# What Should an Airbnb Co-Host Charge? 15.5% Math

> Airbnb's own Co-Host Network page says co-hosts typically charge 15 to 25% for ongoing support, plus a flat setup fee. Airbnb calculates that percentage on your payout after its 15.5% host fee, so 20% is about 16.9% of what the guest paid. Price by scope, and check the cleaning fee payout, which can leak 15.5% per booking.

- Canonical URL: https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/what-should-an-airbnb-co-host-charge
- Author: Om Patel
- Published: 2026-09-29
- Topic: Growth

An Airbnb co-host should charge somewhere in the range Airbnb itself publishes, which is **15 to 25% for ongoing support**, plus a flat fee if they set up the listing. That is the answer on Airbnb's own [Co-Host Network page](https://www.airbnb.com/host/co-hosts). The number that matters more is what that percentage is taken from, because Airbnb pays the co-host out of what is left after its 15.5% host fee.

That detail changes the math. A "20% co-host" paid through Airbnb receives about 16.9% of what the guest paid. Together with Airbnb's fee, 32.4% of the booking is gone before you pay for cleaning, supplies or the mortgage. The owner in the r/PropertyManagement thread "[Management company eating up every penny of profit](https://www.reddit.com/r/PropertyManagement/comments/1vrpk3z/management_company_eating_up_every_penny_of_profit/)" found the same thing on a long-term rental: the headline percentage was fine, and the money was going somewhere else. If you want the wider version of that hunt, start with [where your business is losing money](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/where-is-my-small-business-losing-money).

This guide covers what to charge or pay, how Airbnb actually calculates the split, the [cleaning fee](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/does-airbnb-take-15-5-of-cleaning-fee) setting that quietly costs owners 15.5% per turnover, and a table to check your own deal.

- **Airbnb's published range is 15 to 25%** for ongoing co-host support, with a flat fee for listing setup on top.
- **The percentage comes off your payout, not the guest price.** At the 15.5% single fee, 20% of the payout is 16.9% of the booking.
- **A percentage co-host already gets a raise when you raise prices.** Asking for a higher split because of the 15.5% change double-charges the owner.
- **The "Cleaning fee" payout option passes the full listed fee to the co-host** while Airbnb takes 15.5% of it from you.
- **Co-hosts are paid first.** On a cancellation both sides shrink, and on a host cancellation after payout, refunds come out of future payouts.
- **Price by scope.** Remote-only work sits at the bottom of the band; full service with cleaning coordination and on-site support sits near the top.

## What do Airbnb co-hosts typically charge?

**Airbnb says co-hosts typically charge 15 to 25% for ongoing support, and many add a flat fee to set up the listing.** Its Co-Host Network FAQ puts it plainly: pricing "may include their price to set up a listing (flat fee) and for ongoing support (percentage of each booking)," and "Airbnb does not take a percentage of the payout you share with your co-host."

The rest of page 1 is vendors. One management company's guide to [New York management fees](https://www.checkmaterentals.com/blog/top-airbnb-management-companies-new-york) says basic services "start around 10-15%, while full, comprehensive management can reach 25-35%," and lists flat structures of $300 to $1,000 a month. That is a company selling its own 15% plan, so treat it as a range, not a benchmark.

Owners on r/airbnb_hosts land in the same place. In the thread "[Co-host wants to raise her cut from 25% to 32%](https://www.reddit.com/r/airbnb_hosts/comments/1uz1xd1/cohost_wants_to_raise_her_cut_from_25_to_32_after/)":

- A co-host: "I make 20% and totally good with that."
- An owner: "I pay my cohost 25% but he is full service. Cleanings (and we are pet friendly), cut the grass, restock snacks, handle all issues locally."
- Another: "26% is wildly expensive anyway."
- And: "You can get an actual management company at 20%."

These are anecdotes, but they cluster inside Airbnb's band, and the pushback starts just above 25%.

### Price by scope, not by what others charge

Airbnb defines "full service" on the Co-Host Network as six services: listing setup, setting prices and availability, booking request management, guest messaging, on-site guest support, and cleaning, per its [co-host profile guide](https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/3726). Use that list to place a co-host in the band:

| Scope | What it covers | Where it sits |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Remote only | Messaging, booking requests, calendar, pricing | Bottom of the 15 to 25% band, or a fixed monthly fee |
| Remote plus coordination | The above, plus scheduling cleaners and handypeople | Middle of the band |
| Full service | All six, including on-site guest support and cleaning | Top of the band |
| One-time setup | Listing, photos, licensing, design | Flat fee, separate from the percentage |

The co-host side matters too, because a price that is too low does not last. A Chicago host who tried co-hosting on YouTube ("[How Much I Made in 1 Year (and Why I Quit)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIj6xgLjZeM)") started at a 9% fee on "the money after Airbnb's take," earned $2,671 across two properties in about a year, and did the listing rewrite and photos for free. His advice for next time: "Charge an upfront flat fee for listing optimization and photos." A co-host who underprices will either cut corners or leave.

## Percentage of what? How Airbnb calculates the co-host split

**Airbnb calculates a percentage co-host payout from the host's potential earnings, which is the booking total minus Airbnb's host service fee.** Its [co-host payout article](https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/3389) spells it out: multiply the nightly price by the nights, add fees like cleaning, "then subtract the host service fee," and the co-host payout is then calculated from that amount.

Airbnb's [service fee page](https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1857) says it is moving all home hosts to the single fee structure, where "most hosts pay 15.5%." Hostaway's summary of the change puts the final switch at [September 15, 2026 outside the EU](https://www.hostaway.com/blog/airbnb-host-only-fee-what-to-know-about-the-15-percent-host-fee/) and October 13, 2026 in the EU.

So every co-host percentage now applies to 84.5% of the booking. A worked example, three nights at $200 plus a $150 cleaning fee:

| Line | Amount |
| --- | --- |
| Guest pays (single fee, no separate guest fee) | $750.00 |
| Airbnb host fee, 15.5% | $116.25 |
| Host potential earnings | $633.75 |
| Co-host at 20%, cleaning included in the calculation | $126.75 |
| Co-host share of what the guest paid | 16.9% |

This is the same trap as a card processor quoting one rate and charging on a different base, which is why an [effective rate](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/how-to-calculate-effective-rate-on-merchant-statement) beats the headline number. A professional co-host with 23 listings made the point from the other side in r/airbnb_hosts: "If Airbnb takes 15.5% first and then I receive 15% of what's left, my effective management fee is only about 12.675% of gross room revenue." Both sides need to agree which base the percentage uses, and write it down.

**What each split really costs.** At the 15.5% single fee, a co-host paid through Airbnb receives the nominal percentage times 0.845. At 25%, that is 21.1% of the guest price, and Airbnb plus the co-host take 36.6% of every booking before cleaning or any other cost.

## Should the co-host raise their percentage after the 15.5% change?

**No, not if the owner raises prices to cover the fee.** A percentage co-host is already tied to your price. When nightly rates go up, their pay goes up with them. The top reply in the 25% to 32% thread said it in one line: "If you raise your nightly rate to offset, she'll naturally be offset as well."

Airbnb's own [fee change guide](https://www.airbnb.com/resources/hosting-homes/a/simplifying-airbnb-service-fees-746) shows why. Under the old split fee, a $100 price earned the host $97 after the 3% host fee, and the guest saw $115. Under the single fee, pricing at $115 still earns $97. Leave the price at $100 and you earn $84.50. If the owner reprices so the payout is unchanged, the co-host's percentage of that payout is unchanged too, in dollars.

Asking for 32% instead of 25% on top of that is a 28% raise in the co-host's pay, framed as a fee adjustment. As the OP put it: "I'd effectively be absorbing 100% of what used to be the traveler-side fees on my own."

There is one honest case for the co-host. If the market will not bear higher prices and the owner leaves rates alone, both sides lose about 13% of their old income, and the co-host did not cause it. That is a real conversation about the whole deal, the same one any business has when [raising prices](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/how-to-raise-prices-without-losing-customers). It is not a reason to change the split and the price at once.

### Gross up by dividing, not multiplying

When you do reprice, the math is easy to get backwards. One commenter in r/airbnb_hosts: "grossing up isn't multiply by 1.155, it's divide by 0.845."

- **Moving from the split fee:** your old payout was 97% of your price, so the new price is old price x 0.97 / 0.845, about **14.8% higher**.
- **Money you pass through in full** (a cleaner's pay you want to cover exactly): new fee = amount / 0.845, about **18.3% higher**. $145 becomes $171.60.

Multiplying by 1.155 leaves you short on every booking.

## The cleaning fee payout that leaks 15.5% per turnover

**If your co-host is set to receive the "Cleaning fee" payout, they get the full listed cleaning fee, and Airbnb's 15.5% on that fee comes out of your share.** Airbnb's payout article says the cleaning fee option shares "the amount you set as your cleaning fee in your listing details." Its fee page says the host fee is a percentage of the nightly price "and any fees charged by the host." Put those two sentences together and the owner pays Airbnb's fee on money that goes straight to the co-host.

This was a 3% leak under the old split fee. At 15.5% it is five times bigger. An owner in r/airbnb_hosts ("[15.5% service fee to hosts Airbnb](https://www.reddit.com/r/airbnb_hosts/comments/1w00g1n/155_service_fee_to_hosts_airbnb/)") raised the cleaning fee to $172 so the cleaner would net $145 after the fee, and found the co-host receiving the full $172: "my manager is receiving an extra $26 on every booking and I am losing $26 from my profit." A commenter put a year on it: $26.66 a booking, "Ten bookings a month and that's about $3,200 a year." The owner said Airbnb support declined to change it.

How to check yours in five minutes, using the owner's own method from that thread:

1. Open one recent booking in your Earnings dashboard.
2. Take the host earnings after Airbnb's fee and multiply by your co-host's percentage.
3. Subtract that from the co-host's total payout on the booking.
4. What is left is the cleaning amount you are sending. If it equals your listed cleaning fee, you are paying 15.5% on it.

Three ways to fix it:

- **Switch the co-host to a fixed amount per booking** equal to what cleaning should actually pay. Airbnb supports fixed amount payouts for co-hosts with any permissions.
- **Keep the cleaning fee in your payout and pay the cleaner yourself.** That moves the paperwork to you (see taxes below), but you control the number.
- **Use a percentage that includes cleaning** and pay cleaning out of your share. Simple, but only if the percentage is priced for it.

Any change needs the co-host's confirmation. Airbnb gives them 14 days to accept, and changes apply only to bookings that start after they confirm, so set it before your next busy stretch.

If your co-host payout includes the cleaning fee, or a percentage nobody has checked against the booking, send us the payout export. Our free leak scan lists what each split actually costs per booking and which settings are sending Airbnb's fee on money you pass straight through.

## Who gets paid first, and what happens on cancellations

**Airbnb pays co-hosts first and the host gets whatever remains.** Its [payout exceptions article](https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/3816) says so directly: "co-hosts will be paid first, and the host will receive whatever remains." With several co-hosts, Airbnb pays in a fixed order: cleaning fee only, then cleaning fee plus percentage, then percentages from highest to lowest, then fixed amounts.

That order matters when a booking shrinks. Airbnb's example: a $150 booking is canceled and the host's potential earnings fall to $50, so a 10% co-host gets $5 and the host gets $45. Percentages shrink with the booking. A fixed amount or cleaning fee payout does not shrink the same way, so on a heavily refunded stay the host can end up with little or nothing.

If a host or full-access co-host cancels after payouts were sent, Airbnb deducts the refund from future payouts "until the full amount is collected," which can leave either side short on later bookings. Your agreement should say who absorbs a cancellation the co-host caused, like a missed turnover, the same way any service business decides in advance when to [charge a cancellation fee](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/how-to-charge-a-cancellation-fee).

## Co-host vs property manager fees

**A co-host usually works inside your Airbnb account; a full property manager often runs the listing and the operation.** That difference matters more than the percentage. On Airbnb, "as the listing owner, you're responsible for your co-hosts," and you can "remove a co-host's access to your listing whenever you want," per its [co-host permissions page](https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1534). The reviews, the listing and the payout settings stay yours.

Price comparisons between the two only work if you compare scope and base. A first-time host in r/airbnb_hosts said Vacasa quoted 17% and Evolve 15%, which made a co-host plus Airbnb's fee look expensive. Before comparing, ask each one:

- Is the fee a percentage of the guest price, the Airbnb payout, or rent after cleaning?
- Who keeps the cleaning fee, and is it marked up?
- Are repairs and supplies billed at cost or with a markup? One co-host service in the cleaning fee thread claimed co-hosts "most often apply a 10-20% markup" on jobs. That is a vendor's claim, but it is the right question. Markup math works the same way as [materials markup](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/how-to-price-materials-markup-for-customers) in any trade: it is a second fee on top of the first.
- Is there an approval limit? In the r/PropertyManagement thread, an owner on 11% was hit with $650 a month in unitemized maintenance; the most practical reply was that "most agreements have a pre-authorized limit on repairs."

## Check your own split

Use this table with your co-host's percentage. It assumes the 15.5% single fee and a co-host paid through Airbnb's percentage option.

| Co-host % of payout | Co-host share of guest price | Airbnb plus co-host | Owner keeps before costs |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 10% | 8.5% | 24.0% | 76.1% |
| 15% | 12.7% | 28.2% | 71.8% |
| 20% | 16.9% | 32.4% | 67.6% |
| 25% | 21.1% | 36.6% | 63.4% |
| 30% | 25.4% | 40.9% | 59.2% |

Then pull three recent bookings and compare the co-host payout to what the table predicts, the same way you would [reconcile invoices](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/how-to-reconcile-crm-invoices-with-quickbooks) against what was actually paid. If the co-host received more, the gap is usually the cleaning fee setting, a second co-host payout you forgot, or a fixed amount stacked on a percentage.

### 7 lines to put in any co-host agreement

1. **The base.** "Percentage of host earnings after Airbnb's service fee" or "percentage of the guest price." One or the other, in writing.
2. **The payout option.** Which of Airbnb's four options you use, and the cleaning amount in dollars.
3. **Setup fee.** A flat, one-time amount for listing, photos and licensing work.
4. **Markups.** Repairs, supplies and restocking at cost, or at a stated markup.
5. **Approval limit.** Any single expense above an agreed dollar amount needs your written OK, with a receipt and a photo.
6. **Cancellations.** Who absorbs refunds the co-host caused.
7. **Notice.** A termination period both sides can live with. It is only a promise: the Chicago co-host on YouTube had a 30-day clause and was removed without warning anyway, and Airbnb lets owners remove co-hosts at any time.

If your three bookings do not match the table, something in the payout setup is costing you money on every stay. Send the earnings export and we will list each gap, what it costs per year, and the setting that fixes it.

## Taxes: the owner reports money the co-host received

**Airbnb reports the full booking amount to the listing owner, not the amount after co-host payouts.** Its payout article says co-host payouts "will not impact the amount which will be reported to the listing owner," and co-hosts get their own tax document for what they receive. So your reported income includes the co-host's share, and you need a clean record of every payout to deduct it. That is a good reason to [pick a bookkeeping setup](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/do-i-need-a-bookkeeper-or-accounting-software) before the first booking, not in April.

If you take the cleaning fee back and pay the cleaner yourself, you become the payer. The [IRS instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1099mec) say the minimum reporting threshold for tax years beginning after 2025 is $2,000. A commenter in the cleaning fee thread pointed out that at $172 a clean, you pass that in about a dozen turnovers. The same rules apply as for any [paying subcontractors](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/best-way-to-pay-subcontractors) decision: collect a W-9 before the first payment. Ask your accountant how it applies to you.

One rule to keep straight: paying your own cleaner or co-host outside Airbnb is your business, but Airbnb does not allow hosts to [collect reservation fees from guests](https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2827) outside its platform. Never move a guest's payment off Airbnb to get around the fee.

## Can you do this yourself?

**Yes, for one or two listings.** Checking the split is a 20-minute job: open three bookings, run the table above, and read which payout option each co-host is on. Fixing it is a payout proposal the co-host confirms in the app. If you are repricing for the 15.5% fee, divide by 0.845, and let a percentage co-host's pay rise with it rather than renegotiating the split.

It stops being worth your time when you have several listings, more than one co-host per listing, cleaning handled three different ways, and a monthly reconciliation nobody does. That is the point where the leaks compound: a $26 cleaning gap here, an unapproved $650 repair there. A recurring check is one of the easier [things to automate](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/what-can-i-automate-in-my-small-business), and the same habit of reading the statement instead of the headline rate applies to every [percentage fee](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/why-am-i-paying-a-percentage-fee-on-ach-payments) your business pays. For more of these, the [overhead and subscriptions](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/topic/overhead-and-subscriptions) hub collects the costs owners tend to stop checking.

The short answer to "what should an Airbnb co-host charge" is Airbnb's 15 to 25%, placed by scope. The longer answer is that the percentage is only half the deal. The base it is taken from, the cleaning fee setting and the markup policy decide what you actually pay.

## FAQ

### What percentage should an Airbnb co-host charge?

Airbnb's Co-Host Network page says co-hosts typically charge 15 to 25% for ongoing support, often with a separate flat fee to set up the listing. Where a co-host sits in that band should depend on scope: remote messaging and pricing belong at the bottom, full service with cleaning coordination and on-site support near the top.

### Is an Airbnb co-host percentage taken from the gross booking or the payout?

If you pay through Airbnb's co-host payout tool, the percentage is calculated from the host's potential earnings, which is the booking total minus Airbnb's host service fee. At the 15.5% single fee, a 20% co-host receives about 16.9% of what the guest paid. Co-hosts who invoice you directly may use a different base, so the contract should say which one.

### Should my co-host get a higher percentage because of Airbnb's 15.5% fee?

Usually not. If you raise nightly rates to cover the fee, a percentage co-host's pay rises with your prices automatically. Raising the split on top of the price change means the owner pays for the fee change twice. The fair test is dollars per booking before and after, not percentages.

### Does an Airbnb co-host get the cleaning fee?

Only if you set it up that way. Airbnb offers four co-host payout options: cleaning fee, cleaning fee plus a percentage, a percentage, or a fixed amount per booking. The cleaning fee option shares the amount set as your cleaning fee in the listing, while Airbnb's service fee is also charged on that fee, so the owner covers the 15.5% on it.

### Is 25 to 30% too much for an Airbnb co-host?

It depends on what is included. In r/airbnb_hosts threads, one owner pays 25% for a co-host who handles cleanings, lawn care, restocking and local issues, while others call 26% 'wildly expensive' for a narrower job. Above 25% you are outside the range Airbnb itself quotes, so ask for the work that justifies it in writing.

### What happens to the co-host payout when a guest cancels?

It shrinks in proportion. Airbnb's example: if a $150 booking is canceled and the host's potential earnings drop to $50, a 10% co-host receives $5 and the host $45. If a host cancels after payouts were sent, Airbnb deducts the refund from future payouts, which can leave the co-host or the host with less than expected.

### Should I pay a co-host a flat fee or a percentage?

A percentage ties the co-host to revenue, which rewards pricing work but also pays them more when prices rise for reasons they did not cause, like a fee change. A fixed amount per booking is predictable and easier to check. Many co-hosts combine a one-time flat setup fee with an ongoing percentage, which is the structure Airbnb describes.

### Who reports the co-host's income for taxes?

Airbnb says the listing owner receives a tax document on the full booking amount, and the co-host receives one for the amounts they were paid through Airbnb. So the owner's reported income includes money that went to the co-host, and the owner needs records of those payouts. Ask your accountant how to treat them.