When Lodgify added its free Academy to the platform, I had the same reaction most hosts probably did: skepticism. Free training from a SaaS company usually means promotional material dressed up as education. But after spending time reviewing Lodgify Academy, I found something surprisingly useful buried in there.
Here's what I discovered.
Lodgify Academy is a free learning hub built into the Lodgify dashboard. It's not a separate website or a scattered YouTube channel. You log into your Lodgify account, navigate to the Academy section, and you've got on-demand courses plus a calendar of live webinars.
The content is organized into modules. Each module covers a specific aspect of running a vacation rental—from setting up your first listing to optimizing your pricing strategy. Some content is self-paced (video lessons you can watch anytime), while other content is live and interactive (webinars held on scheduled dates).
The library isn't massive, but it's not bare either. We counted roughly 20-30 courses available, ranging from 15-minute intro videos to multi-part video series that take 45 minutes or more to complete.
Build your own vacation rental website and manage bookings from one place
Lodgify Academy covers three main categories: getting started, advanced strategies, and product-specific training.
Getting Started is the bread and butter. These courses walk you through the onboarding experience—how to connect your property listings, set up your first reservation, integrate with Airbnb or Vrbo, create house rules, and add photos and descriptions. If you're new to Lodgify or to vacation rental management altogether, these are genuinely helpful.
Advanced Strategies goes deeper. You'll find content on dynamic pricing, revenue optimization, guest communication best practices, and even some light accounting setup. These courses assume you understand the basics but want to improve your performance metrics.
Product Training focuses specifically on Lodgify features. Webinars on new feature releases, how to use the automation tools, setting up templates, and troubleshooting common issues. This content changes as Lodgify adds features to the platform.
Live webinars typically run 30-45 minutes and include Q&A time. Lodgify hosts them weekly, and you can register in advance through the Academy interface. Past webinars are recorded and available on-demand.
Here's the honest part: quality is inconsistent. Some courses are genuinely well-produced and informative. Others feel rushed or surface-level.
The onboarding courses are solid. The instructors know what they're talking about, and the production quality is professional. You get clear visuals of the Lodgify interface, step-by-step guidance, and practical examples. These are the courses worth watching.
The advanced strategy content is where I noticed the inconsistency. Some of the revenue optimization and pricing content was generic—advice you could find in any vacation rental blog. Other courses (like the guest communication one) offered more specific, actionable tips. Your mileage will vary depending on your experience level.
Live webinars are hit-or-miss. I attended three during my review period. One was excellent—a deep dive into Lodgify's new automation rules with real examples. Another was essentially a feature announcement padded with 40 minutes of talking. The third was educational but felt like watching someone else use the software rather than learning something new.
The webinars do include a Q&A segment, which adds value if your questions get answered. But you're watching in real-time, so if your question doesn't get addressed during the session, you're out of luck.
Short-term rental management software and channel manager
This is the easy part: it's free. Completely free. No hidden charges, no premium tier, no upsell. If you have a Lodgify account, you have full access to all Academy content.
That said, you're paying for Lodgify itself. The Academy is included with your subscription, whether you're on the entry-level plan or the premium tier. So while the Academy itself costs nothing extra, the platform does.
Whether it's worth your time depends entirely on where you are in your rental business journey.
If you're brand new to Lodgify, it's absolutely worth exploring. The onboarding courses will save you hours of clicking around the dashboard and figuring out where things are. Even experienced property managers often discover features they didn't know existed by going through these courses.
If you've been using Lodgify for a while, the basic courses are probably a waste of your time. You'll get more value from the advanced strategy content or the product-specific webinars about new features.
If you're completely new to vacation rental management, some of the beginner courses offer decent overview content. You'll learn about channel management, pricing strategy basics, and guest communication fundamentals. But you'll get better, more comprehensive training from a dedicated vacation rental education platform or industry blogs.
The live webinars are worth attending if the topic interests you. Just don't expect world-class production every time. Some are genuinely valuable; others are filler.
The property management platform for short-term and vacation rentals
The courses span a decent range:
Notably absent: in-depth tax and accounting guidance, detailed insurance advice, and local regulation specifics. Lodgify acknowledges these are important but intentionally stays in their lane.
Guesty, Hostaway, and OwnerRez all offer some form of training, but it varies.
Guesty has a more comprehensive Academy with more courses and live training sessions. The production quality is generally higher. But Guesty's training also feels more corporate—very polished, sometimes overly marketing-focused.
Hostaway's training resources are scattered across webinars, YouTube, and in-app tutorials. It's less organized than Lodgify's Academy, but the content itself is solid.
OwnerRez keeps training minimal and relies more on customer success managers for hands-on help.
Lodgify's Academy sits in the middle. It's more organized than Hostaway's offering but less extensive than Guesty's. The quality is comparable to Guesty's, though perhaps slightly less polished.
If you're comparing platforms and training is important to you, know that Lodgify's Academy is one of the better options available. But it's not the deciding factor for most hosts.
Is Lodgify Academy the same as getting customer support?
No. Academy courses are one-directional learning. If you have a specific problem with your account, you'll contact customer support. The Academy teaches you how to use features; support solves account-specific issues. That said, many common issues can be resolved by watching the right Academy course first.
Can I download the videos or take the courses offline?
Not officially. You need to be logged into Lodgify to access Academy content. There's no option to download videos or watch offline. If reliable internet access is a limitation for you, this might be a downside.
How often are new courses added to the Academy?
Lodgify adds new content irregularly. New webinars are scheduled regularly (usually weekly), but new on-demand courses appear less frequently—maybe one or two per quarter. If you complete all the existing courses, you might need to wait for new material.
Are the webinars just promotional presentations for new Lodgify features?
Sometimes. Webinars about feature releases are part announcement, part training. But the Q&A portion and the detailed walkthrough often contain valuable information even if the initial launch is promotional in nature. Other webinars are purely educational and not tied to product releases.
Who should definitely watch the Lodgify Academy courses?
New Lodgify customers in their first 30 days should watch at least the onboarding courses. If you're a property manager using Lodgify for multiple clients, the advanced strategy content is relevant. If you specifically use Lodgify's automation tools or website builder, the product-specific webinars are worth attending.
Here's my honest take: Lodgify Academy is a solid bonus feature, not a reason to choose Lodgify. If you're already using Lodgify, you should definitely spend a few hours going through the onboarding content when you start. The advanced courses are worth skimming if you're stuck on a specific problem or want to optimize an area of your business.
The live webinars are worth adding to your calendar if one covers something relevant to you. Worst case, you spend 45 minutes and learn nothing new. Best case, you discover a strategy or feature that improves your operation.
But if you're choosing between Lodgify and another platform partially based on training, know that the Academy is a nice-to-have, not a must-have.
If you're evaluating Lodgify for your property management needs, the platform itself should be your primary consideration. Check out our complete Lodgify review for a full feature breakdown and pricing analysis.
If you're new to vacation rental management and want more comprehensive training before committing to a specific platform, you might benefit from reading our guide on getting started with Lodgify, which covers the onboarding experience in detail.