Airbnb & VRBO Host Fee Calculator
Calculate what booking platforms take from you every year — and what going direct would save.
Platform fees feel small per booking and enormous per year. Three percent here, five percent there — across a full calendar it quietly becomes one of your largest line items. This calculator shows your annual platform cost and what happens if you move even a fraction of bookings to your own direct booking site.
Direct isn’t free either — card processing costs real money — so the comparison below includes it honestly.
What each platform actually charges hosts
Airbnb’s default split-fee model costs hosts about 3% (guests pay a service fee of roughly 14% on top of your price). Airbnb’s host-only model runs 14–16%. VRBO’s pay-per-booking plan is 5% commission plus 3% payment processing, about 8% total. Booking.com commissions are usually around 15%. Direct bookings through your own site cost only payment processing — Stripe charges 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction.
Why repeat guests are the easy win
You don’t need to leave the platforms. The realistic play is capturing the guests who already know you: past guests, referrals, and people who find your property by name. If a quarter of your bookings come direct, you keep the platform fee difference on every one of them — and you own the guest relationship, the email address, and the review.
What a direct booking setup needs
A booking page with live availability, online payment, a rental agreement, and automated confirmation emails. That used to mean cobbling together four services. HostMoat’s Pro plan includes a hosted direct booking website with Stripe payments, e-sign contracts, invoices, and a guest portal — synced to the same calendar as your Airbnb and VRBO listings so you can’t double-book.
Frequently asked
Does the calculator include what guests pay in fees?
No — it measures your host-side cost. But guest fees matter for pricing: on Airbnb split-fee, guests pay ~14% on top of your rate, which is one reason a direct price can beat the platform price while still netting you more.
Is a direct booking really fee-free?
You still pay card processing (Stripe is 2.9% + 30¢). The calculator deducts that, so the savings figure is the honest difference, not a marketing number.
Will platforms penalize me for taking direct bookings?
Taking direct bookings on your own website with your own guests is your business. What platform terms prohibit is diverting a guest who contacted you through the platform off-platform for that booking.
How do I keep direct bookings from causing double-bookings?
Use software that holds one master calendar. HostMoat imports your Airbnb and VRBO iCal feeds and exports its own feed back to them, so a direct booking blocks those nights everywhere.
Keep going
More free tools: Airbnb Profit Calculator · STR ROI Calculator