Property management software and account suspension

Tools
1

I’d like to make managing my several Airbnb properties easier and have looked at property management software like @Guesty, @iGMS, and @smartbnb.io, but these all actually ask for your Airbnb login and password. Even if I decided I was willing to give them that, and their security measures were somehow 100% ironclad, wouldn’t I clearly be violating Airbnb’s terms and conditions by using them? These clauses in the new TaC especially stand out:

4.5: “You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of your Airbnb Account credentials and may not disclose your credentials to any third party… You are liable for any and all activities conducted through your Airbnb Account.”

4.6: “No third party is authorized by Airbnb to ask for your credentials, and you shall not request the credentials of another Member.”

Maybe I’m being paranoid, but in my town Airbnb has shut down users for a lot less - managing multiple properties, for example - and I’m sure they could detect and punish these sorts of logins at the drop of a hat. So although I love the management capabilities of the software options, it seems I’d be crazy to risk my little business for them.

Any thoughts? Or has anyone found an property management software that doesn’t flout Airbnb’s terms and conditions as these appear to? Thanks.

2

Hi Warren,

I am Pierre-Camille Hamana, the CEO and founder of Smartbnb.

First of all, Smartbnb doesn’t store your Airbnb password. We just process it once to obtain from Airbnb a disposable authentication token so that Smartbnb can access your Airbnb account (and perform the tasks you instruct us too).

As you may appreciate, it’s quite hard to provide any meaningful help without having access to your account. The contrary would be like asking for cleaning services, without giving the key of the unit.

There has been zero instances of account deletion for that scenario. Guesty has been running for 4 years now, and they have made a business helping hosts, not shutting their businesses down.

Being an attorney by training, what I read in Airbnb T&C are stating that you are responsible of your credentials, and that no company is authorized by Airbnb. This is a disclaimer of Airbnb’s responsibility, which makes sense.

As for our security measure, we have a dedicated page on that on https://smartbnb.io/security.

Naturally, I cannot represent the views of AIrbnb, which is why I will contact you in PM to help you get that cleared by Airbnb management directly.

2 Likes
3

Thanks for your quick response, Pierre-Camille. The question really isn’t about your security, which is without a doubt perfect, although I did click through to your link, where you say “we connect to Airbnb using their API” (FYI, none of the links on that page go anywhere). How is that possible? Airbnb doesn’t not have a public API. Am I mistaken? Have you struck a deal directly with them?

Not sure how the “giving the cleaner the key” analogy works. We’re talking about a software platform with specific terms and conditions, and (also being an attorney by training) “they haven’t stopped us yet” isn’t exactly reassuring. As you probably know, both Facebook and Twitter, for example, have radically clamped down in recent years on third-party software accessing their platforms (a related case has even worked its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court). Airbnb has had some growing pains, so they haven’t moved quite as quickly, but what’s to indicate they won’t do exactly the same thing as their big tech brothers?

In any case, can’t see how the risk here is worth the reward for hosts.

4

Hi Warren,

Thanks for this topic and interest in this kind of software. As Pierre mentioned indeed we do not store your password. But the system needs an access to your account. In this way, you can do all the actions in the software that you normally do in Airbnb. Besides, there are far more options and functions for you in AirGMS. So, this is a major benefit. Also, you don’t have a headache with multiple logging in and out all the time if you have several accounts.

Airbnb is basically aware of the software like us and even partners with some of them. You can find this info on the internet. Our company is also making efforts to partner with Airbnb and get their open API.

If you are concerned about the risks anyway, let’s discuss them. How about that? If you have some free time to talk, you can book a demo with us and we’d go over all your questions. You can book the convenient time here.

5

Your concerns are legitimate, but I don’t think this scenario represents the view of Airbnb. I have offered a way to get that cleared by Airbnb management directly if you are interested in having an official answer.

6

Hi Warren,

Terrific question, it is always good to read the terms & conditions. As a Guesty user, the same way
AirGMS does not store your password, neither does Guesty, you are providing us with your login details but it is not saved in our system. Using Guesty you have access to a strong property management software, channel management, unified inbox, updated booking calendar, automation tools, powerful reporting, and 24/7 guest communication service. We have a deep integration with Airbnb and a terrific partnership. Our service team is here to walk you through the process. Please reach out to see our how system works to marketing@guesty.com.

7

Thanks for your responses. Everyone’s clearly got great features (I’ve tried a couple, and can confirm), and your marketing departments are obviously on the ball.

@smartbnb.io has kindly given me a contact at Airbnb. The email bounced, but Pierre-Camille says he’s working on it, and seems genuine in helping make that happen. I’ll post back here if and when I have more info.

@iGMS, without Airbnb’s API, and without that partnership, how (in general terms) are you getting Airbnb members’ information (bookings, etc.) into your system? Why do you need your customers to enter their passwords if you don’t have access to the API?

@Guesty, could you elaborate on your “terrific partnership?” That includes explicit access?

To boil that all down to one question, I guess: has Airbnb explicitly given access to their platform to you or any other property management software? Or is everybody just finding “clever” ways around that for the moment?

Thanks again for your reactivity.

8

Hi Warren,

This is Amiad, CEO of Guesty. We are Ycombinator graduates just like Airbnb (Which basically means we have the same investors) and here is a picture of Myself, my co-founder and Airbnb CEO, Brian Chesky.

This doesn’t mean that we have a formal relationship - because we don’t - for many reasons - but we are very much a big player in the industry and we help manage tens of thousands of listings on Airbnb for the past 4 years.

1617152_10152248898310365_1530017934_o.jpg2048×1536 296 KB

1 Like
9

To answer your question - yes, Airbnb had given permission to many PMS tools to use their platform.
This include LiveRez, Kigo, RentalsUnited, and many more.

This is limited to Vacation areas however and not urban areas where Airbnb receives more regulatory restrictions and therefore blocked the API access for those areas.

10

Hey Warren, you might want to check us out as we offer free software that automatically schedules your cleaners for you. We’re new, so any feedback would be appreciated, but check us out at TurnoverBnB.com

11

Thanks for your straightforward response, Amiad (and great photo!).

I guess I have my answer (somebody please correct me if I’m wrong): no property management software of this sort has been given access to Airbnb’s API (even if they claim this, which doesn’t inspire confidence, to put it mildly), and none have been given explicit permission to access Airbnb’s platform in the way they do, which presents a risk of violating Airbnb’s terms of service (your lawyers may vary, but Airbnb could also choose to enforce this with a snap of their fingers). Of course the consumer is always responsible in the end, and perhaps I’m overly vigilant….

You guys are at least clear about the situation (and the “old business incubator contacts probably won’t screw you over” factor is probably worth something), so I’ll be taking Guesty for a test run. Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

1 Like
12

Let’s be honest: there are two APIs.

Amiad is discussing Airbnb’s Partners API, which faces huge contraints, both geographically and technically (it’s impossible to collect the details of a listing for example) , which makes any PMS’s job harder.

Smartbnb (and Guesty to some extent) is using Airbnb’s “Native” API. It is a different service, which can be used anywhere in the world, and doesn’t have the same restrictions.

You, as a end-user of Airbnb, have received a license to use this API right from their Terms of Service.

Capture d'écran 2017-06-30 23.23.18.png1726×328 93.8 KB

As for our service, our users are the ones that talk best about it:

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/smartbnb.io

13

What you quote is exactly why I brought up all this in the first place. That doesn’t say that the user has “received a licence” to use the API. What that clearly says is that no matter how you access Airbnb’s platform, you’re bound by their Terms of Service. And in those Terms of Service, it clearly says that Airbnb’s users cannot give their login info to third parties. Which, again, is why I asked the question in the first place.

And if Airbnb has given you permission to access their site (unlike the other property management software options who have chimed in), which your site implies (despite the bad link to an “API site” that doesn’t exist), then you should have just said so, and I would already be a customer.

14

Hi @WarrenSykes,

Thanks again for your question. We have limited access to a few API endpoints with regular usage allowance at the moment. This is enough to provide our customers with all functionality needed. As You probably know, Airbnb doesn’t have any open API just yet.

15

@WarrenSykes This is a serious concern and I came across on the official Airbnb community forum yesterday with the exact quotes from Airbnb T&C. Maybe it was you, I’m not sure. :slight_smile: There was anyone to answer there.

As a multiple unit manager like you, I have been developing a tool called Your Porter App. Due this concerns, we built the integration with Airbnb on iCal links, which is 100% official to sync with 3rd parties. In that case, it is possible to manage multiple listings without sharing your Airbnb credentials, where we get your reservation details alternatively through iCal links.

You can still automate email and text messages to your guests, preview all the reservations from different accounts on a single timeline & multi-calendar and inform your teammates regularly about daily tasks like cleaning, check-in etc… All the Airbnb messaging and unified inbox features which requires Airbnb credentials are available and optional at Your Porter App.

When we started this journey with my partner, we thought only few hosts would be willing to share their Airbnb credentials, so preferred another way of integration. Through this journey, our users’ feedback leads us to make Airbnb API integration possible with many features. But it is completely optional. We had plenty of users, who just prefer to automate emails, send WhatsApp messages and use multi-calendar for syncing availabilities on different platforms.

Pierre-Camille and Amiad have mentioned about all details and consequences about reaching Airbnb API indirectly. This is also very similar to what we have been doing. I would not say go ahead, it is official for now.:slight_smile:

In the last Airbnb Open in LA, Airbnb Vacation Managers Team was very willing to open their API to new partners and they were expanding quickly. Another 20 companies were boarding at that time. I’m sure we will hear more new stories about public API of Airbnb, since they already define them as a platform. And a platform needs to have a good connectivity with other “platforms” :slight_smile:

I do not know your exact use-case for a property management software, but if you are managing multiple accounts from your computer or app, you are already doing quite similar operations to what our app does, which is only a little bit slower though.

Thank you for bringing this topic to the world of unofficial Airbnb API using tools’ world. :thumbsup:

1 Like
16

Thanks for your response. It does seem like a serious concern, and I’ll check out the app.

Not sure what that means.

17

Although there are many tools (including us) are using this API for providing services to Airbnb hosts, I think it is still a grey area. I would not easily say that it is a 100% official connection to Airbnb’s API, but it works very well for many of us, as you have read above.