# How do I create a direct-booking website for my Airbnb? Canonical: https://www.airflowhq.com/answers/direct-booking-website-for-airbnb Last checked: 2026-10-04 Source: Airflow (https://www.airflowhq.com) ## Short answer A direct-booking website needs four things: a page describing the property, a calendar that knows your real availability, a way to take payment, and your Airbnb dates blocked so you cannot be double-booked. Every Airflow listing gets a booking page with all four. The Website + Hosting add-on turns it into a full multi-page website on your own domain. Guests pay into your own Stripe or Paystack account, and each booking lands in the same calendar and accounts as your Airbnb bookings. ## Why a website alone does not get you bookings A website builder gives you pages. It does not know that Airbnb sold next weekend, it cannot quote a price for five nights with a cleaning fee, and its contact form leaves you to arrange payment by email. Most hosts who try end up with an attractive brochure and a form. The parts that make a site bookable are the unglamorous ones: live availability, a price calculation, payment with a deposit and a balance, a confirmation, and the dates closing everywhere else. Those are what to check before choosing how to build it. ## How to do it with Airflow 1. **Add your property**: Enter the name, location, capacity, nightly rate and minimum stay, and upload photos. If you already have a website, Airflow's assistant can read it and fill in the description, photos and branding for you to confirm. 2. **Block your Airbnb dates**: Paste your Airbnb calendar link into the listing and paste Airflow's calendar link into Airbnb. Dates now block both ways, and Airflow reads Airbnb's link every hour. 3. **Connect payment**: Connect your own Stripe account, or Paystack for cards and M-Pesa in Kenya. Set a deposit and when the balance is due. Money goes to your account; Airflow does not hold it. 4. **Publish**: Your booking page is live on a free airflowhost.com address straight away. Add Website + Hosting for gallery, about, contact and reviews pages, and point a domain you own at it; the certificate is issued and renewed for you. ## What the guest sees The booking flow on an Airflow booking page. - 1. Dates: A calendar showing only nights that are free - 2. Price: Nights, seasonal rates, discounts, cleaning fee and extras, calculated at once - 3. Details: Name, email, phone, number of guests - 4. Payment: Card through your Stripe or Paystack account, or bank transfer - 5. Confirmation: A confirmation code and a link to their guest portal You can click through a complete demonstration site, and its checkout in a sandbox, at airflowhq.com/websites. ## Already have a website? Keep it. The Airflow booking widget embeds on any site, and there is a WordPress plugin. Your pages stay as they are and the widget supplies the calendar, price and checkout. The widget and shareable booking links are available on every plan. ## Staying within Airbnb's rules Airbnb does not allow you to use its messaging to move a guest who found you there off the platform for that booking. A direct website is for guests who find you elsewhere, and for guests who return: your name on the welcome book, the guest portal and your follow-up after the stay are the legitimate routes back to you. ## Other ways to do this - **A general website builder plus a booking plugin**: Wix, Squarespace or WordPress with a booking plugin gives the most design freedom. You connect the calendar sync and payment yourself, and the bookings stay separate from your accounts. - **A property management system with a site builder**: Lodgify, Hostaway and similar systems include a website builder alongside a channel manager. A good fit if you also want rates pushed to channels through their APIs; priced accordingly. - **A "paste your Airbnb link" site generator**: Several newer services build a one-page site from your Airbnb listing in minutes. Quick to launch. Check how payment is taken, who holds the money and whether bookings reach your accounts. - **A custom-built site**: A developer or agency can build exactly what you want. Highest cost, and you still need a booking engine behind it. ## What Airflow does not do - Airflow does not copy your reviews or listing from Airbnb automatically; it can read an existing website of your own. - A website does not bring traffic by itself. You still need guests to find it; Airflow Stay, launching soon, is built to help with that, and listing on it is free. - Card processing fees are charged by Stripe or Paystack on top of any Airflow commission. ## Frequently asked questions ### How do I create my own holiday-rental booking website? Add your property to Airflow, link your other calendars, connect a payment account and publish. You get a booking page at once, and the Website + Hosting add-on makes it a full website on your own domain. It works the same whether or not you are on Airbnb. ### Can I have a direct booking website and stay on Airbnb? Yes. Most hosts run both. The calendar links keep the dates in step so a direct booking blocks Airbnb and an Airbnb booking blocks your site. ### Can I use my own domain? Yes. With the Website + Hosting add-on, on any plan including Free, you point a domain you own at your Airflow site. Without it your page sits on a free airflowhost.com address. ### Who receives the guest's payment? You do. Guests pay into your own Stripe or Paystack account. Airflow never holds the money. ### What does Airflow charge on a direct booking? A commission on bookings paid through your booking page or widget, at a rate that depends on your plan, well below the commission booking platforms charge. Card processing fees are separate. The rates are on the pricing page. ### Is there a free option? Yes. The Free plan includes your own booking page and booking widget for one listing, with commission per booking. A card is needed at sign-up. ### How long does it take to set up? The booking page can be live the same day: property details, photos, a calendar link and a payment connection. A full website on your own domain depends mainly on how quickly you update your domain settings. ## Related - [See an Airflow website and how it was built](https://www.airflowhq.com/websites) - [Your custom booking website](https://www.airflowhq.com/blog/help-custom-booking-website) - [WordPress booking widget](https://www.airflowhq.com/integrations/wordpress) - [Import your website with AI](https://www.airflowhq.com/blog/import-your-website-with-ai) - [Airflow Stay for hosts](https://www.airflowhq.com/stay) Get started at https://www.airflowhq.com/get-started. Plans and prices: https://www.airflowhq.com/pricing.