The big booking platforms feel free because you don't pay anything upfront — the cost is quietly taken out of every booking instead. For a small villa or hotel, those commissions are often one of the largest expenses of the whole operation, and most owners have never added them up. This guide does the maths. It explains how platform commissions actually work, what they really cost you per booking and per year, what you give up beyond the money, and how a balanced approach lets you keep the platforms' reach while winning back your margin on direct bookings.
How OTA commissions work
The big platforms — Agoda, Booking.com and the rest, known in the trade as OTAs (online travel agencies) — are essentially a shop window that takes a cut. You list your property, they bring you guests, and in return they keep a percentage of each booking, typically in the 15–25% range depending on the platform, your agreement, and how much visibility you want. Some charge more for a "preferred" placement that pushes you higher in results. On top of the commission there are often payment-processing costs. It's a genuinely useful service — they reach travellers you never could — but it's important to see it for what it is: paid distribution, priced as a share of your revenue.
The real cost per booking
Put a number on it and the picture sharpens. Take a 10,000 THB booking at a 20% commission: that's 2,000 THB gone straight away, before you've cleaned a room, paid staff, or covered the electricity. Now multiply across a year. A property doing a few hundred thousand baht through the platforms can easily hand over tens of thousands in commission annually — a sum that, kept, could cover marketing, an upgrade, or simply more profit. This isn't an argument that the platforms are bad value; it's that the cost is large and invisible, and anything you can move to direct booking goes straight to your bottom line.
What you give up beyond the commission
The commission is only the visible cost. The platforms also sit between you and your guest. They own the communication, often mask the guest's real email, and discourage you from taking the relationship off-platform. That means a guest who loved their stay is their customer to re-market to, not yours — so next time they travel, the platform gets paid again to send you the same person. You also have little control over how you're presented and you're subject to their rules and rate demands. Direct booking gives you the guest's details, the freedom to build a relationship, and a repeat customer you don't have to pay for twice.
Why you shouldn't ditch the platforms entirely
None of this means deleting your listings. For most small stays, the platforms do something genuinely hard: they put you in front of travellers around the world who would never otherwise find you. That reach has real value, especially when you're new or filling last-minute gaps. The goal isn't to abandon them — it's to stop letting them take a cut of the bookings you could have won yourself. Think of the platforms as customer acquisition you pay for, and your own website as the place you convert the guests who already know you: repeat visitors, referrals, and anyone who Googles your name after seeing you on a platform.
The balanced approach that keeps your margin
The owners who do best treat the two as a team. They stay on the platforms for discovery, but they make sure they also have their own booking website — and they gently steer guests toward it. A returning guest gets a message pointing them to book direct next time. The property's own name ranks on Google, so a traveller who saw you on Agoda and searched for you can book without the middleman. A few percent of bookings shifted from commission to direct, compounded over a year, is a meaningful raise you give yourself. The platforms still bring the strangers; your website keeps the ones worth keeping.
How to nudge guests to book direct
You don't need to be pushy — you need to make direct the easy, obvious choice for people who already like you. Have a real website with instant booking or one-tap messaging, so "book direct" isn't more hassle than the app. Offer a small, honest reason to book direct where your platform agreements allow it — a welcome drink, a late checkout, a modest repeat-guest rate. Collect emails at check-in and send a friendly note before the season a guest usually travels. And claim your Google Business Profile so your name leads to your own booking page. Small, consistent nudges turn one-off platform guests into direct regulars.
Putting it together
Agoda and Booking.com charge 15–25% of every booking and keep your guest relationship, which makes them a large and mostly invisible cost for a small stay. The answer isn't to leave them — their reach is real — but to stop handing over a cut of the bookings you could win directly. Keep the platforms for discovery, run your own booking website to convert repeat and referred guests commission-free, and nudge people toward it. Even a modest shift to direct booking is money straight to your bottom line, every single stay.
Krubly gives small stays their own booking website — with direct booking, online payment and one-tap WhatsApp — plus a CRM that keeps every guest's details so you can bring them back without paying commission twice. Keep using the platforms for reach; use your own site to keep the margin.
