What Is the Airbnb API?
The Airbnb API is the set of interfaces Airbnb gives approved software companies so their tools can manage listings, availability and reservations on Airbnb. Access is limited to those partners, so hotels and hosts use it through a connected property management system (PMS) or channel manager.
Last updated: November 2026
How the Airbnb API works
Airbnb runs a developer site with two products, a Homes API and an Activities API. The Homes API is the one that matters for accommodation. It lets connected software create and update listing descriptions, amenities and photos, confirm a listing's availability in real time during the booking flow, and retrieve and manage reservations (Airbnb Developer).
Airbnb's API Terms of Service describe the API as the "application programming interfaces, data feeds or other integrations" that Airbnb provides to an organization, which means a software company and not an individual host. To join an API program, a company signs a non-disclosure agreement, passes Airbnb's data security review and ships every mandatory API feature within 6 months of its release. Airbnb can limit or suspend a partner's access at its sole discretion (Airbnb API Terms of Service).
Hotels and hosts sit on the other side of that arrangement. They grant their PMS or channel manager permission to manage their existing Airbnb account, then publish listings from that software. Any listing created through software must follow Airbnb's Software Connected Host program policies (How do I create listings through my software provider?).
Why it matters for hotel distribution
A connected listing stays in step with the property's own system. Connected software helps hosts avoid double bookings and outdated pricing and availability (Switch to a new property management software). Some software takes a short time to sync a change to Airbnb, and Airbnb tells hosts not to disconnect their software or recreate a listing to fix a calendar mismatch (Managing listings with property management software).
In February 2018 Airbnb launched a global hotel technology partnership with SiteMinder, a cloud platform for hotels, so that hotels using SiteMinder could connect Airbnb booking information to their existing management system in real time (Airbnb Launches Global Hotel Technology Partnership to Support Boutique Hotels, Bed and Breakfasts).
Airbnb also grades the software companies on its API. Its Preferred Software Partner program named 32 partners in 2025, and only partners that complete a data security and API quality review are eligible (Announcing our 2025 Preferred Software Partners). The 2024 cohort had 34 partners, who received fast-tracked technical support from Airbnb's API support team and a chance to give feedback on API features (Announcing our 2024 Preferred Software Partners). Of those 34, 15 held Preferred+ status and 19 held Preferred status (Airbnb preferred software partners 2024). A hotel comparing software vendors can check which of them hold that status.
Airbnb API compared with iCal sync and channel managers
The main alternative to an API connection is iCal calendar sync, where Airbnb reads another site's calendar link on a schedule. Our Airbnb calendar sync guide for hotels covers how to set it up.
| What it is | How it relates to the Airbnb API | |
|---|---|---|
| Airbnb API connection | Approved partner software that manages listing content, availability checks and reservations Airbnb Developer | The connection itself, run under Airbnb's API Terms Airbnb API Terms of Service |
| iCal calendar sync | A calendar link that Airbnb imports and refreshes automatically every 3 hours Sync your home host calendar to other websites | Needs no API partner; nights blocked on the other calendar may or may not be blocked on Airbnb Sync your home host calendar to other websites |
| Channel manager | Software that connects a property's system to the channels where it sells | Pushes all Airbnb rates and availability for channel-managed listings, per Airbnb's guide for Australia and New Zealand API FAQ guide |
| Preferred Software Partner | A status Airbnb gives API partners after a data security and API quality review Announcing our 2025 Preferred Software Partners | A label on the software company, earned through its API work |
Frequently asked questions
Does Airbnb have an API?
Can a hotel or host get its own API key?
Does a listing keep its reviews when it connects through software?
What happens when a property switches its connected software?
Can the API be used to collect market data?
Related terms
See all termsWhere Jetstream fits
An API connection to one channel is one part of a property's distribution. Jetstream builds an AI channel manager that connects a property's reservation system to the channels where its rooms are sold and keeps rooms, rates and availability accurate on each one, managed from one place.