Airbnb’s New 15.5% Host-Only Fee: What It Means For You

Airbnb is radically reshaping its service fee structure in what is set to be the platform’s most significant pricing overhaul yet. Effective October 27, 2025, Airbnb will introduce a 15.5% host-only service fee. By early 2026, this change will impact every host on the platform, regardless of how they manage bookings.

Understanding the Change

Airbnb’s old split-fee model charged:

• Hosts: about 3% of the booking subtotal
• Guests: roughly 14–16% added on top of your nightly rate

Now, under the new host-only fee, Airbnb keeps 15.5% entirely from the host payout. Guests will no longer see a separate “Airbnb service fee” at checkout — just one simple all-in price.

This change increases Airbnb’s total commission for hosts, but guest-facing prices will remain the same; only back-end rates need adjustment to preserve profitability.

Rollout timeline

• October 27, 2025: Airbnb will automatically switch most existing PMS-connected hosts to the 15.5% model.
• December 1, 2025: Non-PMS hosts already on Airbnb’s “simplified single-fee” system will also standardize at 15.5%. Hosts still using the old split-fee will eventually be transitioned to maintain consistency across all listings.

Why Airbnb Is Making This Change

Airbnb says the shift aims to simplify pricing for guests while aligning the platform with other major OTAs like Booking.com and Expedia. Guests will now see one total price instead of separate fees, creating a more transparent checkout experience. However, it also means hosts now shoulder more of the platform cost — a jump from about 3% to 15.5%.

How to Protect Your Revenue

To maintain your same earnings under the new model, simply raising rates by 15.5% is not enough. Since Airbnb deducts its cut from the total guest price, your markup needs to be approximately 18.34% to offset the host-only fee entirely.

Example:

• Old system: $100 listing, host pays 3%, guest pays ~$115 total.
• New system: Price must be ~$118.34 so that after Airbnb’s 15.5% cut ($18.34), the host nets $100.​

In Conclusion

With MAX PMS, you can easily adjust pricing just for Airbnb without affecting your other channels. The system lets you set platform-specific markups, so your payouts stay consistent across OTAs like Booking.com, Expedia, and more.

Schedule a demo with our team to see how easy it is to implement these pricing adjustments, and discover the full range of revenue management and automation tools MAX PMS offers to keep your business profitable across all booking channels.