A reference for hosts
The OTAs keep your guests. Let’s fix that.
Hostinspired is a free reference for independent hosts and agencies who want to rely less on Airbnb, Booking.com and the rest. We can help you take realistic steps to reduce your dependancy on OTAs.
Live estimate
£0
paid by short-term rental hosts to OTAs in commission since you opened this page.
A conservative estimate: over £16bn a year in host-side commission across the major platforms, which works out at roughly £507 a second. Airbnb’s published booking volumes and take rate account for most of that on their own, before Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia and Agoda are counted. The fee table has the per-booking version.
The documents
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HI·01
The Commission Table
Host fees, guest fees, payment cuts and parity clauses for every major OTA, in one maintained reference. Handy for settling arguments.
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HI·02
The Leakage Calculator
Your nightly rate, your occupancy, your channel mix, and the number you’ve been avoiding. Printed on a receipt you can share.
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HI·03
Why Direct
Six arguments for relying less on any single sales channel. Booking direct is maths, not ideology.
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HI·04
Tools
Booking engines, channel managers, payments and email, with honest notes on when to skip each one. We name competitors when they win.
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HI·05
The People
The voices worth following in the book direct movement: who they are, what they run, and where to find them.
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HI·06
How To
Ten numbered guides in the order you’d do them, from your first direct booking to a channel mix the OTAs no longer own.
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HI·07
The Champion Badge
A free badge for your own website. It tells hesitant guests why booking direct is safe, and better.
01
Measure
Run the calculator. Most hosts have never seen a year of commission as one figure, and it tends to change the conversation.
02
Understand
Read the fee table and why direct. Know exactly what you pay for and what you give up.