How much do Booking.com and Airbnb really cost a B&B?

Booking.com: a rate in your contract

Booking.com charges “a set percentage of the value of each reservation”, worked out on the total value of the booking. It does not publish one rate: the percentage is in your contract and varies by country and type of property. Third-party guides usually quote 10% to 25%, with about 15% as a common figure, but the only reliable number is your own, in your extranet or your monthly invoice.

Three things can push the real cost above that contract rate:

• Preferred Partner and Visibility Booster. These programmes give you more visibility in exchange for a higher commission on the bookings they bring. The extranet’s Opportunities section shows the total rate for each one. Genius works mainly through the discounts you give (next point).
• Discounts. Genius discounts and special offers lower the price the guest pays, and so what you earn per night.
• Payments by Booking.com. If Booking.com collects the money for you, your payouts arrive net of commission and payment fees.

Airbnb: 15.5% for most hosts

Airbnb has two ways of charging:

Fee structure	Host pays	Guest pays	Who it applies to
Host-only fee	15.5% for most hosts (14–16% for others)	Nothing on top	Mandatory for most hosts, including traditional hospitality listings and hosts who use property management software
Split fee	3% (sometimes more)	14.1–16.5%	Being phased out; once you switch to the single fee you cannot switch back

In practice, a B&B or guesthouse listed as traditional hospitality, or any host connected through a channel manager, pays the host-only fee, usually 15.5%. Airbnb shows the fee including VAT where it applies.

Vrbo: a flat 12%

Vrbo’s pay-per-booking model charges a “flat, all-in 12% commission fee”, which includes payment processing. Taxes and security deposits carry a 3% processing fee. You will still find older articles quoting 5% plus 3%: Vrbo’s own help page now says 12%.

What one booking costs you

Take a four-night stay at €140 a night, €560 in total:

Platform	Rate	Cost of that booking
Booking.com, at a 15% contract rate	15%	€84
Airbnb host-only fee	15.5%	€86.80
Vrbo	12%	€67.20

Over a season, that adds up quickly. The calculator below does the sum for your own prices and number of bookings; for a single booking with discounts and cleaning fees, use the Airbnb and Booking.com fee calculator.

Should you leave the platforms?

No. The platforms bring guests who would never have found you, and many first-time visitors will keep booking there. The point is different: guests who come back, guests who hear about you from a friend, and guests who find you on Google Maps can book with you directly, if your website makes that easy.

A direct booking is not free either: your booking system and your card payment provider usually take a few per cent. But it is a fraction of a platform’s commission, and the guest’s details stay with you. Our guide to booking engines for small B&Bs compares the main options and what they cost.

How to win more direct bookings

1. Make booking easy on your own site: a real booking button on every page, not an enquiry form. In our review of 21 Irish sites, only about six took bookings online. See the B&B website checklist.
2. Show your prices. Guests compare; a site that hides its rates sends them back to the platform.
3. Speak your guests’ languages. Twenty of the 21 sites we reviewed were in English only.
4. Make it easy to come back: guests who booked with you directly can rebook through your own confirmation and thank-you emails. Don’t leave “book direct” cards in the room: they also reach Airbnb guests, and Airbnb’s rules forbid steering its guests off the platform.