Airbnb’s 15.5% host fee, explained

For years Airbnb split its fee between hosts and guests: most hosts paid 3%, and guests paid a separate service fee of about 14% to 16.5% on top. Airbnb is now moving every host onto a single fee taken from the host’s payout.

What changed

Under the single fee, most hosts pay 15.5% and guests see no separate service fee. Airbnb made it mandatory for hosts who use property management software, moved the last of those hosts over on October 13, 2026, and says the split fee will end once every host has switched. Listings in Brazil and Mexico pay 16%, and a small number of hosts pay between 14% and 16%.

What it costs

On a $400 night, 15.5% is $62. Across a year of 150 booked nights at that rate, it’s $9,300. The fee is also charged on your cleaning fee and any other fees you add, so the real figure is usually higher.

What a direct booking costs instead

A guest who books on your own website doesn’t pay Airbnb anything, and neither do you. The booking still has costs. Card processing through Stripe is 2.9% plus 30¢ on US cards, and more on international ones. Some booking software adds its own fee: Hospitable’s Direct Basic option charges 1%, Lodgify and Hostfully charge 1% on online payments, and OwnerRez, Guesty, Beds24 and Tokeet charge nothing per booking. Hospitable’s Direct Premium option costs more, either 7% from you or 3% from you and 4% from the guest, with card processing, guest verification and damage cover included.

For most hosts that adds up to about 3% to 4% of the booking. On that $400 night, a direct booking costs about $14 to $16 instead of $62. The difference is what you keep, or what you can pass back to the guest as a lower direct rate.

Who books direct

Nobody expects every guest to leave Airbnb. The bookings that move are the ones already loyal to you: repeat guests, their friends, people who found you through Instagram or a Google search for the property’s name. Those are the guests a 15.5% fee makes least sense on.

The fee calculator on the pricing page works out what those bookings are worth for your property, after software, card and hosting costs.