Dynamic pricing is the single biggest revenue lever a vacation rental owner can pull. The catch: doing it well by hand is a part-time job, and most off-the-shelf tools still leave you responsible for the strategy.
That’s the challenge SmartRates was built to solve. It’s our exclusive dynamic pricing engine — paired with a team of revenue managers — and it does the heavy lifting so you don’t have to.
Here’s how SmartRates works, what makes it different from the pricing tools you might be comparing it to, and how owners benefit in practice.
In This Article:
How SmartRates Works
How SmartRates Is Different From Other Pricing Tools
Inside the Algorithm
Where Human Experts Come In
A Day in the Life of a SmartRates-Priced Home
What Owners See in Their Numbers
How SmartRates Works
SmartRates sets your nightly rate every day, automatically, based on what the market is doing in real time. It pulls in data on competitor availability, booking pace, seasonal trends, local events, and historical performance — then adjusts your price to capture the right traveler at the right moment.
When demand surges, your rates move up to capture more revenue. When it softens, they move down to beat out rival listings and keep your calendar full.
How It’s Different From Other Pricing Tools
Many platforms have their own built-in tools (like Airbnb’s Smart Pricing), and these are useful if you’re planning to list your home on a limited number of sites. SmartRates optimizes your nightly rate across all major booking platforms (from Airbnb to Vrbo to Booking.com) — building dynamic pricing strategy at scale.
Then there are the cross-channel dynamic pricing tools you might consider. Those deliver the technology, but you’re still responsible for the work of putting that tech to use: setting the strategy, monitoring outcomes, and adjusting inputs when something isn’t performing. Staying on top of this takes more time than many owners have.
SmartRates is the essential foundation for our dynamic pricing, but it’s backed by a team of revenue managers whose job is to proactively shift pricing factors and improve performance day to day. You’re not buying a tool — you’re getting a partnership with dynamic pricing baked in, plus experts who run it.
Inside the Algorithm
Under the hood, SmartRates analyzes billions of data points daily. It tracks listings that compete directly with yours — same market, similar size, similar amenities — and watches how they price and book over time.
It also pays attention to subtler signals: how search volume in your market is trending, how guest booking behaviors are shifting, and how your own historical performance compares against the broader area. Those inputs combine to produce a rate recommendation that updates nightly.
Because the algorithm runs against your home’s framework — including pricing settings you control — your guardrails stay in place even as rates flex.
Where Human Experts Come In
Algorithms are good at processing volume. Humans are good at understanding the context. SmartRates pairs both.
Our revenue managers review SmartRates outputs for high-impact moments — major holidays, new local events, big shifts in your market — and apply judgment that pure software can’t. They’ll watch for changes in pricing trends and make real-time adjustments to make sure our owners are meeting their earning potential no matter the market circumstance.
A Week in the Life of a SmartRates-Priced Home
Say you have a three-bedroom cabin near a popular mountain town. On a Monday morning, SmartRates notices that comparable cabins in the area filled up faster than expected over the weekend. By midday, your rate ticks up modestly for the following weekend to capture any spillover demand.
Tuesday afternoon, SmartRates picks up a softening in booking demand 60 days out. Your regional revenue manager confirms the demand pattern, and incrementally drops rates for open dates in that timeframe to keep you competitive — without you doing a thing.
Friday, the coming weekday stretch still sits empty. SmartRates trims pricing on those specific nights to spark last-minute bookings. By Sunday, your revenue per available night is higher than the same week last year.
What Owners See in Their Numbers
The point of all this isn’t the technology — it’s the result. SmartRates has been shown to help owners earn substantially more than they would with traditional pricing methods, while spending no time tweaking rates themselves.
It also takes the cognitive load off. No more checking comps every Sunday night or worrying you missed a price-bumping moment. The system handles the day-to-day so you can focus your energy on other parts of your business.
Try SmartRates with Evolve
SmartRates is a core piece of how we drive value for owners, and it’s only one piece of the revenue puzzle. Listing optimization and distribution, hospitality, guest support, and risk protection all contribute to your bottom line — and we do those things, too.
See if you qualify for a free consultation with one of our Vacation Rental Advisors and find out what our dynamic approach to pricing and performance could do for your home.