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APRIL 13, 2014 / MARINA VELIKOVA

Peer-to-peer (P2P) online marketplaces like Airbnb are proliferating. More and more people are adopting a new way of travel and rent homes or even exchange visits for free. Some platforms are now as large as the major international hotel chains. Here is a quick rundown of fifteen websites for travelers who want to stay like a local.

1. Airbnb.com

The leading and most dynamic company of the travel sharing economy. Its listings include anything from a tree house to a castle. Prices can range from, say, $20 dollars to more than $1000 dollars a night depending on the type of accommodation. One can rent a room and stay with a host or rent an entire property. Based in San Francisco, the company has more than 550,000 listings in 192 countries.

2. Flipkey.com

Flipkey is owned by TripAdvisor.com and powers its vacation rental feature. It includes a strong presence of vacation homes and maybe less urban locations than Airbnb. Listings are managed by property managers as well as directly by owners. It recently announced reaching 300,000 listings in 179 countries.

3. HomeAway.com

Initially focused on second homes managed by property managers, it has grown to include some urban accommodations and such managed by owners directly. The platform is for renting entire properties and tends to be used for longer stays. HomeAway.com is part of a larger portfolio of websites owned by HomeAway, Inc. It has more than 600,000 listings and it partners with Expedia to promote them.

4. VRBO.com

VRBO stands for “vacation rental by owner”. As its name implies, it was founded by vacation rental owners to advertise their properties. VRBO was later acquired by HomeAway Inc. and now operates in a similar way as Homeaway.com.

5. Roomorama.com

Roomorama is similar to Airbnb. It offers rooms, apartments and entire houses. Based in New York City, it covers numerous cities and destinations around the world.

6. HouseTrip.com

A startup based in London that uses the Airbnb model as well. It offers 260,000 listings worldwide, majority of which in European destinations.

7. Wimdu.com

A Berlin-based startup for rooms, apartments or entire houses. Active mainly in Europe as well as in Asia, North and South America.

8. 9flats.com

Another startup based in Germany. Operating out of Hamburg, it competes with Wimdu, Airbnb and the likes. The platform has about 120,000 listings worldwide.

9. Travelmob.com

A regional online marketplace for accommodation rentals in Asia Pacific. Based in Singapore, it was recently acquired by HomeAway, Inc.

10. OneFineStay.com

This site targets city locations and is usually referred to as the Airbnb for the luxury traveler. It selects and lists “distinctive” properties only. Based in London, it operates also in Paris, New York, and Los Angeles.

There are several platforms for free exchanges. People join them to become a part of an online travel community and find hosts or swap homes without exchanging money.

11. Couchsurfing.com

Launched back in 2004, Couchsurfing is the movement that ignited the travel sharing culture. It connects 6 million members around the world. It is for travelers seeking a deeper emersion in the local culture as hosts occupy their place during the stay.

12. HomeExchange.com

One of the world’s biggest home swapping platforms. You pay a small monthly membership fee and get access to 50,000+ listings in 150 countries. If there isn’t a good swapping match, you can find accommodations for rent at a reduced price.

13. LoveHomeSwap.com

A rival of HomeExchange based in London. You can list your home for free. The platform has over 54,000 homes in 160 countries, both free swaps and rentals.

14. GuesttoGuest.com

Another social network where members exchange homes while on vacation. You stay at other people’s homes while they stay at yours. Exchanges are free and paid services are optional. Based in France, it was launched by several families around Europe and the U.S.

15. Knok.com

Knok was built as the first home exchange travel network especially for families with young kids. Visitors get recommendations for local activities that children love, and are automatically connected to trusted local babysitters if interested. Knok has over 1,000 destinations, mostly focused on the U.S. and Europe.

Looking at transportation in particular, long-distance ridesharing seems to be the next frontier. Zimride, initially launched by Lyft’s founders and sold to Enterprise last year, does operate in this space but there is room for more players.

Carpooling.com, which is extremely successful in Europe, plans to launch in the U.S. within a few months.

“Companies like Lyft, Uber, Airbnb are paving the way for us. Ridesharing between cities is a logical extension,” said Odile Beniflah, the company’s Sr. Global Marketing Manager, in an interview with Travlpeer. “The U.S. is the perfect country for long distance carpooling,” concluded she, referring to the country’s car culture and historic commitment to highway infrastructure.

Currently, 1.3 million people use the platform for long distance travel throughout Europe each month. The company allows only cost sharing, not profiting from the rides, so it does not face any legal or regulatory issues.

BlaBlacCar , which operates in a similar fashion out of the UK, covers 12 countries in Europe, transports 1milliom passengers each month, and continues to grow.