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Airbnb system design interview questions

2 questions on this site are reported in Airbnb software engineer interviews. Each is a guided run through requirements, back-of-envelope numbers, an interactive design, user flows and deep dives with interviewer follow-ups. Patterns covered: consistency, idempotency, ledger, fintech, fan-out, multi-channel, rate-limiting, priority-queues.

Attribution comes from public interview guides and candidate reports, not from Airbnb. It indicates where a question has been asked, nothing more.

🔒 Pro
hardconsistencyidempotencyledgerfintech

Design a Payment System

Accept card payments for an e-commerce platform, move money correctly exactly once, and be able to prove it.

asked at
15 components5 flows6 deep dives
StudyPractice
not started
🔒 Pro
mediumfan-outmulti-channelidempotencyrate-limitingpriority-queues

Design a Notification System

Deliver push, email, SMS and in-app notifications to hundreds of millions of users: the right channel, once, on time, and never at 3 a.m.

asked at
15 components5 flows5 deep dives
StudyPractice
not started

How to prepare for a Airbnb system design interview

Large-company loops run 45 to 60 minutes, expect numbers, and spend most of the time on deep dives. Work each question above in practice mode until you can produce the requirements, the estimates and the flows without looking, then read the interview framework guide for how to structure the hour. The other questions on the site teach patterns that show up in Airbnb interviews under different names.