Push notifications for Airbnb
Airbnb push notifications for new listings
Airbnb will push you about your trips and your messages, but never about a new listing in your search. AlertBnB adds the one notification Airbnb left out, straight to your lock screen.
Free plan available — no credit card required
Does Airbnb have push notifications for new listings?
No. Airbnb's notification settings cover messages, reminders, booking updates and marketing. Not one of them fires when a property appears in a search you care about. The closest thing is the Notify me button on Airbnb Originals, which only tells you when the booking window opens on that one promotional listing.
So if you are waiting for a place in a village that has thirty apartments, or for a cancellation on a sold-out weekend, Airbnb will not tell you. You find out by opening the app and looking, which is why people end up refreshing a search fifteen times a day and still miss the listing.
How to get push notifications for Airbnb listings
AlertBnB installs to your home screen as a web app, so there is no app store and no download. Once it is installed, a new listing in your search pushes to your phone the moment we see it. Pick your platform:
iPhone and iPad
- Open alertbnb.app in Safari. It has to be Safari, since Chrome on iOS cannot install web apps.
- Tap the Share button, the square with an arrow pointing up.
- Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen, then Add.
- Open AlertBnB from your home screen, not from Safari.
- Go to notification settings and enable push. iOS will ask for permission once, so tap Allow.
Android
- Open alertbnb.app in Chrome.
- Tap the three-dot menu in the top right.
- Tap Install app, or Add to Home Screen if you do not see it.
- Open AlertBnB from your home screen.
- Enable push in notification settings and tap Allow when Chrome asks.
The home screen step is not us being awkward. Safari only allows web push for installed apps, which is an Apple rule that applies to every web app on iOS. Android is more relaxed, but installing still makes delivery more reliable.
Push or email: which should you use?
Both go out at the same moment, so this is not a speed question. It is a question of where you will actually see it. Email is fine when you are watching a quiet search over weeks and a few hours of delay costs you nothing. Push is what you want when the listing will be gone before lunch, which is the normal case for festival weekends, small towns and cancellations on booked-out dates.
Most people run both, and that is what we would suggest: push so you know immediately, email so you have the listing details and the link waiting when you sit down. Push is included on Pro and Premium. The free plan checks once a day and emails you, which is enough to try the tool but too slow to win anything competitive. The full breakdown is on the pricing page.
If you are still working out whether you need a tool at all, read how to get notified of new Airbnb listings, which covers every method honestly, including the ones that do not involve us.
Airbnb push notification FAQ
Can you get push notifications from Airbnb for new listings?
Not from Airbnb itself. Airbnb's own push notifications cover your trips, messages and booking updates, but there is no setting that pushes you a new listing when one appears in a search. AlertBnB adds that layer on top: it watches the search for you and pushes the moment something matches.
Do I need to install an app to get push notifications?
You install AlertBnB to your home screen, which takes about ten seconds and does not involve an app store. On iPhone or iPad, open alertbnb.app in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. On Android, open the browser menu and tap Install app. Once it is on your home screen, you can enable push in your notification settings.
Why does iPhone need the home screen step?
Safari only allows web push for sites that have been added to the home screen. It is an Apple restriction rather than something we can work around, and it applies to every web app, not just ours. Android and desktop Chrome can enable push without installing, but installing still makes it more reliable.
Is push faster than email?
They are sent at the same moment. The difference is that push reaches your lock screen, whereas email waits for you to open your inbox. For a listing that will be gone within the hour, that gap is usually what decides whether you get it.
Which plans include push notifications?
Push is included on Pro at €4.99 per month and Premium at €9.99 per month. The free plan sends email alerts once a day, which is enough to see how the tool works, but it is not fast enough for anything competitive.
Will I get a notification for every listing?
Only for listings that are new to your search since the last check. You will not be re-notified about properties you have already seen, and you can narrow the search with Airbnb's own filters before pasting the URL, so the alerts stay relevant.
Get the listing before it is booked.
Set up push alerts