What Airbnb allows
When you pay for a stay in full, it comes from one payment method. Airbnb's own example: you “can't pay using 2 different credit cards, or pay using a credit card and Paypal.”
There are two exceptions. A coupon, gift card or travel credit can cover part of the cost, with another payment method for the rest. And on a monthly stay or an Airbnb payment plan, you can change the payment method for future scheduled payments. Neither one lets each friend pay their own share.
Pay part now, part later still means one booker
On eligible trips, Airbnb's “Pay Part Now, Part Later” lets you “pay a portion when you book and the rest at a later time before check-in.” It spreads the cost out for the person booking, but the schedule is “set at booking and cannot be changed.”
It doesn't divide anything among the group. Everyone still owes the booker, so it helps to collect shares before the later payment comes due.
Pick the booker and agree on the split first
Whoever books carries the whole cost until they're paid back, so pick someone who can cover it for a few weeks. Before they book, agree in the group chat on how many people are splitting it and whether anyone stays fewer nights.
Put cleaning and service fees in the total. They're part of the cost of the stay, so they split the same way as the nightly price.
Collect the shares with one link
Add everyone's name in the calculator and turn it into a tab. The stay goes in with each person's exact share, and the tab asks everyone for their share right away, so the booker isn't waiting until after the trip to be paid back.
GroupTab keeps everyone's Venmo and Cash App in the tab, so paying is one tap with the amount already filled in, and both sides confirm when it arrives.