OTA commission rates explained: what hotels pay online travel agencies

An OTA commission is the share of a booking that an online travel agency keeps for selling your room. A vacation rental platform publishes its standard fee for hotels: most hosts on its host-only fee pay 15.5%1. A large booking platform and a large online travel group publish no standard rate on the pages we could open, so your contract and your invoices are the only reliable numbers.

By hotels.tools · Last checked 6 November 2026

What commission is and why it matters

Commission is how online travel agencies are paid for hotel bookings. This guide looks at three large platforms and calls them by type: the booking platform, the online travel group and the vacation rental platform. The booking platform tells travellers that once a stay is finished, the service provider pays it a commission2. Its parent company reports that its agency revenues consist almost entirely of travel reservation commissions from the platform’s accommodation bookings3.

The online travel group says a substantial portion of its revenue comes from compensation negotiated with travel suppliers4. "Compensation" is the word the group uses where others say commission.

For a hotel, commission can be the largest cost attached to a single reservation. It comes off the top of the booking, before you pay for the room cleaning, the laundry or the breakfast. A small change in the rate, repeated over a year of bookings, can be worth more than many cost savings inside the hotel.

Is there a typical OTA commission rate?

We found no published industry-wide rate, and we do not estimate one. Of the three platforms in this guide, only the vacation rental platform publishes a figure for hotels: most hosts on its host-only fee pay 15.5%, and the rest typically pay between 14% and 16%1. The booking platform publishes no standard rate on the pages we could open. It says only that properties in one of its partner programmes pay a higher commission, without giving a figure2. The online travel group publishes no standard rate on the pages we could open either. Its annual report says a substantial portion of its revenue comes from compensation negotiated with travel suppliers4.

So for the booking platform and the travel group the source is your own contract, not a market average. Your contract gives the base rate, and your invoices give the real cost once programmes and advertising are added, as the section on working out your real cost explains. If you compare platforms, compare your effective rates from those invoices, because a published fee and a contract rate are different kinds of figure.

Agency and merchant: who takes the guest’s money

Platforms use two payment models, and they change your cash flow more than your cost. In the terms of the booking platform’s parent company, agency revenues come from bookings where it does not handle the traveller’s payment, and merchant revenues from bookings where it does3.

The online travel group offers the same choice. For hotels in one of its programmes, guests can pay the group in advance under its merchant model, or pay at the hotel at the time of the stay under its agency model4.

Under an agency model you take the payment from the guest and the platform invoices you for its commission later. Under a merchant model the platform takes the payment and pays you the net amount. In both cases the platform counts its revenue around the stay rather than the booking: the travel group generally records agency revenue from the hotel when the stayed night occurs4, and the booking platform’s parent generally recognises revenue from bookings when the travel begins3.

What each platform publishes, and what it does not

The vacation rental platform is the most open. Its host-only fee is mandatory for most hosts, including traditional hospitality listings such as hotels1. Most hosts pay 15.5%, the rest typically pay between 14% and 16%, and hosts pay 16% for listings in Brazil and Mexico1. Under the older split fee, which the platform is phasing out, most hosts pay 3% and the guest pays a separate service fee1.

The booking platform does not publish a standard commission rate on any of the pages we could open. Its public description of how it works says properties in a partner programme of its own pay a higher commission, without giving a figure2. Its partner help pages, which may say more, refused our requests on the checked date.

The online travel group does not publish a standard commission rate on the pages we could open either. Its annual report says a substantial portion of its revenue comes from compensation negotiated with travel suppliers4, and its partner blog describes a visibility tool where the hotel sets its own compensation rate in return for more visibility6. The base rate itself is in your agreement with the group.

Treat rates quoted in blog posts and sales material as estimates unless they name a published source. They can help you ask questions, but they are not your rate. Our Commission Benchmarker starts from the rates in your own contracts for the same reason.

What each platform publishes about hotel commission, and what kind of figure it is.
PlatformFigureWhat the figure is
Vacation rental platform15.5% for most hosts on the host-only fee, the rest typically 14% to 16%, 16% in Brazil and Mexico1The platform’s own published fee
Booking platformNo standard rate on the pages we could open; properties in a partner programme pay more2Company statement without a figure
Online travel groupNo standard rate on the pages we could open; revenue described as compensation negotiated with travel suppliers4Company filing without a figure

Programmes that change what you pay

The base rate is not the whole cost. Platforms sell visibility, and paying for it raises the effective commission on the bookings it brings.

The booking platform says that how much commission a property pays, how quickly it pays it, and whether it takes part in its traveller loyalty programme or its partner programmes can all influence its ranking in search results2. It tells travellers that the loyalty programme gives discounts of 10% at level 1, 10% to 15% at level 2 after 5 bookings in 2 years, and 10% to 20% at level 3 after 15 bookings in 2 years, applied to the price before taxes and charges5. That page does not say who funds the discount, so read the programme terms in your extranet before you join.

The online travel group offers two tools of this kind for hotels. One is a pay-per-stay tool: the hotel sets the compensation rate and pays only when a traveller completes a stay6. The other is sponsored listings, advertising on a pay-per-click model6.

Treat every programme as marketing spend. The useful question is not whether bookings rose while it ran, but how many of those bookings you would not have had anyway, and what each one cost once the extra commission or clicks are counted.

Rate parity and your own website in Europe

Parity clauses are contract terms that stop a business such as a hotel from offering more favourable terms elsewhere7. In the European Economic Area they are no longer allowed on the booking platform. The European Commission says the Digital Markets Act bans parity requirements of any kind for that platform, and that accommodation partners are free to set more attractive prices on their own website7.

According to the same factsheet, the platform has removed these requirements from its general terms for properties, its agreements and its partner programmes, including as an entry condition for its traveller loyalty programme and its partner programmes7. It has had to comply since 14 November 20247.

Germany got there earlier. In May 2021 the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, case KVR 54/20) confirmed that the narrow best price clauses a large booking platform used until February 2016, which stopped hotels from offering lower prices or better terms in their own online sales, were incompatible with competition law8.

In December 2025 the Berlin Regional Court (Landgericht Berlin II, case 61 O 60/24 Kart) ruled on a claim by 1,288 accommodation operators that the same platform must compensate 1,099 of them for any damage caused since 1 January 2013 by its best price clauses, both the wide ones it used until June 2015 and the narrow ones that followed9. Whether any damage actually occurred, and how much, is still open, the claim for a refund of commissions failed, and the judgment is not final9.

Outside the EEA, and with other platforms, parity terms can still apply. Read your own agreement before you change prices on your direct channel. This is general information, not legal advice.

Working out your real commission cost

The rate in your contract is a starting point. Your real cost is what you paid divided by what the channel sold, over a full month or more.

Take each platform’s commission invoices or statements for a period and add up everything charged: base commission, programme surcharges, advertising and any payment fees. Divide that total by the room revenue from that platform’s bookings that stayed in the same period. The result is your effective commission rate, and it is often the first time a hotel sees the cost of its programmes in one number.

Then compare like with like. A direct booking is not free: it carries website, search advertising, booking engine and card costs. Divide your direct marketing spend by your direct room revenue for the same period, and compare the two percentages. The OTA Commission Calculator does this for a single booking, and the Commission Benchmarker turns your rate into a yearly cost.

  • Use stayed bookings, not booked ones, so cancellations do not distort the rate.
  • Count programme and advertising charges with the commission they sit beside.
  • Check whether taxes and extras are inside the amount commission was charged on.
From price to what you keepIllustrative chart. A $200.00 booking with 7% tax included in the price. Through an OTA at 15% commission: minus $30.00 commission and $13.08 tax leaves $156.92. Direct: minus $8.00 marketing, a $4.00 card fee and $13.08 tax leaves $174.92.Booked through an OTAPrice$200.00Commission−$30.00Tax inside price−$13.08You keep$156.92Booked directPrice$200.00Marketing−$8.00Card fee−$4.00Tax inside price−$13.08You keep$174.92
From price to what you keep. Illustrative, from the worked example below. The commission rate is an input you replace with your own, not a published figure.

How to lower what you pay in commission

Bring your own numbers. Room nights and revenue through the platform over the last twelve months, your cancellation rate on that channel, your effective commission rate and your direct booking cost make a far stronger case than a rate you read online.

Ask about the parts you can control as well as the headline rate: which programmes you are in, which you could leave, and what visibility you would lose. Then run the numbers through the calculators to see what a lower rate, or leaving a programme, would be worth over a year.

You can also lower the total without a new contract. Leave programmes that do not bring bookings you would otherwise miss, and grow the channels that cost less per booking, such as your own website, where in the European Economic Area you are free to set lower prices than on the booking platform7.

Worked example: one booking, then a whole year

Illustrative inputs: a $200 room with 7% tax included, 15% commission, and $8 marketing plus a 2% card fee for a direct booking.

  1. Commission: 15% of $200.00 is $30.00.
  2. Tax inside the price: $200.00 times 7 divided by 107 is $13.08, which goes to the tax office, not to you.
  3. OTA net: $200.00 minus $30.00 minus $13.08 is $156.92, or 78.5% of the price.
  4. Direct net: $200.00 minus $8.00 marketing, $4.00 card fee and $13.08 tax is $174.92.
  5. Across a year, a 40-room hotel at 70% occupancy sells 10,220 room nights. If half come through OTAs at 15%, commission is $153,300.
  6. Two points less commission on the same bookings would save $20,440 a year.

The gap on one booking is $18.00. The gap that matters is the yearly total, so negotiate and plan with the annual figure.

Open the OTA Commission Calculator

Frequently asked questions

Does a large booking platform publish its commission rate?

Not on the public pages we could open on the checked date. The one in this guide says properties in a partner programme pay a higher commission, without a figure2. Your rate is set in your agreement, so check it and your invoices.

What if a platform calls its commission compensation?

The online travel group in this guide does, and it publishes no standard rate on the pages we could open on the checked date. Its annual report says a substantial portion of its revenue comes from compensation negotiated with travel suppliers4. Treat it as commission under another name: your rate is the one in your own agreement, and your invoices show what you actually pay.

What does a vacation rental platform charge a hotel?

The one in this guide says its host-only fee is mandatory for most hosts, including traditional hospitality listings such as hotels, where most hosts pay 15.5% and the rest typically between 14% and 16%1. It publishes this on its own help pages.

Do I pay commission on cancelled bookings?

Platforms tie their revenue to the stay. The booking platform in this guide says commission is paid once the stay is finished2, and the online travel group generally records agency revenue when the stayed night occurs4. Charges on non-refundable cancellations and no-shows are set in each platform’s partner terms, so check them against your invoices.

Does joining a platform’s loyalty programme cost my hotel money?

The booking platform’s traveller page lists the loyalty discounts but does not say who funds them5. The platform also says taking part can influence ranking2. Read the programme terms in your extranet and measure the bookings it adds before deciding.

Can I sell cheaper on my own website than on a booking platform?

In the European Economic Area, on the large booking platform covered by the Digital Markets Act, yes: the European Commission says properties are free to set more attractive prices on their own website7. Outside the EEA and with other platforms, check your contract. This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

  1. Airbnb service fees (Airbnb Help Center), checked 6 November 2026
  2. How we work (Booking.com, updated 31 May 2025), checked 6 November 2026
  3. Booking Holdings Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 (US SEC), checked 6 November 2026
  4. Expedia Group Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 (US SEC), checked 6 November 2026
  5. Genius loyalty programme (Booking.com traveller page), checked 6 November 2026
  6. TravelAds and Accelerator: hotel visibility boosters (Expedia Group Partner blog, August 2025), checked 6 November 2026
  7. How the DMA ensures businesses using Booking.com are free to set their prices (European Commission factsheet, September 2026), checked 6 November 2026
  8. Bundesgerichtshof bestätigt Unzulässigkeit der engen Bestpreisklauseln von Booking.com, KVR 54/20 (Federal Court of Justice press release, May 2021), checked 6 November 2026
  9. Landgericht Berlin II on damages for best price clauses, 61 O 60/24 Kart (court press release, December 2025), checked 6 November 2026

General information only, not tax, legal or financial advice. Rates and rules change, so check them with the relevant authority, your employer or a qualified adviser before relying on them. Company names identify the companies described; hotels.tools is not affiliated with them.