OwnerWebs vs Lodgify: OwnerWebs is Better for Direct Bookings

Performance Over Bloat: Why OwnerWebs is the Better Choice Over Lodgify

For the serious vacation rental owner, a direct booking website isn't just a digital business card—it’s a conversion tool. While Lodgify has built a following as Property Management Software (PMS), their website builder often leaves owners fighting technical debt, slow load speeds, and unnecessary commission structures.

At OwnerWebs, we’ve stripped away the bloat to focus on what actually drives revenue: Speed, Search Visibility, and Profit Retention. Here is how we stack up against Lodgify for the modern host.

1. Speed as a Ranking Factor

Google’s Core Web Vitals aren't suggestions; they are ranking factors. A slow site is a buried site, and Google has outright said that if your site is slow you will receive a ranking penalty, period.

• The Lodgify Lag: Lodgify's mobile performance scores frequently hover in the 40s and 50s. This results in "pogo-sticking," where users click your link but hit the "back" button before the page even loads. In fact, in a recent test we found Lodgify websites to be the slowest of all the websites we tested.
• The OwnerWebs Advantage: Our architecture is built for the "green zone." With Mobile Performance Scores hitting 97+, OwnerWebs sites load near-instantly. This doesn't just improve the user experience—it signals to Google that your site is a high-quality destination, giving you an edge in local search results. Every page you add to your OwnerWebs direct booking website is a blistering-fast masterpiece that nails Google Core Vitals tests.

2. Eliminating the "Success Tax"

The goal of a direct booking site is to escape the fees of Airbnb and VRBO. However, Lodgify’s pricing model often reintroduces those very same fees.

• Commission Structures: Lodgify’s "Starter" plan carries a 1.9% booking fee. For a high-performing rental, that is thousands of dollars a year in "success tax" paid back to your software provider.
• True Direct Bookings: OwnerWebs operates on a flat fee. We don't take a percentage of your bookings because we believe a direct booking should actually be direct. Whether you book $500 or $50,000, your direct booking website cost remains fixed and predictable.

3. SEO That Works While You Sleep

Lodgify provides the basics (meta tags and descriptions), but OwnerWebs handles deep-level technical SEO that most owners don't have time to manage and most folks don't even know about. OwnerWebs lives on the bleeding edge of SEO.

• Instant Indexing: We utilize real-time sitemaps and clean schema markup so search engines can crawl your property details accurately. Any time you add or edit content to your website our high-tech code is working in the background to make sure all of your data is clear and rich!
• Clean URL Structures: Unlike bloated platforms that create "messy" URLs, OwnerWebs ensures every page is optimized for human readability and search engine crawlers alike. Our URLs rock!

4. Setup in Minutes, Not Days

Lodgify is a complex Property Management System (PMS) first and a website builder second. Because Lodgify is a PMS, you will find a lot of complexity within it that you do not need or want. This often results in a steep learning curve and hours spent configuring settings that have nothing to do with your guest’s experience or getting direct bookings. Lodgify ties you closer to VRBO and Airbnb. It does not liberate you from them.

OwnerWebs is a specialized Booking Funnel. We focus exclusively on the conversion path. You can import your data and have a professional, high-performing site live in under 30 minutes. It’s built on the Bootstrap framework, ensuring it looks and functions perfectly on every smartphone, tablet, and desktop without the need for a separate mobile app.

The Comparison

The Verdict

If you need a complex, all-in-one management suite and don't mind the performance trade-offs or the 1.9% commission, Lodgify is an established choice.

However, if your priority is conversion, search engine dominance, and keeping 100% of your booking revenue, OwnerWebs is the leaner, faster, and more profitable engine for your business. Ask yourself, "Do I want a direct booking website, or do I want to integrate my properties on VRBO and Airbnb?". If you chose "direct booking website" then you need OwnerWebs.

Ready to see how fast your site can be? Call us at (318) 272-0951, or create your own vacation rental website today!

About the Author: Matthew Thompson

Matthew Thompson is a licensed employing real estate broker in Louisiana and Colorado, with twenty years of experience in the vacation rental home industry. He holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from Louisiana Tech University and is also the developer and founder of OwnerWebs.com, a vacation rental website builder. (View his professional profile)