How do I connect Airbnb to Smoobu?

Linking your Airbnb account is a single, one-time authorization on Airbnb's own site: you grant Smoobu access once for your whole account, then match each Smoobu property to its Airbnb listing. From then on, your Airbnb bookings flow into Smoobu automatically and your Smoobu calendar keeps your Airbnb availability up to date.

Before you start

You need all of these before you connect:

• An Airbnb host account with at least one active listing. The listing must be set to Listed on Airbnb. Smoobu can't see unlisted or snoozed listings.
• A profile picture on your Airbnb account. Airbnb blocks every connection to a channel manager (a service like Smoobu that manages your calendar and prices across channels) until your host profile has a picture. Any image works.
• The account that owns the listing. Airbnb only lets the listing owner authorize a channel manager. A co-host account can't connect.
• Your properties already created in Smoobu, under Configuration > Properties. The names don't have to match your Airbnb listings; you match them by hand during the connection.

One authorization covers your whole Airbnb account

You authorize Smoobu once per Airbnb account, on Airbnb's site, and that single grant reaches every listing on the account. It doesn't expire, so there's nothing to renew later. The rule-sets you've built on Airbnb (saved bundles of pricing and availability rules) stay in place when you connect. One thing does change: once your account is connected, Airbnb requires that most price management happens in your channel manager, so from then on you change prices in Smoobu's Pricing area, not on Airbnb. Airbnb's Smart Pricing is turned off automatically when you connect, so there is nothing to switch off beforehand. Connecting also moves your listings to Airbnb's host-only fee model, where the whole Airbnb service fee is charged to you rather than partly to the guest: see What is Airbnb's host-only fee?.

Steps

1. In Smoobu, open Channels in the left sidebar. On the Airbnb card, click Connect, or Resume if you started the setup before and left it unfinished.
2. Smoobu opens a setup guide. The first screen summarises what the connection does and what Airbnb requires: you must connect the account that owns the listings (co-host accounts don't work), your listings must be set to Listed, and connecting switches off Smart Pricing on Airbnb. Click Continue.
3. Click Connect accounts. Log in on Airbnb with the listing owner's account and allow the connection; Airbnb sends you back to Smoobu. Then click Continue, which stays greyed out until the Airbnb account is connected.
4. Wait while Smoobu imports your listings: the guide shows Importing your properties and can take up to a minute. The mapping screen, Let's map your properties, then lists each of your Airbnb listings, each with its own dropdown.
5. For each Airbnb listing, open its dropdown and pick the Smoobu property it corresponds to, or pick Do not connect this property to leave that listing out. Click Continue when you're done. If any listing is still unmapped, Smoobu asks you to confirm before it continues.
6. Let the initial sync run. Smoobu pulls in your existing Airbnb bookings and pushes your availability out to Airbnb; the availability push typically takes a few minutes.
7. On the final screen, choose whether to activate Airbnb's New Listing Promotion or non-refundable rates on Airbnb (both optional). Click Go To Settings to set one up, or I'll do this later to skip. Either choice completes the connection between Smoobu and Airbnb.

Check it worked

• Your existing Airbnb bookings appear in your Smoobu Bookings list with Airbnb as the channel.
• The same bookings show on your Smoobu Calendar as booking bars on the mapped property's row. If a channel connects but its bookings never appear on the Calendar, the mapping didn't finish: on the Channels page, open the Airbnb card's edit control to reach Airbnb Connection Management, and check the mapping in its Accommodations section.
• Block a date in your Smoobu calendar. Within a few minutes, that date shows as unavailable on your Airbnb listing.

Common problems

Airbnb says "Complete your profile" and won't continue

The message means your Airbnb host profile has no picture, even though Airbnb doesn't say so. Upload any image right there in the Airbnb prompt, without leaving the connection flow, then continue. Airbnb then shows you the permissions screen for Smoobu.

No listings appear after I authorize

This is usually a browser session mix-up: you're logged into a different Airbnb account in the same browser. Log out of Airbnb in your browser, or use a private window, then click Connect accounts again.

One listing won't appear while the others map fine

Check three things on Airbnb for that listing: it's set to Listed, it doesn't have a co-host set on that listing only, and it isn't still connected to another channel manager. To remove one, see How do I disconnect Airbnb from Smoobu?. Fix any of those on the Airbnb side, then use the Can't find all your properties? notice on the mapping screen: click Reload to fetch your listings again, or Go back to return to Airbnb and check the settings.

I manage the listing day to day, but someone else created it

Smoobu can only connect through the Airbnb account that owns the listing. If a partner, an agency, or a family member created the listing, that account has to be the one that authorizes Smoobu, even if you handle everything else.

My prices aren't reaching Airbnb

First make sure your prices actually exist in Smoobu: either set them manually (Set your prices and minimum stay) or import them from a channel that syncs prices, such as Booking.com (Copy or import prices instead of typing them). Then push them once after connecting: go to Pricing > Settings > Percentage adjustment and click Overwrite Prices. Connecting alone doesn't send them. If prices still don't arrive, check Airbnb's own pricing settings: Smart Pricing is turned off automatically at connection, but check it hasn't been switched back on. While it is on, Airbnb adjusts prices on its own and overrides the prices Smoobu sends. Turn it off on Airbnb, then push again with Overwrite Prices.

Related articles

• Why Booking.com connects per property, but Airbnb once per account
• How does Smoobu keep my calendars in sync?
• After connecting, where do I change prices and settings: Smoobu or the channel?
• My prices/availability aren't updating on Airbnb
• My Airbnb score dropped, or my listing is in Pending Removal
• What is Airbnb's host-only fee?
• How do I connect more than one Airbnb account to Smoobu?

Still stuck?

If these steps didn't fix it, contact the Smoobu team: open the Help menu to open a ticket or book a call slot, or use the chat bubble in the bottom-right corner. To get the fastest answer, please include:

• Your Smoobu User ID (in the profile-icon menu, top right).
• The property name or ID, if it's about one property.
• The Booking ID, if it's about one booking (Bookings, then View more).
• The channel name, if it's about channel sync (Booking.com, Airbnb, Vrbo, and so on).
• A short step-by-step: what you did, what you expected, and what happened.
• Screenshots or a short screen recording of the problem.
• Your browser and operating system, if something looks wrong on screen.