Introduction
The era of Airbnb’s split fees is ending, and with it the familiar ritual of explaining platform add‑ons to puzzled travellers at the checkout. A single, host‑only fee —hovering around the mid‑teens — will soon sit fully on the host’s side of the ledger, and that is not an accounting tweak; it is a strategic redraw of power among platforms, pricing, and the people who actually operate homes. This move simplifies what travellers see at checkout, but it pushes new complexity—and responsibility—onto owners and professional managers to defend margins, preserve parity, and rethink how value is communicated.
Why now? Because the battleground has shifted to conversion and clarity, as travellers have been trained by hotel flows to expect an all‑in price rather than a surprise line item at the last click. Competitors thriving on that clarity have gained ground, and Airbnb is reading the room: remove friction for guests, demand sophistication from suppliers, and—tellingly—lean more assertively into hotels where amenity expectations are different and inventory is scalable.
For homeowners, the implications are immediate and measurable, because commission will apply to the full subtotal—nightly, cleaning, and extras—so unchanged rates mean thinner payouts. Repricing is not optional; it is the difference between erosion and equilibrium, and with the right pricing architecture—smart mark‑ups, disciplined parity, and precise fee mapping—revenue neutrality is within reach.
For property managers, the narrative must evolve: with guest‑visible platform fees gone, the old “save the fee” pitch loses its punch, and the winning message becomes value, not avoidance—flexibility, loyalty, and service that make the direct path the better stay, not merely the cheaper one. The opportunity is to turn platform discovery into direct bookings for life by capturing the first stay in the marketplace and the next five under an owned brand.
What has changed
Airbnb is moving from the split‑fee model (circa 3 per cent host plus 14–16 per cent guest) to a single commission deducted solely from the host, commonly around 15.5 per cent on the subtotal of nightly rate, cleaning, and extras. According to Airbnb’s rollout notes, PMS‑connected hosts are being auto‑switched from 27 October 2025, with most other hosts standardised by early December, while regional nuances remain in a few markets such as Brazil at 16 per cent. The intent is explicit: hosts set the price that guests see and pay, with no separate Airbnb fee line at checkout, thereby presenting a hotel‑like total price earlier in the funnel.
Why it is happening
Skift’s coverage and industry commentary link the shift to intensifying competition with Booking.com in alternative accommodation and the well‑documented conversion penalty of late‑stage fee revelations. Booking.com’s growth in alternative accommodation has been persistent, pushing Airbnb to match hotel‑style merchandising norms and reduce basket abandonment caused by fee shock at the final step. Financial and executive commentary also point to a broader strategy pivot, including a renewed emphasis on hotels, where price presentation and amenity expectations are already harmonised with an all‑in display.
Owner impact and pricing mechanics
If base rates are left unchanged, owner payouts will fall because the entire platform commission now comes off the host side and is applied to the subtotal, not just the nightly rate. To remain economically neutral, operators should gross up Airbnb rates and, where necessary, fold more value into nightly pricing rather than stacking separate add‑ons that are now also commissioned. In some jurisdictions, taxes such as VAT or GST may apply to the platform fee itself, which can nudge the effective deduction slightly above the headline rate and should be accounted for in owner statements and rate planning.
Implications for property managers
For PMS‑connected portfolios, the practical work sits in the channel configuration: update Airbnb mark‑ups and fee mappings so that nightly, cleaning, and extras reflect the single fee and preserve net parity across all channels. Because the commission base is the subtotal, many managers will benefit from simplifying fee structures and ensuring that what remains as an add‑on justifies itself under the new economics. With the guest‑visible fee disappearing, direct sales messaging should pivot from “avoid platform fees” to benefits that are harder for OTAs to replicate—priority check‑in, flexible terms, loyalty benefits, and curated local experiences.
Hotels and marketplace convergence
Airbnb has signalled it will go “significantly more aggressively into hotels,” a move that dovetails with the single‑fee shift by aligning price display, amenity expectations, and inventory breadth with traveller habits formed in hotel journeys. Trade and analyst coverage anticipates more independent and boutique hotel inventory on Airbnb, smoothing demand in urban and peak markets and making cross‑channel comparisons more direct for guests and more exacting for operators. In effect, homes and hotels will sit side‑by‑side under similar merchandising rules, which will raise the bar on rate discipline and parity audits for professional managers.
The OTA contest ahead
Skift’s charts show that while Airbnb extended its lead over the last several years, Booking.com also gained share in alternative accommodation, shaping a duopoly that increasingly dictates distribution economics and presentation standards. Within that context, the single‑fee shift is less a knee‑jerk reaction and more a convergence on hotel‑style total pricing to defend conversion and lifetime value, especially in regulated or high‑scrutiny markets where transparent pricing is a commercial and political advantage. Expect iterative adjustments rather than finality, as both platforms continue to optimise fee structures, loyalty hooks, and inventory mixes to win multi‑stay relationships rather than one‑off transactions.
Converting platform discovery into direct demand
The durable answer to platform policy volatility is an owned demand engine: capture first‑party data (ethically and with consent), build a fast, mobile‑first booking site, and run lifecycle marketing that turns the OTA’s first stay into a repeat under the brand’s own roof. Maintain rate parity to avoid penalties whilst offering compelling direct‑only value—early check‑in priority, flexible cancellation terms, and modest loyalty benefits—that outcompete on experience rather than price alone. Over time, consistent CRM, destination SEO, and measured social performance build a demand moat that softens the impact of fee changes and gives owners and managers more control over their margins.
The Alkebulan approach
Alkebulan Homes & Villas will neutralise the host‑only fee by recalibrating Airbnb mark‑ups and fee mappings within the PMS, validating nightly, cleaning, and extras at the listing level to keep owner net whole whilst maintaining cross‑OTA parity. The portfolio will emphasise owned‑channel value—priority arrivals, flexible terms, and post‑stay offers that reward loyalty—supported by always‑on email capture and remarketing that convert marketplace discovery into future direct bookings across Kenya and the UK. In short, this is not merely about weathering one platform change, but about building resilience for the next two that will surely follow in a market defined by rapid iteration and fierce competition.
Sources were drawn from Airbnb Resource Centre on simplifying service fees; Airbnb Help Centre on service fee scope and rollout; Skift and financial press on competitive context and hotel expansion; Booking.com results and industry analysis on alternative accommodation growth; and property‑manager guidance on mark‑ups, parity, and migration to the single‑fee model.