What OTAs really cost
How Much Does Booking.com Charge Hotels?
Booking.com does not publish one rate. Your commission is a set percentage of the whole booking, and the exact figure depends on your country, property type and the agreement you signed. One third-party guide, BookingWhizz, puts the base rate at roughly 15% to 17% for most independent hotels. Paid programs can push it higher.
This guide is for owners and managers of independent US hotels. It explains what Booking.com's commission covers, what raises it, and how to read your own number. How Booking.com calculates and charges commission comes from its own Partner Hub. Typical rates come from third-party guides, and we say so each time.
What is Booking.com's commission, and what is it charged on?
Booking.com describes commission as a set percentage of the total booking amount, charged on each reservation made through its platform. The total includes the room rate and any extra fees you charge, such as cleaning fees, service fees and no-show or cancellation charges. Booking.com applies it once the guest checks out.
- Room rate plus fees. A $20 cleaning fee on a $200 room is part of the amount the percentage is applied to.
- Taxes. Booking.com does not charge commission on local taxes such as city tax. In most countries it does charge commission on VAT or GST, depending on local tax law. Check the General Delivery Terms in your agreement, or ask your accountant.
- Timing. You are invoiced once a month for guests who checked out the month before. US bank accounts can pay by ACH.
What percentage does Booking.com charge?
There is no public price list. Booking.com says the exact percentage depends on your country, property type and the accommodation agreement you signed when you joined. For a ballpark, BookingWhizz's guide report that most independent properties pay about 15% to 17%, and that preferred programs can push that to 20% to 25%. Cloudbeds' commission guide gives a wider range across all booking sites, 15% to 30% or more, depending on the platform, the market and the hotel's negotiating leverage.
Treat those as ballparks, not quotes. Your real number is in your agreement, and on every reservation statement in the Finance tab of the Extranet.
What pushes Booking.com's commission higher?
Booking.com says that if the percentage on a reservation statement is higher than the one in your contract, you may be in a marketing program such as Preferred Partner or Visibility Booster. Three programs matter most.
Preferred Partner
In exchange for what Booking.com calls a small increase in commission, you get more exposure in search results and a badge on your listing. Booking.com says Preferred partners see, on average, 65% more search views and 20% more bookings. That is Booking.com's own average, not a promise for your hotel. To qualify you need a performance score of at least 70%, a guest review score of at least 7 out of 10 and, in wide-parity or narrow-parity countries, competitive prices on Booking.com. Booking.com checks eligibility every 90 days. BookingWhizz, a third-party guide, puts the increase at a minimum of about 3 points. The exact figure for your hotel is in the Extranet, and Booking.com explains the program on its Preferred Partner page.
Visibility Booster
You pick the check-in dates, the country of the bookers you want to reach and the commission rate, using a slider. It is meant for short periods, such as busy dates or dates you have not sold. Because you set the rate yourself, it is worth checking what each boost cost you afterward. Booking.com explains it on its Visibility Booster page.
Genius
Genius is a discount, not a commission increase. Joining puts a 10% discount on your least expensive and most popular room type, with deeper discounts at higher Genius levels (10%, 15% or 20%). Booking.com says the average partner sees 30% more search views, 45% more bookings and 40% more revenue, with the cost of the discount included. Again, that is Booking.com's average. The discount lowers the price the guest pays, so it lowers what you earn on those stays. Details are on the Genius page.
What does Booking.com cost on a real booking?
Take a 3-night stay at $200 a night, so $600 before taxes. The 15% row is a base rate in line with third-party reports. The 18% row adds an assumed 3 points for Preferred Partner. The 25% row is the high end reported when programs are stacked.
| Commission | Taken from $600 | You keep | On $100,000 of bookings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15% (base) | $90 | $510 | $15,000 |
| 18% (base plus Preferred Partner) | $108 | $492 | $18,000 |
| 25% (programs stacked) | $150 | $450 | $25,000 |
Illustrative. Excludes taxes and any payment processing fees. Your rate is in your agreement.
Add a Genius discount and the gap widens, because the guest pays less and the commission still comes out. The next guide walks through that whole stack: the real cost of an OTA booking.
When does Booking.com charge commission even if the guest does not stay?
Commission is not only for completed stays. Booking.com charges it on non-refundable and partially refundable bookings whether or not the guest stays, on fees you charge for no-shows and late cancellations, and on overbookings. It waives commission on overbookings if your property has been live on Booking.com for less than 30 days, or if you have had fewer than five overbookings in the last 12 months. You are also asked to cover the guest's relocation costs.
Mark no-shows and reservation changes in the Extranet within 48 hours of checkout. If you miss that window, Booking.com charges full commission on the original booking. Unpaid invoices can also temporarily close your property.
How do you find out what you actually pay?
- Read the commission percentage in your accommodation agreement.
- Open the Finance tab in the Extranet and check Reservation statements. They show the percentage applied to each booking.
- If the statement percentage is higher than your contract, open the Boost performance tab and check Preferred Partner, Visibility Booster and any other program you have joined.
- Divide a month's total commission by the total value of those bookings. That is your real percentage.
- Do the same for Expedia, then compare. Our guide to how much Expedia charges hotels shows how.
Is Booking.com worth its commission?
For many hotels, Booking.com brings guests they would not reach alone, and that has value. The useful question is how many of your bookings need to come through it. Cloudbeds' State of Independent Hotels study, which analyzed 90 million bookings, found that OTAs made up 52.7% of independent hotel bookings in North America in 2025, up 3.3 points in a year. It also found that the cost of acquiring a guest rose 25% between 2019 and 2025, while revenue per available room rose 19%, as reported by PhocusWire.
When acquisition costs grow faster than revenue, every booking that moves from a booking site to your own website matters more. That is what MarginStay works on: ads on Instagram, Google and email that bring guests to book on your own website, where a booking usually costs 8% to 12%. For a worked example, read direct booking vs OTA: what each booking really costs.
MarginStay helps independent hotels bring in direct bookings, so we have a stake in this topic. Everything about how Booking.com works comes from its own Partner Hub. Averages and ranges are labeled as third-party.
Booking.com commission: quick answers
What is Booking.com's commission rate?
Booking.com does not publish a single rate. It depends on your country, property type and agreement. One third-party guide, BookingWhizz, reports about 15% to 17% for most independent hotels, and 20% to 25% with preferred programs. Check your agreement and the Finance tab in the Extranet for your exact percentage.
Does Booking.com charge commission on taxes?
Not on local taxes such as city tax. In most countries it does charge commission on VAT or GST, depending on local tax law. Rules differ by country, so check the General Delivery Terms in your agreement or ask your accountant.
Does Booking.com charge commission on cancellations and no-shows?
In some cases, yes. It charges commission on non-refundable bookings even if the guest does not stay, and on no-show or late-cancellation fees you charge. Mark no-shows in the Extranet within 48 hours of checkout, or you will be billed full commission on the original booking.
How is Booking.com commission invoiced?
Booking.com sends one invoice a month covering guests who checked out the previous month. US hotels can pay by ACH from a US bank account. If you use Payments by Booking.com, commission may be taken from your payouts automatically. Unpaid invoices can temporarily close your property.
Can I lower my Booking.com commission?
The programs that raise it, Preferred Partner and Visibility Booster, are optional, and Booking.com says you can leave Preferred Partner at any time. Whether your base rate can change depends on your agreement, so ask Booking.com customer service through your Extranet inbox.
See what booking-site commission adds up to
Enter your monthly bookings and your commission in our calculator, and see what a lower cost per booking is worth to your hotel.
Sources
- Booking.com Partner Hub: Understanding your commission
- Booking.com Partner Hub: Understanding the Preferred Partner Program
- Booking.com Partner Hub: All you need to know about the Visibility Booster
- Booking.com Partner Hub: Understanding the Genius marketing program
- Cloudbeds: A guide to OTA commission rates
- BookingWhizz: The true cost of OTA commissions
- PhocusWire: Independent hotel reliance on OTAs increased in 2025