I have compiled a list of some of the most popular vacation rental websites according to Alexa traffic, reader response, and expert industry analysis. While the vacation rental industry varies tremendously between simple listing sites to more robust vacation rental reservation services, this list is meant to provide a quick look into this rapidly growing industry and to provide readers a basis for future research into this industry. Please note that this list is not in any particular order and is meant merely as a guide.

Vacation Rentals By Owner - Perhaps one of the best know originators of the online vacation rental listing industry, Vacation Rentals By Owner has a huge database of private owner rental listings. Now owed by the behemoth mega-company, HomeAway.com, this is one of their many property rental brand websites. While best-known and extremely popular, the website is not without its faults. Constant criticism over listing security and property legitimacy are the primary complaints against this industry leader.

HomeAway - We couldn’t mention a few of the most popular vacation rental websites without mentioning the parent company that owns them now can we? Based upon their information listed in Crunch Base, “The HomeAway portfolio of sites includes HomeAway.com, Vacation Rentals By Owner and VacationRentals.com in the United States; HomeAway.co.uk and OwnersDirect.co.uk in the United Kingdom; HomeAway.de in Germany; Abritel.fr and Homelidays.com in France; HomeAway.es in Spain; and AlugueTemporada.com.br in Brazil. The company’s portfolio also includes HomeAwayRealEstate.com, which offers unique real estate information that highlights a vacation home’s rental income potential and destination-specific characteristics. In addition, HomeAway operates BedandBreakfast.com, a global site dedicated to finding bed-and-breakfast properties, which provides travelers with another source for unique lodging alternatives to chain hotels.” Whatever is to be said about the future of the vacation industry it’s a safe bet that HomeAway will be in the middle of it.

Rentalo - This is a decent vacation rental listing site much aligned in the same way as the other basic listing services. Rentalo has a respectable reputation and currently offer listings worldwide. They also rank favorably in search engine results for vacation rental homes.Vacation-Renter, Inc. - We call this one the little engine that could. Extremely out-gunned on almost all levels, Vacation-Renter, Inc. has opted for a guerilla-style approach when trying to attack the vacation rental market. They do this by offering market-specific websites aimed at achieving high Google rankings and international markets. While they don’t have nearly the inventory or operating capital behind them as the others do, they do offer online booking and live telephone reservation support with their market-specific websites and appear to have been growing steadily over the past 5 years. They also offer the only industry index available to vacation rental industry insiders. Here’s rooting for the little guy!CyberRentals - This is another HomeAway-owned company and falls along the same lines as the others. CyberRentals provides yet another avenue for rental owners to list their property and to manage inventory. A clean website which follows the same patterns and guidelines as their predecessors.

AlwaysOnVacation - AlwaysOnVacation is a listing service that offers a broad array of vacation rental listings. They offer owners an advertising guarantee stating that “if you do not receive a 10 times return on your investment during the first 12 months of your initial subscription, we will extend your subscription an additional 6 months free of charge!” Although this is another listing site, it does have decent customer support both online and telephone.

Zonder - Zonder is an interesting twist on the vacation rental industry. Currently a partner with Orbitz, the long-serving hotel and flight reservation website, Zonder appears to be a solid option for vacation renters. Visitors are able to book online as well as contact owners who don’t offer online booking. It will be interesting to see how long the two-tiered business approach will work, as many argue that it will only cause confusion as the industry gains popularity, but for now Zonder’s future is looking strong.

VacationRentals411 - A large, simple website that offers individual property rentals from owners worldwide. Not quite as visually impressive as some of the other sites mentioned it still is a good place to begin you vacation rental research.FlipKey - One of the newest additions to the online vacation rental industry vacation rental website that has popped up on the web, FlipKey offers a nice user interface and the power of being part of the Trip Advisor marketing team. FlipKey has quickly asserted itself as an emerging industry leaders and appears to be gaining some major leverage on the industry. VacationRentals - Another one of HomeAway’s popular off-spring, VacationRentals.com commonly places first on most leading search engines for the keyword terms, “vacation rentals”. Fundamentally the same assumption as Vacation Rentals By Owner, this website is a strapping advertising site for individual property owners and property managers.

Although this list cannot do the entire vacation rental industry complete justice, it does provide an interesting mix of size and type of company currently active in today’s market. While it does appear that certain companies clearly hold an advantage when it comes to investment dollars and sheer size, there are a few quality sites that offer a different approach to marketing short-term rentals. Wherever you decide to travel, try doing some initial research on some of these websites and see for yourself.