Airbnb's 15.5% Host-Only Fee: How to Reprice Without Losing Payout (2026)

Airbnb is ending the split service fee. Instead of a 3% host fee plus a guest fee of around 14% added at checkout, home hosts now pay one service fee of 15.5%, deducted from the payout, and guests see a single price. Hosts outside the European Economic Area had until 15 September 2026 to adjust their prices. In the EEA and Switzerland the deadline is 13 October 2026.

The short answer: to keep the same payout per night, raise your Airbnb prices by about 15% (14.8% exactly). Airbnb's own example takes a $100 night to $115: the guest pays what they paid before, and you still receive $97. If you change nothing, the same $100 night pays you $84.50.

What exactly changes on 13 October?

• One fee, paid by the host. Most hosts pay 15.5%. Listings in Brazil and Mexico pay 16%, and Airbnb says the remaining hosts typically pay between 14% and 16%.
• No separate service fee for guests. The price you set is the price guests see, before taxes.
• Only new bookings. Reservations made before your switch keep the old fee structure.
• No way back. Once your account uses the single fee, you can't return to the split fee.
• Software-connected hosts moved first. The single fee is already mandatory for hosts who use property management software and for hospitality listings. The September and October deadlines cover everyone else.

Sources: Airbnb's Resource Center article Simplifying service fees on Airbnb (published 7 July 2026, updated 24 August 2026) and Airbnb Help article How Airbnb service fees work.

How much should you raise your prices?

It depends on what you want to protect. Here are the three options, with a $100 night as the example. The maths is the same in euros.

Keep your current payout: +14.8%, rounded to 15%

Under the split fee you received $97 for a $100 night (100 minus 3%). With a 15.5% fee, the price that still pays $97 is 97 divided by 0.845, so $114.79. Rounded to $115, that is Airbnb's own recommendation and what its price adjustment tool applies. Guests pay roughly what they paid before, because the old guest fee was about the same size as your increase.

Receive your full listed price: +18.3%

If you want the payout to equal the price you used to list ($100), the new price is 100 divided by 0.845, so $118.34. Guests then pay a few percent more than before, which can cost you bookings in competitive weeks. Keep this level for dates that sell out anyway.

Do nothing: 12.9% less per night

A $100 night now pays $84.50 instead of $97. On $30,000 of yearly Airbnb bookings, that is about $3,750 less for exactly the same stays.

VAT in Europe

Where Airbnb's fee carries VAT and you are not VAT-registered, Airbnb's tool adds that VAT to the adjustment. Its example with 20% VAT (the standard rate in France) takes $100 to $119. VAT-registered hosts who self-assess VAT stay at $115.

What will guests see?

One price: the one you set, plus taxes where they apply. There is no longer a service fee line at checkout. With the 15% markup, a guest pays about what they paid before the change, so your position against similar listings doesn't move. A listing that keeps its old price looks cheaper than before but quietly earns 13% less per night.

Your prices come from a channel manager? Change them there

Airbnb's price adjustment tool raises the prices stored on Airbnb. If a channel manager or PMS sends your rates, its next update overwrites those prices, and you are back to the old price with the new fee. The markup has to live where your prices come from.

In Nowistay you can raise Airbnb only, without touching your base rates, Booking.com, VRBO, Expedia or your direct-booking prices:

1. Go to Properties, open the … menu on the property card and choose Synchronization.
2. In the Property Synchronization drawer, click the Channel settings icon next to Airbnb.
3. On the Rate Adjustment tab, enter 15 in Rate adjustment (%). Enter 19 if you are in the EEA, not VAT-registered, and want to match Airbnb's VAT-inclusive figure.
4. Click Save.

Your calendar keeps showing your base rate; only the prices sent to Airbnb carry the increase. The full walkthrough is in How to manage your rental prices.

What about cleaning fees and extra-guest fees?

Under the split model, Airbnb calculated the host fee on your nightly price plus the fees you charge, such as cleaning. Airbnb's help pages don't spell out the base of the new single fee, so check the breakdown on your first payout after the switch. If the 15.5% also applies to your cleaning fee, raise it in the same proportion to keep it whole.

Should you raise prices on every channel?

No. This is Airbnb's change. Booking.com and VRBO follow their own commission rules, and a direct booking costs you no platform commission at all. Raising Airbnb by 15% while keeping your direct price at your base rate widens the gap in favour of direct bookings, which is worth pointing out to returning guests. The complete guide to direct bookings shows how to set that up, and how to cut Airbnb and Booking.com fees covers the other levers.

A side effect French hosts should check: higher gross receipts

Raising your price to keep the same payout also raises your gross receipts, and French thresholds are measured on gross receipts, before platform fees. For 2025 income, the micro-BIC regime is capped at €15,000 for an unclassified furnished tourist rental (30% allowance) and €77,700 for a classified one (50% allowance). Above €23,000 of yearly receipts, a short-stay furnished tourist rental is also subject to URSSAF social contributions (service-public.fr, checked 21 February 2026). A host at €14,000 a year can cross €15,000 without earning a euro more. Run your projection with your accountant before year-end.

Checklist for this week

1. Check your payout settings on Airbnb. If the split fee is still selected, the change applies to you.
2. Pick your target per season. +15% keeps your payout; up to +18% on dates that always sell.
3. Apply the markup where your prices come from. On Airbnb if you price there, in your channel manager if it sends your rates.
4. Review cleaning and extra-guest fees after your first payout under the new fee.
5. Keep your direct-booking price at your base rate so returning guests have a reason to book direct.
6. In France, recheck your yearly receipts against the micro-BIC and URSSAF thresholds.

If you run several listings, the markup is a single setting per channel in Nowistay, and it never changes the base prices in your calendar. Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO, Expedia and your own booking page each get the price that matches their commission, from one place.