The common ways they charge
- A share of booking revenue. The model you will meet most often in quotes. What matters as much as the share is what it is taken from: the full booking total, the nightly rate after Airbnb's fee, or the rate without the cleaning fee. The same headline rate can mean very different money.
- A flat fee per home. A fixed monthly amount, whatever the home books. Easier to predict, and the property manager's fee doesn't rise when your rates do.
- A co-host payout on Airbnb. The listing owner can set Airbnb to pay a co-host the cleaning fee, a percentage of each booking, the cleaning fee plus a percentage, or a fixed amount per booking. Airbnb pays the co-host from your earnings on each stay.
- Single services. Some co-hosts offer only one part of the job, such as listing setup, guest messaging, onsite guest support or cleaning, once or ongoing. Airbnb's Co-Host Network lets you search for help with one or more of these.
- A mix. A lower share of revenue plus separate fees for things others include.
None of these is better in itself. What you want to know is the total you pay for the work you need, and what you keep.
What can be charged on top
- Onboarding or setup: creating the listing, photos, a first inspection, stocking supplies, installing a smart lock.
- Cleaning and laundry: often covered by the guest's cleaning fee. Ask who keeps the difference if the cleaner costs less than the fee, and who pays if it costs more.
- Repairs: billed at cost, at cost plus a markup, or with a coordination fee. Ask what amount they can spend without asking you first.
- Supplies and restocking: at cost, at cost plus a markup, or a monthly charge.
- Linens, deep cleans, pool or hot tub care, and seasonal work such as snow removal.
- Owner stays: whether you pay for the clean after you use your own home.
- Listing on other booking sites, tax filing, permit renewals and damage claims: included or extra.
- Ending the contract: the minimum term, the notice period and any early termination fee.
What the fee should include
Write the scope down before you compare prices. A typical list: the listing and photos, pricing and the calendar, guest messages and reviews, cleaning and laundry, restocking, inspections, repairs, onsite help for guests, damage claims, a monthly statement, and taxes and permits. Mark which items you need and which you will keep doing yourself.
Ask who owns the listing. If the home is listed on the property manager's own account, the reviews may stay with them when the contract ends, and you start again from zero. If it stays on your account with them added as a co-host, the listing, its reviews and your payout settings remain yours, and you choose their permissions.
Questions to ask before you sign
- What is your fee, and exactly which amount is it calculated on?
- What does the fee include, and what is billed separately?
- Is there an onboarding fee, and what does it cover?
- Who keeps the cleaning fee, and who pays the cleaner?
- How do you bill repairs and supplies, and do you add a markup?
- How much can you spend on a repair without my approval?
- Whose Airbnb account will the listing be on, and who owns the photos?
- What will my monthly statement show, and when are payouts made?
- What is the minimum term, the notice period and the cost of ending early?
- How do you handle a guest emergency at night, and who goes to the home?
- Who checks the local rules and files occupancy tax where Airbnb doesn't collect it?
- Can I speak with two owners whose homes you run now?
Compare quotes on the same booking
Headline rates are hard to compare because each company counts differently. Instead, send every candidate the same example: a stay of a set number of nights at a set nightly rate with your cleaning fee, plus one example repair. Ask each to show, in writing, every fee that applies and what you would receive from that booking. Then compare the contracts on term, notice, termination costs and account ownership.
Hi, I'm comparing options for my [number]-bedroom home at [area]. For a sample stay of [nights] nights at [nightly rate] with a [cleaning fee] cleaning fee, could you show every fee that would apply and the amount I would receive? Please also show how you would bill a [repair] repair, and send your standard contract. Thank you.
Paying for less
You don't have to hand over everything. If you live nearby and enjoy guest contact, you may only need a reliable cleaner; see how to find and keep one. If you live far away, the gap is usually local help in person, which is a different job from pricing and messages; see how to run an Airbnb from out of state. Pay for the parts you can't or don't want to do, and keep the rest.
Use this to compare two or three candidates on the same terms.
- 1Write down the work you need and the work you will keep.
- 2Shortlist two or three property managers or co-hosts. Ask local hosts, and look on Airbnb's Co-Host Network.
- 3Send each the same sample booking and sample repair. Ask for every fee and the amount you would receive, in writing.
- 4Ask the questions above and note the answers side by side.
- 5Confirm whose Airbnb account the listing will be on. Prefer keeping it on yours, with them added as a co-host.
- 6Read the contract for term, notice and termination costs.
- 7Set a spending limit for repairs without your approval.
- 8Speak with two current owners for each finalist.
- 9Review the first three monthly statements line by line. Check each charge against the contract.
Sources
- Airbnb Help Center: How co-host payouts work (opens in a new tab)
- Airbnb Help Center: Find a co-host on the Co-Host Network (opens in a new tab)
- Airbnb Help Center: Add co-hosts to your home listing (opens in a new tab)
- BiggerPockets Forums: Airbnb fees for property managers (host discussion) (opens in a new tab)