What Vrbo changed
Vrbo now charges pay-per-booking hosts a flat 12% commission. Its Help Center describes the rate as all-in, with no separate payment processing fee when Vrbo handles the payment. The flat rate applies to bookings made on or after October 29, 2026, and replaces the previous 5% commission plus 3% payment processing fee. Bookings made earlier keep the old rate, even when the stay comes later.
The commission is charged on the rental amount and on additional fees the host charges travelers. Vrbo’s own examples are cleaning, pet and boat fees. It is not charged on taxes, refundable deposits, Vrbo’s traveler service fee or insurance products.
Vrbo says the rate can differ by region and plan: in parts of Europe, Australia and New Zealand the commission can reach 15%, and hosts using their own payment processor pay that processor on top. The exact figure for your listings is in the Vrbo Owner Dashboard.
What it does to the cleaning fee
Most hosts set the cleaning fee at or near what the clean costs, so it passes through to the cleaner untouched. A commission on that fee breaks the pass-through. On a $150 cleaning fee, Vrbo keeps $18 and $132 reaches the host, while the clean still costs $150.
There are two straightforward fixes. Raise the fee until what arrives after commission covers the clean: for a $150 clean that is $171, since 12% of $171 leaves about $150. Or leave the fee alone and absorb the difference into the nightly rate. Which is right depends on stay length, because a cleaning fee weighs far more on a two-night stay than on a week.
Does Vrbo limit checkout chores like Airbnb?
Not yet. Airbnb’s new policy, which stops hosts requiring guests to strip beds, wash dishes or take trash off-site, covers Airbnb reservations only. As of October 22, 2026, Vrbo has not published an equivalent rule.
For hosts on both platforms that means two sets of expectations for the same property. The simplest answer is to write one set of checkout requests that meets Airbnb’s standard and use it everywhere, so the turnover starts from the same place whichever platform the guest booked through. What Airbnb’s new checkout rules allow.
Sources
This summary reflects the platform’s published policy on October 22, 2026. Platforms revise these pages, so check the source before changing a listing.