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Vrbo vs. Airbnb: What Is Best for Your Rental?
Airbnb and Vrbo are among the best international vacation rental platforms that have gained popularity among travelers and property owners. Choosing which one would best fit your rental property, or whether you should list it on both, could seem tricky at first. This post will help you get started.
Airbnb and Vrbo are among the best international vacation rental platforms, gaining popularity among travelers and property owners. Both were designed as alternatives to hotel accommodation, providing ordinary people with an easy way to rent out their properties to travelers.
Airbnb was founded in 2008 and became a publicly traded company with an IPO in December 2020. It boasts over 9 million listings in 220 countries and regions worldwide.
Vrbo, formerly known as Vacation Rental by Owner, has been operating since 1995 and is now owned by the Expedia Group. It has 2 million listings in 190 countries worldwide.
Choosing between them, or deciding whether to run both, is where most hosts stall. So instead of restating what both companies publish about themselves, we turned to our own data: US properties connected to Hospitable, 12 months of bookings, occupancy, stay length, and property mix across both channels. Properties running on both are at 70.7% occupancy, compared to 51.7% for Airbnb alone. Some of what follows confirms what everyone says about Vrbo. One number contradicts it outright.
To help you make an informed decision, we’ll compare Vrbo and Airbnb in this post, explaining the key differences in their features, fees, and cancellation policies. We’ll also discuss the audiences they target and the types of properties they allow.
However, whether you choose a single rental platform or list on both, it’s essential to maintain effective communication with all your guests to ensure their satisfaction. It involves a lot of work, but you can automate your conversations and save time with Hospitable.
Before we discuss each platform's strengths and weaknesses, let’s look at the table below, which offers a quick comparison of Vrbo vs. Airbnb. To help you better understand the main differences between these popular booking websites, we compare them across categories such as the number of listings, global reach, target audiences, property types, service fees, and host protection.
| Vrbo | Airbnb |
Number of listings | Over 2 million properties listed | Over 9 million listings |
Global reach | Operates in over 190 countries worldwide | Operates in over 220 countries and regions |
Audience | Families and groups of people traveling together, older audiences looking for longer stays | Young, adventurous travelers, business people, guests seeking new authentic experiences |
Property types | Focuses on entire vacation homes and apartments | Allows hosts to list entire properties, private rooms, and even shared rooms in hostels |
Service fees | The pay-per-booking fee consists of a 3% payment processing fee and a 5% commission fee. The subscription fee (a one-time flat fee of $699 paid in advance) is no longer available for new hosts. | The single fee is 15.5% of the booking subtotal and is deducted from the host’s payout. For listings in Brazil and Mexico, the single fee is 16%. |
Host protection | $1M Liability Insurance for stays processed through Vrbo checkout. | AirCover for Hosts includes $3M Host damage protection and $1M Host liability insurance. |
Vrbo vs. Airbnb Audience
While neither Vrbo nor Airbnb is a niche website targeting a specific type of traveler, there are some differences in the demographics they attract.
Airbnb attracts young, adventurous travelers searching for more affordable vacation rentals. It also targets guests who crave a trip with authentic, new experiences rather than a typical hotel stay.
But in fact, the Airbnb audience is more diverse. For example, the platform now attracts business travelers seeking to book entire apartments in urban areas, rather than hotel rooms, for short or extended stays. Additionally, the company offers a luxury collection of rentals called Airbnb Luxe, catering to more discerning travelers seeking luxurious accommodations.
Guests who book stays in traditional vacation destinations on Vrbo don’t necessarily consider cost as the primary factor in their decisions. Vrbo is known for its extensive inventory of properties in tourist destinations and attracts families traveling together, as well as older audiences willing to pay for an entire house. Vrbo guests usually spend more per night and prioritize privacy and home-style amenities.
That is the reputation. On properties listed on both channels, the average stay is 3.91 nights on Airbnb and 3.90 nights on Vrbo. Identical, to within a rounding error, across millions of US bookings. The audiences may differ in who they are, but when the same house is on both sites, they book it for the same length of time.
Airbnb vs. Vrbo for Owners: Property Types
A significant difference between Airbnb vs. Vrbo for owners is the types of property they allow hosts to list.
Airbnb isn’t a platform just for professional property managers with multiple listings, but also for hosts who view their vacation rental business as a side hustle. It allows them to list different properties, starting from cabins and tiny houses to luxury villas and even castles. Additionally, Airbnb enables hosts to list shared spaces, such as private rooms and hostel rooms.
Since Vrbo is primarily focused on family stays, it concentrates on entire vacation homes and apartments, and doesn’t allow hosts to list shared spaces. Vrbo rental properties in the sea, mountain, and rural markets are also more suited for longer stays. Most of these properties are cabins, houses, and condos, with a wide variety of listing types, including barns, cottages, villas, chalets, castles, mansions, and chateaus.
The mix bears that out.
Property type | Share of Vrbo properties | Share of Airbnb properties |
House | 54.9% | 48.7% |
Apartment | 16.5% | 21.7% |
Cabin | 9.8% | 7.3% |
Condominium | 6.9% | 8.2% |
Townhouse | 4.0% | 3.7% |
Serviced apartment | 0.2% | 0.8% |
US entire-home properties connected through Hospitable, rolling 12 months. Each column sums within its own channel.
Vrbo skews rural and residential. Airbnb carries the urban inventory, and serviced apartments barely appear on Vrbo at all.
Vrbo vs. Airbnb Fees
Sites like Airbnb and Vrbo charge a host service fee that’s usually a percentage of the reservation total. Knowing exactly how much an OTA charges is essential because it must be considered when developing your pricing strategy. So let’s compare Vrbo vs Airbnb fees.
Airbnb used to split its service fee between hosts and guests. Hosts paid a 3% service fee deducted from the total price, while guests paid a separate service fee, ranging from 14.1% to 16.5% of the booking subtotal.
But now, Airbnb is transitioning all hosts from the split-fee structure to the single-fee structure. With this structure, the entire 15.5% fee (16% for listings in Brazil and Mexico) is deducted from the host payout. The change takes effect on September 15, 2026, for non-EU hosts, and on October 13, 2026, for EU hosts.
Vrbo has two different service fee models for owners: pay-per-booking and pay-per-subscription.
With the pay-per-subscription (PPS) model, hosts have to pay an annual fee of $699. This fee model is no longer available for new hosts or listings. Only hosts who already have at least one listing on the PPS model are eligible to use it.
With the pay-per-booking model, hosts pay commission fees for the bookings they receive. You are charged a 5% commission per booking plus a 3% payment processing fee. Besides, travelers pay a 6-12% booking fee when making a reservation on Vrbo.
Note: If you manage your Vrbo listings using a property management system, Vrbo doesn’t process guest payments, and with the pay-per-booking fee structure, you’re only charged a 5% booking fee. It also means that you become the Merchant of Record and are responsible for handling chargebacks and payment disputes, as well as remitting Vrbo taxes.
But Hospitable is different. Under the Vrbo Partner Connection, Hospitable can act as the Merchant of Record for Vrbo bookings, processing guest payments and sending payouts directly to you. Hospitable supports Merchant of Record services for properties located in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
If you use Hospitable as Merchant of Record, it charges a 3.9% payment processing fee, which includes payment processing, chargeback protection, and tax collection and remittance (in supported jurisdictions).
Vrbo vs. Airbnb: Cancellation
Both Airbnb and Vrbo hosts are protected against the negative impact of unexpected cancellations by requiring guests to pay a percentage of the total booking cost in advance.
Airbnb standard cancellation policies for shorter stays include Flexible, Moderate, Limited (available for reservations booked on or after October 1, 2025), and Firm. There are also standard cancellation policies for shorter stays, which are only available to certain hosts: Strict, Super Strict (30 days), and Super Strict (60 days). Airbnb offers two long-term cancellation policies for monthly stays: Firm and Strict.
Note: All standard Airbnb cancellation policies for shorter stays include a 24-hour cancellation period. This allows Airbnb guests to cancel for a full refund, including taxes, within 24 hours of reservation confirmation, provided the reservation was confirmed at least 7 days before check-in.
Vrbo offers seven types of cancellation policies that hosts can set for their listings: Day-before, Lenient, Relaxed, Moderate, Firm, Strict, and No Refund. Each policy determines how much of a refund a traveler receives based on how many days remain until check-in. For example, Vrbo’s Relaxed policy allows guests to cancel a reservation up to 14 days before check-in and receive a full refund.
Vrbo vs. Airbnb for Hosts: Which Platform to Choose?
We’ve compared Vrbo vs. Airbnb for hosts, so now you know the main differences. Still, none of these differences means that one platform is inherently better than the other. Both sites could be interesting places to list your properties. They receive millions of visitors and bookings every year, so it would be a mistake to overlook any of these vital revenue streams.
The most effective strategy is to list your property on both Vrbo and Airbnb, which increases your visibility worldwide and drives traffic to your property listings. The more OTA sites you list on, the broader your reach and the higher your chances of securing more bookings throughout the year.
Our own data backs that up. US properties running on both Airbnb and Vrbo show 70.7% occupancy over the last 12 months, against 51.7% for properties on Airbnb alone. Both figures cover only entire homes, since Vrbo does not accept private rooms.
That is a gap, not a mechanism. Hosts who bother with a second channel tend to be the same ones who bother with everything else, and portfolio size differs between the two groups. But the direction is hard to miss.
That’s why you don’t stop here. You shouldn’t underestimate the power and reach of other major booking platforms. If you’re new to hosting, you will find our guide on getting started with Booking.com a good read. And although managing multiple listings on multiple platforms can be very time-consuming, if you do it manually, with Hospitable as your channel manager, you’ll be able to sync your bookings, pricing, and availability across key booking channels, including Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Agoda, and your Direct booking website.
You may also consider listing your STR properties on niche sites, in addition to major booking platforms, to extend your reach, target specific audiences, and increase occupancy. For example, Hipcamp focuses on unique outdoor stays and attracts nature enthusiasts. At the same time, the Hopper app is popular among younger travelers seeking great deals on flights, hotels, homes, and rental cars.
Hospitable can help you manage bookings on Hipcamp, Hopper app, Expedia, Houfy, Furnished Finder, and many other niche channels with iCal Imports. This functionality allows you to seamlessly sync calendars across diverse niche booking platforms and prevent double bookings.
With Hospitable, you can be sure that your listings are always up-to-date and avoid double bookings, no matter how many vacation rental booking sites you connect to.
Our STR super app can help diversify your booking sources, ensuring smooth coordination across all the channels you market to. It will help you manage multiple listings smoothly and stay in touch with your guests and team members, saving valuable time along the way.
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Common questions
Is Vrbo or Airbnb better for vacation rental hosts?
Neither platform is universally better. Airbnb offers a much larger global inventory and supports entire homes, private rooms, and shared spaces, while Vrbo focuses on entire homes and skews more toward families and group travel. The strongest strategy for eligible properties is often to use both rather than choose one, since they reach somewhat different audiences and create additional booking opportunities.
Do guests stay longer on Vrbo or Airbnb?
They stay for almost exactly the same length of time. Across US properties connected to Hospitable and listed on both platforms, the average stay was 3.91 nights on Airbnb and 3.90 nights on Vrbo over the previous 12 months. That data does not support the common assumption that Vrbo guests necessarily book longer stays.
What types of properties perform best on Vrbo vs. Airbnb?
Vrbo skews more heavily toward houses and cabins, while Airbnb has a larger share of apartments and serviced apartments. In Hospitable’s US entire-home data, houses made up 54.9% of Vrbo properties vs. 48.7% on Airbnb, while cabins represented 9.8% vs. 7.3%. Apartments were more common on Airbnb at 21.7% vs. 16.5% on Vrbo.
Should you list your property on both Vrbo and Airbnb?
Yes, if your property is eligible for both platforms. Listing on both expands your reach, gives you access to different traveler segments, and reduces dependence on a single OTA. The main operational challenge is keeping availability, pricing, and bookings synchronized across channels, which can be automated with a channel manager such as Hospitable.
Do hosts get higher occupancy by listing on both Vrbo and Airbnb?
Hospitable’s US data shows a substantial difference: entire-home properties running on both Airbnb and Vrbo averaged 70.7% occupancy, compared with 51.7% for Airbnb-only properties over the previous 12 months. This is a correlation, not proof that adding Vrbo directly causes the increase, because multi-channel hosts may differ in portfolio size and overall operational sophistication.