Vacasa is the largest full-service name in vacation rental management, with an operating history stretching back to 2009, and Awning is the newer, tech-first option that publishes a starting fee and backs it with a written cancellation notice. This comparison uses only what each company states on its own site, checked October 2026, so figures that change on either site after that date will not be reflected here.
Checked 2026-10-09Awning publishes a starting fee, 10% of revenue, directly on its own site, while Vacasa still does not publish a number anywhere on vacasa.com and requires a consultation to get one. Vacasa's own property management page lists a wide included scope under that one fee: professional cleaning, regular maintenance, guest screening and damage coverage, local staff in every market, and help with taxes and permits, though Vacasa's own fee guide separately describes a per-night cleaning fee charged to the guest rather than the owner. Awning's own page lists a similar operational scope, cleaning, maintenance, dynamic pricing and 24/7 guest communication, folded into its published 10% rate, and backs it with a written 90 day cancellation notice and no lock in contract, terms Vacasa does not publish at all. Vacasa's own property management page states outright that its management is transitioning to parent company Casago as part of a recent merger, a fact that may change the terms of a new Vacasa agreement during 2026. Awning is the newer company by close to a decade, founded in December 2019 against Vacasa's 2009, but it already states a managed property count in the tens of thousands, and awning.com describes a separate furnishing and real estate brokerage arm that Vacasa's owner-facing pages do not mention at all.
Every row quotes or closely paraphrases the company's own page. "Not published" means neither vacasa.com nor awning.com states it, not that the company lacks it.
| What matters | Vacasa | Awning |
|---|---|---|
| Published fee | Not published. A consultation sets the fee; vacasa.com's own fee guide calls rates "tailored" to each market rather than one flat number | Starts at 10% of revenue, "about half the industry average," with no setup fees and no hidden fees, per awning.com. Awning also publishes separate rates for furnishing (starting at $3,000) and real estate brokerage (no fee premium over a traditional agent), services Vacasa's owner pages do not offer |
| Contract term | "No fixed contracts," with "Unlimited owner holds," per vacasa.com/property-management | "No contract lock-in" and no annual contract; owners can leave at any time, per awning.com/airbnb-management |
| Cancellation notice | Not published | 90 days' written notice to cancel, with no cancellation penalty, per awning.com/airbnb-management |
| Satisfaction guarantee | Not published. Vacasa's owner pages instead publish a guest-facing promise, "What you see is what you pay," about guest pricing rather than owner satisfaction | Not published |
| Cleaning included | Yes, "Consistent, professional cleaning" listed under Operations on vacasa.com/property-management. Separately, Vacasa's own fee guide describes a per-night cleaning charge billed to the guest, not the owner | Yes, listed as part of the 10% fee and performed by "vetted local cleaners," per awning.com |
| Maintenance included | Yes, "Inspections and regular maintenance" listed under Owner services | Yes, "maintenance coordination" plus pool, hot tub and lawn maintenance listed under full service management |
| Dynamic pricing | Yes, "Dynamic pricing technology" | Yes, "dynamic pricing models" described as included at every tier |
| Guest support | 24/7 guest support via a Customer Experience team, plus a Homeowner app and digital revenue dashboard for owners, per vacasa.com/property-management | 24/7 guest communication plus a dedicated phone and text line for owner questions, per awning.com/airbnb-management |
| Local presence | "Local staff in every market" | "Vetted local cleaners" are named; no described local staff or office model beyond that |
| Markets | 41 US states plus Canada, Mexico, Belize and Costa Rica | All 50 US states |
| Property count | 38,000+ to 40,000+ homes (two figures appear on vacasa.com) | 20,000+ properties managed |
| Founded | 2009, per vacasa.com/about-us, which describes the company starting from one home on the Washington coast | December 2019, per awning.com/about |
| Damage protection | Guest screening and damage coverage described under Owner services; separately, a guest paid damage waiver fee (up to $25 per night in most markets) covers accidental damage up to $3,000, per vacasa.com's own fee guide | Liability and dwelling coverage described for every reservation; no dollar figure published |
Sourced from vacasa.com and awning.com, checked 2026-10-09.
Choose Vacasa if you want the widest published service list under one fee, with cleaning, maintenance, guest screening and damage coverage, local staff and tax help all folded together, and a seventeen-year operating history behind it. Vacasa's own about page also cites more than 3 million guests per year and over 500,000 five-star reviews on vacasa.com, plus a placement on Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy, scale that Awning's pages do not claim to match. Vacasa also runs an Extended Stay Program for owners who want to mix long-term rentals into the same property, a built-in option Awning instead handles by referring owners out to partner long-term managers. You will not know your exact fee until a consultation, and you should ask directly whether a new agreement stays under the Vacasa brand or moves to Casago, since Vacasa's own property management page says that transition is already underway as part of a recent merger.
Choose Awning if a published starting percentage, a written 90 day cancellation notice, and no long term contract matter more to you than Vacasa's longer included service list. Awning also publishes a furnishing arm starting at $3,000 (over 300 homes designed and furnished in the last 12 months, per its own site) and a real estate brokerage arm with over $30M in homes sold in the last 12 months, options for an owner who is buying or outfitting a property and not just handing one off, neither of which appears on Vacasa's owner pages. If you own a property you would rather rent long-term, Awning refers owners to partner long-term rental managers rather than running that service itself, where Vacasa runs its own Extended Stay Program in-house. Awning's own page states its cleaning and maintenance are handled by local crews rather than naming a salaried local staff model, and it does not publish a satisfaction guarantee or a dollar figure for its liability and dwelling coverage, so confirm both directly before signing if either matters to you.
Answered only from each company's own published pages.
Awning publishes a starting fee of 10% of revenue on its own site, described there as "about half the industry average," and separately notes no setup fees and no cancellation penalties. Vacasa does not publish a fee anywhere on vacasa.com, so there is no published number to compare against Awning's 10% without getting an actual Vacasa quote first. Vacasa's own fee guide says rates are "tailored for each unique vacation rental property" rather than one flat rate, so two Vacasa owners in different markets can pay different percentages. A homeowner weighing both should ask Vacasa for a written quote before assuming either company is the lower cost option.
Both say yes. Vacasa's property management page lists "Consistent, professional cleaning" and "Inspections and regular maintenance" as included, though Vacasa's separate fee guide describes a per-night cleaning charge billed to the guest rather than folded into the owner's fee. Awning's page lists cleaning and maintenance coordination, performed by what it calls "vetted local cleaners," as part of its 10% management fee, and spells out more detail than Vacasa does: linen and restocking service, plus pool, hot tub and lawn maintenance, with no separate guest-side cleaning charge described.
Awning publishes exact terms: a 90 day written notice to cancel with no cancellation penalty and no annual contract, a term it frames on its own management page as a departure from the "industry standard of annual contracts with exit fees." Vacasa describes "No fixed contracts" and "Unlimited owner holds" but does not publish a specific notice period or penalty, so ask directly before signing.
Vacasa's own property management page states that, as part of its recent merger, its property management services "are transitioning to our parent company, Casago." A separate note on the same page says Casago and Vacasa "have merged and are now a united company" and points owners to a merger FAQ for more detail. Ask whether a new agreement is managed under the Vacasa brand or already under Casago's terms, since Awning is not part of either company.
Vacasa states 41 US states plus Canada, Mexico, Belize and Costa Rica on its about page. Awning states all 50 US states on its own site, a larger domestic state count, though Vacasa's international reach into three additional countries is wider. Awning's own management page names major markets it serves, including Nashville, Scottsdale, Gatlinburg, Destin, Joshua Tree, Big Bear and Galveston, "as well as smaller regional markets," while Vacasa does not name individual markets on the pages checked for this comparison.
No. Neither vacasa.com nor awning.com publishes a satisfaction guarantee or a money back policy on the pages checked for this comparison, even though both companies publish other performance claims (Vacasa's owners page says "Over 92% of Vacasa markets out-booked other property managers," and Awning's home page claims "an average of 20% higher owner returns than the management companies we replace"). If a guarantee matters to you, ask directly before signing with either company.
Vacasa's fee guide describes a guest paid damage waiver fee, up to $25 per night in most markets, that covers accidental damage up to $3,000 and excludes damage from smoking, pets or criminal activity; Vacasa's fee guide also notes the waiver is not available in every state and recommends enrolling in its separate Accommodation Protection Program for supplemental coverage where it is not offered. Awning's page describes liability and dwelling coverage on every reservation without stating a dollar figure, so ask for the specific coverage amount before you sign with Awning.
Vacasa, founded in 2009, has been operating for roughly seventeen years and describes itself as "North America's #1 vacation rental partner" on its about page, listing leadership names including CEO Steve Schwab and President Joe Riley. Awning states on its own about page that it was founded in December 2019, about a decade newer, though it already claims a managed property count of 20,000-plus and a separate furnishing and brokerage business, and its own site notes its management service is "Powered by RedAwning."
Transparency: STR Select is an independent directory with no paid placements. Neither Vacasa nor Awning is a client or partner of STR Select; facts above come only from their own public pages.