The direct way to stay
Why booking direct is cheaper — with the sources attached
Airbnb publishes a guest service fee of 14.1%–16.5% of the booking subtotal, added to your total at checkout. Ours is 4% of the nightly rate plus the cleaning fee — 10.1–12.5 percentage points of the booking that stays with you instead. That is the whole argument, and every number used to make it on this page links to the company that publishes it.
What the platforms publish
The fees, as stated by the companies charging them
Checked 2026-08-07. Where a platform does not publish a universal figure, we say so instead of estimating one.
| Platform | Published fee | Who pays it | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbnb | 14.1%–16.5% of the booking subtotal | The guest, at checkout | airbnb.com |
| Vrbo | 5% commission + 3% payment processing | The host | help.vrbo.com |
| Booking.com | varies by agreement | The host | partner.booking.com |
| Nomad, on this site | 4% booking fee, on the nightly rate plus the cleaning fee. It covers taking the payment and it is the only fee we add — shown in the total before the card screen, not after it. | The guest, shown in the total before the card screen | — |
We are not claiming the nightly rate is lower here than everywhere else, and we do not offer a lowest-price guarantee — we have not drafted one, so we will not advertise one. The claim on this page is narrower and checkable: the only fee added to your total on this site is 4%, where a marketplace adds 14.1–16.5%.
Do the arithmetic yourself
What the fees cost, on both sides
Put in a nightly rate and a length of stay. It applies Airbnb's own published fee range on one side and our 4% booking fee on the other, and shows you the difference — with the sources next to it.
- Accommodation subtotal
- Cleaning
- Booking subtotal
- Airbnb guest service fee (14.1%–16.5%)
- Nomad booking fee (4%)
How this is calculated
Assumption: the nightly rate and the cleaning fee are identical on both sides. This compares fees, not prices. If a marketplace listing of the same home is priced differently, the comparison does not hold — check both totals yourself before you decide.
- Our own booking fee — 4% of the nightly rate plus the cleaning fee, charged by our booking platform and shown as “Service fee” on the checkout panel. Taken from a real quote on this site on 2026-08-15, not from a rate card. It is the one fee we add, and it is in the total before you reach the card screen.
- Airbnb guest service fee — 14.1%–16.5% of the booking subtotal. This is the range we apply, which is why the result below is a range and not a single number. airbnb.com/help/article/1857
- Vrbo — 5% commission plus 3% payment processing, charged on the host side rather than at your checkout. help.vrbo.com
- Booking.com — varies by agreement. No universal rate is published, so we do not put a number on it. partner.booking.com
Figures checked 2026-08-07. Taxes are the same either way and are excluded from the comparison.
The direct way to stay
Same home, same dates, one fewer fee
A marketplace adds a guest service fee at checkout — Airbnb publishes it as 14.1%–16.5% of the booking subtotal. Ours is 4%, which is 10.1–12.5 percentage points of the booking you keep. Here is exactly what changes when you book on this site instead.
4% booking fee, not 14.1–16.5%
Marketplaces add a guest service fee at checkout — Airbnb publishes a range of 14.1–16.5% of the booking subtotal. Ours is 4% of the nightly rate plus the cleaning fee, which is 10.1–12.5 percentage points of the booking that stays with you. What you pay is the nightly rate, the cleaning fee, applicable taxes, and any add-on you asked for.
One price, itemized before you pay
Every line is on the page: rate, nights, cleaning, tax, total. Nothing appears at the last step, and nothing is folded into a nightly rate to make a headline number look smaller.
You are talking to the company that manages the home
Not a listing platform passing a message to a host. The same people who write the listing hold the keys, so a question about the house has one answer and one person behind it.
The policies are published in full
Cancellation terms, house rules and what happens if something breaks are written on the page before you book, in plain language, not summarized into a tier name.
The trade-offs
What you give up by not using a marketplace
We would rather you hear this from us than discover it afterward.
No marketplace resolution center
You are dealing with us directly. That means faster decisions and nobody to escalate to above us. Our answer is our name, our published policies and our payment processor's dispute process.
No platform review history to read
We opened in 2026 and have no reviews anywhere, here or on a marketplace. If a long review record is what you need to feel safe booking, that is a completely reasonable reason to wait for us.
No platform loyalty points
If you are chasing status or credits on a booking platform, booking here will not earn them. Whether the fee you avoid is worth more than the points you forgo is arithmetic only you can do.
Fair questions
The obvious objections
If the answer you need is not here, send it to us and we will answer it here as well as to you.
Ask us something elseIs booking direct with Nomad cheaper?
It replaces the guest service fee that marketplaces add at checkout with a smaller one. Airbnb publishes that fee as 14.1–16.5% of the booking subtotal; Vrbo publishes a 5% commission plus 3% payment processing on the host side. Ours is 4% of the nightly rate plus the cleaning fee — 10.1–12.5 percentage points of the booking that stays with you — and we do not raise the nightly rate to absorb anything. Whether your total is lower also depends on the nightly rate itself, which is why our calculator states its assumption and shows a range rather than one number.
Do you have guest reviews?
No. Nomad Vacation Rentals LLC was founded in 2026 and has not hosted a stay yet. We would rather tell you that than show you reviews we wrote. When reviews exist, each one will be attached to a booking we can verify.
Is my payment secure?
Payment is taken over TLS on the PCI-certified checkout our booking platform provides, so Nomad never sees, handles or stores your card number. You receive a payment receipt and a Nomad confirmation with the full line-item breakdown.
What is your cancellation policy?
It is set per home and published in full on that home's page and in your confirmation, with the dates and the amounts written out. We do not use tier names.
Who am I actually dealing with?
Nomad Vacation Rentals LLC, founded in 2026 by Sean Normoyle. He is the named accountable person for every decision on this site.
How many homes do you have?
The count on the portfolio page is generated from published homes and is always current. Homes being prepared do not appear anywhere as inventory, and we will not describe a home as available before it is.
Published, not summarized
The terms, before you book
Nothing below is behind a checkbox at checkout. If a policy changes, it changes here first.
How pricing works
You are quoted the nightly rate, the cleaning fee, applicable lodging tax and any add-on you selected. 4% booking fee, not 14.1–16.5% is added at any step, and the nightly rate is not raised to absorb one.
Payment and security
Payment is taken over TLS on the PCI-certified checkout our booking platform provides. Nomad never sees, handles or stores your card number. Which company appears as the merchant on your statement depends on the platform plan the home is on, and it is named on your confirmation.
Cancellation
Cancellation terms are set per home and printed in full on that home's page and in your confirmation email. There is no tier name to decode — you will see the dates and the amounts.
Until a home is published, its terms are not final and are not shown.
House rules
Every home publishes its own rules — occupancy, quiet hours, pets, events, parking — on its page, before booking rather than after arrival.
Direct Rate Drop
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