Best Practices for Airbnb Data Scraping in 2025

Airbnb is the crème de la crème in the real estate world. Just count how many times you’ve visited the site while estimating the price of an Airbnb for your trips or vacations. A lot of times, right? Well, guess what? You’re not the only one peeping at the platform.

The American company also plays a big role for real estate investors, short-term rental hosts, and market analysts. Just knowing how much properties rent for, which areas are currently booming, and what guests love (or hate) about listings is a serious game changer in the real estate industry.

Now, there’s something very unique about Airbnb. Can you guess what it is?

If you guessed the “data”, you’re right!

With over 8 million listings across 220+ countries, that’s a wealth of valuable data patiently waiting to be gathered and analyzed.

So, whether you’re searching for rental prices, trying to identify high-demand locations, or optimizing your own listings, scraping Airbnb can give you a huge advantage. But there’s a catch: You have to do it right or just leave it be!

So, how do you safely and effectively scrape Airbnb data without breaking laws or getting caught?

Well, this guide will walk you through the best practices on the internet that will help you get all the data you need from Airbnb. No fluff. No shortcuts. Just real, actionable steps.

Let’s get started!

But first:

What is Airbnb Data Scraping?

You’re probably spending hours clicking through Airbnb listings and manually copying details into a spreadsheet, but did you know you can automate that entire process?

Yes, you can do it through Airbnb data scraping.

You just need to find the right tools and use them to extract rental prices, property availability, host ratings, and even reviews in seconds.

The same data collected can also be used for other purposes, such as:

Market research – Understand pricing trends and demand in specific areas.
Investment decisions – Find profitable locations for short-term rentals.
Competitor analysis – See what successful hosts are doing differently.
Personalized pricing strategies – Adjust your rental rates based on market data.

What Data Can You Scrape from Airbnb?

Before you begin scraping, you must understand what’s legally accessible and what’s off your limits!

While some data is available publicly and safe to collect, other information is protected under privacy laws and Airbnb’s Terms of Service.

Let’s start with:

✅ Publicly Available Data (Safe to Scrape)

Listing Titles	Room-specific images	Number of rooms, beds, bathrooms
Property listing URL	Total Price	Calendar availability
Descriptions	Host name	Minimum stay requirements
Prices Per Night	Check-in and Out Details	Calendar availability
Property Types	Location	Review dates
Reviews & Ratings	Host response rate	Individual review comments
Number of Guests Allowed	Property photos	Amenities (Wi-Fi, kitchen, parking, etc.)

These data points are generally safe for you to scrape since they are publicly available on Airbnb without you logging in or accessing any private user data.

However, constantly revisit Airbnb’s latest policies because website structures often change, and legal rules are constantly being adjusted.

Now onto:

❌ The Restricted Data (DO NOT Scrape)

Data Type	Description	Why Is It Restricted?
Host Personal Details	Names, phone numbers, email addresses.	Protected under privacy laws (GDPR, CCPA) and not publicly made visible.
Guest Booking History	Past stays, dates, and locations booked.	It is considered personal data and not made available publicly.
Private Messages	Conversations between hosts and guests.	Unauthorized access to this data is illegal and a significant breach of privacy.

Your key takeaway:

Focus only on publicly available listing details and avoid personal and restricted data.

Remember, scraping is not your ticket to intruding on people’s privacy! Respect people and their data, and you’ll be fine!

Best Practices for Scraping Airbnb Data

If you want to scrape Airbnb data without being blocked, flagged, or, worse, fined, you need to be very smart and do it properly.

Airbnb is one of those websites with strict anti-scraping policies, and their security measures are not that easy to bypass.

To ensure your scraping process flows smoothly, here are the four best practices you should start practising:

1. Follow the Rules (or Risk Getting Blocked!)

Airbnb has strict policies against web scraping (they’ll notice you before you know it), and breaking them could cause you an IP block or legal action taken against you.

So here’s what to do:

Read and review Airbnb’s Terms of Service to understand what is allowed and what is not. Don’t just rely on what we state in this blog; go the extra mile.

Check on privacy laws: The US has two primary privacy laws: the CCPA and GDPR. Make sure you review them to understand how they relate to your scraping activity.

Here’s more information on the two:

Scrape only publicly available data: We keep mentioning this type of data because it is very critical. Listings, prices and reviews are okay to scrape. Private messages or personal details, especially for the wrong reasons, are a no-go zone.

Use a VPN: Remember, Airbnb tracks IP addresses. You’ll notice that even via the recommendations of the listings they give you even when you’re not logged in. To ensure your IP is masked, find a good VPN and make use of it.

2. Use the Right Tools

Not all scrapers have been built the same way. The tool you choose determines:

How much data you can collect.

How fast you can collect the data.
How safe the scraping process will be.

That’s why you should be very careful about which tool you choose because the wrong one can get you detected and blocked instantly!

Here’s what to do instead:

Choose the right tool for your needs: If you are a beginner or just handling a small project, you don’t need a paid tool. We recommend trying the free plans of Airbnb scrapers. First up, try Scrapelead’s Airbnb scraper because:

It’s a no-code tool, so don’t worry if you have zero coding skills.
You just copy the listing link from Airbnb’s website, then paste it on the scraper.
You can extract your data in CSV, JSON, or Excel formats.
You get 500 free monthly credits once you sign up.

If you want to give this a shot,

Here’s how to use the scraper step by step:

Sign up/log in to your Scrapelead Account.
Find the Airbnb scraper in the store.
Paste the property listing that you want to extract data from.
RUN the scraper.
You can extract your data in the format you prefer: CSV, JSON, or Excel.

If you are running larger projects, then a paid Scrapelead plan would be ideal. But don’t worry, the prices are still favourable, as seen below:

Rotate Your Proxies: Scrapelead does this automatically, but if you opt for the manual scraping route, make sure you rotate your proxies. Airbnb can track repeated requests from the same IP address.
Mimic human behaviour: Since Airbnb traces your scraping activity, add mouse movements, scrolling, and random delays so that the scraper you’re using still imitates human interaction.

3. Scrape Slowly and Quietly

Airbnb has a strong anti-bot system that quickly detects any form of aggressive scraping. If you scrape too fast or send in too many requests, get ready to say bye-bye because your IP will get flagged and before you can blink:

To avoid this, this is what you need to do:

Limit your request rate: Don’t scrape more than 100 pages per hour, or you’ll be a suspect.
Have wait times between your actions: There should be random delays between your requests, such as 5-to 10-second pauses. Don’t always be in fast mode.
Scrape at night: Airbnb’s servers are less busy around 2 AM, reducing the chances of detection. However, this doesn’t mean it’s your time to get restricted data. Still, respect the rules we’ve mentioned above.

4. Clean and Protect Your Data

Scraping Airbnb is just the first step. Unfortunately, if your data is messy, inaccurate, or unprotected, it’s useless.

Here’s an example: Tell us which data you would categorize as good and which one as messy:

Example A

Property name	Pricing	Rating	Availability
Miami Beach House	$250 per night	4.8⭐	Available from 18th to 30th June

Example B

Miami Beach House - 5"

Example A is perfect, right? You have all the details right up your alley. However, in example B, you’re probably like, “Wait… is that 5 stars? 5 nights? $5?”

Now, what if I told you that getting well-formatted data, just like in example A, is possible? Well, it is with our Scrapelead Airbnb scraper because you can quickly get the data in well-formatted Excel or CSV sheets!

We can’t close off this section without mentioning that cleaning and securing your data is a non-negotiable part of data scraping. It allows you to gain reliable insights without losing important information, and here’s how to do it right:

Remove duplicates: Avoid listing the same property multiple times if it appears in other searches.

Fix errors: Always check for incomplete or incorrect data. This can be missing data pieces or even broken addresses.

Format your data correctly: Always convert your data in a format you can work with. If comfortable with databases, use that. If you’re good with Excel, go for that. Choose what is easier for you, and your analysis will be good.

Encrypt and store your data securely: If you store large amounts of data, always encrypt your files and have a password to prevent leaks.

Data cleaning is a big topic, so here are more tips from Tom Michell, a data engineer:

Closing Off

Scraping Airbnb data can give you a serious edge in both short-and long-term rental markets. However, this will only happen if you do it right!

If you stick to publicly available information, respect privacy laws and use the right tools to gather data, you’re on the right path! If you do the opposite, all hell will break loose on you.

Also, remember that websites keep shifting, and Airbnb is not one to be left behind. So, make sure you stay informed about their policies, as that’s as important as the data you’re collecting.

Now that you know the best practices, what’s it gonna be? Scrape smart, get the insights, and stay ahead or scrape aimlessly and risk getting blocked? Your move, dear reader!