Vrbo’s 12% host commission: what changed on 29 October

Vrbo moved its hosts to a single 12% commission on 29 October 2026. Most pay-per-booking hosts paid about 8% before, so for them this is a rise. Expedia, which owns Vrbo, announced it on 1 October, and the commission now includes card processing.

What changed

Before the switch, a pay-per-booking host paid a 5% commission plus about 3% for payment processing. Hosts connected through property management software paid 5%. Hosts on Vrbo's yearly subscription paid a flat fee instead.

Since 29 October, bookings carry a flat 12% commission with processing included. In some regions and on some of Vrbo's older brands the rate is up to 15%, and your Vrbo dashboard shows the rate for your listing. Subscription hosts move to the new model when their current term ends. Bookings made before the change keep the old commission.

Vrbo's guest service fee stays. That's the main difference from Airbnb, where guests no longer pay a separate service fee on most bookings and the host pays 15.5%.

How much to raise your price

To keep the same payout per night, divide what you kept before by what you keep now. Going from 8% to 12% means about 4.5% more per night. From the 5% that software-connected hosts paid, it's about 8.2%. If Vrbo charges VAT on its commission where you live, the gap is a little wider.

Our Vrbo fee calculator does this for your own price and rate, and shows what the same price pays on Airbnb and Booking.com.

What this means for your software bill

Vrbo's commission is the same whether or not you use a channel manager, as Airbnb's now is. Software doesn't save you platform fees anymore, so judge it on what it costs and what it does. If Vrbo is one of several sites you list on, a direct connection still matters, because it closes your dates everywhere as soon as one site takes a booking.

If Vrbo bookings now pay you less, a booking website of your own is worth a look. Our direct booking tool shows what that saves against what the website costs.

Sources: Expedia Group newsroom, Vrbo compensation model changes, 1 October 2026, checked 15 November 2026. Rental Scale-Up for the previous rates by host type.