Though the app’s search results are heavy on European locations, it also has properties in the United States and elsewhere. HouseTrip is another Airbnb alternative, with around 300,000 properties. HomeAway’s app is visually clean and it’s a breeze to use, though the way you filter the search results to find suitable properties can feel awkward. When you find the perfect property, you can easily book and pay through the app, and you can even chat with the property owner to sort out the details. To reassure renters, there is information about the property owner, with data about what languages they speak, contact numbers and a note about how long they have been an active member of the site. When you find a promising property in the search results, a quick tap reveals photos and detailed information, including maps, a text-based description, a list of reviews and so on. You can refine the results with a few taps to show only places priced at a certain level per night or week, or those that have a certain number of rooms or facilities like a pool. The app lets you search by location, plus dates. HomeAway’s offers are also diverse, with more than one million properties in more than 130 countries. The app is focused on properties from homeowners, which means it circumvents some of the subletting issues that have troubled Airbnb. HomeAway, which said on Wednesday that it would be acquired by online travel company Expedia for about $3.9 billion, is similar to Airbnb, with hosts offering houses and apartments for short-term vacation rentals.

I recently used the HomeAway app to plan a trip to Paris in December. But if the service is unavailable for the city you’re vacationing in, there are some great alternative apps. In some other areas, Airbnb is restricted or barred from doing business. This week, both sides squared off in an election in San Francisco, where voters on Tuesday rejected a proposal that would have limited its services.

To others, Airbnb is viewed as a tax-dodging scourge that lets tenants violate their leases’ subletting rules in return for a quick buck. To some people, Airbnb is an innovative service that is shaking up the hotel industry by offering interesting alternative places to stay.

App similar to airbnb