Wheelhouse vs Calibr8ted: Which Pricing Model Actually Serves You Better?

Wheelhouse is more sophisticated than PriceLabs. It's also more expensive. But there's a fundamental question that matters more than features: does your pricing tool's incentive structure align with your success?

The Revenue-Share Incentive Problem

Wheelhouse charges 1-3% of your revenue. This sounds aligned: they only make money when you make money.

But let's think deeper.

If Wheelhouse charges based on revenue, they make more money when your revenue is higher. So far so good.

But Wheelhouse serves unlimited customers in each market. So they also make money when your competitors' revenue is higher.

This creates a subtle but crucial misalignment: Wheelhouse's incentive is to maximize total market revenue (so all their customers collectively earn more). Your incentive is to maximize your revenue at your competitors' expense.

These are not the same goal. They're compatible, but not identical. This is the difference between a vendor whose success correlates with total ecosystem revenue versus a vendor whose success requires your competitive dominance.

Calibr8ted operates under the second model. We have 50 customers per city. Your success directly translates to our success. Your competitive advantage is our business model.

Feature Comparison: Wheelhouse vs Calibr8ted

Three Critical Differences

1. Incentive Alignment

Wheelhouse's revenue-share model incentivizes them to increase total market revenue. They do better when the entire market does better.

Calibr8ted's model incentivizes us to increase your revenue relative to competitors. We do better when you dominate your market.

Which model do you want representing your pricing strategy?

2. The Sophistication-Performance Tradeoff

Wheelhouse brought hotel revenue management science to vacation rentals. This is sophisticated. It's also overengineered for most STR operators.

Hotels have 365 days per year and complex rate-parity rules. Your property has unique booking windows, seasonal demand curves, and direct-to-guest dynamics that hotels never experience.

Wheelhouse's ML models are trained on both hotel data and STR data. This makes them good at everything and great at nothing.

Calibr8ted's Golden Engine is trained exclusively on STR micro-markets. This makes our recommendations property-specific in ways that general algorithms cannot match.

3. Cost Structure Transparency

Wheelhouse's 1-3% revenue share is harder to evaluate than it appears.

• Is it 1% or 3%? (Depends on your negotiation)
• Are there implementation fees? (Often yes)
• Do you have performance guarantees? (Rarely)
• What happens if it doesn't work? (You're out the 1-3%)

Calibr8ted's pricing is fixed and transparent. You know exactly what you're paying. You know the ROI calculation is straightforward.

When Wheelhouse Makes Sense

Wheelhouse is a strong choice if:

• You want maximum dashboard features: Wheelhouse's analytics are genuinely excellent for market intelligence.
• You prefer hotel-industry sophistication: If you're managing large portfolios and want enterprise-level tools, Wheelhouse delivers.
• You're optimizing for total market revenue: You believe a rising tide lifts all boats and competitors' success doesn't concern you.
• You value revenue-share alignment: You prefer not paying until you see results.
• You want established track record: Wheelhouse has been in the market longer and serves more properties.

When Calibr8ted Is the Better Choice

Calibr8ted is better if:

• You want exclusive competitive advantage: You understand that scarcity = moat.
• You're in a competitive market: You want your pricing to consistently outperform competitors.
• You prefer property-specific optimization: Your property deserves algorithms built for STR, not adapted from hotels.
• You want transparent, predictable pricing: No revenue-share calculations or hidden fees.
• You want a true partner: You want someone as invested in your success as you are.
• You understand the commodity problem: You recognize that if your competitors can buy the same tool, it's not competitive advantage.

The Real Question

Wheelhouse asks: "How can we help the whole market make more money?"

Calibr8ted asks: "How can we help you make more money than your competitors?"

These are fundamentally different questions. The answer you prefer determines which tool is right for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Isn't Wheelhouse's sophistication worth more than Calibr8ted's exclusivity?

Sophistication and exclusivity serve different purposes. Wheelhouse's sophistication is distributed equally - your competitors get the same sophisticated algorithms. Calibr8ted's exclusivity means your competitor literally cannot access the same optimization you have. Sophistication gets matched quickly; scarcity cannot be matched.

What if I already use Wheelhouse and it's working well?

Wheelhouse works well for most operators. We're not saying it doesn't. We're saying it's likely leaving money on the table compared to a property-specific, exclusive approach. If you want to optimize further, or if you're willing to trade some dashboard sophistication for competitive advantage, we're a strong alternative.

Does the 1-3% revenue share actually align incentives?

It aligns Wheelhouse's incentives with your short-term revenue increase, but not with your competitive dominance or long-term market position. It's better alignment than flat fees, but it's not full alignment because Wheelhouse profits from all their customers' increased revenue, not just yours.

How do you guarantee results compared to Wheelhouse's performance track record?

We don't guarantee percentage increases - market conditions vary. We do guarantee we're optimizing for your competitive dominance, not total ecosystem revenue. This structural difference means our incentives are more directly aligned with what you actually care about.