All roasts
airbnb.com as our browser saw it on 3 Nov 2026
airbnb.com, roasted on 3 Nov 2026.

Golden

Finally, one price for your trip; the pop-up is the hidden fee.

What we saw: Airbnb homepage for booking stays, experiences and services

Three things we noticed

  1. 'Now you'll see one price, all fees included' quietly confesses what 'before' looked like.

    pop-up headline
  2. The pop-up about seeing prices lands right on top of the prices, hiding a guest suite in Ito.

    pop-up over listings
  3. The biggest, boldest button on the first screen is 'Got it', which books exactly zero nights.

    'Got it' button

The one fix

Drop the pop-up and put the message where the prices are: a small 'Total price, all fees included' note under each listing price, or one slim line under the search bar. Let the search bar stay the boldest thing on the first screen.

The full roast

The 5-second test

"I think it's Airbnb. I type where I'm going, when, and who's coming, and it finds me a place to stay or something to do. But first I have to click 'Got it' on a pop-up about fees. Then I'd click the pink search button, or just scroll the photos of Izu."
What I think you sell
Homes, hotels and local experiences you book online
Who I think it's for
Travellers planning a trip, from a weekend away to a city stay

Headline and value

5/10

There's no headline. The biggest sentence on the page is about fees.

The first screen has no line saying what this is or why to use it. The search bar's 'Where / When / Who' does the explaining, which works for people who already know the name and leaves strangers to guess. The only full sentence in big type is the pop-up's 'Now you'll see one price for your trip, all fees included.' That's a real reason to book here, but it's said once in a box people close, not kept on the page. The page greets you like a hotel desk clerk who skips 'welcome' and opens with the bill.

Quick win: Add one short line under the search bar on both desktop and phone: "Homes, hotels and experiences. One price, all fees included."

Call to action

7/10

The pink search button is clear, then the pop-up's 'Got it' takes the spotlight.

The round pink search button sits at the end of 'Where / When / Who', so it's obvious what it does. On desktop, though, the pop-up dims everything and its big black 'Got it' bar becomes the boldest button on the screen. Visitors' first click is spent closing a box. 'Become a host' sits up top in quiet text, which is right: it doesn't fight the search.

Quick win: Remove the desktop pop-up so the pink search button is the first thing anyone clicks. Put the fee message right next to the prices instead.

Look and layout

7/10

Lovely photos and tidy cards, under a grey blanket.

The listing photos (the Izu villas, the sea view from Kawazu) and the experience tiles (pottery hands, ramen bowl) do the selling. The rounded cards are spaced evenly, and the little 3D icons on 'All', 'Homes', 'Hotels', 'Experiences' and 'Services' are friendly and easy to scan. The pop-up greys out the whole page, so the best part of the design, the photos, shows up dimmed on first load. The cut-off cards on the right edge of each row hint that you can scroll sideways, which is a nice touch.

Quick win: Show the first screen without the grey layer. If the fee message must float, use a small note at the bottom like the phone version, not a box in the middle.

Trust and proof

8/10

Ratings on every card and honest totals. Strong.

Every listing shows a star rating (4.86 to 5.0) and a full price 'for 2 nights', so visitors get proof and price at a glance. 'Guest favorite' badges add more reassurance, but in the 'Available in Tokyo this weekend' row nearly every card has one, so the badge starts to mean less. The 'all fees included' promise is one of the strongest trust signals here, and right now it lives only in a pop-up and a floating note that both disappear.

Quick win: Put a small permanent line under the first row of prices: "Total price, all fees included." That way the promise stays visible after the pop-up is gone.

Copy

7/10

Short and plain. 'Where / When / Who' is copy most pages would envy.

The search labels and 'Search destinations', 'Add dates', 'Add guests' could not be clearer. The prices are a bit cluttered: '¥180,809 JPY' says yen twice, and 'for 2 nights' doesn't say which two nights when no dates have been entered. The phone's row lines like 'Vietnam's biggest city for street food' give a reason to look, but desktop rows like 'Stay in Izu' have no such line. 'Explore experiences nearby' is the one heading that could sit on any travel site.

Quick win: Show the price as "¥180,809 for 2 nights" (drop the repeated JPY). In the 'this weekend' rows, say "for 2 nights this weekend" so the dates are clear.

Mobile

7/10

The phone gets the fee note right, then a blue button tries to steal the show.

'Start your search' is a big, thumb-friendly bar, the tabs are large, and the bottom menu ('Explore', 'Wishlists', 'Log in') is easy to reach. At the very top, though, the 'USE APP' button is the only bright blue thing on a pink-and-white page, so it's the first thing the eye hits, ahead of the search. The 'Prices include all fees' note is a better idea than the desktop pop-up, but it floats over the listing names ('Apartment in...') in the second row. The first phone screen still shows the search bar, one full row with prices and ratings, and the start of the next row, which is good.

Quick win: Make the 'USE APP' button match the brand pink or turn it into a plain text link. Move the fee note into the price line so it never covers the listings.

Top fixes, in order

  1. Replace the desktop pop-up with a note by the prices

    Why: The pop-up greys out the whole first screen, and its 'Got it' button becomes the first thing anyone clicks. The best promise on the page gets closed and forgotten.

    How: Remove the pop-up. Under the first row of prices add a small grey line, "Total price, all fees included", or put the same words in one slim line under the search bar. Keep the pink search button as the boldest thing on screen.

  2. Say what this is in one line

    Why: There's no headline. First-time visitors rely on 'Where / When / Who' to work out what the site does.

    How: Add one short line under the search bar: "Homes, hotels and experiences. One price, all fees included." Keep it small enough that the search bar stays the star.

  3. Tone down the phone's 'USE APP' button

    Why: On the phone, the bright blue 'USE APP' is the loudest thing on the screen and pulls attention above 'Start your search'.

    How: Change the button to the brand pink or a plain text link reading "Open in app". Better still, show the banner only after someone's first search, so the search bar gets the first look.

  4. Make the '2 nights' prices clear

    Why: Prices read '¥180,809 JPY for 2 nights' with no dates entered, so visitors don't know which nights. Yen is also shown twice.

    How: Drop the repeated currency ("¥180,809 for 2 nights"). In weekend rows write "for 2 nights this weekend". In other rows, show the dates the price is based on next to the price.

  5. Give desktop rows a reason line like the phone has

    Why: The phone's 'Vietnam's biggest city for street food' gives people a reason to scroll the row. Desktop's 'Stay in Izu' and 'Explore experiences nearby' are bare labels.

    How: Add the same one-line description under each desktop row heading, the way the phone does. Reuse the lines the phone already has wherever the same places appear.

Rewrites to steal

Headlines

Homes, hotels and experiences. One price, all fees included.

price honesty first

Find a place to stay and something to do

plain and literal

Stays and experiences guests rate as favorites

proof first

Subheadlines

Tell us where, when and who. The price you see is the total for your trip.

how it works

From cooking classes and food tours to villas and city rooms, book it all in one place.

range of choice

Every listing shows its full price with all fees, next to real guest ratings.

no-surprises promise

Button text

Search stays

plain and literal

Find my place

personal outcome

See total prices

price honesty first