Rental platform fees 2026: HousingAnywhere, Spotahome, Airbnb
A 6-month room let at €635 a month, the European median in HousingAnywhere's Rent Index for Q3 2026, costs its landlord €304.80 to €590.55 in fees on the platforms that publish their rates (Vivin's calculation). Behind that range: HousingAnywhere charges landlords a standard 8% of the total contract value, Spotahome 8%, 10% or 15% by plan, and Airbnb a single 15.5% host-only fee, which hosts in the EEA and Switzerland moved to on 13 October 2026. On HousingAnywhere the tenant also pays a Tenant Protection fee of about 25-40% of the first month's rent, with a €175 minimum.
This guide compares rental platform fees in 2026 across five platforms: who pays, how much and when, with the source and date of each figure. Unpublished numbers are marked as such, and "Vivin's calculation" marks our own arithmetic.
How much do HousingAnywhere, Spotahome, Uniplaces, Airbnb and Booking.com charge landlords and tenants in 2026?
Published rates, read on 23 October 2026 (page update dates in brackets). Total contract value = monthly rent × months.
| Platform | Landlord pays | Tenant pays | When | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HousingAnywhere | Standard 8% of total contract value + VAT where applicable, lower in some locations. Minimum €60 + VAT (rooms), €100 + VAT (apartments). | Tenant Protection: about 25-40% of the first month's rent, minimum €175 (none in the Netherlands, UK, US). 2.5% on later payment requests in most countries. | Commission deducted from the first rent, paid out 48 h after move-in. | Help Center: commission (9 Apr 2025), Tenant Protection (31 Jul 2026); pricing |
| Spotahome | Standard 8%, Plus 10% or All-in 15% of total contract value; may vary by country, portfolio size and plan. No listing fee. | Reservation fee with the first rent; percentage not published. | Only once rented. Standard pays out first rent minus fee within 48 h of arrival. | Plans, Help Center, Terms (5 May 2026) |
| Uniplaces | Commission on booking value (rent × months), deducted from the first rent; percentage not published. | One-time, non-refundable service fee on the first payment; percentage not published. | At booking; commission after move-in. | Terms of Service (22 Dec 2023); fee pages offline on 23 Oct 2026 |
| Airbnb | Single host-only fee: 15.5% of the booking subtotal. EEA and Swiss hosts since 13 Oct 2026. | No service fee. The legacy split fee charged guests 14.1-16.5% and hosts 3%. | Deducted from each payout. | Help Center art. 1857; Resource Center (24 Aug 2026) |
| Booking.com | Set in each partner contract: typically 10-25%, about 15% on average; Payments by Booking.com adds 1.1-3.1%. Reported by Houst, not confirmed by the platform. | Nothing to Booking.com. | Invoiced monthly after checkout. | Houst (11 May 2026); the official Partner Hub could not be checked |
What is the Airbnb host fee in 2026, and does it apply to monthly stays?
Airbnb has replaced its split fee with a single host-only fee of 15.5% of the booking subtotal. Hosts outside the EEA moved on 15 September 2026 and hosts in the EEA and Switzerland on 13 October 2026 (Airbnb Resource Center, updated 24 August 2026).
For stays of 28 nights or more, Airbnb's fee page publishes no separate rate; third-party blogs contradict each other, so assume no long-stay discount. The guest pays the first month at booking and the rest monthly, each instalment charged 10 days in advance (art. 3409). The host's first payout comes 24 hours after check-in, then every 28-31 days (Resource Center, 2022).
What does a 6-month room cost in platform fees? A worked example
Six months at €635 is a total contract value of €3,810. Each published rate applied to it (Vivin's calculation, without VAT or extras):
| Platform and rate | Landlord pays | Landlord keeps | Tenant pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| HousingAnywhere, 8% | €304.80 + VAT | €3,505.20 | €175-€254 |
| Spotahome Standard, 8% | €304.80 | €3,505.20 | Not published |
| Spotahome Plus, 10% | €381.00 | €3,429.00 | Not published |
| Spotahome All-in, 15% | €571.50 | €3,238.50 | Not published |
| Uniplaces | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Airbnb single fee, 15.5% | €590.55 | €3,219.45 | €0 |
| Booking.com, about 15% (reported) | About €571.50 (+ €41.91-€118.11 with Payments by Booking.com) | About €3,238.50 | €0 |
At published rates, the landlord's cost runs from €304.80 to €590.55, a €285.75 gap on one booking. Add HousingAnywhere's tenant fee and the platform's total take is €479.80-€558.80 before VAT, 12.6-14.7% of the contract and close to Airbnb's 15.5%. And since portals deduct the whole commission from the first payout, 8% of a 12-month contract at €635 is €609.60: 96% of the first month's rent.
How much does it cost to collect rent yourself?
Every rent a platform does not collect, you collect. Published prices, read on 23 October 2026, for one €635 rent (Vivin's calculation):
| Method | Published price | On €635 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Card via Stripe, standard EEA card | 1.5% + €0.25 | €9.78 | Stripe pricing |
| Card via Stripe, premium EEA card | 2.8% + €0.25 | €18.03 | Stripe pricing |
| SEPA Direct Debit via Stripe | €0.35 per successful charge; €3.50 if it fails; €15 if disputed | €0.35 | Stripe local methods |
| SEPA Direct Debit via GoCardless | 1% + €0.20, cap €2 (Standard plan); up to 1.4% + €0.20, cap €2.75 (Pro) | €2.00 to €2.75 | GoCardless EU pricing |
| Bank transfer to a Stripe virtual IBAN | 0.5%, capped at €5 | €3.18 | Stripe local methods |
| SEPA credit transfer to your own IBAN | Your bank's price list; by EU law, cross-border euro transfers cost the same as domestic ones and instant ones no more than standard | €0 or your bank's fee | EUR-Lex: Reg. 2021/1230, Reg. 2024/886 |
No single "typical" European price exists, but two things hold everywhere: one failed debit (€3.50 on Stripe) costs as much as ten successful ones, and even six rents by premium card (6 × €18.03 = €108.18) cost less than half of an 8% commission on the same stay.
How do several channels and a direct channel change the fee mix?
Few operators fill every room from one platform, so what matters is the blended rate, and each direct booking swaps a commission for a payment fee. As an illustrative estimate, moving 3 of 10 six-month bookings at €635 from an 8% portal to direct, with the first rent paid by standard card, cuts commissions from €3,048 to €2,133.60 a year for €29.34 in card fees: €885.06 saved (Vivin's calculation). The full case is in our guide to direct bookings vs platform fees.
Vivin keeps that mix on one calendar. Units go to HousingAnywhere, Spotahome and Uniplaces through partner feeds and their bookings come back in, Airbnb and Booking.com connect through an official API connection, and Vivin's booking engine adds a direct booking website in your own branding. Rent is collected through a virtual IBAN per booking or by card, MB WAY, Apple Pay and Google Pay, and reconciled automatically. See also maximizing occupancy across channels.
How to compare platform fees for your own portfolio
- Apply each channel's rate to the total contract value of last year's bookings, and check minimums: HousingAnywhere's €60 room minimum is more than 8% of one month at €635 (€50.80).
- Add the tenant's fee: it changes how your listing compares with the same room elsewhere.
- Build Airbnb's 15.5% into your price.
- Add your collection costs and compare the blended rate with a direct channel.
See how the Vivin channel manager connects your channels, or book a demo to see it with your own units.
Sources and method
- Platform fees: each platform's pages, linked and dated in the first table; Booking.com figures reported by Houst (11 May 2026), not confirmed by the platform. Badi and Idealista are left out: Badi does not publish its booking-fee percentages, and Idealista is a listing portal, not a booking platform.
- Rent and payments: HousingAnywhere Rent Index, Q3 2026 (14 October 2026); Stripe, GoCardless and EUR-Lex, read on 23 October 2026.
- Calculations: published rate × stated rent, rounded to the cent, without VAT or extras.
Frequently asked questions
How much does HousingAnywhere charge landlords?
HousingAnywhere's standard landlord commission is 8% of the total contract value (monthly rent times months) plus VAT where applicable, and may be lower in some locations, with a minimum of €60 plus VAT for rooms and €100 plus VAT for apartments. It is deducted from the first month's rent, paid out 48 hours after move-in (HousingAnywhere Help Center, updated 9 April 2025).
Does Airbnb charge a fee on monthly stays?
Airbnb publishes no separate fee for monthly stays. Its service-fee page (Help Center article 1857, read 23 October 2026) gives one host-only fee of 15.5% of the booking subtotal and no rate for stays of 28 nights or more, so plan with 15.5% and assume no long-stay discount. The guest pays the first month at booking and the rest in monthly instalments, each charged 10 days in advance.
What fees do tenants pay on HousingAnywhere, Spotahome and Uniplaces?
On HousingAnywhere, a Tenant Protection fee of about 25-40% of the first month's rent, minimum €175 (none in the Netherlands, UK or US), plus 2.5% on later payment requests in most countries (Help Center, updated 31 July 2026). Spotahome's reservation fee and Uniplaces' one-time service fee are shown at checkout, but neither publishes the percentage.
What is the cheapest way to collect monthly rent in Europe?
On published prices, a SEPA credit transfer to your own IBAN costs only your bank's fee, if any, and EU law prices cross-border euro transfers like domestic ones. SEPA Direct Debit through Stripe costs €0.35 per successful charge (€3.50 if it fails); a standard EEA card through Stripe costs 1.5% + €0.25, or €9.78 on a €635 rent (read 23 October 2026).
Every channel has a price. Compare them per contract, not per headline rate, and check again when a platform changes its model.
