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Airbnb Service Fees: Split Fee vs Host-Only Fee

How fee structures work on Airbnb and the options available to hosts.

Pierre-Camille Hamana avatar
Written by Pierre-Camille Hamana
Updated this week

Airbnb offers two service fee setups: a host-only (single) fee and a split fee.

Starting October 27, 2025, most hosts who use a property management software (PMS), including Hospitable, will automatically transition to Airbnb's host-only fee structure. You can learn more about this fee on Airbnb.

Note that this change applies only to new reservations made on or after October 27, 2025, and does not affect bookings confirmed prior to this date.

Airbnb's Single Host-Only Fee

On a host-only fee, the host is responsible for paying the full service fee. However, you can use markups to offset this cost!

With this structure, the entire 15.5% fee is deducted from the host payout. On October 27, we’ll begin applying a 15.5% service fee to your listing price to determine your payout. This one fee reflects Airbnb’s current worldwide average service charges, which are usually divided between hosts and guests.

Airbnb Split Fee

A split fee structure means the fee is split between both guests and hosts.

This usually means a 3% fee for the host and between 14.1-16.5% for the guest.

This is a higher total fee than the host-only fee!

Marking up your prices to account for the change does not disadvantage your guests and will not make your pricing less competitive.

How to Move From a Split Fee to a Host-Only Fee

In preparation for Airbnb's shift on October 27, Hospitable has created a handy transition tool to automatically increase your markups for you. We'll automatically apply your new markups at the time of the switch.

Look for the tool on your account dashboard, or under Properties > Pricing:

What markup rate should I use?

We're automatically recalculating the markup rate for you ensuring that you get the exact same payout at the end. We'll also be applying that markup to fees, the way that Airbnb does.

Expand the arrow under Details to see the full calculation.

You can keep our suggestions, or make changes!

How does the math work? Why are you suggesting a markup greater than 15.5%?

The service fee is taken from the total post markup, so the math isn't as simple as adding 15.5% to your current markup.

Let's assume your nightly rate is $100 and you currently have a 10% markup, just to illustrate.

This is how that would break down under the split-fee:

  • Listing price: $110

  • Commission (3%): $3.30

  • Host payout: $106.70

Now if we were to use addition:

  • New markup: 10% + 14.79% = 24.79%

  • Listing price: $124.79

  • Commission (15.5%): $19.34

  • Host payout: $105.45

  • Loss: $1.25

Whereas if we use multiplication:

  • New markup: (1.10) × 1.1479 - 1 = 26.27%

  • Listing price: $126.27

  • Commission (15.5%): $19.57

  • Host payout: $106.70

  • Perfect match!

This is the logic of how we've calculated the suggested rates. Ultimately, you can override and change these whenever you like. Our goal is to ensure that the switch happening on Airbnb's side does not negatively impact you or your owners.


The following video gives a good overview of the different fee structures and the benefits of switching to the host-only fee.

This video was recorded before Airbnb's announcement that all PMS-connected accounts must switch to the host-only fee on October 27, 2025.


FAQs About Airbnb Fee Structures

Who is charged the host-only fee?

As of October 27, the host-only fee will be mandatory for software-connected hosts, regardless of where they're located. You can learn more here. These hosts will not be able to opt out of the host-only fee.

What is the percentage of the host-only fee?

  • After October 27, 2025: The Host-only fee will be increased to 15.5% (Some pay more, including some hosts with listings in Italy and Brazil). See more about this here.

  • You can look up your percentage in Airbnb account settings > Payments and Payouts > Service fee or by checking a reservation in Earnings.

  • Airbnb Plus hosts, and hosts who use Super Strict cancellation "may pay more".

Will I lose money with a host-only fee?

It may seem like you're making less with a host-only fee, but you're not. This change gives you more control since you'll set the guest-facing price. This also means no surprise fees for your guests.

Is the markup applied to my cleaning fee?

Yes, in conjunction with this change, we'll be applying markups to all fees.

How can I set the markup for October 27 instead of using Hospitable's calculations?

Simply type your desired percentage in the box to the right of the arrow to indicate the final markup, removing our suggested markup.

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