Can Airbnb hosts use cameras or noise monitors?

The basics

Airbnb's rules on devices sit in one help article, Restrictions on security cameras and other devices in homes (opens in a new tab), checked Oct 31, 2026. They took effect on Apr 30, 2024. The short version: no cameras or recording devices indoors, disclosed cameras outdoors and disclosed noise monitors indoors but away from where people sleep and bathe.

This page covers the rules and the wording for your listing. If you're choosing or setting up a noise monitor, see our noise monitors guide, which compares Minut, NoiseAware and Roomonitor.

What's allowed and what isn't

From Airbnb's article 3061, checked Oct 31, 2026:

What counts as a recording device

Airbnb defines security cameras and recording devices as "any device that records or transmits video, images, or audio." The article lists baby monitors and doorbell cameras as examples. So the question isn't what you call a device. It's what the device does.

A noise decibel monitor is the exception. Airbnb describes these as "devices that assess sound levels and their duration but do not record audio." A sensor that records sound, or streams it, is a recording device under the same article and falls under the indoor ban. Check the maker's specs before you buy.

Private rooms and shared spaces

If you rent a private room in a home you also use, the indoor ban still applies. Airbnb's article says the prohibitions "also apply to the common areas and shared spaces of private room listings." A camera in the shared kitchen or living room is not allowed, even if it's yours and was there before you listed.

Exterior cameras you control need disclosing too, even when they cover shared space. Airbnb's own example is a doorbell camera covering a front door and an apartment building hallway.

How to disclose devices on Airbnb

Airbnb's article 3061 gives these steps on desktop, checked Oct 31, 2026:

1. Go to Listings and select the listing.
2. In the listing editor, open Your space, then Guest safety.
3. For an exterior camera, open Safety devices, check "Exterior security camera present," then describe each device, where it is and whether it's on or off.
4. For a noise monitor, open Noise decibel monitors and save.

Airbnb's related article, Informing guests about security devices (opens in a new tab), repeats the same disclosure rules. Neither article says how penalties work if a host breaks the rules, so we don't describe any here.

Copy-ready disclosure text

Edit the brackets to match your home. Keep it factual: what the device is, where it points and whether it's on.

Use the same wording in your house rules and your house manual, so guests read it before they book and again when they arrive. Airbnb doesn't require you to say where a noise monitor is, but saying "in the living room" can reassure guests.

Before you install anything

• Check your state and local laws. Recording audio, even outdoors, can be covered by state law, and some cities have their own rules for rentals. This page describes Airbnb's policy, not the law.
• Point exterior cameras at entrances, driveways and parking, not into windows or toward a neighbor's yard.
• If you also list on Vrbo, Booking.com or your own site, read each platform's device policy. The rules differ.
• Remove indoor cameras before your first listing goes live. Airbnb says the ban applies even when a device is turned off or disconnected.

Where to go next

• Noise monitors for rentals: how the devices work, how three makers compare and how to set one up.
• Short-term rental safety checklist: the alarms and safety gear your listing should show.
• Safety and entry picks: checked smoke alarms, CO alarms and entry hardware.
• House rules examples and the house rules template: quiet-hour and device wording.
• Noise complaint message: what to send when an alert comes in.