Host commission, guest fees, payout speed, cancellation power — across Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia, Agoda, HomeToGo and direct. Quarterly verified.
| Channel | Host commission | Guest fee | Payout | Cancellation power |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Airbnb HQ USA | 15.5% single fee (most hosts); 3% split fee being phased out Paid by: Split | 0% (single fee) / 14.1-16.5% (split) | Sent by end of business day after check-in (stays ≤27 nights), plus payout-method time EUR, USD, GBP + 40 more | Guest-favored |
Booking.com HQ Netherlands | Set in your contract (varies by country, property type and agreement) Paid by: Host | 0% | Monthly commission invoice; with Payments by Booking.com, monthly, weekly or daily payouts (varies by country) Local currency only via Booking.com Payments | Mixed |
Vrbo HQ USA (Expedia Group) | 12% commission + 3% payment processing Paid by: Split | Variable traveler service fee | Sent 1 business day after check-in, then 5-7 business days to your bank USD primary; EUR/GBP/AUD in select markets | Mixed |
Expedia HQ USA (Expedia Group) | 15-20% Paid by: Host | 0% | Net 15 or 30 Multi-currency via Expedia Partner Central | Mixed |
Agoda HQ Singapore (Booking Holdings) | 12-15% Paid by: Host | 0% | Net 30 USD, EUR, GBP, plus APAC currencies (THB, SGD, HKD, etc.) | Mixed |
HomeToGo HQ Germany | 8-12% (meta-search, varies) Paid by: Host | 0% | Net 14 EUR primarily | Host-favored |
Direct booking HQ Your own site | 0% (Stripe ~1.5% + €0.25 EU cards) Paid by: Host | 0% | 2 business days (Stripe standard) Any Stripe-supported currency | Host-favored |
Last verified 2026-05-09 · re-verified quarterly · scroll horizontally on mobile
Leisure stays 1-3 nights, mobile-heavy demand, international guests.
Airbnb is moving hosts to the single fee, and it is mandatory if you connect property management software. You can't switch back.
Longer stays, business travel, EU + APAC volume, listings with strong reviews.
Preferred Partner and Visibility Booster add commission on top of your base rate. Commission also applies to VAT in most countries, but not to city tax.
Entire-home / family vacation rentals, US + UK + AU markets, multi-week stays.
The 3% processing fee also applies to taxes and refundable deposits. The annual subscription is closed to new hosts.
Hotel-format inventory, business stays, package + flight bundles.
Designed around hotels, not short-stay homes. Most short-stay hosts reach Expedia via Vrbo channel rather than direct.
APAC demand, especially Thailand / Vietnam / Indonesia / China.
Lower commission than Booking.com but APAC-skewed traffic. Outside that region, volume is thin.
European vacation rental aggregator traffic, supplementary channel.
Meta-search model — guests can re-route to other OTAs. Not a primary distribution channel.
Returning guests, word-of-mouth, brand-built demand, multi-night & shoulder-season fills.
Cold acquisition is hard — only economic once you have OTA-built reputation and returning-guest flow.
There is no single answer, because Booking.com sets commission in each property's contract and Airbnb charges most hosts a 15.5% single fee (the older 3% split fee is being phased out). Vrbo charges 12% commission plus 3% payment processing. Direct booking via your own widget carries 0% commission, with only card processing (Stripe Ireland lists 1.5% + €0.25 for standard EEA cards). Check your own contract and payout statements before comparing.
Airbnb sends most payouts by the end of the business day after check-in (stays of 27 nights or less), and Vrbo sends payouts one business day after check-in; your payout method then adds processing time. Booking.com invoices commission monthly, and with Payments by Booking.com pays out monthly, weekly or, in some countries, daily. New hosts on Airbnb can be paid after checkout until they have two completed stays or a verified listing.
No. The optimal mix for most short-stay hosts is Airbnb + Booking.com (covers ~80% of demand) + a direct booking widget for returning guests. Adding Vrbo/Expedia makes sense for US-leaning markets; Agoda for APAC. Each additional OTA adds calendar-sync complexity and the marginal demand drops fast. The cost of double bookings rises non-linearly with the number of channels — running many channels requires careful calendar checks, especially during peak dates.
Booking.com's commission is a percentage set in your contract, depending on country, property type and agreement, and programs such as Preferred Partner add to it. It applies to the total booking amount including fees such as cleaning, and to VAT in most countries, but not to city tax. Airbnb charges most hosts a 15.5% single fee on the nightly price plus host fees, with no separate guest service fee. Compare your actual contract rate with your Airbnb fee line on a real payout.
Airbnb tilts most strongly toward the guest: even on 'strict' policies, Airbnb's Extenuating Circumstances clause regularly overrides host policies. Booking.com is more host-friendly by default but the platform's flexible policy is the standard most listings opt into for ranking reasons. Vrbo and Expedia let hosts set firmer policies that the platform honors more consistently. Direct booking gives the host full policy control — you set the terms, you enforce them, no third-party override.
Direct booking starts to pay off once two conditions are met: (1) you have a base of returning guests or word-of-mouth referrals — typically after 18-24 months of OTA-built reputation; (2) you have a working widget on a domain guests can find. Cold acquisition via direct booking is hard — you're competing with OTAs' billion-dollar marketing budgets. The realistic mix for year 2+ is 50-60% OTAs + 30-40% direct, with the direct share growing as your guest list does. A 0% commission widget like BookBed's pays for itself after 2-3 direct bookings per month.
Want a line-by-line breakdown of just one channel? Run a nightly rate through the Airbnb fee calculator to see what Airbnb takes, what your guest pays, and what lands in your account.
BookBed runs your direct booking widget at 0% commission, uses two-way iCal with Airbnb and Booking.com, and sends checkout payments to your own Stripe account. See pricing.