According to a report by Sina Technology on August 10, hotel orders completed after being redirected from Doubao to Douyin Laike will be subject to separate rates: an 11.4% software service fee plus a 0.6% payment processing fee, for a combined rate of approximately 12%.
In response to the claim circulating online that “Doubao takes a 12% commission on recommended hotels,” Liu Xing, head of Doubao’s public relations, said on Weibo that evening:
“The claim that Doubao will charge fees for recommending hotels” is inaccurate. Doubao’s lifestyle services business currently has no paid promotion, and Doubao does not charge advertising fees for hotel recommendations. Merchants cannot influence recommendations or rankings through payment; they only pay channel service fees after an order is completed.
Some platforms use a “commission + advertising” pricing model, while Doubao currently mainly charges based on completed transactions, so the two are not directly comparable. For merchants, the actual channel costs and the results in terms of additional orders are more meaningful points of reference. Doubao is also still in a very early stage of exploration, and everyone is welcome to try it and offer feedback.
ITHome learned that on July 27, the Douyin Life Services Learning Center published the “2026 Douyin Life Services Platform Software Service Fee Policy for Specific Channels.”
The notice states that this policy will be valid from 0:00 on August 10, 2026, until 24:00 on the day before the new Douyin Life Services Platform Software Service Fee Policy for Specific Channels takes effect. The specific software service fee rates will be communicated to merchants through the Merchant Laike backend.
According to the notice, the software service fee is calculated based on “the amount actually paid by the user + subsidy amounts provided by entities other than the merchant (such as platform-wide coupons).” Fixed or tiered rates apply depending on the merchant type, product category, POI category, product type, and specific transaction channel. Specific channels include Doubao and may be adjusted based on platform services. Whether an order belongs to a specific channel is determined by the information displayed on the order settlement statement.
