OTAs
Starting an STR Business
Vrbo Requirements for Hosts
Creating a hosting account on Vrbo is completely free. But before you jump in, it's important to understand the short-term rental regulations in your area and the Vrbo requirements you need to meet to create a listing. In this post, we will review Vrbo listing, photo, and host requirements.
Before your Vrbo listing goes live, you need to clear three hurdles: local short-term rental regulations, Vrbo's own listing and photo standards, and basic safety requirements. Miss any of them and your listing either won't get published or won't last long. Here's what each one involves and how to make sure you're covered.
Vrbo Requirements: Stay in Compliance with Local Vacation Rental Regulations
As the vacation rental industry grows, many state and local governments have passed laws restricting the right to rent homes on a short-term basis. Short-term rental regulations at the local level vary by town and location, but some common policies exist.
Many localities have issued zoning regulations and ordinances restricting short-term rentals to specific zones.
In many cities, short-term rental owners are required to register, get a permit, and obtain a general business license and a short-term rental license.
Some communities have put a cap on the number of short-term licenses issued within a jurisdictional boundary.
Some jurisdictions and community HOAs prohibit any form of short-term rentals.
Some areas require vacation rental owners to collect transient occupancy taxes from travelers and remit them to tax authorities.
There are also parking, building safety, health codes, and liability insurance regulations.
That means you need to research, check out government websites, and contact your local authorities to ensure you comply with your region’s legislation and city ordinances before you start creating your Vrbo listing.
Still, since the vacation rental market is trending upward, running a Vrbo rental can be lucrative if you treat it as a business and do your best to ensure a memorable experience for your guests. And if you opt for vacation rental software like Hospitable to streamline your routine tasks, you’ll save tons of time that can be better devoted to growing your business.
Vrbo Listing Requirements
Regarding the Vrbo listing requirements, you are welcome to list your property on this platform, whether it’s your primary residence or a vacation home. The Vrbo website will guide you step by step through creating your listing, setting rates, and uploading photos. But remember that this platform specializes in whole homes, so they don’t accept shared spaces.
Hosts are required to pay Vrbo fees that cover platform usage, booking services, and transaction processing. The amount you pay depends on the pricing model.
A one-time annual subscription fee of $699 is paid in advance and covers all bookings made on the platform. Now, the pay-per-subscription (PPS) model is no longer available for new Vrbo hosts or listings. You can only purchase or renew a listing subscription if you already have at least one Vrbo listing on a PPS plan.
With the pay-per-booking model, you only pay for the bookings you receive—there are no upfront costs. The pay-per-booking fee includes a 5% commission on the total booking cost and a 3% payment processing fee.
If you manage your listings using property management software, Vrbo stops processing guest payments, and you’re only charged a 5% booking fee for bookings made through the platform.
Note: When you connect any PMS to your Vrbo account through the API, you become the Merchant of Record, responsible for processing traveler payments through your own payment processor. You are also responsible for chargebacks, payment dispute management, and tax remittance.
At the time of writing, Hospitable is the only PMS that can act as the Merchant of Record for Vrbo bookings, processing guest payments and sending payouts directly to you. Hospitable also manages chargeback disputes, absorbs chargeback losses, and collects and remits taxes in the jurisdictions it supports (all 50 US states, the UK, and Australia).
So what should you do to meet Vrbo host requirements? Vrbo states that a listing must accurately describe the rental property and that its content must comply with the platform’s Marketplace Standards. These are the best practices for providing guests with a simple, secure, and consistent booking experience. Hosts who follow Vrbo Marketplace Standards also benefit from improved listing visibility.
To ensure that your listing meets basic quality standards, you need to add the following:
Headline: minimum of 20 characters, maximum of 40 characters
Property description: minimum of 400 characters, maximum of 10,000 characters
At least six photos
Information about bedrooms and bathrooms
An accurate property address and latitude/longitude codes
The property registration number must be specified for listings in jurisdictions that require it
Updated information about bookings and calendar availability and honest and transparent rates and fees
List of top-searched amenities
House rules and policies
All bookings must be processed through the Vrbo marketplace. That’s why hosts are not permitted to include listing content that attempts to direct travelers to book outside Vrbo’s checkout flow, such as URLs, email addresses, phone numbers, or property addresses.
Sites like Vrbo, Airbnb, and Booking.com are perfect for reaching a wider audience and building trust with new guests. But you shouldn’t rely only on OTAs—create a direct booking website to build relationships with guests and get repeat bookings without paying OTA fees.
You can easily build a direct-booking website optimized for desktop and mobile with our dedicated service, Hospitable Direct, and save time on property management and guest messaging. No technical skills are required.
Vrbo Photo Requirements
High-quality photos of your rental space and its surroundings are critical to your listing's success because they help you connect with travelers on an emotional level, which can lead to more bookings. Vrbo recommends uploading at least 25 sharp, well-lit, high-resolution photos that are in landscape orientation and not portrait orientation.
The photos should also meet the following requirements:
Minimum resolution of 1024 x 683 pixels, but ideally 3840 x 2160 pixels or higher
Horizontal orientation (vertical orientation is acceptable, but horizontal displays best)
JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, or SVG format
Photos shouldn’t be
Low-resolution, blurry, or too dark
Black and white or sepia
Oriented incorrectly
Unrelated to your property or area
Watermarked
Inappropriate
Copied from another listing
The platform flags photos that don’t meet Vrbo's photo requirements. If you notice them on your listing, it's important to replace flagged photos with images that match the Vrbo criteria.
Pro Tip: Add a virtual tour to give travelers an immersive view of your property's layout and amenities. Virtual tours help travelers imagine themselves moving through a home and its unique spaces, which results in faster decisions and more bookings.
Vrbo Host Requirements: Maintain Safety at Your Vacation Rental
Vrbo encourages hosts to take certain simple measures to keep guests safe during their stay. Here is what you should do to ensure your guests’ well-being.
Provide your guests with contact information for local emergency services and nearby hospitals, and explain how to reach you if any issues arise.
Ensure your vacation home has fire safety equipment, carbon monoxide detectors, and a fire extinguisher.
Place a first aid kit in an easily accessible location and ensure it contains all the necessary items.
Be mindful of your guests’ privacy—let them know if your vacation rental has security cameras or other surveillance systems.
Take precautions to “childproof” your home for guests who travel with children to ensure everyone’s safety.
Keep your vacation rental property adequately ventilated with a working thermostat.
Important: Vrbo hosts are expected to provide a great guest experience, deliver high-quality stays, and meet specific performance standards that highlight a host's consistency and commitment to quality. Vrbo's Minimum Standards program is designed to reinforce quality expectations across the platform. This automated program continuously evaluates listing performance based on the previous 12 months of activity. Starting September 15, 2026, Vrbo will remove a listing if it does not meet one or more of the following minimum standard requirements:
Acceptance rate greater than 50%
Host-initiated cancellation rate lower than 10%
Average guest review rating higher than 2.0
Final Thought
Renting out your property on Vrbo can be a great source of extra income, but be sure to know local vacation rental laws and Vrbo requirements that apply to you as a host. Follow Vrbo listing and photo guidelines to present your property in its best light, attract more travelers, and regularly update all the required fields with accurate content.
Being a responsible Vrbo host who respects the neighbors and encourages your guests to be good neighbors during their stay is also essential. This way, you’ll minimize the chances of neighbor complaints and enforcement actions and become a successful host.
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Common questions
What are Vrbo’s listing requirements?
A Vrbo listing must accurately describe the property and comply with Vrbo Marketplace Standards. It needs a headline, a property description between 400 and 10,000 characters, at least six photos, bedroom and bathroom details, an accurate address, applicable registration information, current availability, transparent rates and fees, amenities, and house rules. Listings also cannot include contact details or links intended to move guests outside Vrbo’s booking flow.
What are Vrbo’s photo requirements?
Vrbo recommends at least 25 sharp, well-lit, high-resolution photos, preferably in landscape orientation. Images should be at least 1024 × 683 pixels and can use JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, or SVG formats. Photos should not be blurry, dark, incorrectly oriented, watermarked, unrelated to the property, inappropriate, or copied from another listing.
What safety equipment should a Vrbo property have?
A Vrbo property should have fire safety equipment, carbon monoxide detectors, a fire extinguisher, and an accessible first aid kit. Hosts should also provide emergency contact information, disclose the presence of security cameras or surveillance systems, childproof the property when appropriate, and maintain proper ventilation with a working thermostat.
What performance standards do Vrbo hosts have to meet?
Starting September 15, 2026, Vrbo’s Minimum Standards program requires an acceptance rate above 50%, a host-initiated cancellation rate below 10%, and an average guest review rating above 2.0. Performance is evaluated automatically using the previous 12 months of listing activity.
Can a Vrbo listing be removed for poor performance?
Yes. Starting September 15, 2026, Vrbo can remove a listing that fails to meet one or more Minimum Standards requirements. That includes falling below the required acceptance rate, exceeding the allowed host-cancellation rate, or dropping below the minimum average review rating.