Airbnb's 15.5% host fee: what it means for your direct bookings
Airbnb now takes a single 15.5% service fee from most hosts, up from about 3%, and guests no longer pay a separate fee. The last wave of hosts switched on October 13, 2026. On a booking from your own website or link page, RentalBeam takes no commission and no booking fee.
What Airbnb keeps now
Airbnb used to split its service fee. Most hosts paid about 3%, and guests paid a separate fee on top of your price. Under the single fee, guests pay the price you set and Airbnb takes 15.5% from your side. Airbnb's Help Center says most hosts pay 15.5%, other hosts typically pay 14% to 16%, and listings in Brazil and Mexico pay 16%.
The fee is taken from your nightly price and your optional fees, such as cleaning and pet fees. It applies to bookings made after your account switches. Bookings made before keep the old split fee, even when the stay is later.
When each host switched
Airbnb moved hosts in waves:
| Date | Who switched |
|---|---|
| October 27, 2025 | Hosts in the US and Canada who manage Airbnb through property management or channel management software |
| April 13, 2026 | Hosts on that kind of software in other countries who were still on the split fee |
| September 15, 2026 | Every other host outside the European Economic Area |
| October 13, 2026 | Hosts in the European Economic Area and Switzerland, plus any hosts on software not yet moved |
The September 15 and October 13 dates come from Airbnb's Resource Center, which gave them as the deadlines to adjust prices before the switch. The first two come from software makers' notices to their customers; Airbnb's current pages do not list them. Hosts who did not raise their prices by their deadline now earn less per night.
A worked example
A four-night stay, check-in September 21, 2026 and check-out September 25, 2026, at $200 a night with a $120 cleaning fee:
| Split fee | Single fee, same prices | Single fee, payout kept | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your price (nights + cleaning) | $920.00 | $920.00 | $1,056.09 |
| Airbnb's fee from you | $27.60 (3%) | $142.60 (15.5%) | $163.69 (15.5%) |
| Your payout | $892.40 | $777.40 | $892.40 |
Keep your prices and you lose $115 on this one stay. Keep your payout and your price on Airbnb goes up about 15%, which is roughly what guests used to pay once Airbnb's guest fee was added. Either way, Airbnb now keeps about $164 of a $1,056 booking.
What the same stay costs on your own website
When a guest books the same four nights on your website through RentalBeam:
- RentalBeam takes no commission and no booking fee. Nothing from the booking goes to us.
- On Pro, a guest who pays by card pays through Stripe, and Stripe charges its card fee for your country. That fee goes to Stripe.
- A guest who pays by bank transfer or cash costs you nothing per booking.
- Pro itself is a flat plan price, the same whether you take one booking or twenty.
So you can charge $920 and keep $920, less Stripe's card fee. Current plan prices are on the pricing page.
Which guests this is about
Airbnb's rules do not let you ask a guest who found you on Airbnb to book or pay outside it, and nothing here suggests you should. Keep your listing; it is where new guests find you.
Your own website is for the guests who reach you another way:
- People who search for your rental by name, or find your website, your Instagram or your Google listing.
- Friends of past guests who were sent your link.
- Returning guests you first met outside Airbnb, such as from your website, a local event or word of mouth.
For each of them, a booking on your own website keeps the 15.5% with you.
No website? Use a link page
You do not need a website to take these bookings. A link page is one public page for one rental, with its photo, your words, your calendar and buttons for your other links, including your Airbnb listing. It is on every plan. On Pro with bookings on, it shows the booking form so guests can send a request or pay. Share it in your Instagram bio or paste it into a reply. A booking link for your rental, no website needed shows how.
Keep both calendars in step
A booking on your website and a booking on Airbnb must never land on the same nights. RentalBeam reads your Airbnb calendar through its iCal link and blocks those dates on your website, and Airbnb can read your direct bookings back the same way. How to avoid double bookings when you also take direct bookings covers the setup.
What about Airbnb's direct booking links?
Airbnb is testing "direct booking links" with some hosts: a tracked link to your Airbnb listing that lowers your fee to 6% or 10% on bookings that come through it. Rental Scale-Up reported the pilot on August 31, 2026; Airbnb has published no help page for it. The booking, the payment and the guest's contact details stay on Airbnb, so it is a cheaper Airbnb booking, not a booking on your own website. If you have the option, it can sit beside your own booking form: one link for guests who want Airbnb, one for guests who come to you.
Summary
Airbnb now keeps 15.5% of most bookings, taken from the host, and the last deadline to adjust prices passed on October 13, 2026. For guests who find you directly or come back after meeting you outside Airbnb, a booking on your own website or link page costs no booking fee with RentalBeam, and on Pro only Stripe's card fee when the guest pays by card.
Sources: the Airbnb Help Center article on service fees; the Airbnb Resource Center articles "Simplifying service fees on Airbnb" (updated August 24, 2026) and "Simplifying Airbnb service fees" (updated October 13, 2026); Hostfully and Hospitable for the October 27, 2025 and April 13, 2026 software waves; Rental Scale-Up on direct booking links. Checked October 29, 2026.
