---
title: "Direct bookings: a website chat that quotes price and availability, and the revenue at which it pays for itself"
description: "Platforms keep about 15 percent of every stay. What a website chat that quotes live price and availability does that an FAQ bot cannot, what it costs with a booking engine, and the OTA revenue at which it pays for itself."
url: https://supalobby.com/en/blog/direct-bookings-website-chat-that-quotes-price-and-availability
language: en
published: 2026-10-14
updated: 2026-10-14
author: Bartosz Wilczyński
translation: https://supalobby.com/blog/rezerwacje-bezposrednie-czat-na-stronie-obiektu
---

# Direct bookings: a website chat that quotes price and availability, and the revenue at which it pays for itself

Platforms keep about 15 percent of every stay. What a website chat that quotes live price and availability does that an FAQ bot cannot, what it costs with a booking engine, and the OTA revenue at which it pays for itself.

A direct booking saves you **about 15 percent of the stay**: Airbnb's host-only fee is 15.5 percent, Booking.com averages about 15 percent per Houst, Vrbo takes 5 plus 3 percent. A website with a chat that quotes live price and availability costs from about $42 a month and pays for itself once $280 a month books direct.

Below: what each platform keeps and on what base, how many direct bookings a typical host actually has, what a chat that reads your calendar can do that an FAQ bot cannot, what booking engines with a direct site cost, a break-even table at 15 percent, and the order in which to set it up.

## What a platform keeps from one booking

Booking.com does not publish a percentage. Its Partner Hub says commission is a set percentage of the total booking amount, including cleaning and other fees you charge, applied once the guest checks out, and that the exact percentage depends on your country, property type and the agreement you signed. Preferred Partner and Visibility Booster add to it. Houst (11 May 2026) puts the global average at about 15 percent, Preferred Partner at about 3 points more, and Payments by Booking.com at 1.1 to 3.1 percent on top.

| Platform | What it keeps | Base | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Booking.com | not published; about 15 percent average per Houst, Preferred Partner about +3 points | total booking amount including cleaning fee, in most countries including VAT | 26 September 2026 |
| Airbnb | 15.5 percent host-only fee for most hosts (range 14 to 16); mandatory for hotels, serviced apartments and hosts using property management software; the old 3 percent host plus 14.1 to 16.5 percent guest split is being phased out | booking subtotal | 26 September 2026 |
| Vrbo | 5 percent commission plus 3 percent payment processing; the 3 percent does not apply with API-connected software; "in some regions, such as Europe, Australia, or New Zealand, you may be charged 12%-15%" | rental amount plus fees; processing on the total including taxes and deposits | 26 September 2026 |

Put it in money. A listing doing $4,000 a month through platforms at 15 percent pays $600 a month, $7,200 a year. That is the budget a direct channel competes with.

## How many direct bookings a typical host has

Few. Hostaway's 2026 report (updated 20 January 2026) says nearly two-thirds of operators generate less than 25 percent of bookings through direct channels, and a notable portion receive none at all. Those are mostly professional managers; a host with one to three listings usually sits lower, because nobody has time to run a website.

Where direct bookings come from at that scale: guests who stayed before and text you, referrals, Instagram, the Google Business Profile, and only then someone who typed the town into a search box. A website chat does not create traffic. It converts the traffic you already have into a reservation instead of an inquiry you answer at 11 pm.

## What a chat that knows your calendar can do, and what an FAQ bot cannot

A chat with availability answers "do you have anything 14 to 16 November for two adults and a dog" with a price and a button. An FAQ bot answers that dogs are welcome and asks for an e-mail address. The difference is whether the tool reads your calendar and rates, or only a document of answers.

| | FAQ bot | Chat with price and availability |
|---|---|---|
| Source of knowledge | question list, house rules, a pasted rate sheet | the same plus calendar and rates from the booking engine or PMS |
| Question about dates | "I will pass it to the team", inquiry lands in your inbox | a price for those nights, available or not |
| End of the conversation | an inquiry waiting for a human | a booking or a payment link |
| Example | Tracify, a Polish hotel chat at 349 PLN a month, states on its own page that it does not confirm prices or reservations | Agent Hotres, from 169 PLN net a month, checks free dates and creates the booking directly in the Hotres system |

Vendors publish big numbers and they should be read as sales claims, not studies. HiJiffy says its AI handles "up to 90 percent of guest conversations automatically" and reports "12 percent more direct bookings" at Paradise Resort. Asksuite claims a "23x average ROI" across 5,500 hotels. Profitroom's case studies show a 128 percent increase in direct booking share at Heywood Spa Hotel and 66 percent of bookings through the website at Port Lympne. All of these are hotels with a front desk and a marketing budget. For a host with three listings the realistic effect is a few bookings a month that would otherwise have gone through a platform.

For a chat to quote a price it needs three things: calendar and rates in one system, API access to that system, and a clear line on what it may not promise on its own (discounts, groups, early check-in). Without the first, every chat is an FAQ bot, whatever it costs.

## What a booking engine with a direct site costs

Prices checked 26 September 2026 on the vendors' own pages.

| Vendor | Price | What is included | Fees on direct bookings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hospitable | Essentials free; Host $29 a month for 1 property, +$10 per extra; Professional $59 for 2; Mogul $99 for 3; 12 percent off yearly | inbox, automation, direct booking site | Basic site 1 percent; Premium site 4 percent plus 3 percent |
| Hostfully | Growth $15 per property per month plus a platform fee; Pro $25 | direct booking site in all plans, unified inbox with InboxAI | Growth 0.85 percent plus 1 percent payment gateway; Pro none |
| Uplisting | Independent Host £40 a month flat for up to 4 properties, or £0 plus 3 percent per booking; Operator from £90 | channel manager, inbox, basic direct booking site; Plus site +£30 | 3 percent only on the pay-as-you-go option |
| Profitroom | on request, "book a demo" | hotel booking engine | not published |

Then there is Google. The Business Profile help says the prices and booking links on a hotel's profile come from Google Hotel Ads and from free booking links. For your own price to appear there, a partner (booking engine or PMS) has to send rates and availability to Google, and the landing page must take the traveller straight to the selected room and rate, not to your homepage. Before you pick an engine, ask whether it feeds Google. It is the cheapest direct traffic there is.

## When the setup pays for itself: the maths at 15 percent

At 15 percent commission every $100 moved from a platform to your site leaves you $15. Subtract card processing on your own site, 1 to 3 percent depending on the engine, so call it $12 to $14. The table shows how much revenue has to move to cover the monthly cost, and at what platform revenue that happens if one booking in ten, five or three switches.

| Setup | Monthly cost | Direct revenue needed | OTA revenue if 10% switch | 20% | 30% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hospitable Host $29 + AI chat about $13 | $42 | $280 | $2,800 | $1,400 | $933 |
| Hostfully Pro $25 + AI chat about $13 (plus Hostfully's platform fee, not stated on the page) | $38 | $253 | $2,533 | $1,267 | $844 |
| Uplisting Independent Host £40 + AI chat about £10 | £50 | £333 | £3,333 | £1,667 | £1,111 |

The "about $13" is Supalobby's Autopilot plan at 49 PLN net; at the NBP rate of 25 September 2026 (3.84 PLN per dollar, 5.08 per pound) that is $12.76 or £9.64.

Worked example, one listing: $4,000 a month through platforms, $600 in commission. One booking in five moves to your site, $800. You save $120 of commission, pay $8 in processing on Hospitable's Basic site and $42 for the setup. Net gain about $70 a month, $840 a year, plus contact details for guests who come back. Run the same numbers with a hotel-grade chat at several hundred dollars and the listing loses money until it clears well over $10,000 a month. With one to three listings, pair a cheap engine with a cheap chat.

## How to set it up, in order

1. **One calendar, one rate sheet.** A booking engine or PMS with a channel manager so Booking.com, Airbnb and your site read the same availability. Without this the chat has no price to quote.
2. **A site with a Book button and card payment.** The engine's own booking page is enough to start. Your own domain and photos that are not the Airbnb ones do the trust work.
3. **A chat wired to the calendar.** Write down what it may promise (price, dates, parking, pets) and what it hands to you (discounts, groups, invoices).
4. **Google Business Profile.** Address, phone, website link, photos, replies to reviews. If your engine feeds Google, your rate stands next to the platforms' rates.
5. **Past guests.** After checkout, a thank-you with a link to your site on your own channel (WhatsApp, e-mail), never in the Booking.com thread, where steering a guest off-platform breaks the partner terms.
6. **Count the source.** Once a month, tally where each booking came from. Without that number you cannot tell whether the site earns its keep.

## Where Supalobby fits

Supalobby provides a chat widget for the property website. The agent answers on it by itself, in the guest's language, and when a Beddesk, HotRes or IdoBooking PMS is connected it quotes live price and availability and, in Autopilot mode, creates the booking in that PMS. The same agent replies on Booking.com, WhatsApp, Instagram and e-mail, so the website visitor and the platform guest land in one inbox.

What it does not do: it has no calendar, rates, booking engine or channel manager of its own; without a PMS the chat answers from the knowledge base, without a price for specific nights. Autopilot costs 49 PLN net per unit per month, about 11 euro, with no commission on bookings. The first 10 properties on a yearly plan get a property website built free.

If you do one thing from this page, do step one. Nothing else works without a shared calendar.

## Frequently asked questions

**How much do I save on a direct booking?**

Usually about 15 percent of the stay. Airbnb's host-only fee is 15.5 percent for most hosts. Booking.com does not publish a rate; Houst puts the global average at about 15 percent, plus about 3 points for Preferred Partner. Vrbo charges 5 percent plus 3 percent payment processing. Subtract 1 to 3 percent for card processing on your own site.

**Can I ask a Booking.com guest to book direct next time?**

Not inside the Booking.com thread. Asking for a phone number or e-mail in order to move a booking off the platform breaks the partner terms. Build direct demand elsewhere: your Google Business Profile, Instagram, your own site, and past guests who already have your number and can be messaged on your own channel after checkout.

**What is the difference between an FAQ bot and a chat with availability?**

An FAQ bot answers from a list of questions and forwards date requests to your inbox. A chat with availability reads the calendar and rates from your booking engine or PMS, quotes a price for specific nights, and ends with a booking or a payment link. Only the second kind turns a late-night visitor into a reservation without you.

**What does the cheapest website plus booking engine cost?**

Hospitable's Host plan is $29 a month for one property and includes a direct booking site with a 1 percent fee on the Basic tier. Hostfully starts at $15 per property per month plus a platform fee, with a 0.85 percent direct booking fee on Growth. Uplisting is £40 a month for up to four properties with a basic direct booking site included. Checked 26 September 2026.

**At what OTA revenue does a website with chat pay for itself?**

At 15 percent commission, every $100 moved from a platform to your site leaves you $15. A $42 monthly setup breaks even once $280 a month books direct. If one guest in five switches, that is $1,400 of monthly OTA revenue; at $4,000 of OTA revenue the same setup nets about $70 a month after processing fees.


## Sources

- [Airbnb Help, Service fees (host-only fee 15.5 percent)](https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1857) (2026-09-26)
- [Booking.com Partner Hub, Understanding your commission](https://partner.booking.com/en-gb/help/commission-invoices-tax/commission/understanding-our-commission) (2026-09-26)
- [Houst, Booking.com fees for hosts (global average about 15 percent)](https://www.houst.com/blog/booking-com-fees-for-hosts) (2026-05-11)
- [Vrbo Help, About pay-per-booking fees (5 percent plus 3 percent)](https://help.vrbo.com/articles/How-is-the-booking-fee-calculated) (2026-09-26)
- [Hostaway, 2026 Short-Term Rental Report (direct booking share)](https://www.hostaway.com/blog/2026-short-term-rental-report/) (2026-01-20)
- [HiJiffy, homepage (automation and direct booking claims)](https://www.hijiffy.com/) (2026-09-26)
- [Asksuite, homepage (23x ROI claim)](https://asksuite.com/) (2026-09-26)
- [Profitroom, Booking Engine (no public pricing, case studies)](https://profitroom.com/products/booking-engine/) (2026-09-26)
- [Hospitable Help, pricing and subscription costs](https://help.hospitable.com/en/articles/4596748-hospitable-pricing-subscription-costs) (2026-09-26)
- [Hospitable, pricing page (direct booking site fees)](https://hospitable.com/pricing/) (2026-09-26)
- [Hostfully, pricing](https://www.hostfully.com/pricing/) (2026-09-26)
- [Uplisting, pricing](https://www.uplisting.io/pricing) (2026-09-26)
- [Google Business Profile Help, Manage your hotel's details (where booking links come from)](https://support.google.com/business/answer/9177958?hl=en) (2026-09-26)
- [Google Hotel Center Help, Best practices for free booking links](https://support.google.com/hotelprices/answer/10472993?hl=en) (2026-09-26)
- [Tracify, AI assistant for hotels (an FAQ-only chat, 349 PLN a month)](https://tracify.pl/ai-asystent-dla-hotelu/) (2026-09-26)
- [Hotres, Agent Hotres (a chat that books, from 169 PLN net a month)](https://hotres.pl/agent-hotres) (2026-09-26)
- [NBP, exchange rate table A of 25 September 2026](https://api.nbp.pl/api/exchangerates/tables/a/?format=json) (2026-09-25)