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On a $525 stay, Airbnb's fee is about $81. A card payment on your own site is about $16.
The short answer: Take the stay subtotal: the nightly rate times the nights, plus the cleaning fee and any other fees. Airbnb's single host fee is about 15.5% of that subtotal, so on a $525 stay you keep about $443.63. The same stay booked on your own website keeps about $509.48 after card fees, which is $65.85 more.
You set a nightly rate, a guest books, and a smaller number lands in your bank. Most owners never work out the gap stay by stay. Here is how, in four steps you can do on paper.
How do you work out your Airbnb payout?
- Step 1: the subtotal. Nightly rate × nights, plus the cleaning fee and any other fee you charge. For 3 nights at $150 with a $75 cleaning fee, that is $450 + $75 = $525.
- Step 2: Airbnb's fee. Most hosts pay a single fee of about 15.5% of the subtotal, and others typically pay 14% to 16% (Airbnb). The fee is taken from the whole subtotal, cleaning fee included. 15.5% of $525 is $81.38.
- Step 3: your payout. $525 − $81.38 = $443.63.
- Step 4: check it. Open the payout on one of your own past bookings and compare. Your own statement is the truth, so use its numbers.
Want to skip the arithmetic? Use the calculator below. It does all four steps for Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com and your own website at once.
What does the same stay pay on other sites?
Run the same $525 subtotal through each channel. The fees below are examples: Vrbo is reported at a 5% commission plus 3% payment processing, Booking.com varies by country and programme, and a card payment on your own site costs about 2.9% plus 30 cents (Stripe).
- Airbnb, 15.5%: you keep about $443.63.
- Booking.com, 15% as an example: you keep about $446.25.
- Vrbo, about 8% in all: you keep about $483.00.
- Your own website: you keep about $509.48, after a card fee of about $15.53.
Booking.com and Vrbo rates change by country and agreement, so type the rate from your own statement. The point is the shape of it: the lower the fee, the more of the $525 is yours.
What price keeps the payout you want?
Sometimes you start from the other end: "I want to keep $800 from this stay." Divide your target by what is left after fees. On Airbnb at 15.5%, that is $800 ÷ 0.845, so the guest must pay about $946.75 before taxes. At the other fees above:
- Airbnb: about $946.75.
- Booking.com at 15%: about $941.18.
- Vrbo at about 8%: about $869.57.
- Your own website: about $824.20, so the guest pays less and you still keep $800.
A cheaper price for the guest and the same money for you. That gap is why a direct booking can come with a discount. See how much of a discount you can offer.
What changed with Airbnb's single fee?
Older listings paid a split fee: about 3% from the host, and a separate fee of about 14.1% to 16.5% from the guest on top. Airbnb has been moving hosts to a single fee of about 15.5%, and says it applies to new bookings. If your old payout came from the split fee, you kept about 97% of your price, so to keep the same payout under the single fee your price needs to rise by about 14.8%, not 18.3%. Check your own account for the date and rate that apply to you.
Where do you go from here?
Once you can see the gap on one stay, multiply it by your year. Our booking site fee calculator does that for your whole mix of sites, and how much Airbnb really takes from you walks through the yearly picture.
Ready to keep more of each stay? Your own booking website is ready in 7 working days or it is free, and you pay half to start and the other half only when you go live. Pay your first installment, or compare every plan on the pricing page.
Not sure what is possible for you? Ask us
On a call, we will:
- Go through your last few Airbnb payouts with you and show where each dollar of fees went.
- Show how much of your bookings could realistically move to a site of your own, and what that would change.
We will tell you honestly what is realistic. We do not promise results, because nobody honest can.
Common questions
- How much does Airbnb take from hosts?
- Airbnb says most hosts pay a single fee of about 15.5% of the booking subtotal, and others typically pay 14% to 16%. The fee is worked out on the subtotal, which includes the cleaning fee. Taxes are left out.
- Does the Airbnb fee include the cleaning fee?
- Yes. The fee is taken from the booking subtotal, which is the nightly price plus the cleaning fee and any other fees you charge. A $75 cleaning fee at 15.5% costs you about $11.63 of fees.
- What price should I charge to keep a certain payout on Airbnb?
- Divide the payout you want by what is left after the fee. At a 15.5% fee, divide by 0.845. To keep $800, the guest pays about $946.75 before taxes.
- Are the Booking.com and Vrbo numbers exact?
- No. They are examples. Booking.com varies by country and programme, and Vrbo is reported at 5% plus 3% payment processing. Use the rates on your own statements.
Sources and helpful links
- Airbnb: how host fees work — the single fee and what it applies to
- Stripe pricing — 2.9% plus 30 cents for a US card
- Launch VRO Airbnb fee calculator — try your own numbers
