Booking sites · Vacation rentals · Campgrounds and glamping · Inns and B&Bs

Airbnb: fees, rules and your own website

Airbnb charges hosts a single 15.5% service fee in most countries, taken out of your payout. It’s worth being on if you run a vacation rental, cabin or unique stay, because it brings you guests who have never heard of you. Your own website can’t be linked from your listing or messages, so the work is making sure the guests who already know you can find it.

What hosts pay
15.5% host fee
Best for
Vacation rentals, Campgrounds and glamping, Inns and B&Bs
Connects through booking software
Yes, 28 booking systems covered here list it
Your own website
No. Links that send guests off Airbnb aren’t allowed in listings or messages.

Fees and rules checked October 2026

From the front deskComal Inn is listed on Airbnb, but it’s a small share of our bookings. We sit between an inn and a vacation rental, and most of our guests book the way they’d book a small hotel.

Who lists on Airbnb

Vacation homes, cabins and unique stays like domes, treehouses and tiny homes make up most of Airbnb. Some inns, B&Bs and boutique hotels list there too.

What it costs

  • A single 15.5% host service fee on your nightly price and any fees you add, like cleaning or pet fees. It comes out of your payout. Listings in Brazil and Mexico pay 16%.
  • Airbnb moved from a split fee, shared between host and guest, to this single host fee in 2026.

Your own website and guest contact

  • All messages before a booking have to stay on Airbnb.
  • No links in your listing or messages that send guests away from Airbnb or to another way to book.
  • No discounts for booking off Airbnb, and no rebooking or extending a reservation off Airbnb.
  • Mandatory fees go in Airbnb’s fee fields, so guests see the full price before they book. Some software-connected hosts can collect them off Airbnb, as long as they still show in the price.
  • For reservations booked on or after November 20, 2026, hosts generally can’t ask guests for their email or phone number, require their own rental agreement in most cases, or use Wi-Fi logins that ask for an email.

How it connects

Most booking software connects to Airbnb directly, keeping rates, calendars and messages in sync. Without booking software, you can sync calendars between Airbnb and other sites so the same nights don’t get booked twice.

Most booking software also works as a channel manager, so your rates and open dates stay in sync here, on your own website and on every other site you connect. How that works, with Comal Inn's setup.

Booking software covered on Firsthand Stays that lists Airbnb:

What I’d do

Keep Airbnb. It’s good at finding you new guests. Then give the guests who already know you, like neighbors, past guests and people who search your name on Google, a website and a name they can find. Outside of Airbnb, share your own website, not your Airbnb link.

Questions

What is Airbnb’s host service fee?

A single 15.5% service fee in most countries, on your nightly price and any fees you add. It’s 16% for listings in Brazil and Mexico.

Can I put my website link in my Airbnb listing?

No. Airbnb doesn’t allow links in listings or messages that send guests away from Airbnb or to another way to book.

Can I ask Airbnb guests for their email?

Not for reservations booked on or after November 20, 2026, in most cases. Airbnb’s updated rules bar hosts from asking guests for personal details like email or phone number during booking or the stay.

Can I collect a security deposit outside Airbnb?

Most hosts can’t charge deposits or holds. Select software-connected hosts can collect them off Airbnb if they’re shown in the fee fields before booking.

Sources

From Airbnb's own website and help center unless noted, checked October 2026. Fees and rules change, so confirm with Airbnb before you decide. Firsthand Stays isn't affiliated with Airbnb.

Other booking sites

All booking sites

Keep Airbnb. Add a direct option.

A direct booking website runs on the same booking software as your channels, so rates and dates stay in sync everywhere.

See direct booking websites