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Real Estate · News · Rentals

Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com Fees in 2026: Should You Book Direct?

Carlos Ramírez Casanova
Written byCarlos Ramírez CasanovaOperations Director · Managing Broker
9 min read

The rental platforms changed what they charge owners this year. Airbnb now takes 15.5% of most bookings from the owner, Vrbo moves to 12% from 29 October, and Booking.com already charges around 15%. On a rental in Las Terrenas that is real money, and it raises the obvious question: why not take bookings directly and keep the commission?

The short answer is that direct booking does save the fee, and it is worth building. But it is not free money. You take on the jobs the platform was doing for its commission, and the platforms keep the guests they bring, repeat stays included. Direct booking works for guests who find you some other way. This post sets out the changes, what direct booking saves, and the quirks that come with it.

What changed on the platforms

Airbnb. Most hosts used to be on a split fee: you paid 3% and the guest paid a separate service fee of 14.1% to 16.5% at checkout. Airbnb is moving all home hosts to a single fee, taken from the owner, of 15.5% for most hosts, with nothing added for the guest. In its shareholder letter for the second quarter of 2026 the company said it began with hosts on property management software in late 2025, and announced in July that most remaining hosts would move, with the migration expected to finish this year. The switch is one-way and applies to new bookings only.

Vrbo. Vrbo, part of Expedia Group, moves owners to a flat 12% commission from 29 October 2026, as Skift reported, up from 8% for owners not on property software and 5% for managers who are. Unlike Airbnb, Vrbo has said travellers will in most cases still see a service fee at checkout. Skift also reports that its new terms add a rate parity clause, covered below.

Booking.com. Skift reports that Booking charges owners around 15% and guests no booking fee. Booking’s partner help centre says the exact percentage depends on your country, property type and the accommodation agreement you signed, so yours is the figure in that agreement and on your reservation statements. If a statement shows more than your contract, Booking says you may be in a marketing programme such as Preferred Partner. We have found no public announcement of a general Booking.com fee change this year.

What it does to your payout

The trap is the same on every platform: if you leave your price where it was, the higher fee comes straight out of what you keep.

Take a nightly price of $233 USD as an illustration, close to the Las Terrenas average AirROI reports for the twelve months to September 2026. On the old split fee you kept $226 a night. On the single fee at the same price you keep $197, which is $29 a night, or 12.9%, gone. Repriced to $267, you keep $226 again, and the guest pays $267, inside the $266 to $271 they paid before once Airbnb’s fee was added. Handled properly, the change is close to neutral for both sides. AirROI counts 76% of Las Terrenas listings as already on the single fee, so if your account switched and you did not reprice, that loss is already happening.

To keep a payout on any platform, divide the payout you want by one minus that platform’s rate: 0.845 on Airbnb, 0.88 on Vrbo if its 12% is the whole charge, and one minus your own contracted rate on Booking. Simply adding the percentage to your price falls short, because the fee is then taken from the higher price too.

The direct booking option

A direct booking is one the guest makes with you, or with your manager, without a platform in between: through your own website, by email or WhatsApp, or by phone. No platform commission is taken.

On the same $267 USD night, the 15.5% Airbnb keeps is about $41, or close to $290 across a week. On a direct booking, that commission stays with you.

Direct booking works best for:

  • Returning direct guests, who first booked with you directly and already know the property and you.
  • Referrals, friends and family of people who have stayed, who contact you themselves.
  • Longer stays from guests who reach you directly, where the commission on a month adds up.
  • People who find you independently, through a website or a local agency.

It does not work for a guest who found the property on a platform. That guest, and their repeat stays, belong to the platform, for reasons that follow.

The quirks of booking direct

The platforms limit how you can win direct guests. Airbnb’s pricing and payment transparency policy says guests and hosts “must keep payments for mandatory fees and for current, future, or repeat bookings on the Airbnb platform”. Hosts may not offer discounts to book off Airbnb, ask guests to communicate off-platform before booking, put links in listings or messages that take people off Airbnb, rebook or extend an Airbnb reservation off-platform, or collect mandatory fees off-platform. Airbnb’s policy on host contracts and personal data also bars using guests’ contact details for marketing, and on bookings from 20 November 2026 bars asking guests for contact details such as an email address or phone number. Breaking these rules can lead to warnings, suspension or removal. So neither an Airbnb listing nor its guests can be used as a funnel to your own bookings. Direct guests have to find you some other way.

Vrbo’s rate parity clause sets a floor. Under Vrbo’s new terms, as Skift describes them, you must give Vrbo a rate at least as low as the one you offer on any other channel, including your own website. If the property is on Vrbo, you can take direct bookings, but you cannot offer a cheaper direct price to win them. Read the terms in your own Vrbo account, and check any other platform agreement you hold for similar terms.

Getting paid is now your job. The platform collected the money, held it and paid you. Booking direct, you collect it yourself, usually by card or international transfer. Card processors charge a fee on every payment, so direct is cheaper than a platform but never free. Transfers take time and cost money, and a card payment can be disputed by the cardholder after the stay. Agree in writing how and when the guest pays, and take the balance before arrival.

You lose the platform’s protections, and gain your own terms. Platforms verify guests, carry reviews that tell you who you are dealing with, and run their own damage and dispute processes. Booking direct, none of that exists unless you build it: asking for identification, taking a security deposit, and having a short written rental agreement covering dates, payment, cancellation, house rules, the deposit and damage. If a guest cancels late or leaves damage, you are the one who has to recover the money. On Airbnb bookings made from 20 November 2026, Airbnb’s new house rules stop most hosts asking for a contract or a government ID, except where the law or a few limited cases allow it, and stop hosts imposing fines. On a direct booking, those terms are yours to set. Ask your insurer in writing whether your policy covers short-term letting; our property insurance guide explains what Dominican policies cover.

Someone has to find the guests. The platforms’ real product is demand. A website with no visitors books nobody. Direct bookings grow over seasons from guests who found you directly, their referrals, and a website or local agency that new guests can find.

The rules and the paperwork do not change. Talk to your accountant about how rental income is declared, whichever way it is booked.

It takes time. Enquiries at all hours and in several languages, payments, check-in and screening fall on you or your manager, which is worth costing before assuming direct is cheaper.

A sensible mix in Las Terrenas

The practical answer is both, kept apart. Let the platforms bring their guests, priced correctly after this year’s changes, and keep those guests and their repeat stays on the platform. Build direct bookings from people who reach you another way, through your own website, referrals and a local agency. If you are on Vrbo, keep your direct price no lower than your Vrbo price, and give direct guests a reason to come back other than a cut-price rate.

Every short-term rental on our rentals page is listed on Airbnb, and a few can also be booked direct, which is the arrangement this post describes. If someone manages your rental for a percentage, ask in writing whether it is calculated on the price the guest pays or on your payout after the platform’s fee. On a single-fee Airbnb booking the two are 15.5% apart.

The right mix depends on the property, its calendar and how much of the work you want to take on. If you would like help setting up the right strategy for yours, call or message our property management team.

Two Dominican rules still pending

Neither platform fee is Dominican regulation. Two local changes have been proposed, and neither had been adopted as of October 2026:

  • A register for short-term rentals. The Ministerio de Turismo consulted on a draft register, RENATUR, this year and withdrew it in July to talk with the sector. If it returns, it would apply to the property, however it is booked.
  • ITBIS on the platforms. In May the DGII said it was preparing to collect 18% ITBIS from foreign digital platforms such as Airbnb. No rule has been issued, so do not build it into your prices yet.

What to do this month

  • Check whether your Airbnb account is on the single fee, and reprice every listing using the divide-by-0.845 rule, now if it has switched or on the day it does.
  • On Vrbo, check the commission shown for your listing after 29 October, and make sure no direct price undercuts your Vrbo price.
  • On Booking.com, check the rate in your agreement against your latest reservation statement.
  • Before you take a direct booking, have a written rental agreement, a deposit and a way to take payment in place.
  • Build direct bookings from guests who find you outside the platforms, and keep Airbnb guests and their repeat stays on Airbnb.
  • Do it before December, when the winter calendar starts to fill.

Your own account terms may differ by region and by how you are connected to each platform, so confirm them with the platform. Figures confirmed October 2026.

Sources

Filed underReal Estate·News·Rentals
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