Booking and Airbnb commissions: who publishes the number, and who doesn't

Whoever compares Booking and Airbnb is almost always after the same thing: which one costs less. That's the wrong question to start with, because the two platforms don't disclose commission the same way: one hides the percentage, the other states it plainly. Before looking at numbers, that's worth looking at first.

Booking.com doesn't publish its commission

The official page for partners, "Understanding our commission," contains no percentage and no general range. It states, in its own words, that commission depends on your country, your property type, and the agreement you signed when you joined, and points anyone who wants their own figure to two places: their contract (the General Delivery Terms) or the Finance tab in the Extranet, under "Reservation statements" (source: partner.booking.com, commission section for partners, checked 1 August 2026).

The General Delivery Terms themselves, which are public, just point back again: the commission clause refers to "the Commission percentage as set out in the Agreement," without writing a number.

This means the figures you find online, "15%", "18%", "10% to 25%", don't come from Booking: they come from industry blogs, agencies, and host guides estimating a market average. They aren't made up, but they aren't the official figure either: they're a third-party estimate of a number Booking doesn't publish for anyone.

One detail that matters for what you actually pay: commission is calculated on the total amount paid by the guest, room rate plus any extra charges you add (cleaning, services), and it's charged to you: the guest doesn't see a separate fee, the price you show them is the price they pay. If your invoice shows a higher percentage than your base contract, the most common cause is enrolment in an optional programme like the Preferred Partner Program or Visibility Booster, which add extra commission on top: here too, Booking doesn't publicly state by how much.

Airbnb publishes two models, with precise percentages

Airbnb works the opposite way: the percentages are written down, in black and white, in its Help Center.

Split-fee model: the host pays a 3% service fee (4% for listings in Brazil and Mexico), and the guest separately pays a fee ranging from 14.1% to 16.5% of the booking subtotal, with the higher end applying to bookings in a currency different from the host's.

Single-fee model (entirely on the host, the guest sees no added fee): most hosts pay 15.5%, the rest typically between 14% and 16%, 16% for Brazil and Mexico.

The part that directly concerns anyone running a hotel is this, stated explicitly by Airbnb: the single-fee model is mandatory, not optional, for "traditional hospitality listings, e.g., hotels, serviced apartments, etc.," for hosts who use property management software, and for hosts in countries already moved to the new structure under the rollout schedule (source: Airbnb Help Center, "Airbnb service fees," checked 1 August 2026).

And it's a model on its way out for everyone else too: Airbnb has set 15 September 2026 as the switch date for hosts outside the European Economic Area, and 13 October 2026 for hosts in the EEA and Switzerland. After those dates the split-fee model stops existing anywhere, not just for hotels and PMS users (source: Airbnb Resource Center, "Simplifying service fees on Airbnb," checked 1 August 2026).

For a hotel, one part of the comparison is already settled

If you run a hotel or a serviced apartment, the split-fee model doesn't apply to you already: you fall under the categories Airbnb requires to use the single fee. Which means, structurally, Airbnb's commission works exactly like Booking's: entirely on you, invisible in the price the guest sees.

The real difference, then, isn't "who charges the guest" anymore: it's who tells you the number. Airbnb writes it down before you sign anything: 15.5% is what most hosts pay, full stop. Booking hands it to you inside a contract you have to open, or a tab in the Extranet you have to go check.

The two models, side by side

	Booking.com	Airbnb, host-only model (mandatory for hotels)
Percentage published by the platform	None: depends on contract, country, property type	Yes: typically 15.5% (14-16% for the rest, 16% Brazil/Mexico)
Who pays	The property only	The property only
Where to find your real number	Contract (General Delivery Terms) or Extranet, Finance tab	Airbnb host dashboard
Programmes that can raise it	Preferred Partner Program, Visibility Booster (amount undisclosed)	none

Where to start

Two concrete checks, not a theoretical comparison. On Booking: open the Finance tab in your Extranet, or your contract, and read the actual percentage you're charged, the one written there, not the market average that circulates online. On Airbnb: check from the host dashboard which model applies to you today, because if you run a hotel you're likely already on the single fee, or you will be by autumn 2026 regardless.

The OTA commission calculator does the math in thirty seconds once you have your real number, not a market estimate. And if you're weighing how much of your bookings it makes sense to shift to the direct channel, the reasoning on the sustainable price gap is in lower price on your hotel website, what the law allows, while the math on how many direct bookings it takes to pay off the site is in direct bookings: how many it takes.

If you'd like someone to look at the full picture for your property, commissions included, there's the digital check-up. Otherwise write to me: tell me which channels you sell on and how much they weigh today, and I'll tell you where to look first.