Airbnb Co-Host: Beginner’s Guide

May’23 Update

Running an Airbnb property is time-consuming, and in today’s busy world, it’s pretty natural that some hosts are low on time. Sometimes, you, as a host, may need help, and that’s where the use of an Airbnb co-host comes in. 

Co-hosts help Airbnb listing owners take care of their rental property and guests. They’re often a family member, neighbor, trusted friend, or someone the host has hired to help with the listing.

Discover Airbnb Co-Host Network—their latest development from Winter 2024 Release.

How to Add a Co-Host on Airbnb

Adding co-hosts is a simple way for someone to help you with hosting responsibilities from their account. With the 2023 Summer Release, Airbnb allows you to determine what co‑hosts can access your listing and share payouts on your bookings directly on the platform.

In the Co-Host tab, you can invite new co-hosts, access info about them, and manage their permissions and payouts. Co-hosts need an Airbnb account to accept your invitation.

When you invite a co‑host, you’ll need to enter their email address and set their permissions. You can choose from the following options:

• Full access—to manage your calendar, listing, permissions of other co‑hosts, message guests, and view payouts and transaction history

• Calendar and inbox access—to manage your calendar and message guests

• Calendar access—to view your calendar and get information about check-ins and check-outs

After choosing what a co-host can access to help manage your listing, you can add a message to personalize your invite, then click or tap Send.

All your co-hosts will appear as co-hosts on your listing, except those with only calendar access. Besides, co-hosts with full access can set themselves as the primary host on the listing, or you can assign this role to them.

Airbnb allows you to add several co-hosts to each listing to make hosting easier. But if you opt for vacation rental software like Hospitable, you can gather a team to help you with your workload and work together on a single platform.

With Hospitable, you can assign each of your team members a role, such as Manager, Concierge, Cleaning, etc., and give them access only to the features and properties they need to do their job across all channels.

It’s completely up to you and your co-host when it comes to dividing the responsibilities and profits. You can share payouts with a co-host as a percentage of your earnings or a fixed amount for each booking. And you’ll also need to agree on how you’ll reimburse the co-host for expenses.

Once you set up a co-host payout on Airbnb, they will have 14 days to confirm it, and after that, they will be able to receive payouts for bookings after guests check in. To get paid, all co-hosts must set up at least one payout method and, where required, verify their identity and provide the necessary taxpayer information.

How to Become an Airbnb Co-Host

Want to be a part of a short-term rental business but don’t have a property? The most popular approaches are doing rental arbitrage and becoming an Airbnb co-host. Co-hosting requires a lot of work, as you would handle guest communication, manage listings on multiple platforms, and manage your cleaning and maintenance team.

But how to become an Airbnb co-host? There are some important steps you shouldn’t skip.

Research the platform to get a good understanding of how it works. You’ll need to learn many things about managing listings, messaging with guests, updating calendar and pricing, dealing with Airbnb support, and even running promotions.

Our hosting guide is an excellent place to learn how to become a successful host. 

Create a resume to show a prospective employer that you have relevant knowledge and skills to manage STR property on Airbnb. If you have previous host experience, make sure to include the URL of the listing you have managed and explain in detail what tasks you have performed.

If you get hired, the owner of an Airbnb account will add you as a co-host. We have already explained how to add a co-host on Airbnb. You’ll receive an invitation to your email, and once you accept it, you’ll become an Airbnb co-host. You’ll be able to manage the listing from your personal Airbnb co-host account.

Airbnb Co-Host Agreement

Airbnb requires a co-host to sign the Terms of Service policy, but hosts and co-hosts can also write up their own specific agreement. It’s important to make sure that all terms and expectations are clearly stated.

Hosts and co-hosts need to determine hosting responsibilities and be clear about who does what, specify co-hosts’ earnings, and decide how the co-hosts will be reimbursed.

You can opt to use or alter a pre-made Airbnb co-host agreement (it’s possible to find templates on hosting forums). And you can also hire a lawyer to draw up an agreement for you.

Airbnb Co-Host Fee

So how much does an Airbnb co-host make? Honestly, there is no set amount. Airbnb co-host fees can vary significantly based on their responsibilities, the size of the property, and where they are located.

On average, Airbnb co-hosts charge 10-20% of the nightly rate without cleaning the rental property. So, for example, if you co-host an Airbnb that earns $30,000 per year, you can expect to earn roughly $3,000-$6,000.

But if you’re supposed to take care of everything from check-in and check-out to managing guest experience and cleaning, you could charge up to 25%.

Some co-hosts may receive a flat fee each month that both parties agree upon. And some co-hosts charge an additional cleaning fee if they clean the property after each guest.

It’s up to you to enter into an Airbnb co-host agreement with the primary host for a fair price because the duties you perform as a co-host will determine your potential earnings. The more you do, the more you earn.

Airbnb Co-Host Responsibilities

What do Airbnb co-hosts do? They can help a listing owner with all aspects of vacation rental property management, including caring for the space and the guests.

Here are some of the main Airbnb co-host responsibilities that you may be expected to perform on behalf of the host:

• Manage the listing

• Update calendar and pricing

• Handle reservations

• Message with guests

• Get the space guest-ready

• Welcome guests in person

• Help guests during their stay

• Write reviews

• Get support from Airbnb

• Coordinate cleaning and maintenance

• Restock essential supplies

Co-hosts who value their time can use automation for managing their listings and ensure personalized communication with guests.

Is there anything Airbnb co-hosts can’t do? Yes, there are a few restrictions. Co-hosts can’t access the listing owner’s payout or taxpayer information. Besides, they can’t review the host’s activity when they travel on Airbnb as a guest.

How to Make Airbnb Co-hosting More Efficient?

I think you would guess the correct answer already by now. Use Hospitable to automate your routine and free up dozens of hours every month. More specifically, our team management feature can substitute or enhance Airbnb co-hosting. These are the most common scenarios our users follow.

1. Create an additional manager account on Hospitable

If you are a property owner and want to delegate some of your tasks, you don’t need to create a co-hosting Airbnb account for your helper. Create a manager role on Hospitable instead and assign necessary access rights to your assistant.

2. Create an additional manager account on Hospitable for an existing co-host.

Let’s assume you have been using an Airbnb co-host for quite some time and just recently decided to use Hospitable for automation. You can easily grant your co-host a manager’s role on Hospitable. In this setup, you will allow your helper to use relevant tools on Hospitable while not bothering to make any changes in your Airbnb accounts.

3. Be the only Hospitable user as a co-host.

Let’s assume you are a professional co-host helping many property owners. If it’s the case, you already know all the benefits of using short-term rental automation software. You can use Hospitable for all of your clients’ properties through the same account. At the same time, property owners can but don’t have to create Hospitable accounts for themselves.

Final Thought

If you’re unable to keep up with numerous responsibilities as a host, hiring an Airbnb co-host is a great way to optimize the running of your vacation rental property and have more spare time.

Co-hosts will take on hosting responsibilities for your listing and offer extra support whenever you welcome guests to your place for a percentage of your rental income.

And being a co-host is one of the best ways to make more money without owning an Airbnb property. Working with multiple hosts in your community, you can build a successful Airbnb co-host business.