For many hosts and property managers in the short-term rental (STR) sector, platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo have become essential distribution channels. But they come at a price, thanks in part to shifting commission fees.
Limited ownership of customer details is also causing frustration, leading to a wider direct-booking push. The opportunity to adopt a different business model looks increasingly appealing.
“Distribution costs are high,” said Amirali Mohajer, CEO of direct booking platform HostAI. “There's definitely a lot of incentive to reduce the distribution cost and then also reduce your reliance on two or three big players in the market.”
Hunting for alternatives
One emerging trend for hosts is the subscription model; but it comes with a checkered history in the broader travel market.
Ryanair closed its “Prime subscription” offering discounted flights after just eight months because it was losing money. Luxury travel subscription company Inspirato and Selina’s Remote Year struggled too.
But that’s not stopping the STR sector from taking a look, as key players weigh the potential for different business models to drive revenue.
Rather than applying the model to consumers, platforms are targeting property managers and hosts frustrated by rising distribution fees on the dominant platforms, including Airbnb.
Lake.com, for example, launched an annual subscription model for STR hosts and property managers in early April, offering direct listings and an alternative to commission-based bookings.
“We're sending traffic off-platform, which is hard to digest initially as the CEO—why would we want to do that?” said CEO David Ciccarelli. “However, the property manager has been willing to invest in the platform on a subscription basis with the belief they get visibility. They can convert that customer better than we can.”
Several dozen property managers have signed on so far, Ciccarelli said, and he is targeting independent vacation rental homeowners with fewer than 10 properties.
What does Lake.com get out of it? Ciccarelli admitted it’s a way to offer hosts “a taste before the full course,” meaning he has scope to promote its traditional commission-based platform and can also grow the customer base.
“Especially in the early days, we're all trying to offer an alternative, to build some relationships,” he added. “It feels like a good solution. It's a quick way to earn goodwill with hosts, especially if you're doing something over and above.”
Direct-booking marketplace Savvy, which recently rebranded from bnbfinder, is launching a subscription model as well.
“We haven't really promoted it yet, because we're just now at the point where our traffic and our gross bookings are becoming material,” said CEO Eric Goldreyer. “We don't want to sell something to a property manager if we don't think we are going to be able to give them a quick ROI.”
The platform is expected to launch in early fall 2026.
“We've been focused for the last three years on building out the supply and the product so that we can go out to travelers and say, ‘Hey, here's an alternative to Airbnb and Vrbo,’” Goldreyer said.
Grandfather paradox
If the idea sounds familiar, that's because it’s exactly how Vrbo started out. The platform began life in 1995 as a subscription business, charging an annual fee to homeowners to list their properties on its website.
”We still have a small subset of partners grandfathered into our legacy subscription model,” said Tim Rosolio, VP of vacation rental partnerships at Expedia Group, which owns Vrbo.
“This is an idea that's been around for a while,” said Mohajer. “The challenge is, if you're still the merchant of record, you are still acquiring guests and you have to provide support. Your cost structure is similar to that of any other OTA.”
He also warned it may be difficult for an STR platform to know which properties to promote. If a platform puts both options on the table, hosts can select the better deal. High-volume hosts generating lots of bookings will likely calculate that a subscription costs them less than they would otherwise pay in performance fees.
For low-volume hosts, a subscription may be less appealing, since they pay very little in performance fees.
“If you offer a subscription as an attractive proposition to the vendors, you have this adverse selection problem,” Mohajer added. “That ends up with diluted revenue potential.”
The zero-dollar digitization drive
As part of efforts to modernize the industry, property management system (PMS) Hospitable this month launched what it claimed is the industry’s first permanent “$0 PMS tier” for short-term rental hosts.
As part of its new Essentials plan, it has removed mandatory fees, opening up access to what it calls professional-grade infrastructure. “The part I believe needs to exist that doesn't exist today is basically a way to lower the barrier of entry,” said Pierre-Camille Hamana, CEO and founder of Hospitable.
The company cites AirDNA data that reveals 64% of STR operators in the United States do not use a PMS. For Hospitable, that represents a significant market sitting outside the ecosystem.
“The idea is if you've never been using software at all before, you probably have zero willingness to pay to get that software. And then it's our business to make you more money,” he added.
Anti-Airbnb sentiment
In Lake.com’s case, anti-Airbnb sentiment, accentuated by its recent commission model shift, is driving the subscription model.
“When we have our investor conversations, that's actually part of the answer to the question, ‘Why now?’ They all want to know why now,” Ciccarelli said. “We position that as Airbnb hostility. I admire the company, but some of the practices have been much in favor of the guest and not standing up for the host.”
Another rental platform, Houfy, is equally leaning into this sentiment.
“It matters more in 2026 than it did in 2022 because fee fatigue has finally collided with economic reality on the guest side and margin reality on the host side,” said Houfy COO Nicholas Aaftink-de Luca.
Airbnb’s penalties for hosts communicating with guests off-platform are another reason hosts may now be looking elsewhere, he said.
Houfy, like Hospitable’s Essentials plan, is “free.” The company then aims make money by upselling extra features.
“The question is: how do you scale and build an industry-leading, profitable company around a model where you source clients and drive traffic for someone else's business without taking a cut or earning from it?” Aaftink-de Luca said.
He thinks the answer lies in community. Houfy was founded in 2014 because of a similar frustration with fee dynamics. Aaftink-de Luca puts its longevity down to the “backing of a strong community of hosts and believers.”
For Savvy’s Goldreyer, the line of thinking is similar. “We're not going to disrupt Airbnb. I mean, they're huge. They provide value. We're trying to provide a service for the smaller, ‘savvy’ group of travelers who want to book direct. Let's go get those guys. But that's not everybody.”
Yet there may be potential for a new wave of disruption if the groundswell continues. The respective launches of Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com were “genuinely revolutionary,” Aaftink-de Luca said, and “disrupted the old lodging standard.”
Is there a chance that bigger platforms will reevaluate their now tried-and-tested models? Would Vrbo resuscitate its subscription model, for example?
According to Expedia’s Rosolio, “As the industry evolves, we’re continuing to identify ways our business model can best support partners and long-term marketplace health.”