Open the Airbnb vs Vrbo vs direct price matcher →
Work out the fee each booking should have, then compare it to the fee on your statement. The expected fee is your rate times the part of the booking the fee is charged on. Flag anything more than $1 off and ask the platform about it.
Check your first few Vrbo payouts after Oct 29, 2026, and a month of Airbnb payouts.
The Vrbo rules
Vrbo's new Host Terms of Service are effective from Oct 29, 2026. A Hostaway help article says that from that date Vrbo deducts a 12% commission from each booking. Pay-per-booking was 5% in North America before. Subscription hosts move to 12% when their subscription expires.
Vrbo's help page on the pay-per-booking model says the 12% is charged on:
- the rental amount, and
- any extra fees you charge the traveler, such as cleaning, pet, and boat fees.
It is not charged on Vrbo traveler service fees, taxes, refundable deposits, or insurance products. If you use Vrbo's payment services, there is no separate processing fee. If you use your own payment processor, you still pay that processor's fees. Your Owner Dashboard shows your exact rate.
Vrbo's pages don't say clearly whether a stay booked before Oct 29 is billed at the old or new rate. Check the statement, and ask Vrbo if a line looks wrong.
The Airbnb rules
Airbnb's service fee page says most hosts on the single fee pay 15.5%, taken out of the payout. It is required for most hosts, including those who use property management software. Under the old split fee, most hosts paid 3%.
After a host moves to the single fee, it applies only to new bookings. Bookings made before the switch keep the old fee, even if the stay is later. So a month of payouts can mix both rates.
The page does not spell out the base for the single fee. Open one transaction and see whether the fee was taken from your cleaning fee too. On desktop, go to Today, then Menu, then Earnings. Pick Upcoming or Paid, open a transaction, and find the Airbnb service fee under Earnings.
Your software may not know yet
Hostaway says its Vrbo pricing and fee settings do not update on their own. Its Vrbo channel fee field is for reporting only, is set per listing, and only applies to reservations received after you save it. If your property management software reports expected payouts, check that its fee settings match the new rates. Otherwise its reports will be wrong even when the payout is right.
Worked example
Example numbers, not real data.
Same $900 on each channel:
- Airbnb at 15.5%: $900 x 0.845 = $760.50
- Vrbo at 12%: $900 x 0.88 = $792.00
- Vrbo at the old 5%: $900 x 0.95 = $855.00
One Vrbo booking: $600 rent, $150 cleaning, $70 taxes, $300 refundable deposit.
- Commission base: $600 + $150 = $750. The taxes and deposit are left out.
- Expected commission: $750 x 0.12 = $90.00.
- Say the statement shows $98.40. That is 12% of $820, which is rent, cleaning, and taxes. It is more than $1 off, so ask Vrbo why.
Steps
- Start a simple log: channel, booking date, stay dates, rent, cleaning, other fees, fee charged, and payout.
- For each line, pick the rate by channel and booking date.
- Work out the base. On Vrbo, rent plus your fees, not taxes or deposits. On Airbnb, check one breakdown to confirm what the fee covers.
- Expected fee = rate x base.
- Flag any line more than $1 off, and ask the platform about it.
- Update the fee settings in your property management software.
If the payouts are right but lower than before, it's time to reprice. The price matcher gives Airbnb, Vrbo, and direct prices that leave you the same take-home. See also our guides on repricing for Vrbo's 12% fee and pricing for the same take-home.
Sources
- Vrbo Help: About the pay-per-booking (PPB) model
- Vrbo Host Terms of Service, effective Oct 29, 2026 (PDF)
- Airbnb Help: Service fees (article 1857)
- Hostaway: Vrbo, prepare for the 12% commission fee
Last checked Oct 26, 2026. This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Check your own platform terms and dashboard.