Host service fees explained: what the platform takes from each booking

How much does Airbnb charge hosts? Most hosts pay a service fee of 15.5% of the booking subtotal, taken out of the payout, as of November 10, 2026. Some pay between 14% and 16%, and listings in Brazil and Mexico pay 16%. Guests on those listings no longer pay a separate service fee on top.

That is the short answer, and it comes from Airbnb’s own help page on service fees.

The rest of this guide covers what the fee is charged on, what it adds up to across a year, and how it compares with Vrbo and with a booking on your own website. Every figure was checked at its source on November 10, 2026.

Host fees at a glance

Airbnb describes two fee structures. One is now standard and the other is being phased out.

Structure	What the host pays	What the guest pays	Status
Single fee	15.5% for most hosts. 14% to 16% for others. 16% in Brazil and Mexico.	No separate service fee	Required for most hosts
Split fee	3% for most hosts. 4% in Brazil and Mexico.	14.1% to 16.5% of the booking subtotal	Being phased out

Both percentages apply to the booking subtotal: the nightly price plus the fees you charge, such as cleaning. Taxes are left out.

If you only remember one number, remember 15.5%. That is the answer to how much does Airbnb take from hosts for most listings today.

The two structures cannot be mixed on one booking. Each reservation is made under one or the other, and it keeps that structure until the stay is over.

How the single host fee works

Under the single fee, the whole service fee comes out of your payout. Airbnb’s help page puts it plainly: the entire fee is deducted from the host payout, and most hosts pay 15.5%.

The fee is not billed to you. Airbnb collects the guest’s payment, keeps its share and sends you the rest. Your payout statement shows the booking subtotal, the fee and what was paid out.

Here is one booking, worked through.

Line	Amount
3 nights at $250	$750.00
Cleaning fee	$120.00
Booking subtotal	$870.00
Host service fee at 15.5%	$134.85
Payout	$735.15

The guest pays $870 plus any taxes. You receive $735.15. Airbnb keeps $134.85.

Airbnb says the single fee is mandatory for most hosts. That includes hotels and serviced apartments, hosts who use property management software, and hosts in countries where the structure applies.

The page also says hosts are being moved to it, and that a host who has switched cannot switch back. If you are not on it yet, expect to be.

The older split fee, and why most hosts no longer see it

For years, Airbnb fees were split between the host and the guest. The host paid about 3% of the booking subtotal. The guest paid a service fee of 14.1% to 16.5% on top of the price.

On the same $870 booking, the split fee looked like this. The host paid 3%, or $26.10, and received $843.90. The guest paid the $870 plus a service fee of somewhere between $122.67 and $143.55.

Once prices are adjusted, the total going to the platform is about the same. What changed is who sees it. Under the split fee the guest saw a service fee line at checkout. Under the single fee the host sees a larger deduction on the payout.

That is why the change felt like a fee increase to hosts who did not raise their prices. The guide to the Airbnb host fee change covers the rollout and the math for keeping your payout the same.

What the fee is charged on

The fee base matters as much as the rate. Airbnb calculates the host fee on the booking subtotal, which it defines as the nightly price plus any fees the host charges. The guest service fee and taxes are excluded.

Cleaning fees

Your cleaning fee is inside the fee base. At 15.5%, a $120 cleaning fee costs you $18.60 in service fees, and you keep $101.40 of it. The guide to setting an Airbnb cleaning fee covers the fix.

If your cleaner charges $120, you are now short. Many hosts set the cleaning fee once and forgot it. Under the single fee it is worth checking that the amount you collect still covers the amount you pay out.

Extra guest fees and pet fees

The same applies to any other fee you charge through the platform. Extra guest fees and pet fees are host-charged fees, so they sit inside the subtotal and the service fee applies to them.

Taxes

Taxes are outside the fee base. Occupancy taxes and similar charges are not part of the booking subtotal, so the service fee does not apply to them.

Airbnb adds one note on tax. VAT may apply to the service fee depending on local law, and where it does, the fee shown already includes it. That mostly concerns hosts outside the United States.

What the fee means for your price

A 15.5% fee on your payout is not the same as adding 15.5% to your price. This is the part many hosts get wrong.

Say you want to receive $200 for a night. If you list at $200, the fee takes $31 and you receive $169. To receive $200 you need to list at about $236.69, because $236.69 minus 15.5% is $200.

The rule is simple. Divide the payout you want by 0.845.

Payout you want	Price to list	Service fee at 15.5%
$100	$118.34	$18.34
$200	$236.69	$36.69
$300	$355.03	$55.03
$500	$591.72	$91.72

That works out to a markup of about 18.3% on the payout you want, not 15.5%.

Airbnb’s own Resource Center article uses a rounder example. A host who used to list at $100 under the split fee earned $97, while the guest saw about $115. Listing at $115 under the single fee shows the guest $115 and still earns the host about $97. Leaving the price at $100 earns $84.50.

Whether you can raise your price depends on your market. If nearby listings moved their prices and yours did not, your payout fell and your listing looks cheap.

If you raise yours and others do not, you may lose bookings. Look at your own calendar before and after, and change the price in steps if you are unsure.

Three bookings, worked through

The fee scales with the booking, so it helps to see it at different sizes. All three use the 15.5% rate.

Booking	Subtotal	Service fee	Payout
2 nights at $180, $90 cleaning	$450.00	$69.75	$380.25
3 nights at $250, $120 cleaning	$870.00	$134.85	$735.15
7 nights at $400, $250 cleaning	$3,050.00	$472.75	$2,577.25

Short stays feel the cleaning fee most. On the 2-night booking, the cleaning fee is a fifth of the subtotal, and $13.95 of it goes to the service fee.

Long stays feel the total most. One week at a larger home sends $472.75 to the platform. Ten weeks like that in a season is $4,727.50.

What the fee adds up to over a year

A percentage is easy to shrug off. A yearly total is harder to ignore.

Take the booking above and repeat it. A cabin booked 150 nights a year in 3-night stays has 50 bookings. Each has an $870 subtotal and a $134.85 fee.

Per year	Amount
Booking subtotals	$43,500.00
Service fees at 15.5%	$6,742.50
Payouts	$36,757.50

That is $6,742.50 a year for one property. The answer to how much does Airbnb take changes with your rate and your occupancy, so run your own numbers. The Host Fee Calculator does it in a few seconds.

The fee is not money for nothing. Airbnb says service fees help cover its products and services, including payment processing, marketing and customer support.

The question for a host is not whether the platform earns its fee. It is whether every booking you take needs to pay it.

Other costs that come out of the same booking

The service fee is the main platform charge on a stay. It is not the only cost a host carries.

Cleaning is the largest for most hosts. Then come supplies, utilities, repairs, insurance and local taxes. If you use booking software or a pricing tool, that subscription comes out of the same income.

If someone helps you host, they are paid from the booking too. Airbnb lets a listing owner share payouts with a co-host as a cleaning fee, a percentage or a fixed amount. The guide to the Airbnb co-host role explains how that works.

None of these are Airbnb host fees in the strict sense. They matter here because the service fee is charged on the subtotal, before any of them. Your margin is what is left after all of it.

What property managers and co-hosts should check

If you manage a property for someone else, the single fee changes more than the payout. It can change what you earn and what your owner expects.

Start with your agreement. A management fee set as a share of the payout shrinks when the service fee grows. A management fee set as a share of the booking subtotal does not, so the owner absorbs the whole change.

Neither is wrong. What causes trouble is an agreement that says “revenue” without saying which number that is. Agree the definition in writing, and show the owner one booking worked through both ways.

Then look at your owner statements. An owner who saw a 3% deduction last year and sees 15.5% this year will ask why. A one-page explanation with the before and after on a single booking answers the question before it becomes a complaint.

Last, look at your prices across the whole portfolio. If your software sets rates for many listings at once, check that the adjustment for the fee was applied to each of them and to each channel you meant it for.

Fees on services and experiences

Airbnb also sells services and experiences, and those carry their own rates. Its help page says the fee on services is typically 15%, with a minimum of $6 or the local equivalent. The fee on experiences is typically 20%.

These do not apply to a normal home stay. They matter only if you also offer something bookable on its own, such as a private chef or a guided tour.

How the Vrbo fee compares

Vrbo changed its host fee in 2026 as well. For bookings made on or after October 29, 2026, Vrbo charges a 12% commission under its pay-per-booking model. Its help page says the commission applies to the rental amount and the fees you charge the traveler, such as cleaning, pet and boat fees.

Platform	Host fee	Fee on an $870 booking	Separate fee paid by the guest
Airbnb	15.5% for most hosts, on the nightly price plus host-charged fees	$134.85	No, under the single fee
Vrbo	12% for most hosts, on the rental amount plus host-charged fees	$104.40	Yes, a traveler service fee

The Vrbo rate is lower, and the page on Airbnb vs Vrbo fees compares the two platforms in full. The catch is the guest side. Vrbo travelers still pay a service fee on top of your price, so the total a guest pays for the same stay can be higher there.

Compare payouts and guest totals, not only the host rate. The guide to Vrbo fees for hosts covers the 12% commission in full.

What a direct booking costs instead

A booking on your own website has no platform commission. It does have costs, and an honest comparison counts them.

The first is card processing. Stripe, a widely used payment processor, lists its standard US rate as 2.9% plus 30 cents for an online card payment. On the $870 booking that is $25.53.

Where the booking happens	Fee on an $870 booking	You keep
Airbnb, at 15.5%	$134.85	$735.15
Vrbo, at 12%	$104.40	$765.60
Your own site, card processing	$25.53	$844.47

The second cost is the one platforms hide inside their fee: finding the guest. On your own site, that is your job. You pay for a website, for booking software and for the SEO or ads that bring people to it.

So a direct booking is not free. It is cheaper per booking once the site is working, and the fixed costs are spread across every booking you take there.

Over 50 bookings, the gap between 15.5% and card processing in this example is $5,466. That is the budget a direct channel has to beat. A direct booking website from WentDirect starts at $2,000, and I say that as the person who builds them.

One limit is firm. This comparison is about bookings that start on your own site. It is not a reason to move a guest who found you on a platform. Both platforms prohibit that, and the guide to the off-platform policy explains the rules.

Can a host lower the fee?

Not by asking. The rate is set by Airbnb, and its help page says the company can change service fees at any time under its terms.

A few things are in your hands.

1. Check your real rate. Most hosts pay 15.5%, but some pay 14% to 16%. Your payout statement shows the fee on each reservation.
2. Price for the fee. Decide the payout you need and work back to the listed price.
3. Review every fee you charge. Cleaning and pet fees are in the fee base, so set them with the deduction in mind.
4. Compare your channels. A lower host fee elsewhere may come with a guest fee, a smaller audience or different rules.
5. Build bookings that do not pay a commission. That means a site of your own and a way for guests to find it.

The fifth is slower than the others and does the most over time. The guide on how to get more direct bookings covers it step by step.

Five mistakes hosts make with the fee

Most of the confusion about Airbnb fees comes from the same few errors.

1. Adding 15.5% to the old price. The fee is taken from the new, higher price, so you need to divide the payout you want by 0.845.
2. Forgetting the cleaning fee. It is part of the subtotal, so the service fee comes off it as well.
3. Comparing host rates and stopping there. A platform with a lower host rate may charge the guest a fee, which changes what the guest pays in total.
4. Reading the rate off an old reservation. A stay booked before your switch shows the old split fee, even if the stay is next month.
5. Treating the fee as a reason to take a platform guest off the platform. That breaks the platform’s rules and puts the listing at risk.

The first two cost money quietly. A host who added 15.5% and left the cleaning fee alone is earning a little less on every booking and may not have noticed.

The last one costs more. A suspended listing loses every future booking from that platform, which is a far larger sum than the fee on one stay.

How to check your own rate

The published answer to how much does Airbnb charge hosts is a rate for most hosts, not for you. Do not rely on it when your own statement is a click away. Open a recent reservation and find the payout breakdown. It lists the subtotal and the service fee.

Divide the fee by the subtotal. If a $1,000 subtotal shows a $155 fee, your rate is 15.5%.

If it shows $30, that booking was made under the split fee, and newer bookings may be on the single fee.

Check a booking made in the last few weeks. Airbnb applies the single fee to bookings made after a host’s switch, so an older reservation can show the old rate even though your stay dates are still ahead.

Final Thought

How much does Airbnb charge hosts? The fee itself is simple: 15.5% of the subtotal for most hosts, cleaning fee included. What matters is the yearly total, because that is the number to weigh against the cost of a booking channel you own.

If you have not put your own figures in yet, open the Host Fee Calculator and do it now. It takes less than a minute, and the result is specific to your rate, your nights and your cleaning fee.