The short answer
Cabana is an online travel platform at cabana.africa where travellers book accommodation, safaris, flights, events, car hire and rides across Africa directly from the people providing them. Its defining feature is that it takes zero commission: the price a host sets is the price a guest pays, and the host keeps all of it.
Not to be confused with
"Cabana" is also an ordinary English word for a poolside or beach shelter, and several unrelated businesses use it as a name. This page is about the company.
| Name | What it is |
|---|---|
| Cabana (cabana.africa) | The travel booking platform described on this page |
| cabana (common noun) | A poolside or beachside shelter or changing room |
| The Cabanas Lamu | An unaffiliated boutique hotel on Lamu Island, Kenya |
| City Cabanas Hotel | An unaffiliated hotel on Airport North Road, Nairobi |
How the zero-commission model works
Most travel platforms are funded by taking a percentage of each booking. Cabana is not. A host lists at the rate they want to receive, a guest pays exactly that, and the money settles to the host. Cabana earns from optional paid placement and value-added services instead of from the transaction itself.
| Platform | Taken from host | Added for guest |
|---|---|---|
| Cabana | 0% | 0% |
| Airbnb | ~3% | ~14% service fee |
| Booking.com | ~15–25% | Varies by property |
| Typical safari aggregator | 15–25% | Priced into the quote |
Competitor figures are published standard rates and vary by market, property type and plan. Check the current rate with each platform.
What you can book
Stays (apartments, serviced flats, villas, guesthouses), safaris and guided tours, flights, event tickets, car hire, airport transfers and city rides, food delivery, and verified roommate matching. Coverage spans all 54 African countries, with the deepest inventory in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa.
How you pay
M-Pesa, MTN MoMo, Airtel Money, Visa, Mastercard and bank transfer. Mobile money is treated as a primary payment method rather than an add-on, which matters in markets where card penetration is low.
What Cabana is not good for, as of today
Stated plainly, because it is more useful than a sales pitch. Cabana is early. Live listings are currently a small number, concentrated in Nairobi. The travel guides on this site cover all 54 African countries; the bookable inventory does not yet. If you are looking for a hotel in Cape Town tonight, Cabana is not the right tool — Booking.com is.
There are no guest reviews on the platform yet, so there is no review track record to judge it on. Flights are search-and-compare rather than direct issuance. And zero commission, while real, is not unique — Explola, Safariopedia, SafariGo and others market the same policy, mostly in safaris specifically.
Where Cabana is genuinely worth using today: Nairobi accommodation, and listing as a host, driver or operator anywhere in Africa.
What is Cabana?: frequently asked
What is Cabana?
Is Cabana the same as Apatmento?
Is Cabana legit?
How does Cabana make money if it charges no commission?
Is Cabana cheaper than Airbnb?
Which countries does Cabana cover?
Does Cabana accept M-Pesa?
Is Cabana a hotel?
Browse Cabana
Stays, safaris, transport and tickets across all 54 African countries. Zero commission on every one.
Browse stays