What Percentage Does Airbnb Take?

What percentage does Airbnb take from a booking? The number is 15.5% of the subtotal for virtually every host today. Airbnb finished retiring the older split-fee model in April 2026, automatically moving the last holdout accounts, including listings nobody had touched in years, onto the single host-only fee. Under that older model, the host paid roughly 3%, and the guest paid a separate 14.1% to 16.5% service fee at checkout. Either way, Airbnb’s total take landed in a similar band: somewhere around 15% to 17% of what the guest ultimately paid for the stay, per Airbnb’s own fee documentation.

Airbnb’s Two Fee Models: Host-Only vs. the Split Fee

Airbnb used to run on two different fee structures. As of April 2026, that’s history for nearly every host: Airbnb finished moving the last holdouts onto a single host-only fee, closing out a migration it started with property management software accounts back in 2025.

Under host-only pricing, Airbnb takes its entire fee out of the host’s payout. Most hosts pay 15.5% of the booking subtotal, and a smaller group, tied to specific regions or account types, pays somewhere between 14% and 16%. Guests see no separate Airbnb charge added at checkout, just one all-in price.

The split fee is now a legacy structure, not a live option for the vast majority of hosts. Under it, the host paid about 3% of the subtotal, and the guest paid a separate service fee of 14.1% to 16.5%, added on top of the listed rate at checkout. If you’re reading an older guide that describes split fee as the default for an untouched, never-connected-any-software listing, that’s out of date: Airbnb closed that gap in April 2026, and accounts like that were migrated along with everyone else.

Which Fee Model Applies to You?

Host-only pricing. If you’re asking which model your account is on, that’s almost certainly the answer now. Airbnb has long required host-only pricing for hosts who manage through property management software, and for hotel-like or professional hospitality listings.

The April 2026 migration closed the remaining gap: individual hosts who never connected software and never touched their fee settings were moved onto host-only pricing too, automatically, no action required on their end. Region and account type still explain the small variation within host-only pricing, the 14% to 16% band instead of the flat 15.5%, but they no longer decide which model you’re on. The one thing worth checking directly is what Airbnb actually deducted from your last payout, so you know exactly where in that range your listing falls.

What Guests Pay, and Why It Still Hits Your Bottom Line

Under host-only pricing, which is how nearly every booking works today, guests see no separate service fee at checkout. The total they pay is your listed rate plus taxes and any cleaning fee, nothing more. Under the older split model, retired for virtually every host as of April 2026, guests paid Airbnb’s fee on top of your rate, 14.1% to 16.5% of the booking subtotal.

Either way, the guest-facing number shapes your bookings even when it never touches your payout directly. A traveler comparing listings sees only the total price on offer. Set your nightly rate too high to cover a host-only fee, and a similar listing down the street wins the booking instead. Set it too low, and the fee eats further into your margin than you planned. Build your fee model into how you price the listing up front, so a payout report never has to break the news that the number was wrong.

Does Airbnb Reduce Its Fee for Stays of 28 Nights or More?

Not the way older host guides describe it. Airbnb’s own payments terms do treat bookings of 28 nights or more differently, but the documented difference is about payout timing, not a smaller cut. For a stay that long, Airbnb pays the host a first installment shortly after check-in, then continues paying out every 30 days rather than in one lump sum at the end of the reservation.

That schedule matters for cash flow if you’ve never hosted a monthly stay before, but it isn’t the same as a discounted host fee. Your host fee stays the same whether the stay is two nights or two months. The guest service fee usually does run lower on stays of 28 nights or more, though the exact reduction varies by booking. And if a long-term guest’s per-night cost looks lower, that’s often a discount you set yourself: Airbnb lets hosts offer their own percentage off for bookings of 28 nights or more, and that discount comes out of your listed rate, not Airbnb’s cut.

The Service Fee Is Not Your Only Airbnb Cost

The 15.5% service fee is the headline number, but it isn’t the only thing narrowing what you keep from a booking. A few other costs are worth adding to the math before you compare an Airbnb listing’s profitability to anything else.

• Cleaning and turnover labor. Every guest expects a freshly cleaned unit, so a two-night stay can trigger nearly the same cleaning bill as a two-week one.

• Faster wear on furniture and appliances. More move-ins and move-outs in a year means more wear than a single resident staying put would ever cause.

• Currency conversion and cross-border charges. When a guest pays in a different currency, or your bank treats Airbnb’s payment processor as a foreign transaction, expect a conversion fee that Airbnb itself doesn’t set or refund.

• Permits and occupancy tax. Many cities require a short-term rental permit and collection of a local occupancy or lodging tax, on top of whatever property tax you already owe.

None of this is a reason to avoid Airbnb. It’s a reason to run the full math, headline fee included, before you decide what a night on your property is actually worth.

How Does Airbnb’s Cut Compare to a Long-Term Rental?

On a long-term lease, there’s no per-booking platform fee at all. You sign a resident, rent comes in monthly, and nothing routes through a marketplace that takes a percentage off the top of every payment. Your main recurring cost shifts from a booking fee to property management, typically a percentage of monthly rent rather than a cut of each reservation.

That doesn’t automatically make a long-term lease the better move for every owner. It trades Airbnb’s per-booking fee and higher nightly rates for steadier income, fewer turnovers, and its own set of costs. We’ve laid out that full comparison, cash flow side by side, in our guide to short-term versus long-term rental investments. If you’re still deciding which strategy to buy for in the first place, our guide to investing in rental property for beginners is the better starting point.

How Does Airbnb Compare to Other Short-Term Rental Platforms?

Airbnb isn’t the only platform taking a cut, and the structures aren’t identical across the board. Some platforms charge only the host, some split the fee between host and guest the way Airbnb’s older model did, and the exact percentages vary by platform, property type, and region.

Vrbo, for example, charges hosts a combined fee of roughly 8% on its standard pay-per-booking plan (a 5% booking commission plus a 3% payment processing charge), plus a separate guest service fee that Vrbo says varies by reservation size. Booking.com typically runs as host-only, with commission rates that can land anywhere from roughly 10% up past 20% depending on property type, location, and program tier. If you list on more than one platform, pull each one’s current fee page directly rather than assume the numbers match Airbnb’s. They rarely do.

FAQ

Why does Airbnb charge a service fee?

The fee funds the platform itself: the website and app, guest and host support, payment processing, and the marketing that brings guests to your listing in the first place. It’s simply the cost of using the marketplace.

Can the Airbnb service fee percentage vary by listing?

Yes. Most hosts pay a flat 15.5% host-only fee, but a remaining group, tied to specific regions or account types like hotel-style listings, pays somewhere between 14% and 16%. Check your own payout details rather than assume the flat rate applies, since region and listing type decide where in that range you land.

What is Airbnb’s guest service fee?

Under the older split-fee model, retired for virtually every host as of April 2026, Airbnb charged guests a separate fee of 14.1% to 16.5% of the booking subtotal, shown at checkout before they confirmed the reservation. Under today’s host-only model, guests pay no separate Airbnb fee at all, just the total price the host sets plus taxes.

What is the host-only fee, and does it apply to hotel-like listings?

The host-only fee is the model where Airbnb takes its entire cut from the host’s payout instead of splitting it with the guest. Most hosts on this model pay 15.5%, and Airbnb requires it for hospitality-style and professionally managed listings, with the remaining range running 14% to 16%.

Does Airbnb reduce its fee for long-term stays of 28 nights or more?

Airbnb’s documentation confirms a different payout schedule for stays that long, paying hosts every 30 days instead of in one lump sum, but it does not currently document a reduced service fee tied to stay length. Any lower per-night cost a long-term guest sees is more often a discount the host chose to offer.

What other fees might hosts run into on Airbnb?

Beyond the service fee, hosts can face currency conversion and cross-border charges when a guest pays in a different currency, plus whatever a bank charges for handling an international payment. Reviewing payout details after each booking is the fastest way to catch anything unexpected.