Commissions of the booking portals for vacation rentals

As a vacation rental host, you might wonder which portal you should list on to achieve maximum occupancy with minimal effort and low commission fees.

The answer to this question isn't so simple because every host has different needs. However, you should definitely publish on various booking sites to increase your booking rate and boost your revenue. With so many portals, keeping track of all the options is difficult. This is especially true because the costs often aren't immediately apparent: OTAs use different commissions and flat rates. In our guide, you will find all the important information about the fees and pricing models of the major booking portals.

The Pricing Models of Booking Portals

Fundamentally, different pricing models exist. Booking.com charges the host a commission. Vrbo offers a commission-based and a fixed-price model and charges guests additional fees. Airbnb still has two commission models, but is migrating hosts to the host-only fee model, where the entire commission is deducted from the host's payout.

Other OTAs offer two pricing models: either a single annual fee per property or a commission on every booking.

Why? Depending on the number of properties you have, different models can be more cost-effective. However, you shouldn't focus solely on costs and publish only on the cheapest sites. In fact, the more platforms you use, the greater your listing's reach and, consequently, your occupancy rate.

When setting the price of your vacation rental, you can obviously take the different commissions into account.

In practice, it is well established that commission-based portals tend to receive more bookings. Since costs are charged only to the host in the event of success, nothing stops you from publishing on these portals to test them.

Direct Bookings or Information Requests

Many portals give users the choice to accept information requests or only direct bookings. Booking.com, for example, only allows direct bookings. Other portals position listings without the direct booking option lower in search results. Generally, we recommend always enabling direct bookings.

This makes it easier for the guest to book and much easier for you to communicate. However, during periods when your property is 100% booked, disabling direct bookings can make sense. This lets you control occupancy and, for example, accept only bookings with longer stays. Alternatively, you can schedule arrivals and departures to avoid gaps between bookings. In other cases, direct bookings can help you fill your calendar. If you offer direct bookings, you definitely need to use a channel manager; otherwise, double bookings can easily happen.

The Costs of the Most Important Booking Platforms at a Glance

Let's look at some of the most popular booking sites and their cost and commission models.

Please note: We update this guide regularly, but we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the prices.

Airbnb

Airbnb is one of the most widely used booking platforms for hosts, property managers, and travelers worldwide. The platform charges service fees that vary depending on the cost model used.

Airbnb has two main commission structures:

1. Split-fee

With the split-fee model, costs are divided between the host and the guest:

• Host fee: typically about 3% of the booking subtotal. For listings in Brazil and Mexico, the host fee is 4%.
• Guest fee: generally between 14.1% and 16.5% of the booking subtotal, based on various factors.

2. Host-only fee

With the host-only model or single service fee, the entire Airbnb commission is deducted from the host's payout. Most hosts pay a standard fee of 15.5% of the booking subtotal. For listings in Brazil and Mexico, the fee is 16%.

This model eliminates the visible service fee for the guest and makes the final price more transparent during the booking process.

Please note: Airbnb is migrating all hosts to the host-only fee model. The new deadlines are September 15, 2026, for hosts outside the European Economic Area, and October 13, 2026, for hosts inside the European Economic Area.

Booking.com

Founded in 2006, this travel portal is one of the world's most important booking platforms. For hosts, the online portal is also a way to reach a large number of potential guests with their listing. At Smoobu, we know how important this OTA is and are a Premium Partner.

Guest costs: No costs.

Host costs: Booking.com applies a commission on every booking received through the platform. The percentage varies based on several factors, including country, property type, location, and applied commercial conditions. On average, hosts pay about 15%, but the exact amount should always be verified in the Booking.com extranet using the commission calculator.

Vrbo

Vrbo is part of the Expedia Group and is one of the most popular platforms for vacation rentals worldwide. In some countries, the OTA operates under the brand of smaller network portals, like Abritel in France, FeWo-direkt in Germany, or Stayz in Australia.

Guest fees: No fees.

Host fees: Vrbo offers two options:

• An annual subscription priced at $499 to publish your listing on the Vrbo website for a year.
• A commission model for hosts: 5% commission plus 3% if the guest pays by credit card.

Please note: If you use property management software, Vrbo may apply different conditions. In some regions, including Europe, the commission can range from 12% to 15%. We therefore recommend that you always check the applied fee in your dashboard.

Expedia

Expedia operates in over 70 countries and already has more than 3 million properties. As a vacation rental host, you should take advantage of this vast reach.

Guest costs: No costs.

Host costs: Hosts pay a commission for every booking made through Expedia. Typically, the percentage ranges from 15% to 20%, depending on the property's location. You must pay the amount once a month.

Tripadvisor

TripAdvisor is one of the most well-known travel platforms globally and continues to be used by millions of travelers to read reviews, compare properties, and plan stays.

However, for vacation rental hosts, TripAdvisor should no longer be considered a direct booking portal, as it is for Airbnb, Booking.com, or Vrbo. The platform has stopped managing direct bookings for short-term rentals and now primarily serves as a channel for visibility, reviews, and discovery.

Guest fees: No longer applicable under a direct Tripadvisor model for vacation rentals. If the listing is shown through an external partner, such as Vrbo, any costs and commissions depend on that portal's terms.

Host fees: There is no longer a standard Tripadvisor commission to compare with other direct booking portals. If your property is visible on Tripadvisor via a third-party partner, the commissions to consider are those of the channel through which the booking is completed.

TripAdvisor can therefore remain useful for increasing property visibility and strengthening online reputation through reviews, but it shouldn't be considered a primary channel for direct vacation rental bookings.

Conclusion

Generally, we recommend publishing your listing on several booking portals. If you want to target a specific group, you should also consider booking portals with a particular focus, such as LGBTQ+ travelers, sports vacations, or pet-friendly travel. This way, you will not depend on a single platform. Generally, Smoobu users with the best occupancy rates have published their listings on an average of four to five different portals. Additionally, you can test different commission models by using various platforms. This lets you experiment without risking running out of guests.

Note: If you list on Vrbo, Abritel, or Fewo-direkt, for example, your listing will appear on all Vrbo group platforms. The same applies to TripAdvisor.

If you use our software to manage your vacation rentals, you can easily connect all portals and manage them centrally. Our channel manager handles the complete synchronization of the portals. Furthermore, you will always have an overview of which channels receive the most bookings, allowing you to specialize in those platforms.

And now, have fun successfully advertising your vacation rentals on the best booking channel for you. Our channel manager helps you keep calendars up to date and avoid double bookings across multiple platforms.