Pineapple Paradise Pier Park
Florida, USA
Airbnb host-only fee, explained for hosts by The Luxe Programs
Airbnb now keeps 15.5% of every booking. Keep it instead.
Airbnb's host-only service fee deducts 15.5% of the booking subtotal from the host's payout, 14% to 16% for some hosts and 16% in Brazil and Mexico. It is mandatory for hosts connected to property management software, who previously paid about 3%. On $100,000 of Airbnb revenue that is $15,500 a year. The Luxe Programs builds the direct booking system that moves repeat guests and search traffic off that fee.
- 15.5%of the subtotal, taken from the host's payout
- $15,500a year taken from $100,000 of Airbnb revenue
- 3%what most hosts paid before the host-only switch
What the host-only fee removes from one booking
| Booking subtotal | Host-only fee (15.5%) | Your payout before taxes | Old split-fee share (3%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | $155 | $845 | $30 |
| $2,500 | $387.50 | $2,112.50 | $75 |
| $5,000 | $775 | $4,225 | $150 |
| $10,000 | $1,550 | $8,450 | $300 |
At a glance
At a glance
- Company
- The Luxe Programs (theluxeprograms.co)
- What we do
- Build direct booking websites and the Google search, AI search and social content systems that cut a host's dependence on Airbnb's commission
- Who it is for
- Airbnb hosts and property managers on Hostaway, Guesty, Lodgify, OwnerRez, Hospitable or any PMS, who were moved to the 15.5% host-only fee
- The fee
- 15.5% host-only service fee on the booking subtotal (nightly rate, cleaning and other host fees, before taxes), per Airbnb's help article 1857
- Since when
- Mandatory for US and Canada software-connected hosts from 27 October 2025; new software-connected accounts from 25 August 2025
- What we change
- Repeat guests, referrals and search traffic book on your own site at about 3% card processing instead of 15.5%
- Pricing
- $1,299 one-time for The Digital Launch, or $1,299 setup plus $249 a month for The Continuous Growth Partnership. Portfolios of two or more properties are quoted separately
- Start
- Free Direct Booking Audit: we calculate your fee leak from your real numbers
Built by The Luxe Programs
Direct booking websites we have launched for hosts
Pacific Paradise Vacation
California, USA
The Big Chill
Auburn, Alabama, USA
Who this is for
- Hosts who saw their Airbnb payout drop in late 2025 without changing prices
- Property managers whose channel manager forced the host-only fee on every listing
- Operators with guests who return every year and still rebook through Airbnb
- Anyone who raised nightly rates to cover the fee and lost bookings to cheaper listings
What you get
A fee leak audit
We take your listings, nightly rate, occupancy and OTA share and show you the fee in dollars per year, per month and per day.
A direct booking website
Built and launched for you, synced to your PMS, with payments on the site at card-processing cost instead of 15.5%. A first version of the site is targeted within 3 to 5 working days of receiving your photos, listing details and PMS access, subject to integration dependencies.
Repeat guests captured
Email capture on your own site holds every guest's address, so the next stay is booked with you at about 3% instead of 15.5%.
Guests who find you first
Pages for the searches travelers type, facts AI tools can cite and 30 days of social content that ends at your booking page, so new guests reach your site before they reach Airbnb.
Free Direct Booking Audit
Start with a free audit of your listing
We review your listing, your current website and your numbers, then tell you plainly where fees and bookings are leaking and what we would build. No contracts. No long-term retainers. You own the website.
$1,299one-time for The Digital Launch, or $1,299 setup plus $249 a month with ongoing growth.
Who pays Airbnb's 15.5% host-only fee?
Any host whose listing is connected to property management software or a channel manager, plus hotels and traditional hospitality listings. Airbnb's help article says most of these hosts pay 15.5%, the remainder 14% to 16%, and 16% applies in Brazil and Mexico.
Can I switch back to the 3% split fee?
Not if your listing is software-connected. The split fee, where the guest pays 14.1% to 16.5% and the host about 3%, remains only for hosts without a PMS connection, and Airbnb has said it is moving all hosts to the single fee.
Does raising my nightly rate fix it?
Only partly. To net the same $970 you earned under the split fee on a $1,000 booking, the subtotal has to rise to about $1,148, which makes your listing look 15% more expensive than a neighbour who absorbed the fee.
How do direct bookings avoid the fee?
A booking taken on your own website carries only your payment processor's charge, about 3%, plus whatever you spend to bring the guest there. Repeat guests and referrals cost nothing to acquire, which is why they are the first stays we move direct.