Airbnb Experiences complaints are quickly gaining attention among tour guides around the world. With Airbnb’s recent relaunch of its Experiences platform and a massive ad campaign, many independent hosts expected opportunity, but instead, they’re voicing frustration. Guides are now being asked to rewrite listings to match Airbnb’s content standards, losing the personal touch that made their tours special. Meanwhile, GetYourGuide is also under fire for raising commissions to over 30%, pushing guides to seek new platforms that actually support their work.
These developments are sparking a wave of frustration among tour professionals looking for platforms that respect their autonomy and value their work.
What’s Happening with Airbnb Experiences
Airbnb Experiences has returned to the spotlight with a large-scale relaunch and aggressive advertising campaign. While the goal is to attract more travelers to book local tours and activities, many independent tour guides are expressing growing dissatisfaction with the platform’s new direction.
In several Facebook communities and Reddit threads, hosts have voiced concerns about increased restrictions and reduced flexibility. One common complaint is that Airbnb is now forcing guides to rewrite their tour descriptions to fit specific templates. This shift toward standardized content has led some guides to feel that their experiences are being “sanitized,” losing the unique, personal touch that originally attracted guests.
Additionally, Airbnb Experiences commission policies remain unclear and inconsistent. Some guides report paying fees between 20% and 25%, but without transparent breakdowns. This adds to the frustration, especially for small operators who depend on predictable income.
For many, these changes are prompting a search for tour guide alternatives to Airbnb, platforms that offer more freedom, clearer terms, and better support. The current wave of Airbnb Experiences complaints signals a deeper issue: guides want to be treated as creative partners, not just listing contributors.
That’s where smaller, guide-focused platforms like Guidzapp come into play.
GetYourGuide’s Commission Spike
While Airbnb Experiences faces criticism for lack of flexibility, GetYourGuide is drawing backlash for a different reason, rising commissions. For years, tour operators working with GetYourGuide were accustomed to a 20% cut taken from each booking. But recently, many guides report that commissions have quietly increased to 30% or more, depending on the visibility or placement of the listing.
Some operators even claim that GetYourGuide pushes “preferred” placement listings, which come with commission rates of up to 40% when factoring in marketing and promotional fees. These higher costs are not always transparent upfront, and they can drastically reduce a guide’s profit, especially for small group or solo tours with limited capacity.
Another common complaint is branding. Unlike Airbnb, where the host is front and center, GetYourGuide often minimizes the presence of the actual guide. Listings are branded under the GetYourGuide name, making it harder for local guides to build their own reputation or long-term client base. This creates a dependency loop that can be hard to escape.
Between increasing fees and limited personal exposure, many guides are now reevaluating their options. For those looking for a more sustainable model, a low-commission, guide-first alternative like Guidzapp may offer the control and visibility that large platforms no longer provide.
A New Alternative: Guidzapp
As Airbnb and GetYourGuide tighten their grip on how experiences are marketed and monetized, many independent guides are looking for an alternative that respects their individuality and supports their business, not just the platform’s brand.
That’s where Guidzapp comes in. Built with local tour guides in mind, Guidzapp offers a human-scale alternative to corporate booking platforms. There are no forced rewrites of your experience description, no generic tone guidelines, and no hidden commission tiers. Instead, guides retain full control over how their tours are presented, from the voice and story to the pricing and format.
Unlike Airbnb Experiences, Guidzapp doesn’t ask you to standardize your offering. Unlike GetYourGuide, we won’t take 30–40% of your earnings. Our low, transparent commission structure ensures that guides actually keep what they earn, while still having access to features that matter, like direct guest messaging, reviews, and calendar syncing.
Guidzapp is currently launching in New York City, Algeria, and Morocco, and is actively welcoming early guides who want to help shape the platform from the ground up. Whether you’re a licensed tour operator or a passionate local storyteller, Guidzapp gives you the visibility and freedom you’ve been missing.
If you’re searching for the best app for independent tour guides, this is your moment.
The Future of Guiding Is Local, Not Corporate
The problems surfacing with Airbnb Experiences and GetYourGuide are symptoms of a larger issue: as platforms scale, they often lose touch with the people who made them valuable in the first place. In the race for global reach, individuality and creativity are sacrificed for consistency and brand control. For many guides, that means less freedom, lower profits, and fewer meaningful connections with travelers.
But travelers are not asking for cookie-cutter tours. They want authentic, personal experiences. They want to hear real stories from locals—not polished scripts approved by a platform’s content team. This is why the future of travel guiding belongs to platforms that prioritize local voices over global branding.
Guidzapp is built on that belief. We’re not trying to be the next tech giant—we’re building a tool that actually supports local tour guides. Whether you’re in Marrakech, Algiers, or Brooklyn, you should be able to share your city your way, without compromising your identity or income.
As more guides look for an alternative to Airbnb Experiences, Guidzapp is ready to welcome them. We’re here for the guides who want freedom, fair commissions, and a direct line to their guests—not just another corporate interface.
It’s time to support local guides, not just global platforms.
What’s Next for Guidzapp: Growing with Local Guides Worldwide
At its core, Guidzapp was created to give power back to local tour guides. But we’re not stopping in New York City, Morocco, or Algeria. As the demand for ethical, locally-driven travel continues to grow, so does our commitment to expanding globally—on terms that benefit the people who make travel meaningful.
Our next expansion phase will focus on emerging and underserved regions, starting with Africa, where many talented guides struggle with visibility due to the dominance of large international platforms. From Egypt and Tunisia to Senegal and South Africa, we aim to support local guides with a transparent, low-commission tour guide platform in Africa—one that understands the cultural and logistical realities of operating tours there.
We’re also looking ahead to Southeast Asia—a region rich with cultural diversity and home to millions of travelers each year. Whether it’s street food tours in Vietnam, temple walks in Cambodia, or jungle treks in Thailand, we want to give local guides a platform where they keep their voice, their rates, and their customers.
And in Europe, where platforms like Airbnb and GetYourGuide dominate, we see a clear opportunity for a more human-scale alternative—especially in countries like Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Greece, where personal storytelling and regional pride are core to the tourist experience.
Wherever there’s a passionate guide with a story to tell, Guidzapp wants to be the platform that helps them thrive—not one that limits their potential.
Because we believe in one simple truth: travel should empower the locals who make it unforgettable.
Download the best app for independent tour guides now!
