How DirectBalkan works
DirectBalkan is a direct-booking network being built for accommodation owners in the Balkans and Southeast Europe. Each property gets a listing on a verified marketplace and, on a paid plan, its own booking website and one owner platform, with 0% DirectBalkan booking commission. This page explains how a property goes from registration to Active.
Everything shown here is planned. See Product status for the current state of each part.
From registration to ActiveFrom registration to Active
Register. Complete the two-step form. Step 1 saves your registration; step 2 tells us about your current setup. Registration is free and needs no payment details.
AvailableOnboarding. We review your registration and contact you about Early Access. If your property is a fit, we invite you to onboarding and ask for your existing Booking.com, Airbnb or website link. We do not give timings yet.
Verification. We check who you are and where the property is.
In developmentPublication checks. With your permission, we prepare the initial listing from your existing photos and details, and check that information, photos, units, rates, booking rules and required policies are complete. You review and approve it.
Active. Your property is listed on DirectBalkan automatically. Your own booking website and the owner tools come with a paid plan, which starts only if you activate it. During Early Access, a Founding Host's marketplace listing is free. If you later activate a paid plan, your first three paid months are 50% off.
In development
What Verified means
Before a property is published we check the things below. The same checks apply to every property, and the exact thresholds are not final.
- Identity and contact confirmed
- Address and property details validated
- Required property information complete
- A minimum set of real photos
- Units, rates and booking rules set up
- Required policy content in place
How DirectBalkan earns
DirectBalkan earns from fixed monthly plans for its full toolset. It does not take a commission on bookings. Payment providers may charge their own fees; those are separate. During Early Access, Founding Hosts are listed on the marketplace free of charge. If they later activate a paid plan, their first three paid months are 50% off; see the FAQ.
Before you join
How will guests find DirectBalkan if it is new?
Gradually, and we do not promise traffic. Your own website and domain work for guests who already know you. The marketplace opens destination by destination, only once enough verified properties exist there, so guests do not land on empty pages. Showing your direct booking link in Google, including Google's free booking links, is a target we are working towards, subject to Google's requirements. Product status shows where each part stands.
Who takes the guest’s payment and handles cancellations?
Guests book with you, and DirectBalkan does not take a share of the booking. How guests will pay online, and through which payment provider, is still being designed; no payments are processed today. Your DirectBalkan subscription is billed separately from guest payments. You will set your own cancellation policy, and each booking keeps the policy that applied when it was made.
Why pay a subscription when some portals list properties for free or without commission?
A listing on its own gives you an advert. DirectBalkan’s paid plans are planned to give you your own booking website on your own domain and one owner platform for calendar, rates and bookings, with the guest relationship staying with you. You pay one fixed monthly price and DirectBalkan takes 0% booking commission. The marketplace listing and the paid toolset are separate: you choose whether you need the full toolset.
What is available now
Our pre-launch website and Early Access are live. Additional platform capabilities are in development, in design, planned, or on our long-term roadmap. See Product status.
Join Early Access
Tell us about your property. We will contact you about Early Access.
