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Vacation Rental Host Fee Calculator
Vrbo, Booking.com, and direct booking each carry different fee structures — Vrbo's tiered 8-15% or yearly subscription, Booking.com's 15-18% commission, your own Stripe + marketing cost on direct. This calculator scores net host payout across all three so you can decide where to list.
Highest-net channel
Direct
Lead over 2nd place (annual)
$1,271
Vrbo annual net
$37,620
Booking.com annual net
$35,112
Direct annual net
$38,891
Annual gross bookings
$41,800
Vrbo fees
$4,180
Booking.com fees
$6,688
Direct fees + marketing
$2,909
How the math works
Booking.com typically charges the highest percentage but delivers traffic from travelers who won't use Airbnb/Vrbo. Direct beats commission channels on the math once you're doing >$40K/yr gross — the 2.9% processing + $150/mo marketing costs less than 10% commission. Below $40K, the math flips since fixed marketing cost dominates.
Most operators multi-list, take the marginal booking from every channel, and push repeat guests to direct via follow-up email. That captures the full market while avoiding over-reliance on any single platform's search algorithm.
How to Use
- Enter the gross booking (nightly × nights + cleaning).
- Enter each platform's commission rate and toggle Vrbo's subscription model if you use it.
- Add payment processing for the direct-booking side plus monthly marketing / site cost.
- See which channel pays you the most after fees.
Frequently Asked Questions
Vrbo commission vs subscription?
Vrbo's pay-per-booking starts at 8% and rises to 15% depending on your tier. The yearly subscription ($499/year) makes sense if you do >$10K/year gross. Below that, pay-per-booking wins. Vrbo tells you in your dashboard which is currently cheaper.
Is Booking.com worth listing on?
Booking.com's 15-18% commission is the highest of the major STR platforms, but it brings 20-30% of the leisure traveler market that Airbnb and Vrbo don't reach. Most successful STRs multi-list on all three plus direct. The marginal booking from Booking.com almost always beats keeping it blocked.
What does 'direct booking' really cost?
Stripe/Square fees: 2.9% + 30¢ per charge. A booking management platform: Hostfully, Guesty, OwnerRez at $30-$90/mo per listing. Marketing: SEO content + a small Google ads budget runs $100-$300/mo. A 10-unit host spending $150/mo to avoid 15% commission saves big; a solo host rarely does.
How do damage waivers work?
Platforms like Safely, SuperHog, and Guesty's damage waiver charge guests $10-$30/booking in exchange for coverage against $1K-$10K of damage. Most hosts treat this as a net-zero pass-through — it raises the guest total slightly but saves the inevitable security deposit fight after a bad stay.
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