Free calculator · Direct bookings
How many direct bookings pay for your website?
Each guest who books on your own website instead of a platform keeps the commission with you, minus a few per cent for your booking system. Put in your prices: you see how many direct bookings pay for a website, and what you gain over one and three years.
Calculator
- Saved on each direct booking
- —
- Direct bookings to pay for the website (one-off cost)
- —
- Gained in the first year
- —
| Direct bookings a year to cover the running costs | — |
|---|---|
| Gained each following year | — |
| Gained over three years | — |
“Saved” is the platform commission you no longer pay, minus the cost of taking the booking yourself. It assumes the guest would have booked with you anyway, only through a platform.
What “saved” means here
A direct booking is not free: your booking system and your card provider take their share. What you save is the difference between the platform’s commission and that cost. With 15% commission and 3% of direct costs, you keep 12% of the stay more than you would through the platform.
The calculator counts only the guests who would otherwise have booked through a platform. That is the prudent way to judge a website: the guests it brings who would never have found you are extra.
Where direct bookings come from
- Returning guests, if your website makes rebooking easy and they booked with you directly the first time.
- Google and Google Maps: people who search for your name or your area and land on your site rather than a platform. A tidy Google Business Profile helps.
- Word of mouth: friends of past guests, local businesses, walking and golf groups.
- Guests from abroad, who stay on a site in their own language. Twenty of the 21 Irish sites we reviewed were in English only.
Ways to win more of them, one by one: 10 ways to get more direct bookings. To compare platforms first, use the Airbnb and Booking.com fee calculator.
Questions
How many direct bookings does it take to pay for a website?
It depends on your prices and your commission. At €120 a night, stays of 2.5 nights and 15% commission, with 3% for your booking system and card fees, each direct booking saves about €36: a €590 website is paid for after 17 direct bookings, and about 9 more a year cover €300 of yearly running costs. Put in your own figures above.
Should I count every booking on my website as a saving?
No. Count only the guests who would otherwise have booked through a platform: returning guests, people who found you on Google Maps, or friends of past guests. Guests who would not have come at all are a bonus on top.
What are the running costs of a website?
Hosting, security updates and backups, small changes, the domain name and, if you have one, the booking system subscription. Some booking systems charge a monthly fee, others a small percentage per booking. Our guide to booking engines compares the main ones.
Is this calculator saving my figures?
No. Everything is worked out in your browser; nothing you type is sent to us or stored.
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