How-To Guide
5 min read
Updated October 2026

How to accept direct bookings on your Carrd vacation rental website

A one-page Carrd site can take real booking requests without a PMS or a separate form builder. Carrd's Embed element with Type set to Code places the snippet straight into the page, so the recommended setup pastes the RentalBeam booking widget script right below your calendar and the form grows as guests fill it in. You decide whether guests submit an inquiry, get billed after you approve by bank transfer, cash, or a secure card payment link, or pay inline with Stripe Connect, all with no commission and no RentalBeam booking fee on your direct bookings.

Why add a direct-booking form to your Carrd site?

Guests who reach your own website are your highest-intent traffic. Letting them request or book a stay without leaving the page, and without paying an OTA service fee, is the most underused conversion lever in vacation rentals. A direct-booking form on Carrd turns the page from a brochure into a booking surface.

  • Take booking requests directly from your own website
  • Keep Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com synced so the form never sells double-booked dates
  • Offer coupon codes, seasonal pricing, custom fields, and booking rules
  • Choose between inquiry-only, bill later by bank transfer, cash, or a card link, or inline Stripe Connect card payment
  • Zero RentalBeam commission on direct bookings: hosts keep 100% of their booking revenue
RentalBeam direct booking widget showing selected check-in and check-out dates, nightly pricing, and the guest request form
The RentalBeam booking widget: the same form you will place on your Carrd site.

What you need

  • A Carrd site on Pro Standard or higher
  • A RentalBeam Pro plan with a booking-ready calendar
  • At least one connected OTA or iCal availability source

Pro plan required

The booking widget is part of RentalBeam Pro. We never take a cut of what you charge. When a guest pays by card, only the standard Stripe card-processing fee applies, paid to Stripe rather than RentalBeam.

Setup steps

  1. 1

    Create a booking-ready RentalBeam calendar

    1. Open your RentalBeam dashboard and add or open a rental.
    2. Connect at least one iCal source (Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Google Calendar) so the booking widget never offers double-booked dates.
    3. Set your nightly pricing, optional seasonal rules, minimum stay, advance notice, and prep time.
    4. Decide whether bookings should be inquiry-only, host-reviewed and billed later by bank transfer, cash, or a card link, or paid inline with Stripe Connect.

    Choose payment flow at any time

    You can start with inquiry-only or pay-later requests today and switch to inline card payments later without rebuilding the page. The widget URL stays the same.
  2. 2

    Copy the right booking widget embed for Carrd

    RentalBeam recommends the script embed for Carrd. Use the matching code format below as your reference.

    html
    <script src="https://cdn.rentalbeam.com/v1/embed.js" async></script>
    <div class="rentalbeam-booking-form" data-rental-id="your-calendar-id"></div>

    The Code embed sits in the page itself, so the booking form script can grow as guests fill it in.

    Carrd publishing reminders

    • Embeds need Carrd Pro Standard or higher.
    • Put the form right below your calendar so guests can check dates and book in one place.
    • Send one real test inquiry from the published page to confirm the email reaches you.
  3. 3

    Paste the booking widget into Carrd

    Builder-specific install steps

    Use these steps to place the RentalBeam booking widget exactly where guests are ready to book.

    Carrd

    Add an Embed element, set Type to Code, and paste the script snippet. Needs Carrd Pro Standard or higher.

    Recommended: Script

    The Code embed sits in the page itself, so the booking form script can grow as guests fill it in.

    Use the Script tab for this builder.

    1. Open the page where guests should send booking requests
    2. Add an Embed element at that spot
    3. Set Type to Code and Style to Inline, then paste the RentalBeam booking widget script snippet
    4. Publish, then send a test inquiry from the live page on a computer and a phone

    Before you publish

    • Embeds need Carrd Pro Standard or higher.
    • Put the form right below your calendar so guests can check dates and book in one place.
    • Send one real test inquiry from the published page to confirm the email reaches you.
  4. 4

    Publish and submit one live test inquiry

Where to place the booking widget on the page

  • Put the form right below your calendar so guests can check dates and book in one place.
  • Set Style to Inline so the form sits exactly where the element is.
  • Send your test inquiry from the published page, since Carrd does not show embeds inside the builder.

Treat the booking form as the page's primary CTA

High-converting direct-booking pages put the booking form directly next to or under the availability calendar so guests can check dates and request a stay in a single visual area.

No commission on your direct bookings

RentalBeam Pro never takes a cut of what you charge: your booking revenue is 100% yours. When a guest pays by card through RentalBeam, the only deduction is the standard Stripe card-processing fee, which is paid to Stripe, not RentalBeam.

  • No commission: RentalBeam never takes a cut of your booking revenue.
  • No RentalBeam booking or application fee on guest card payments.
  • Card payments carry only the standard Stripe card-processing fee; inquiry-only and pay-later bookings have no per-transaction cost.

Troubleshooting

Carrd booking widget questions

Can I accept direct bookings on Carrd?

Yes. RentalBeam's booking widget installs on Carrd with a standard embed flow, and it works alongside your existing Airbnb, Vrbo, or Booking.com listings instead of replacing them.

Should I use a script or iframe booking embed on Carrd?

The Code embed sits in the page itself, so the booking form script can grow as guests fill it in. In practice, script is the recommended default for Carrd.

Does RentalBeam take a commission or booking fee on guest card payments?

RentalBeam Pro is a single direct-booking plan with no commission and no booking fee. It adds the booking form widget, guest-payment workflow, coupon codes, seasonal pricing, custom fields, booking rules, host email tools, and reply-from-inbox guest messaging. RentalBeam never takes a cut of your booking revenue. When a guest chooses to pay by card through RentalBeam, the only deduction is the standard Stripe card-processing fee, which is paid to Stripe - not RentalBeam. Inquiry-only, pay-later, and off-platform bookings (such as bank transfer) carry no per-transaction cost at all.

Will the booking widget sync with Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com?

Yes. The booking widget reads from the same iCal sources as your availability calendar so guests never see dates that are already booked on another platform.

Do I need a full PMS to use the booking widget?

No. RentalBeam is built for independent hosts who want synced availability and a real direct-booking surface without paying for a full property management system.

rentalbeam.com/dashboard/rentals/6f1d2c4e-3b7a-4c58-9e21-8a0f5d7b2c19/widgets/calendar
A rental's Calendar widget section: a live three-month preview, its embed code, and the color presets below

Launch your Carrd direct-booking page today

Create your RentalBeam Pro calendar, paste the booking widget into your site, and start taking commission-free booking requests with synced availability.