How to Add a Co-Host on Airbnb: Invites, Permissions and Payouts

Adding a co-host on Airbnb lets a helper answer guests, watch the calendar or run the listing without ever touching your password or bank details. To do it, open Listings, pick the listing, open Co-hosts in the Listing editor and start an invite. Enter their phone number or email, choose full access, calendar and messaging, or calendar only, and send it. They have 14 days to accept. Payouts are a separate step only the listing owner can set up.

If your cleaner or your sister is still logging in with your password to answer guests while you work, they can see your whole account, payout method included. The co-host tools fix that, but older co-hosts may still hold full access. Below: the invite, the right permission level for each helper, how Airbnb splits the money, whose name guests see, and how to remove someone cleanly.

How to Add a Co-Host on Airbnb, Step by Step

Airbnb publishes the invite steps for desktop, both apps and mobile browsers. On desktop:

1. Click Listings and select the listing you want to share.

2. In the Listing editor, open Co-hosts. One Airbnb help page shows it directly in the editor; another places it under Your space.

3. Click Invite a co-host to open the invite form.

4. Add the person's country or region and their phone number or email, then click Next.

5. Select the permissions for this co-host and click Next. You can add an optional note.

6. Review the invite and click Send.

Four rules sit behind that screen. Airbnb says you must make sure the person agreed to receive invites by text or email. Text invites only reach registered Airbnb users and may not work in some locations, so email is the safer default. A new co-host must also complete identity verification before accepting. Airbnb's Resource Center gives them 14 days to accept or decline.

Adding the same person to several listings. Only the listing owner can invite a co-host to more than one listing at once. From Listings, tick the checkbox next to each property, click Co-hosts and follow the same steps. The permissions you choose apply to every listing in that batch, but you can change them per listing afterward. Each listing can have up to 10 co-hosts.

Pick the Permission Level Before You Send the Invite

Airbnb's three permission levels decide what a co-host can touch on the platform; your agreement decides what they do. Airbnb's help article on what co-hosts can do says permissions only control access on Airbnb, so you still need to set expectations about how someone helps.

Condensed from Airbnb's permission table:

Chat = calendar and messaging access; Cal = calendar access. *Full-access co-hosts can invite or remove co-hosts and change permissions for non-full-access ones, but cannot add another full-access co-host. Damage-claim permissions do not apply to listings in Japan.

Match the level to the job you are handing over:

Airbnb's 2023 Resource Center announcement said calendar-only co-hosts did not appear as co-hosts on your listing. And changing a permission level later does not change payouts, so you can start a new manager at calendar and messaging and move them to full access after a few weeks of clean guest threads.

Audit older co-hosts. Airbnb says co-hosts added before May 3, 2023 have full access by default. If someone you added years ago to look at the calendar is still on the listing, they may be able to cancel reservations today. Open each co-host, check the level, and save the one that fits their current job.

If you are weighing whether to hand a listing to a full-service co-host or keep building your own small team, book a complimentary one-on-one diagnostic call and we will look at your numbers and your hours together.

What Full Access Lets a Co-Host Do With Your Listing

A full-access co-host can change prices, cancel trips and add helpers, and Airbnb holds you responsible for what they do. Airbnb's help article says that as the listing owner, you are responsible for your co-hosts, including ones added by a full-access co-host. According to Airbnb's permission list, a full-access co-host can:

• Edit the calendar, pricing, seasonal discounts, title, description and photos.

• Accept or decline trip requests, change dates or guest counts, and cancel reservations.

• Send or request money through the Resolution Center and manage damage reimbursement requests under host damage protection.

• Write guest reviews.

• Invite or remove co-hosts without your approval, except adding full-access ones.

• Set themselves or another eligible co-host as the listing's primary host.

• Review their own Earnings dashboard, including upcoming and paid payouts, and see the co-host payouts you set up.

Only the listing owner can set up or edit co-host payouts, and no co-host can view or change your payout method or taxpayer info.

Write the limits Airbnb does not enforce into your agreement: a pricing floor, a dollar cap on Resolution Center requests before they check with you, and who may cancel a booking and why. The Airbnb co-host agreement guide covers how to put authority limits in dollars.

How Co-Host Payouts Work Inside Airbnb

Airbnb can pay a co-host directly out of each booking, but only after you propose a split and they confirm it. In the same Co-hosts section, select the co-host, click Payouts, pick an option and click Confirm with co-host. Airbnb's payout article lists four options:

• Cleaning fee: the co-host receives the cleaning fee set on your listing.

• Cleaning fee plus percentage: the cleaning fee plus a percentage of each booking, calculated without the cleaning fee.

• Percentage: a percentage per booking, and you choose whether the cleaning fee is included.

• Fixed amount: a set dollar amount per booking.

Payouts work at any permission level, which is why the cleaning-fee option suits a cleaner on calendar access. Airbnb's 2023 Winter Release note added one limit: if you added more than one cleaner as a co-host, only one of them could receive the cleaning fee. If your cleaner is paid per turnover rather than per booking, the cleaning fee and cleaner pay breakdown shows how to keep the two numbers from drifting apart.

Timing rules behind "where is my money" messages

• The co-host has 14 days to confirm or decline the proposal. To change a proposal before it is confirmed, cancel it and send a new one.

• Payouts start for bookings after guests check in, and any edit you make applies only to bookings that start after the co-host confirms the change.

• For most stays, Airbnb sends host and co-host payouts by the end of the business day after scheduled check-in. Hosts without two completed stays (unless the listing is verified), or with ongoing issues, are paid after checkout instead; monthly stays differ.

• Changing your cleaning fee does not need a new confirmation; the co-host gets a notification.

• Regional limits apply depending on where you, the co-host and the listing are located.

Co-hosts are paid first; you get what remains

Airbnb calculates co-host payouts from your potential earnings on each booking: nightly price times nights, plus charges like the cleaning fee, minus the host service fee and any applicable taxes and fees. With two or more co-host payouts on a listing, Airbnb pays them in a fixed order (cleaning fee, then cleaning fee plus percentage, then percentages excluding and then including the cleaning fee, each highest to lowest, then fixed amounts) and the listing owner receives whatever is left.

Airbnb's own help-center example puts four co-hosts on one listing. The $500 booking is a $400 reservation plus a $100 cleaning fee; the $200 booking is a $100 reservation plus the same fee. Percentages apply to the reservation amount without the cleaning fee.

On the smaller booking the fixed $35 does not shrink, so the owner's share falls to $30. In a second Airbnb example where the proposed splits add up to more than the booking earns, the owner's payout on that booking is $0 and the last co-host gets less than proposed.

Before you confirm a stack of percentages, run your shortest, cheapest booking through it. That stay shows whether a split leaves you anything at all.

Tax paperwork follows the split. Airbnb says co-host payouts do not reduce the amount reported to the listing owner: you receive a tax document on the full booking amount, and each co-host receives one for what they were paid. Talk to your tax preparer about how to treat those amounts on your return.

Primary Host, Reviews and Superhost: Whose Name Guests See

On a home listing, guests see one primary host, and that can be you or a full-access co-host. Airbnb's primary host article says the primary host is the person shown as the host on the listing. You or a full-access co-host can pick a new primary host from eligible people in co-host settings; the listing updates immediately and existing reservations stay as they are.

Reviews work differently. Airbnb says guest reviews appear only on the listing owner's profile. Ratings on a listing a co-host helps run do not appear on the co-host's profile and do not affect their Superhost status. If the owner is also the primary host, those reviews count toward the owner's Superhost status.

So a manager running your listing as primary host gets no reviews on their own profile, though Co-Host Network profiles show ratings from homes they co-host; agree up front how they can document their record.

Finding a Co-Host on Airbnb's Co-Host Network

If you don't have someone in mind, Airbnb's Co-Host Network lets you request help from inside your listing. It is available in the United States, Canada and several other countries. From the Listing editor, open Co-hosts, click Find someone to help, then either submit a request or browse local co-hosts. You choose full-service support or individual services, write a short description and submit. Interested co-hosts reply in Messages, where you can review profiles and talk before inviting anyone.

Network requirements include an account in good standing, verified identity and an overall co-host rating of 4.8 or above, per Airbnb's Co-Host Network article. Airbnb's Resource Center reported average network co-hosts at a 4.86 guest rating and four years of experience, with 73% Superhosts (article updated June 2025). Those are network averages, so ask each candidate for their own listings and references.

Airbnb also says it is the co-host's responsibility to have any permits or licenses they need. That matters when the co-host is paid. Arizona's real estate statute, for example, defines a real estate broker as a person who, for another and for compensation, rents or leases real estate. Check your state's licensing rules before you pay someone to run bookings for you, and read what an Airbnb co-host does if you are still deciding whether you need one.

How to Remove a Co-Host or Change Their Access

Removing a co-host takes three steps in the Listing editor, but your obligations to booked guests stay with you. Airbnb's removal steps on desktop:

1. Click Listings and select the listing.

2. In the Listing editor, click Co-hosts and select the person.

3. Click Remove co-host, add an optional note and click Yes, remove.

Hosts and full-access co-hosts can remove co-hosts. If you only want to narrow what someone can do, change their permission level instead.

After removal, Airbnb says the person can no longer update the listing, accept or decline inquiries, view the calendar, manage dates and times, message guests or receive co-host payouts for bookings that start after the removal. You remain responsible for current and future reservations, including ones the co-host accepted, and any damage reimbursement requests a full-access co-host was handling are reassigned to you. If they were the primary host, the role moves to the owner or another eligible full-access co-host.

Airbnb only controls Airbnb. The same afternoon you remove a co-host, change what lives outside the platform:

• Door codes and lockboxes. Rotate every code they knew. The smart lock failure guide covers a backup entry plan.

• Other channels and software. Remove them from your PMS, channel manager, pricing tool and any shared inbox.

• Saved replies and guest-facing contact details. Update any template or house manual that names them as the contact. The guest message templates are a good place to reset.

• Vendors. Tell your cleaners and handyman who now approves work.

A Setup Checklist Before You Click Send

Settle these five decisions in writing before the invite goes out, because Airbnb's settings only cover the platform side.

1. Job description. List the tasks: messaging, pricing, turnovers, restocking, reviews, maintenance calls.

2. Permission level. Pick the lowest level that covers those tasks, using the tables above.

3. Pay and payout method. Decide whether pay runs through Airbnb's co-host payouts or outside it, and test the split on your smallest booking.

4. Authority limits. Put a dollar cap on refunds and damage requests and name who can cancel a reservation.

5. Exit terms. Agree on notice, who keeps which vendor relationships and how codes and logins get handed back.

Only offloading pieces? Compare the time cost in DIY versus hiring property management first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I add a co-host on the Airbnb app?
Yes. Airbnb's help article gives separate steps for the iOS app, Android app, mobile browser and desktop.

How many co-hosts can an Airbnb listing have?
Up to 10 per listing. Only the listing owner can invite one person to several listings at once, and the permissions must match across that batch.

Does my co-host need an Airbnb account?
Yes. Airbnb's 2023 announcement of the co-host tools said invitees need an Airbnb account to accept, and its help center says new co-hosts must complete identity verification before accepting.

Can a co-host see my bank details or change my payouts?
No. Only the listing owner can set up or edit co-host payouts, and co-hosts cannot view or change the owner's payout method or taxpayer info. Full-access co-hosts can see their own Earnings dashboard and the co-host payouts you set up.

Why hasn't my co-host been paid yet?
Check four things: whether they confirmed the payout proposal within 14 days, whether the guest has checked in, whether your change applies only to bookings starting after they confirmed it, and whether the co-host splits on that booking exceeded your potential earnings. Missing payout methods, taxpayer info or regional limits can also block payouts.

Sources

• Airbnb Help Center, Add co-hosts to your home listing (retrieved 2026-10-17)

• Airbnb Help Center, What co-hosts can do (retrieved 2026-10-17)

• Airbnb Help Center, How co-host payouts work (retrieved 2026-10-17)

• Airbnb Help Center, Remove a co-host from your listing (retrieved 2026-10-17)

• Airbnb Help Center, Primary Hosts: An introduction (retrieved 2026-10-17)

• Airbnb Help Center, Co-Host Network: An introduction (retrieved 2026-10-17)

• Airbnb Resource Center, Establish your partnership (retrieved 2026-10-17)

• Airbnb Resource Center, Find the right co-host on Airbnb (retrieved 2026-10-17)

• Airbnb Resource Center, New Co-Host permissions and simple payouts (retrieved 2026-10-17)

• Airbnb Resource Center, New options for Co-Host payouts and messaging (retrieved 2026-10-17)

• Arizona Legislature, A.R.S. 32-2101, Definitions (retrieved 2026-10-17)

This article is for educational purposes only and is not legal or tax advice. Airbnb's co-host tools, payout rules and regional limits change; confirm current settings in your Listing editor and licensing rules with your state before you rely on this guide.