Best Digital Nomad Accommodation Websites (2026): Find Apartments Abroad

Quick Answer

The best website to find apartments abroad in 2026 is Uniplaces, because it verifies over 90,000 listings across 30+ European cities and holds your payment until you’ve moved in. Other strong choices include Spotahome for booking without a viewing, HousingAnywhere for students and expats, Airbnb for short flexible stays, and Blueground for premium serviced apartments, depending on your budget and how long you plan to stay. Whether you’re searching for digital nomad accommodation, digital nomad housing, or simple digital nomad apartments for a few months, these platforms cover the full range of housing for digital nomads across Europe and beyond.

The rest of this guide breaks down pricing, countries covered, real pros and cons, and who each platform actually suits. We’ll also cover coliving spaces, remote work housing, and the best accommodation for digital nomads who want flexible, verified options wherever they land.

In a Hurry? Here’s the Quick Recommendation

• Best overall → Uniplaces
• Best for booking without a viewing → Spotahome
• Best for students → HousingAnywhere
• Best for short, flexible stays → Airbnb
• Best for premium, fully serviced apartments → Blueground
• Best for avoiding agency fees → Flatio
• Best digital nomad accommodation overall → Uniplaces

Website	Best For	Countries	Fees	Rating
Uniplaces	Long-term rentals, students	Europe (Portugal, Spain, Italy, and more)	Booking fee, varies by listing	4.6/5
Airbnb	Short stays, flexible bookings	Worldwide	Service + cleaning fees	4.4/5
HousingAnywhere	Students, expats	Europe, some global cities	Booking fee (often refundable in part)	4.3/5
Spotahome	Remote booking without a viewing	Europe, Latin America	Booking fee	4.4/5
Flatio	Flexible mid-term rentals	Central & Eastern Europe, expanding	No agency fees for tenants	4.5/5
Blueground	Fully serviced, premium apartments	Major cities worldwide	Included in monthly rate	4.5/5
Homelike	Business travel, corporate housing	Europe, US	Included in monthly rate	4.3/5
Nestpick	Long-term relocation housing	Europe, global cities	Booking fee	4.0/5
Booking.com (Monthly Stays)	Familiar booking flow, longer trips	Worldwide	Included in listed price	4.2/5

Why Finding an Apartment Abroad Is Difficult

Renting an apartment in your own city is stressful enough. Renting one in a country where you don’t know the neighborhoods, don’t speak the language fluently, and can’t easily meet the landlord in person is a different challenge altogether. This challenge is especially real for anyone searching for digital nomad accommodation, since most local rental markets weren’t built with short-term foreign tenants in mind.

A few things make apartments abroad harder to find than most people expect:

Scams and fake listings. Some of the most common apartment scams abroad involve a “landlord” who is conveniently traveling and can’t show the property in person, asking for a deposit through Western Union or a bank transfer before you’ve even seen the place. Once the money is sent, the listing disappears. These scams are common across accommodation abroad in general, but they tend to target people searching for digital nomad accommodation especially hard, since scammers know these renters are booking sight unseen.

Deposits and rental fees. Security deposits vary wildly by country. In some places it’s one month’s rent, in others it can be two or three, plus agency fees on top. Without local knowledge, it’s easy to overpay or misunderstand what’s refundable.

Language barriers. A lease agreement written in Portuguese, German, or Italian legal language is hard to interpret even with a translation app, and misunderstanding a clause about cancellation policy or utilities included can be costly.

Contracts that don’t protect foreigners. Many local rental contracts assume a resident tenant with local ID, a local bank account, and sometimes a guarantor. Digital nomads, international students, and new expats often don’t have any of that yet. This is one of the biggest hurdles when it comes to digital nomad housing, since most contracts are written with long-term local residents in mind, not remote workers passing through for a few months.

Residency and visa requirements. Some digital nomad visa applications actually require proof of accommodation before the visa is approved, which creates a chicken-and-egg problem. You need housing to get the visa, but landlords sometimes want proof of visa or income before renting to you. Anyone applying for a digital nomad visa should treat proof of digital nomad accommodation as one of the very first boxes to check off.

Furnished vs unfurnished confusion. “Furnished” can mean a fully equipped apartment with kitchenware and linens, or it can mean a bed and a table. Descriptions vary a lot between countries and even between individual landlords. This matters even more for a furnished housing search abroad, since digital nomad apartments are almost always expected to come fully furnished and ready to work from day one.

This is exactly why dedicated rental platforms have become so popular. A good apartment finder website solves most of these problems by verifying listings, standardizing contracts, and giving tenants some level of payment protection. In short, a good rental platform takes most of the guesswork out of finding digital nomad accommodation from another country.

What Makes a Good Apartment Rental Website?

Not every rental marketplace is built the same way, and the right platform depends heavily on what you actually need. Here’s what separates a trustworthy rental platform from a risky one. This is especially true if you’re comparing housing platforms specifically for digital nomad accommodation, where flexibility and verification matter more than they would for a simple weekend booking.

Verified listings. The best housing platforms verify that the landlord actually owns or manages the property, often through identity verification or KYC verification processes, before the listing goes live. This alone eliminates a huge chunk of common scams. Verified listings are non-negotiable when you’re booking digital nomad housing from a different country entirely.

Secure payments. Look for payment protection where your money is held by the platform until you’ve moved in and confirmed everything matches the listing. This is far safer than wiring money directly to a landlord you’ve never met.

International support. Multilingual customer support and a process built around non-local tenants matters a lot, especially for anyone renting sight unseen from another country.

Long-term rental options. Many accommodation websites are really built for tourists, not for someone who needs a lease agreement for six months or a year. A good rental website for expats and digital nomads offers genuinely long-term rentals, not just extended vacation stays. This distinction matters a lot for digital nomad accommodation, since a platform built for weekend tourists rarely handles monthly rentals or flexible rentals well.

Furnished apartments. For anyone moving without shipping furniture, which is most digital nomads, international students, and short-term expats, furnished housing is close to essential. Furnished housing is essentially the default expectation across most digital nomad apartments today.

Fair refund and cancellation policies. Life changes. Visa delays happen. A platform with a clear, fair cancellation policy protects you if your plans shift before move-in.

Responsive customer support. When something goes wrong (and eventually something usually does, even if it’s minor), you want a real support team, not just an automated chatbot.

Mobile apps. A decent mobile app makes apartment search, messaging landlords, and managing your booking much easier while you’re on the move. A strong mobile app also makes it far easier to manage digital nomad accommodation while you’re already on the move between countries.

Keep these criteria in mind as we go through the individual reviews below, because different platforms are strong in different areas.

How We Evaluated These Platforms

Every platform in this guide was assessed against the same set of criteria, rather than judged on marketing claims alone. Specifically, we looked at:

• Fees, including booking fees, agency fees, and any hidden costs
• Verification process, meaning how thoroughly landlords and listings are checked
• Country and city coverage, since a platform is only useful if it operates where you’re actually moving
• Payment protection, including how and when funds are released to landlords
• Mobile app quality and overall ease of booking
• Customer support, particularly for tenants dealing with a different time zone or language
• Suitability for digital nomads, students, and expats specifically, rather than short-term tourists

We also cross-referenced pricing, coverage, and verification claims against each platform’s own official website and public company information, since these details can change from year to year. Throughout this process, we paid particular attention to how well each platform actually served digital nomad accommodation needs, not just short vacation stays.

Best Apartment Rental Websites Compared

Website	Best For	Countries	Lease Length	Furnished	Rating
Uniplaces	Verified long-term rentals	Portugal, Spain, Italy, and more	1 month to 12+ months	Yes	4.6/5
HousingAnywhere	Students and expats	Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and more European cities	1 month to 12+ months	Yes	4.3/5
Spotahome	Remote booking with video tours	Spain, Italy, France, and more	Flexible, usually 1+ months	Yes	4.4/5
Airbnb	Short stays and flexibility	Worldwide	Nights to months	Yes	4.4/5
Blueground	Premium serviced apartments	Major global cities	1 month to 12+ months	Yes	4.5/5
Flatio	Mid-term, no agency fees	Central and Eastern Europe, growing	1 to 12 months	Yes	4.5/5
Homelike	Corporate and business housing	Europe, US	Flexible	Yes	4.3/5
Nestpick	Relocation housing	Europe and select global cities	1+ months	Yes	4.0/5
Booking.com Monthly Stays	Long stays with familiar booking	Worldwide	28+ nights	Mixed	4.2/5

Individual Platform Reviews

Below is a closer look at each platform, including where it fits best if you’re specifically hunting for digital nomad accommodation, digital nomad housing, or simple short-term rentals abroad.

Uniplaces: Best Overall for Europe

Uniplaces is one of the most established names when it comes to renting apartments abroad, particularly across Europe. It started as a platform focused on student accommodation and has since grown into a broader rental marketplace covering long-term rentals for students, young professionals, and expats. It’s frequently recommended as one of the best housing websites for digital nomads and students who want verified digital nomad accommodation without agency runaround.

Overview. Uniplaces connects tenants with verified landlords and property managers, mostly in cities with large international student and expat populations, including Lisbon, Porto, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, and Rome.

Features. Every listing goes through a verification process before it appears on the site. Tenants can book apartments online without visiting in person first, and the platform holds payment until move-in, which adds a real layer of payment protection.

Pricing. A booking fee applies on top of monthly rent, and the exact amount depends on the property and lease length. There’s no cost to browse or contact landlords, and much of the pricing is transparent upfront, which is rare for this kind of rental marketplace.

Countries. Portugal, Spain, Italy, and a growing number of other European countries.

Verification. Landlords and properties are checked before listing, which significantly reduces the risk of fake listings compared to open marketplaces like Facebook groups.

By the numbers. Uniplaces lists more than 90,000 verified accommodations across 30+ European cities, and has hosted students and tenants from over 140 countries since launching in 2012.

Pros:

• Strong focus on verified listings
• Well suited to student accommodation and international students
• Book remotely before arriving in the country
• Clear rental agreement and contract process

Cons:

• Coverage is mostly limited to Europe
• Booking fees can add up on shorter stays
• Fewer options outside major cities

Who Should Choose This?

Uniplaces is best for:

• Anyone relocating to a European city for university, an internship, or a new job
• Renters who want a verified apartment lined up before they land
• People who feel nervous about apartment scams abroad and want extra reassurance
• Students and young professionals booking a first apartment sight unseen

HousingAnywhere

HousingAnywhere is a Netherlands-based rental platform that has expanded across Europe and into a handful of cities elsewhere. It’s particularly popular with international students and young expats. It’s a popular pick among people searching specifically for accommodation for digital nomads and expats settling into a new country long term.

Overview. The platform focuses heavily on mid-term and long-term rentals, with landlords required to go through identity checks before listing.

Features. HousingAnywhere lets tenants message landlords directly, book online, and use a booking protection system that holds funds temporarily. It also has helpful city guides that cover local rental norms, which is genuinely useful for newcomers.

Pricing. A booking fee is charged to tenants, and part of it is sometimes refundable depending on the situation. Landlords pay separately to list.

By the numbers. HousingAnywhere has over 5 million users from more than 60 countries, with more than 50,000 active listings on the platform at any given time.

Pros:

• Landlords go through identity checks before listing
• Helpful city guides that explain local rental norms
• Booking protection holds funds temporarily during the transaction
• Strong reputation with students and first-time renters abroad

Cons:

• Coverage leans heavily toward Western Europe
• Only part of the booking fee is refundable in some situations
• Response times from landlords can vary

Who Should Choose This?

HousingAnywhere is best for:

• Students and expats moving to Dutch, German, or other Western European cities
• First-time renters abroad who want extra guidance on local rental norms
• Anyone renting in a competitive, fast-moving local market

Spotahome

Spotahome built its reputation on one simple idea: you shouldn’t have to see an apartment in person to book it safely. Every listing includes a professional video tour, detailed photos, and a full property description, so tenants can make an informed decision from anywhere in the world. That single feature has made Spotahome one of the go-to options for digital nomad accommodation among remote workers who can’t fly in early for a viewing.

Overview. Spotahome focuses on mid to long-term rentals in cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, Milan, and Paris, along with a growing presence in Latin America.

Features. The video-first approach is the standout feature. Combined with verified listings and a support team that handles disputes, it’s built specifically for people booking apartments remotely, which makes it a favorite among digital nomads and relocating professionals.

Pricing. A booking fee applies, and it’s clearly stated before you commit.

By the numbers. Spotahome operates in more than 100 European cities and has helped over 100,000 tenants find a home entirely online, with dedicated local teams filming and verifying every property in person.

Pros:

• Every listing includes a verified video tour, so there are no surprises on move-in day
• Deposit protection in case a landlord doesn’t return it
• Strong support for people booking entirely from another country
• No in-person viewing required

Cons:

• Booking fee applies on top of monthly rent
• Coverage is mostly limited to Europe, with a smaller presence in Latin America
• Less useful if you specifically want to view a property in person first

Who Should Choose This?

Spotahome is best for:

• Anyone who needs to lock in an apartment before their flight
• Remote workers who want long-term rentals without the hassle of local agents
• Renters who value a verified video tour over an in-person viewing

Airbnb

Airbnb needs little introduction, but it’s worth clarifying where it fits into apartment hunting abroad. While most people associate it with short vacation stays, Airbnb also supports monthly stays, and many hosts offer discounts for longer bookings. Because of that flexibility, Airbnb remains a familiar fallback for digital nomad housing even though it wasn’t originally built for long-term digital nomad accommodation.

Overview. Airbnb’s biggest strength is flexibility and sheer scale. It’s available in nearly every country and city worldwide, which none of the more specialized rental platforms can match.

Features. Instant booking, a well-known review system, and host verification all help build trust. Airbnb also added dedicated monthly stay filters, making it easier to search specifically for long-term rentals rather than scrolling past nightly listings.

Pricing. Rates include a service fee and often a cleaning fee, which can make longer stays more expensive than a traditional lease, especially compared to platforms without those add-ons.

By the numbers. Airbnb has more than 8 million active listings spread across 220+ countries and regions, backed by over 5 million hosts worldwide, which makes it the widest-reaching platform on this list by far.

Pros:

• Available in nearly every country and city worldwide
• Well-known review system for both guests and hosts
• Instant booking and a familiar, easy-to-use app
• Flexible enough to book a few nights or a few months

Cons:

• Service and cleaning fees make longer stays more expensive than dedicated rental platforms
• Not built specifically for long-term leases or tenant protections
• Fewer safeguards around contracts compared to specialized rental marketplaces

Who Should Choose This?

Airbnb is best for:

• Expats and digital nomads who want a short bridge stay after arriving
• Travelers who want the flexibility to book two to four weeks while viewing apartments in person
• Anyone who values familiarity and worldwide availability over long-term rental features

Blueground

Blueground sits at the premium end of the market. It offers fully furnished, professionally managed apartments in major cities, with everything from WiFi to cleaning services already sorted. It’s a strong match for anyone who wants premium digital nomad accommodation without dealing with separate furniture, WiFi, or utility setup.

Overview. Blueground operates in dozens of cities globally, including New York, London, Dubai, and Athens, targeting professionals who want a hassle-free move.

Features. Flexible lease terms, 24/7 support, and consistently high-quality furnishing standards are the main draw. There’s no need to set up separate utility accounts, since everything is bundled into the monthly rate.

Pricing. Rates are higher than a standard unfurnished lease, but they include utilities, WiFi, and often a cleaning service, which simplifies budgeting.

Pros:

• Fully furnished and move-in ready, with utilities and WiFi included
• Flexible lease terms and 24/7 support
• Consistent quality standards across cities
• No need to set up separate utility accounts

Cons:

• Higher monthly cost than an unfurnished local lease
• Fewer budget-friendly options
• Availability can be limited in smaller or less central neighborhoods

Who Should Choose This?

Blueground is best for:

• Business travelers and relocating executives
• Anyone who values convenience over cost savings
• Renters who want a stress-free move with everything already set up

Flatio

Flatio has grown quickly as a mid-term rental platform, especially across Central and Eastern Europe, with expansion into more countries each year. Flatio has become a genuinely popular choice for digital nomad housing across the region specifically because it skips the agency fees.

Overview. Flatio positions itself around flexible, medium-length stays, generally from one month up to a year, without the agency fees that are common in traditional European rental markets.

Features. No agency fees for tenants is a big selling point, along with a digital contract process and support for both landlords and tenants throughout the stay.

Pricing. Rent is paid monthly with no extra agency commission, which can mean real savings compared to a traditional local agency in some countries.

Pros:

• No agency fees for tenants
• Digital contract process that’s easy to follow remotely
• Flexible lease lengths from one to twelve months
• Growing coverage across Central and Eastern Europe

Cons:

• Smaller inventory than Uniplaces or Spotahome in some cities
• Coverage outside Europe is still limited
• Fewer premium or luxury listings

Who Should Choose This?

Flatio is best for:

• Remote workers and digital nomads staying in one place for a few months
• Renters who specifically want to avoid local agency fees
• Anyone who prefers a simple, digital-first contract process

Homelike

Homelike focuses primarily on corporate and business housing, connecting companies and relocating employees with furnished apartments across Europe and parts of the US. While it leans corporate, Homelike still offers a reliable route to digital nomad accommodation for remote employees relocating on a company’s behalf.

Overview. It’s less known among individual travelers, but strong within the corporate relocation and business travel space.

Features. Homelike offers centralized billing for companies, flexible lease terms, and a curated selection of quality-checked apartments.

Pros:

• Centralized billing, which is convenient for companies managing multiple employees
• Quality-checked, furnished apartments
• Flexible lease terms suited to relocation timelines

Cons:

• Less relevant for individual travelers booking on their own
• Smaller inventory compared to consumer-focused platforms
• Pricing tends to sit toward the higher end

Who Should Choose This?

Homelike is best for:

• HR teams handling employee relocations
• Business travelers whose companies need a reliable corporate housing partner
• Companies that want centralized billing across multiple bookings

Nestpick

Nestpick specializes in relocation housing, connecting tenants (often students and young professionals) with long-term apartments in cities across Europe and select international markets. Nestpick is worth bookmarking if you’re comparing digital nomad apartments across several cities before deciding where to settle.

Overview. The platform is straightforward and focused on searchable, filterable listings for people planning a move.

Pros:

• Simple, filterable apartment search
• Good option for comparing relocation housing across cities
• No unnecessary extra services bundled into the price

Cons:

• Fewer built-in protections compared to Uniplaces or Spotahome
• Inventory and support quality can vary more by city
• Less brand recognition than the bigger platforms on this list

Who Should Choose This?

Nestpick is best for:

• People who want a simple, no-frills apartment search tool
• Renters comparing relocation housing across several cities at once
• Anyone who doesn’t need the extra services that come with premium platforms like Blueground

Booking.com Monthly Stays

Booking.com added a Monthly Stays feature to compete in the long-term rental space, letting travelers book apartments for 28 nights or more with discounted pricing. It’s not purpose-built for digital nomad accommodation, but the familiarity and worldwide reach make it a reasonable backup option.

Overview. Given how widely used Booking.com already is, this feature benefits from a platform people already trust and know how to use.

Pros:

• Familiar interface that most travelers already know
• Discounted pricing for stays of 28 nights or more
• Wide worldwide coverage, including outside Europe

Cons:

• Not purpose-built for long-term tenant protections or contracts
• Listing quality and furnishing standards vary widely
• Fewer verification steps than dedicated rental platforms

Who Should Choose This?

Booking.com Monthly Stays is best for:

• Anyone who prefers a familiar booking interface
• Travelers who want monthly stay pricing without learning a new platform
• Renters in regions with limited coverage from specialized rental sites

Facebook Marketplace: A Word of Caution

Facebook groups and Marketplace listings are extremely common for apartment hunting abroad, especially in cities with large expat communities. They can occasionally turn up good deals directly from landlords with no platform fees at all. It’s rarely the safest place to look for digital nomad accommodation, but it’s worth knowing about since it’s so widely used.

That said, this is also where a large share of apartment scams abroad happen. There’s no identity verification, no payment protection, and no dispute resolution if something goes wrong. If you use Facebook groups, treat every listing with real caution, never send money before a video call or in-person viewing, and avoid anyone who pressures you to act immediately.

Comparison Summary

Category	Winner
Best for Europe	Uniplaces
Best for students	HousingAnywhere
Best for digital nomads	Spotahome
Best for luxury	Blueground
Best for budget	Flatio
Best for short stays	Airbnb
Best for long stays	Uniplaces
Best for verified listings	Uniplaces

Across every category above, the common thread is clear: the best accommodation for digital nomads comes down to verified listings, flexible lease terms, and platforms that genuinely understand remote work housing, not just short vacation stays.

Rental Fees Explained

Understanding rental fees before you book saves both money and frustration. Here’s what to expect across most apartment rental websites. These fees can vary a lot depending on whether you’re booking digital nomad accommodation through a verified platform or negotiating directly with a landlord.

Platform fees. Most rental marketplaces charge a booking fee to tenants, landlords, or both. This funds the verification and payment protection that make these platforms safer than dealing with a stranger directly.

Deposits. A security deposit, usually one to three months’ rent depending on the country, is standard and should be refundable at the end of the lease minus any legitimate damage costs.

Agency fees. In some countries, local agencies charge tenants a separate commission on top of rent. Platforms like Flatio specifically market themselves as avoiding this fee structure.

Cleaning fees. Common on short-term platforms like Airbnb, less common on long-term rental sites.

Utility bills. Sometimes included in rent (especially with serviced apartments like Blueground), sometimes billed separately. Always confirm before signing.

Cancellation fees. Read the cancellation policy closely. Some platforms offer partial refunds up to a certain date before move-in, while others are stricter.

If you’re managing rent payments across currencies, it’s worth reading up on the best money transfer service for digital nomads, since exchange rates and transfer fees can quietly eat into your budget when sending rent across countries each month.

How to Choose the Right Platform

Students generally do best with HousingAnywhere or Uniplaces, both of which are built around university cities and international student needs, including shorter academic-year leases.

Digital nomads tend to prefer Spotahome or Flatio, since both support flexible mid-term stays without long lease commitments.

Remote workers who want more stability might lean toward Uniplaces or Nestpick for longer-term furnished apartments.

Families relocating abroad usually need more space and stability, making Blueground or a local long-term rental through Uniplaces a better fit than short-stay platforms.

Business travelers are typically best served by Homelike or Blueground, given the corporate housing focus and included services.

Expats settling in for the long haul often combine platforms, starting with Airbnb for the first few weeks, then transitioning to Uniplaces or HousingAnywhere once they’ve had time to explore neighborhoods in person.

If you’re still working out where to live cost-wise, comparing something like the cost of living in Portugal against your target rent budget can help narrow down both the city and the platform that makes sense.

How to Rent an Apartment Abroad: Step by Step

Step 1: Choose your destination. Research not just the country but the specific city and even neighborhood, since rental prices and availability can vary enormously within the same country.

Step 2: Research the area. Look into safety, commute times, proximity to work or school, and typical rent in that specific neighborhood before you start browsing listings.

Step 3: Compare platforms. Use two or three of the apartment rental websites above rather than relying on just one, since inventory differs between platforms even in the same city.

Step 4: Verify the listing. Check for verified badges, read reviews from previous tenants, and do a reverse image search on photos if something feels off.

Step 5: Read the contract carefully. Pay close attention to the lease agreement, including deposit terms, notice periods, and what’s included in monthly rent versus billed separately.

Step 6: Pay securely. Use the platform’s built-in payment system rather than transferring money directly to a landlord’s personal account whenever possible.

Step 7: Move in. Document the apartment’s condition with photos on move-in day, which protects your security deposit when you eventually move out.

Before locking anything in, it’s worth checking your digital nomad visa requirements, since some applications ask for proof of accommodation as part of the process, and it helps to know that ahead of time rather than scrambling last minute.

Documents Required to Rent Abroad

Requirements vary by country, but landlords and rental platforms commonly ask for some combination of:

• Passport
• Visa or proof of legal residency status
• Proof of income or employment letter
• Recent bank statements
• A guarantor (sometimes required for students or those without local income)
• Residence permit, where applicable

Having these documents ready in advance, ideally translated or notarized if required locally, speeds up the entire apartment search process considerably.

Common Rental Scams to Watch For

This section matters more than almost anything else in this guide, because falling for a scam can cost thousands and derail an entire move.

The fake or absent landlord. A “landlord” who claims to be out of the country and can’t show the apartment in person, but is happy to send keys after you wire a deposit, is a massive red flag.

Too-good-to-be-true rent. If a listing is priced well below everything else in the same neighborhood, be suspicious. Scammers often use unrealistically low prices specifically to attract desperate renters.

Western Union or wire transfer requests. Legitimate landlords and verified platforms rarely, if ever, insist on untraceable payment methods like Western Union for a security deposit.

Requests to pay outside the platform. If a landlord you found through a legitimate rental platform asks you to move the conversation and payment off-platform, that alone should raise concern, since it removes any payment protection you’d otherwise have.

Fake Airbnb or Booking.com listings. Scammers sometimes copy real listings and post them elsewhere with a different contact method, directing victims away from the platform’s secure messaging and payment system.

WhatsApp-only communication. Landlords who quickly push conversations to WhatsApp and avoid the platform’s messaging system are using a common scam tactic to avoid detection.

Identity theft. Be cautious about how much personal information (passport scans, bank details) you share before a booking is confirmed and secured.

Safety Checklist Before You Pay

Before sending any money for an apartment abroad, run through this checklist:

✔ Reverse image search the listing photos to check they haven’t been copied from elsewhere ✔ Request a live video call walkthrough if one hasn’t already been provided ✔ Read reviews from previous tenants, not just the overall star rating ✔ Verify the address actually exists and matches the neighborhood described ✔ Confirm the landlord’s identity matches property records where possible ✔ Use the platform’s built-in payment protection rather than paying directly

Taking ten extra minutes on this checklist can save you from a scam that costs weeks of stress and a security deposit you’ll never see again.

Best Platforms by Region

Europe. Uniplaces, HousingAnywhere, and Spotahome all have their strongest inventory here, particularly in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands.

North America. Airbnb and Blueground both have strong coverage in major US and Canadian cities, though long-term rental platforms are less developed here compared to Europe.

Latin America. Spotahome has expanded into several Latin American cities, and Airbnb remains widely used across the region for both short and medium stays.

Asia. Coverage is more fragmented, with Airbnb and Booking.com Monthly Stays generally offering the widest selection, alongside local platforms in individual countries.

Middle East. Blueground has a notable presence in cities like Dubai, catering to relocating professionals and business travelers.

Africa. Options are more limited on the major platforms, with Airbnb typically offering the broadest coverage across the continent.

Australia. Airbnb and Booking.com Monthly Stays are the most practical options for now, since specialized long-term rental platforms haven’t expanded as heavily into the region.

Best Platforms by User Type

Students: HousingAnywhere, Uniplaces Digital nomads: Spotahome, Flatio Expats: Uniplaces, HousingAnywhere Families: Blueground, local long-term rentals via Uniplaces Couples: Flatio, Spotahome Luxury seekers: Blueground Budget travelers: Flatio, Facebook Marketplace (with caution) Business travelers: Homelike, Blueground

If money management while relocating is on your mind too, it’s worth glancing at a digital nomad finance guide alongside your apartment search, since housing and finances tend to get sorted out together during a move.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Verdict

Situation	Best Platform
Students	HousingAnywhere
Digital nomads	Spotahome
Renting in Europe	Uniplaces
Budget-conscious renters	Flatio
Luxury or premium stays	Blueground
Families relocating	Uniplaces or Blueground
Business travel and corporate housing	Homelike

There’s no single best website to find apartments abroad for every situation, and that’s really the main takeaway here. The right platform depends on your budget, how long you’re staying, whether you need to book without a viewing, and which region you’re moving to. Starting with a shortlist of two or three platforms from this guide, rather than committing to just one, tends to give the widest and safest selection of listings.

Once housing is sorted, it’s worth thinking through how you’ll manage rent payments and everyday spending while abroad. A multi-currency account for digital nomads can make paying international rent far simpler than relying on a standard home bank account, and pairing that with the best budgeting apps for digital nomads helps keep accommodation costs from quietly overrunning your monthly budget. If you’re heading to a specific city, guides like how to rent in Lisbon without a guarantor can also fill in the local details this broader guide can’t cover. When you’re ready to book, explore our accommodation listings to compare verified apartments and complete your booking securely through our trusted partner, Uniplaces.

Looking for the Perfect Setup?

Start with Uniplaces or Spotahome to lock in a verified apartment before you land, pair it with a solid multi-currency account for digital nomads to handle rent payments without losing money to exchange rates, and use one of the best budgeting apps for digital nomads to keep your housing costs in check once you’ve moved in.

Disclaimer

Rental availability, fees, cancellation policies, supported countries, and verification processes may change over time. Always confirm the latest information directly with each platform before making a booking or signing a lease.