Airbnb vs Vrbo vs Direct Booking: Net Payout on the Same $1,000 Stay (2026)

Book the same $1,000 stay, nightly rate plus cleaning fee before taxes, through three channels and three different amounts reach the host's bank. Airbnb deducts its 15.5% host-only fee and pays $845. Vrbo, for bookings made on or after October 29, 2026, deducts a single 12% commission and pays $880. A direct booking site pays $970.70, because the only deduction is card processing at 2.9% plus 30 cents. Booking.com pays $850 at its 15% average commission, less a further 1.1% to 3.1% when it collects the guest's card.

The spread between best and worst is $125.70, about 13% of the stay, and it recurs on every booking. A payout table is not a channel strategy, though: the guest's side differs by channel, tax on the fee moves the numbers abroad, and the OTA's fee buys the guest in the first place. The two-platform version, with Vrbo's traveler fee worked at an equal guest total, is in Vrbo vs. Airbnb host fees.

Key facts

• On a $1,000 subtotal, Airbnb's 15.5% host-only fee pays $845. Vrbo's 12% commission, for bookings made on or after October 29, 2026, pays $880, against $920 under the old 5% plus 3% model. A direct booking at 2.9% plus 30 cents pays $970.70.
• Booking.com's commission averages 15% globally within a 10% to 25% range, plus 1.1% to 3.1% when Payments by Booking.com handles the card: $819 to $850 on the same stay.
• Netting a target amount takes a markup of 18.34% on Airbnb, 13.64% on Vrbo, 17.65% on Booking.com before its payment fee, and about 3% direct.
• A direct booking can be discounted up to 12.98% against Airbnb's payout, or 9.37% against Vrbo's, before the host nets less than the platform would have paid.
• Tax on the fee for unregistered hosts: 20% UK VAT makes Airbnb's fee 18.6% and Vrbo's 14.4%, 10% Australian GST makes Airbnb's 17.05%, and 5% Canadian GST makes it 16.275%.

The same $1,000 stay on every channel

The direct row is the baseline; everything above it is the price of the marketplace: $125.70 per $1,000 on Airbnb, $90.70 on Vrbo, $120.70 to $151.70 on Booking.com.

How Airbnb's fee is defined

As of October 2026, Airbnb charges most hosts a single host-only service fee of 15.5% of the booking subtotal, deducted from the payout; guests pay no separate Airbnb service fee. The subtotal is the nightly rate plus cleaning, pet and extra-guest fees, before taxes. Some hosts pay 14% to 16%, and listings in Brazil and Mexico pay 16%. Software-connected hosts moved first, in October 2025 and April 2026; remaining hosts outside the European Economic Area switched by September 15, 2026, and EEA and Swiss hosts by October 13, 2026. The legacy split fee, about 3% from the host plus a guest fee of 14.1% to 16.5%, applies only to bookings made before a host's switch date. Where VAT or GST applies to the fee, unregistered hosts pay it on top.

How Vrbo's fee is defined

As of October 2026, Vrbo is replacing its pay-per-booking fees with a single 12% commission for bookings made on or after October 29, 2026, announced on September 29, 2026. The commission applies to the rental amount plus mandatory host fees such as cleaning and pet fees, excluding taxes and refundable deposits, and it includes payment processing for hosts paid through Vrbo; Expedia Group says the rate runs 12% to 15% by region and brand. Before the change, hosts paid a 5% commission plus a 3% payment processing fee, about 8% in total, or 5% alone when a property management system handled payments. Legacy annual subscriptions convert at the end of their term. Vrbo still charges travelers a separate service fee that it does not disclose and now prices dynamically.

A $2,500 week and a $550 weekend

Two more bookings, payout first and fee in brackets:

The week is where the gap is widest in dollars: $314.70 between Airbnb and direct, $227.20 between Vrbo and direct. The weekend shows that cleaning fees sit inside every platform's base: the $100 cleaning fee alone costs $15.50 on Airbnb and $12 on Vrbo. Over 30 bookings a year averaging $1,200, the fees come to $5,580 on Airbnb, $4,320 on Vrbo and $1,053 direct.

What each channel's guest actually pays

The host-side table flatters Vrbo slightly, because the platforms treat the guest differently. On Airbnb the host's price is the guest's price: since 2025 Airbnb has displayed a fee-inclusive total before taxes by default worldwide, and with the guest fee gone that total is the subtotal. Booking.com and a direct site work the same way.

Vrbo is the exception. Its traveler service fee sits on top of the host's price, undisclosed and now priced dynamically, so the same $1,000 stay costs more than $1,000 on Vrbo by an amount neither party knows before checkout. At an equal guest total, Vrbo's host-side advantage shrinks or reverses.

Tax on the fee outside the US

VAT and GST apply to the platform's fee itself, which raises the effective rate for hosts who cannot recover the tax.

• United Kingdom. Airbnb's VAT page says its UK service fees carry 20% VAT. An unregistered host pays 18.6% on Airbnb (£814 on £1,000) and 14.4% on Vrbo (£856); registered hosts recover it and pay 15.5% and 12%. The pounds version of this comparison is in Airbnb host fees UK.
• Canada. Airbnb's Canadian service fees carry 5% GST, so the host-only fee costs 16.275% (C$837.25 on C$1,000) for hosts who cannot claim it back. HST or QST on top is unconfirmed.
• Australia. 10% GST applies unless the host is GST registered with an ABN on file, making the fee 17.05% (A$829.50 on A$1,000).

Direct processing abroad follows local card pricing; Stripe's standard UK rate for UK cards is 1.5% plus 20p.

When the OTA still wins

The $125.70 Airbnb keeps on a $1,000 stay is not waste. It pays for the guest's attention, which Airbnb's marketplace has and your website does not, and for the payments, support and host protections bundled in. For a listing in its first season, a market where you have no reputation, or a low-season gap you cannot fill otherwise, the fee is the cost of a booking that would not exist.

Direct earns its margin on a different population: guests who have stayed before, guests they refer, and guests your own marketing brings. Judge the fee per guest source rather than per booking: a $1,000 stay from a stranger is worth $845 on Airbnb and nothing without it, while the same stay from a returning guest is worth $970.70 direct.

Splitting the difference with a direct discount

The gap between $970.70 and $845 funds a direct discount. Against Airbnb's 15.5% the ceiling is 12.98% (0.845 divided by 0.971), and against Vrbo's 12% it is 9.37%.

A 5% direct discount takes the $1,000 stay to $950 for the guest and $922.15 for the host, $77.15 ahead of Airbnb and $42.15 ahead of Vrbo. A 10% discount takes it to $900 and $873.60: still $28.60 ahead of Airbnb but $6.40 behind Vrbo's new rate. Why a returning guest rarely needs the full discount is in the returning guest discount post.

To run the arithmetic on your own revenue and channel mix, use Haven's free Airbnb and Vrbo fee calculator, which shows what a share of direct bookings saves in a year.

FAQ

Which pays the host more on the same booking, Airbnb or Vrbo?

Vrbo, on the host side: $880 against $845 on a $1,000 subtotal for bookings made on or after October 29, 2026. Vrbo still adds an undisclosed traveler fee at checkout, so at an equal guest total the gap narrows and can reverse.

How much more does a direct booking pay than Airbnb?

$125.70 on a $1,000 stay: $970.70 after Stripe's 2.9% plus 30 cents against $845 after Airbnb's 15.5%. On a $2,500 week the difference is $314.70, and on a $550 weekend it is $69.

Does Booking.com pay more than Airbnb?

Marginally, before its payment fee: $850 at the 15% average commission against $845. If Payments by Booking.com collects the card, the 1.1% to 3.1% fee takes the payout to $819 to $839, below Airbnb.

How large a direct discount can I offer and still come out ahead?

Up to 12.98% against an Airbnb booking and 9.37% against a Vrbo booking at the new 12% rate, using Stripe's 2.9% as the direct cost. A 5% discount keeps the host $77.15 ahead of Airbnb on a $1,000 stay; a 10% discount keeps $28.60.

Do these numbers change outside the US?

Yes, where tax applies to the fee. UK hosts who are not VAT registered pay 18.6% on Airbnb and 14.4% on Vrbo, Australian hosts who are not GST registered pay 17.05% on Airbnb, and Canadian hosts pay 16.275% after 5% GST. Registered hosts generally recover the tax.

Sources

• Airbnb Help Center — Airbnb service fees (accessed October 2026)
• Airbnb Resource Center — Simplifying Airbnb service fees (accessed October 2026)
• Airbnb Help Center — Value Added Tax (VAT) and how it applies to you (accessed October 2026)
• Airbnb Newsroom — Total price display is now standard for guests worldwide (accessed October 2026)
• Expedia Group newsroom — Vrbo Compensation Model Changes (October 1, 2026; accessed October 2026)
• Vrbo Help — How is the booking fee calculated (accessed October 2026)
• Vrbo Help — About Vrbo's service fee (accessed October 2026)
• Booking.com Partner Help — Understanding our commission (accessed October 2026)
• Stripe — Pricing (accessed October 2026)
• Stripe — UK pricing (accessed October 2026)
• Rental Scale-Up — Airbnb's 15.5% Host-Only Fee Is Coming for All Hosts (accessed October 2026)
• Rental Scale-Up — Airbnb Host Fee VAT: Why 15.5% Is Really 19.1% (accessed October 2026)