Vrbo host fees: how much Vrbo charges hosts in 2026

Vrbo keeps a flat 12% commission on the rent and on the fees you charge the guest, taxes excluded. Hosts connected through property management software pay the same 12%, up to 15% in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The guest pays a separate service fee at checkout.

Vrbo's help center calls it "a flat, all-in 12% commission fee" and, a few lines below, still lists a 3% payment processing fee. Whether that line is deducted on top of the 12% is not settled by any official page. Your payment details are.

Vrbo host fees

What Vrbo takes on a pay-per-booking listing

One commission on the rent and on the fees you charge the guest, never on the taxes. A payment processing line still appears on Vrbo's help page.

• 12% commission on the rent and the fees you charge the guest, taxes excluded
• 3% payment processing, still listed Vrbo's help page keeps this line next to the 12%, on everything it collects, taxes and refundable deposits included. No official page says whether it is deducted on top: read the payment details of your next booking.

Source: Vrbo Help Center, About the pay-per-booking (PPB) model, read October 6, 2026.

What are Vrbo host fees?

Vrbo charges both sides of a booking. On a pay-per-booking listing, the host pays a commission on the rental amount plus the mandatory fees added to it, such as a cleaning fee or a pet fee. The host terms keep taxes out of that base, along with any insurance product the guest buys at checkout.

A second line still appears on Vrbo's help page: a 3% payment processing fee on the total payment Vrbo collects for you. That total includes the taxes and the refundable damage deposit, which is why a deposit costs you a few dollars in processing until the guest gets it back. Vrbo refunds that share once the deposit is returned.

The guest pays a third line you never see on your payout: Vrbo's service fee, charged at checkout. Vrbo says the percentage varies with the reservation amount. It applies to the total before taxes and refundable fees. It does not publish the rate. Skift put it between 11% and 14% in September 2026. That fee shapes the total price your guest compares with the same home on Airbnb, where the host fee works differently.

Your cleaning fee sits inside the commission base. A fee set above the market costs you twice, once in conversion and once in commission. The Airbnb cleaning fee calculator gives a market range by home size, and the 2026 guide to cleaning rates explains what guests accept without a word.

Vrbo's 12% commission: who pays it, and on what

The 12% is a single rate for every host and property manager, in every country. It applies to the rental amount plus the mandatory fees you charge the guest, such as a cleaning fee or a pet fee. Taxes and the insurance products the guest buys at checkout stay out of the base.

Three details change with your situation.

• Hosts connected through property management software pay 12%, or 12% to 15% in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
• Vrbo adds GST on its commission in Australia and New Zealand, unless your business is registered for GST in its dashboard. In Japan, no GST applies.
• Hosts still on an annual subscription move to pay-per-booking when their term ends. Vrbo no longer sells the subscription and says it may not renew existing ones.

The host terms also set what Vrbo asks of you. Clause 4.5.7 requires that the content, the fees and the policies you give Vrbo stay at least as favorable as those on your own website. The same goes for any other channel. Vrbo's fee policy adds that base prices and fees must stay "competitive with other marketplaces". Skift reads the package as rate parity: a price on Vrbo at least as low as anywhere else, your direct booking site included. Our guide to turning platform guests into direct customers explains what that leaves you.

On the guest side, Vrbo says it is cutting its service fee sharply. No percentage has been published. Vrbo also reserves the right to distribute your listing through metasearch sites and AI agents.

Then there is the 3% question. Vrbo's help page calls the commission "all-in". The same page still describes a 3% payment processing fee on everything collected, deposits and taxes included. The host terms list a commission and a payment processing fee as two amounts owed. No official page settles whether the second one is deducted on top of the 12%. The example below shows both readings. The payment details of your next booking will tell you which one applies.

Worked example

What Vrbo keeps on one booking

A 4-night stay at $200.00 a night with a $150.00 cleaning fee. Pick the platform and read what it keeps.

Where is the booking paid?

Vrbo12% commissionAirbnb, same stay15.5% host-only fee

The 3% payment processing fee

Not deductedthe help page says all-inDeducted on topthe same page still lists it

No official page says whether the 3% is deducted on top of the 12%. Vrbo's help page calls the commission all-in and still lists the 3% a few lines below. Both readings are here, and your payment details will confirm one.

Vrbo keeps

$114.00

You keep $836.00 of the $950.00 you charged.

Show how it is calculated

Assumptions: 4 nights at $200.00, a $150.00 cleaning fee, 10% occupancy tax on rent and cleaning, a $300.00 refundable damage deposit that goes back to the guest. Airbnb holds no deposit and takes no fee on taxes. Amounts rounded to the cent.

Source: Vrbo Help Center, About the pay-per-booking (PPB) model, read October 6, 2026.

Pay-per-booking vs the annual subscription

Vrbo has sold two ways to list. Pay-per-booking costs nothing up front and takes its fees on each reservation. The annual subscription charged a fixed yearly fee, no commission, and still applied the payment processing fee on each booking paid online. Vrbo has stopped selling it, no longer publishes its price, and its terms say existing subscriptions may not be renewed. Skift puts the share of hosts still on it at about 6%.

Conversion runs one way. A subscription can become a pay-per-booking listing at the end of its term, never the reverse. Hosts who priced the subscription against their volume, often property managers with several homes under management, lose that arbitrage. If your bookings flow through a channel manager, the connection does not lower the rate. It still keeps calendars and prices in sync across platforms. Our quiz on which PMS to choose narrows the field in two minutes.

Pay-per-booking at 12%

The flat 12% model: what hosts gain, what hosts give up

What hosts gain

• GainOne rate for every host, including hosts connected through property management software
• GainNo annual subscription to pay up front, and no commission on the taxes the guest pays
• GainVrbo says the guest service fee is dropping sharply, which lowers the total price your guest compares

What hosts give up

• LossThe commission applies to the cleaning fee and to every mandatory fee, not only to the rent
• LossYour Vrbo listing must stay at least as favorable as your other channels, your own website included
• LossThe 3% payment processing line is still on Vrbo's help page, with no official word on whether it comes on top
• LossThe commission is not refunded once the stay has begun, whatever the dispute

Source: Skift, Vrbo to Double Commissions as It Plays Catch-Up to Airbnb, read October 6, 2026.

How much does Vrbo charge hosts compared with Airbnb?

Airbnb is moving every home host to a host-only fee. Most hosts pay 15.5% of the booking subtotal, which is the nightly price plus the fees you charge, taxes excluded. Some hosts pay 14% to 16%. Listings in Brazil and Mexico pay 16%.

On the host side, Vrbo's 12% undercuts Airbnb's 15.5%. On the guest side, the order flips: Airbnb's host-only listings carry no guest service fee, while Vrbo still adds one at checkout. Which platform leaves you more depends on the rate the guest accepts once that fee is on top, not on the headline percentage. The worked example above runs the same stay under both.

Booking.com publishes no commission rate for vacation rentals. Its figure is set per agreement and per country, so any percentage you read elsewhere is an estimate, not a published fee.

The Airbnb host fee calculator prices one stay on the three channels, with the rates each one publishes and a blank line for the one Booking.com does not.

How to keep more of each Vrbo booking

Four levers

How to keep more of each Vrbo booking

1. 1

   Check which lines you are charged.

   Open the payment details of a recent booking and find the commission line, then look for a processing line. The host fee calculator prices the same stay on Vrbo and on Airbnb side by side.

2. 2

   Price with the 12% in the number.

   A $1,000.00 booking costs you $120.00 in commission. Run the rate through the income calculator before you change it, because Vrbo's fee policy asks for base prices that stay competitive with other marketplaces.

3. 3

   Earn the repeat stay in direct.

   Vrbo's terms ask you to keep its listing at least as favorable as your own website, so a visible discount is not the lever. The digital guidebook your guests open for the door code is where they find your own booking page for next time.

4. 4

   Fix the listing before the price.

   Photos in the right order, a title that names one concrete amenity and a cleaning fee in line with the market move your conversion more than a rate cut. The free listing analyzer scores an Airbnb listing in a minute, and the same fixes carry over to Vrbo.

Source: Vrbo Host Terms of Service, read October 6, 2026.

The order matters. Pricing is the lever hosts reach for first, and the one Vrbo now constrains most. Its terms stop you from undercutting the Vrbo listing on your own site. Its fee policy asks for base prices in line with other marketplaces. That leaves the levers Vrbo does not touch. Your cost base, which the income calculator rebuilds with the 12% commission in the number. Your repeat guests, who book the second stay where the first one went well, and who read your guidebook more than your listing. The listing itself comes last: the free listing analyzer scores a title plus a description in a minute. The levers that drive bookings on Airbnb apply on Vrbo too.

Cancellations, refunds and security deposits on Vrbo

What Vrbo keeps and what it gives back follows the lines of the booking.

The commission is not refundable once a stay has begun, even if the guest disputes the amount or asks for a refund afterward. The guest's service fee goes back to the guest automatically when the cancellation policy grants a full refund.

The payment processing fee charged on a refundable damage deposit is reimbursed to you when the deposit goes back to the guest. On a deposit kept for damage, it stays charged. Insurance products the guest adds at checkout, such as damage protection or trip cancellation protection, stay out of the commission base.

Chargebacks are yours. The payments agreement makes the host responsible for any chargeback plus its fees, whatever the reason. Vrbo offsets the amount from your next payouts. A written agreement signed before arrival, with a damage clause and a dated inventory, is the evidence such a dispute turns on. The rental agreement generator writes one with your state's deposit cap.

Vrbo still lets you hold a deposit, where Airbnb replaced it with a claims process. Our guide to how Airbnb handles deposits shows how far the two platforms have drifted apart, and our page on insurance for hosts covers what a platform guarantee does not.

On payouts, Vrbo says it initiates the transfer in most cases within one to two business days after authorization. A first payout can be held for up to 30 days for risk checks.

How to list on Vrbo

Vrbo's host terms set a few conditions before the first booking.

1. Create the listing with online booking and online payment. Both are mandatory on every listing under Vrbo's terms, and Vrbo may require you to take payments through Vrbo Payments.
2. Enter every fee in its own field. Vrbo's fee policy only lets you charge what appears in the listing's fee fields at booking time. A cleaning fee written in the description cannot be charged, and mandatory fixed fees cannot exceed the base price.
3. Set your cancellation policy and house rules in the listing. Any rule in a side agreement must match what the listing says. The house rules generator writes a set you can paste.
4. Check who collects the occupancy tax. In the jurisdictions where Vrbo collects and remits it, you may not collect it yourself. Elsewhere, you enter the tax in the tax fields and remit it. Our occupancy tax by state pages give the rates and the filing rules.
5. Provide your tax documentation. Vrbo may report your payouts to the IRS and can hold payments until you supply the documents it asks for. The guide to Airbnb taxes for hosts covers the forms that apply to any platform payout.
6. Check your city's permit before the listing goes live. The terms make the host responsible for permits, licenses and local rules. Our short-term rental rules by city list what each one requires, and the guide to starting an Airbnb walks through the first weeks.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

All read on October 6, 2026.

• Vrbo Help Center, About the pay-per-booking (PPB) model: 12% commission, 3% payment processing, regional rates, refund of the processing fee on returned deposits.
• Vrbo Help Center, About the service fee paid by guests: calculation base and automatic refund.
• Vrbo Help Center, How do I pay for my subscription: end of new subscriptions, legacy partners moved to pay-per-booking.
• Vrbo Host Terms of Service: clauses 2.3, 2.6, 4.4, 4.5.2, 4.5.7, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 5.3 and 13.3.
• Vrbo Accommodation Fee Collection Agreement: payment processing fee, payout timing, chargebacks, tax reporting.
• Vrbo Host Fees & Taxes Transparency Policy: fee fields, base prices competitive with other marketplaces.
• Skift, Vrbo to Double Commissions as It Plays Catch-Up to Airbnb, September 29, 2026.
• Airbnb Help Center, article 1857: host-only fee and split fee.