Answers · Getting found by travellers
How do I reduce Airbnb booking fees?
Short answer
You cannot lower the fee Airbnb charges on an Airbnb booking. What you can change is how many of your bookings pay it. Price your Airbnb listing with the fee in mind, give returning guests a direct way to book, and add channels where more of the booking stays with you: your own booking page, and Airflow Stay, which is launching soon. Airflow gives each listing a booking page with payment into your own account, and records the Airbnb fee on every booking so you can see what it actually costs you.
Why the fee feels bigger than it looks
The fee is taken before the payout reaches you, so it never appears as a bill. Most hosts know the percentage and not the annual total, and that total is what would justify the effort of building a second source of bookings.
There is a second cost. A guest who books through a platform is the platform's customer. When they come back next year they return to the platform, and you pay the fee again on a guest you already earned.
How to do it with Airflow
- 1
See what you actually pay
Route your Airbnb confirmation emails to Airflow. Every booking records the host service fee as its own line, so your accounts show the year's total by property.
- 2
Price for the fee on Airbnb
Set your Airbnb rate so that what you receive after the fee is the amount you want. Airbnb allows you to set your own price.
- 3
Give returning guests a direct route
Publish your Airflow booking page. Every guest gets a guest portal carrying your name, and after their stay they have a direct way to book with you again.
- 4
Add channels where the guest stays yours
Switch on your Airflow Stay listing so you are included when it launches, and share your booking link wherever people already find you.
The same guest, twice
A guest who stays once through Airbnb and returns the next year. Illustrative only.
| Year one, booked on Airbnb | Airbnb's fee applies. No Airflow commission. |
|---|---|
| After the stay | The guest has your booking link and their guest portal |
| Year two, booked on your own page | No Airbnb fee. Airflow's booking page commission and the card fee apply. |
| What changed | You have their contact details and the booking is yours |
Airflow's booking page commission depends on your plan and is shown on the pricing page.
Staying within Airbnb's rules
Airbnb does not allow hosts to use its messages to take a booking that began on Airbnb off the platform, and doing so risks your listing. Everything on this page concerns other bookings: guests who return, guests who find you elsewhere, and guests who were always going to search for you by name.
Where Airflow Stay fits
Stay is a marketplace for places that book direct. It charges commission on bookings it brings you, so it is not free of fees. The difference is that the guest pays you and you receive their name and email, so a guest who comes through Stay once can book with you directly afterwards. It is launching soon; listing is free and hosts who list now are in from the start.
Other ways to do this
Airflow is one option. These are the others, and when each is the better choice.
- Raise your rate and change nothing else
- The simplest response, and enough for many hosts. It works until your price stops being competitive in search.
- Move weight to a platform with a different fee
- Booking.com and Vrbo charge differently from Airbnb. Compare what you keep after fees, not the headline percentage.
- A direct booking website from another provider
- Many tools offer a commission-free site for a monthly subscription. Compare the subscription against the commission you would pay on the number of direct bookings you realistically expect.
What Airflow does not do
- Airflow cannot change the fee Airbnb charges and does not move Airbnb bookings off Airbnb.
- Direct bookings through Airflow are not free: a commission and the card provider's fee apply.
- Airflow Stay has not launched to travellers yet.
Common questions
Can I negotiate Airbnb's host fee?
No. The fee is set by Airbnb. You can set your own nightly price to allow for it.
How do I see how much I pay Airbnb in fees each year?
Record the fee on every booking. Airflow reads it from each Airbnb confirmation email and puts it on its own line of the draft invoice, so your accounting package totals it by property.
Is it against Airbnb's rules to take direct bookings?
Taking direct bookings in general is not. Using Airbnb's messaging to move a booking that started on Airbnb off the platform is. Offer your direct route to guests who return or who find you elsewhere.
Are direct bookings really cheaper?
Usually, for guests who already know you. You pay a card fee and a booking page commission and do the work the platform did. For new guests, platforms still do the marketing.
Does Airflow Stay charge commission?
Yes, only on bookings that come to you from Airflow Stay and Airflow Guest, at a rate that depends on your plan. Listing is free. The rates are on the pricing page.
Should I leave Airbnb?
Rarely. Most hosts keep it for new guests and build a direct route for repeat ones, so that fewer bookings each year pay a platform fee.
Try it on your own bookings
Forward a few booking emails and look at what Airflow builds from them. A card is needed at sign-up.
Start with Airflow See plans and pricing