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Hosts · 6 min read
Commission is one of the biggest running costs of a holiday let, and it's one of the easiest to underestimate. A headline percentage looks simple, but the real cost of a booking can include several separate charges — some taken from your payout, some added to the guest's total, some only visible in the small print. This guide explains how platform fees are usually structured, why the fee your guest pays matters to you as much as the one you pay, and how to compare channels properly using your own bookings rather than marketing headlines.
By Offer2Stay · Updated October 2026
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See how it works for hostsDepending on the platform and the plan you're on, a single booking can carry several different charges. Some platforms bundle them into one figure; others list them separately. Either way, it helps to know what you're looking for.
Broadly, platforms charge in one of two ways, and many offer a choice depending on your plan or how you connect.
You pay a smaller commission, and the guest pays a service fee on top of your price. Your payout looks healthier, but the guest sees a higher total than the price you set.
You pay the whole fee and the guest pays your price. Your commission is larger, but the total the guest sees is cleaner and easier to compare.
| Split fee | Host-only fee | |
|---|---|---|
| Who pays the platform | Both host and guest | Host |
| What the guest sees | Your price plus a service fee | Your price |
| Effect on your payout | Smaller deduction | Larger deduction |
| Effect on competitiveness | Higher guest total | Lower guest total |
Neither is automatically better. What matters is the combination: what you receive, and what the guest pays, for the same stay.
A fee charged to the guest doesn't come out of your payout, so it's tempting to ignore it. But it does raise the total the guest sees — and guests compare totals. If your home and a similar one nearby are priced the same but your channel adds a service fee, yours looks more expensive.
That can cost you bookings without you ever knowing why. Guests rarely message to say they chose somewhere else because of a fee; they simply book the home whose total looked better.
Tip: Next time you list or review a channel, go through its booking flow as a guest would, right up to the final total. It's the quickest way to see what your guests actually see.
Headline percentages are hard to compare because they include different things. The reliable way is to take one real booking — your actual price for real dates — and work through it on each platform using their current published terms.
Platform terms change and vary by plan, so check them directly each time rather than relying on old figures or someone else's summary.
The commission isn't the only cost of a channel. Some platforms pay out after the guest has stayed; others hold money for longer. Some put pressure on your pricing through promotions and visibility programmes. Some make it harder to talk to guests directly before they book.
None of these appear in a fee table, but they affect your cash flow and your control over your business. When you compare channels, it's worth asking how and when you get paid, how much say you have over your own prices and cancellation terms, and whether there's any exclusivity or contract.
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To see why the all-in view matters, imagine two channels — call them A and B — and a home priced at the same nightly rate on both. Channel A takes a modest commission from the host but adds a service fee for the guest. Channel B takes a larger commission from the host and adds nothing for the guest.
On Channel A, your payout looks better, but the guest's total is noticeably higher than your price. On Channel B, your payout is a little lower, but the guest sees exactly your price. Which is better depends on whether the extra guest fee on Channel A costs you bookings — and that's something only your own booking history can tell you.
Now add the less visible differences: when each channel pays you, whether VAT applies to its fees, whether payment processing is included. Two channels with similar headline percentages can end up very different once everything is counted.
The point isn't that one model always wins. It's that you can only compare channels honestly by working through a real booking, end to end, with each platform's current terms in front of you.
Listing is free. When a booking lands you pay a flat 10% commission, all-in — VAT and payment processing are included, and nothing is added on top. Guests pay no booking fee, so the total they see is your price.
Your earnings are held securely with Stripe and released to your bank by BACS 24 hours after the guest checks in. You set your own cancellation terms when you create your listing. There's no contract and no exclusivity.
Most hosts don't rely on a single platform, and they don't need to. Offer2Stay is designed to work alongside your existing channels rather than replace them. Two-way iCal sync imports your availability from Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo and most PMS calendars and exports your Offer2Stay bookings back out, and you can connect Lodgify or Hospitable directly.
A sensible approach is to keep the channels that work for you and add another to fill the nights they don't — then compare, using your own bookings, which ones earn their place.
No. Guests pay no booking fee, so the total they see is your price.
It's all-in: VAT and payment processing are included, and nothing is added on top.
No. Offer2Stay is designed to work alongside your existing channels.
Your earnings are released by BACS 24 hours after the guest checks in.
Take one real booking and work out what you'd receive and what the guest would pay on each, using each platform's current published terms.
Find your stay. Let hosts make the offer.
Name your price for UK stays. Guests post what they need; hosts send private offers around the calendars they already run on Airbnb and Booking.com.