If you have searched for “free AirDNA,” you already know the frustration behind it. AirDNA is one of the best-known names in short-term rental data, but the numbers most investors actually need to underwrite a deal sit behind a subscription. The good news is that several free tools now give you real Airbnb market data, occupancy, ADR, and revenue estimates, without asking for a credit card.
This guide compares five of them, with an honest read on exactly what data each one offers for free versus what still costs money. The tools break into two groups. Some are genuinely free platforms where market data is the product. Others are freemium, meaning you get a limited free view that requires a paid upgrade to unlock access to everything. Knowing which is which saves you the annoyance of hitting a paywall three clicks in.
Why Investors Look for AirDNA Alternatives
AirDNA built the category and still has the broadest dataset in short-term rental analytics, more than 10 million listings across Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com. It is a capable platform. But a few specific frictions send investors looking elsewhere, and knowing which one applies to you points to the right replacement.
Most underwriting data sits behind a subscription. Occupancy, ADR, and revenue are now visible on public market pages, which is an improvement over a year ago. The things you need to price an actual deal are not. Comparable property sets, monthly and future projections, amenity breakdowns, submarket detail, booking lead times, historical trends, and exports all require a paid plan starting around $99 per month. For an investor screening ten markets before committing to one, that is a real cost with no guarantee of a deal at the end.
Blended averages hide who is actually earning. AirDNA’s headline market revenue folds part-time listings, private rooms, and dormant inventory into a single average. In a market where only a portion of listings are available most of the year, that average describes nobody in particular. A full-time operator benchmarking against it will systematically underestimate what a committed listing earns.
Submarket detail is paywalled. Two ZIP codes in the same city can differ enormously in revenue and occupancy. Because AirDNA gates submarket analysis, the free view can tell you a city looks promising without telling you which part of it to buy in, which is usually the decision that actually matters.
No path from research to execution. AirDNA is a data product. Once the analysis says a market works, you are on your own to find an agent who understands short-term rentals, a lender who will underwrite projected STR income, and the local regulations that govern it.
If any of those describe your situation, the tools below solve for them in different ways. For each one we cover what you get free, what costs money, how it compares to AirDNA, and the honest pros and cons.
Free AirDNA Alternatives at a Glance
| Tool | What Is Free | What Costs Money | Sub-Market Detail | Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chalet | Full market dashboards for 500+ US markets, ZIP and neighborhood data, address-level calculator, agent and lender matching | Nothing, no paid tier exists | Free, ZIP and neighborhood | Free |
| AirROI | City-level market reports globally, revenue calculator, amenity and guest-profile data, no account needed | API access and raw data exports | City level only | Free |
| Rabbu | Market pages and ZIP pages with revenue, occupancy and ADR, no sign-up, revenue estimator | Nothing meaningful gated | Free, ZIP level | Free |
| Airbtics | A basic revenue and occupancy estimate per market, with an account | ZIP and submarket analysis, historical trends, regulation scores, competitive listing counts | Paid only | Freemium, $29 to $109/mo |
| PriceLabs | STR Index with ADR, occupancy, RevPAR and supply trends by country, state and region, updated monthly | City-level Market Dashboards, comp sets, forward-looking pacing data | Paid only | Freemium, from $9.99/mo |
Chalet
Pricing: Free, no paid tier
Chalet is built on the premise that early underwriting should not require a subscription. Its analytics dashboards cover more than 500 US markets and are free in full, with nothing held back for a paid plan, because the platform earns from agent and lender referrals rather than data subscriptions.
What you get without paying:
- Market dashboards with occupancy, ADR, revenue, and supply analysis, down to the ZIP and neighborhood level
- A separate benchmark for active full-time operators, so you can compare against serious hosts rather than an average diluted by part-time listings
- An address-level Airbnb calculator that estimates revenue, expenses, NOI, cap rate, and cash-on-cash return, with adjustable financing
- Revenue by bedroom count, monthly seasonality curves, guest origin data, and Zillow home values with gross yield
- Regulation summaries per market, plus free matching to STR-specialist agents and DSCR lenders
How it compares to AirDNA. This is the most direct answer to the paywall problem, because there is no paid tier to upgrade to. It also addresses the blended-average issue head on by reporting full-time operator performance separately, and it puts ZIP and neighborhood data in the free view rather than behind a subscription. Where AirDNA stops at data, Chalet continues into agent and lender introductions. The tradeoff is breadth. AirDNA’s dataset is larger and covers more channels.
Pros: Genuinely free with no upgrade path, full-time operator benchmark, free ZIP and neighborhood detail, address-level calculator with financing controls, direct path from research to an agent and lender.
Cons: US markets only, Airbnb rather than Vrbo or Booking.com, so international or multi-channel research needs a second source.
The revenue figure is ADR multiplied by occupancy across the trailing twelve months, refreshed monthly, and documented on the methodology page. For US market research with no paywall, it is the most complete free option here.
AirROI
Pricing: Free, with paid API and data exports
AirROI shares the genuinely-free philosophy and claims the largest dataset in this group, over 20 million properties with a long history. Its free market reports are unusually rich, covering amenity revenue-impact rankings, guest origin and demographics, booking lead times, host leaderboards, and review-score breakdowns, all without an account.
What you get without paying:
- City-level market reports with revenue, occupancy, ADR, and revenue per available night
- A free revenue calculator based on comparable properties
- Amenity and guest-profile data that most paid tools charge for
- Global coverage across tens of thousands of markets
How it compares to AirDNA. AirROI gives away several things AirDNA charges for, notably amenity impact analysis and booking lead times, and it does so without an account. Its global footprint makes it the closest free substitute for AirDNA’s international coverage. What it does not replicate is submarket granularity, since AirROI reports at city level only.
Pros: No account required, unusually rich free context on amenities and guest profiles, genuinely global, large dataset.
Cons: No ZIP or neighborhood grouping, so it cannot tell you where within a market to buy. Its metric mix skews toward high ADR with low occupancy, which is worth cross-checking against another source. Limited public track record compared to older platforms.
