. to capture early planners without leaving money on the table.