Short-term rental calculator

What the number means

The result is what is left each month after the platform, the cleaner and the costs of keeping the home ready for guests, before income tax and before any value for your own time. The key output is break-even occupancy: the share of nights you must fill just to cover the mortgage and costs. If it is above what your market reaches, the rental loses money however nice the nightly rate looks. For a tenant-based view with cap rate and DSCR see the rental property calculator; this page is built for nights, turnovers and platform fees.

Worked example

A home rents for $180 a night at 60% occupancy with 3-night stays, the guest pays a $90 cleaning fee and the cleaner is paid $75 per stay. The platform fee is 15.5%. That is 18.3 nights and 6.1 stays a month and bookings of $3,833. The fee takes $594, the cleaner $456, rental-only costs are $350 and the mortgage, tax and insurance $2,000: profit $432 a month. Renting the same home to a long-term tenant at $2,400 with 5% vacancy and $100 of costs nets $180, so the short-term version is ahead by $252 a month at 60% occupancy and equal at 54.6%.

How much does Airbnb charge hosts?

Airbnb's Help Center describes two fee structures. With the split fee, the fee is shared between host and guest, and most hosts pay 3% (some pay more, for example 4% for listings in Brazil and Mexico). With the single service fee the entire fee is deducted from the host payout: most hosts pay 15.5%, the remaining ones typically 14% to 16%. Airbnb says it is moving all home hosts to the single fee, that you cannot switch back, and that the new structure applies only to bookings made after the switch. The fee applies to the nightly price and the fees you charge, such as a cleaning fee, but not to taxes or the guest service fee. Check your own account, since the structure depends on the host. In this calculator the fee is a field, so you can enter 15.5, 3 or your own number.

How is the monthly profit calculated?

Booked nights per month = occupancy × 365 ÷ 12. Stays = nights ÷ average stay. Bookings = nights × nightly rate + stays × cleaning fee. From the bookings subtract the platform fee and any manager's cut (percentages of the bookings), the cleaner (cost per stay × stays), the costs that exist only because the home is a short-term rental (utilities, internet, supplies, software), and the costs you would pay either way (mortgage, property tax, insurance). With the example inputs, $180 a night at 60% occupancy gives 18.3 nights and 6.1 stays, bookings of $3,833, a platform fee of $594, a cleaner at $456, and a profit of $432 a month, or $5,187 a year. Example numbers, not market data.

What occupancy do I need to break even?

Because profit rises in a straight line with occupancy, break-even is the fixed costs divided by what each point of occupancy earns. In the example every occupancy point adds $46.37 a month, the fixed and rental-only costs are $2,350, so you break even at 50.7% occupancy. The calculator also finds the occupancy at which short-term and long-term profit are equal: 54.6% in the example, where long-term renting nets $180 a month. At 40% occupancy the profit is −$495 a month, which is $927 less than at 60%.

Who pays the occupancy tax?

Short-term rentals are usually subject to lodging or occupancy taxes, which vary by city, county and state, and some platforms collect and remit them in some places. The calculator has no tax table: you enter the rate and choose whether the guest pays it on top of your price or you absorb it. If the guest pays, it does not change your profit. If you absorb a 10% tax in the example, profit falls from $432 to $49 a month. Look up your local rules and registration or permit requirements before you list.

Is a short-term rental better than a long-term tenant?

Only if the extra income is more than the extra work and risk. In the example, short-term renting at 60% occupancy beats long-term renting by $252 a month before your own time, but it needs 6 turnovers a month, a pricing strategy and more exposure to seasons and rule changes. Long-term rent is one deposit and one tenant. The comparison uses the same mortgage and fixed costs for both, the vacancy you enter for the long-term case and an optional extra cost line for it.

Why does the cleaning fee matter?

It is part of the booking on which the platform takes its fee, and the cleaner is a cost per stay. If the cleaning fee you charge only covers the cleaner ($75), you still pay the platform percentage on it. In the example the guest pays $90 and the cleaner gets $75, so each stay leaves $1.05 after the 15.5% fee on that part. Longer average stays mean fewer turnovers and a smaller cleaning cost per night. With the split fee of 3% instead, the example profit would be $911 a month, but only if your account really uses that structure.

Common mistakes

Applying the fee to the nightly rate alone understates it: Airbnb's help page says the fee is taken from the nightly price and the fees you charge, so a cleaning fee is inside the base. Using a peak-season occupancy as an annual average is the other big error; average over the year, including slow months, or run the form at two or three occupancy levels. Forgetting turnovers cuts the other way: a 2-night average stay doubles the cleaning cost per night compared with a 4-night one. Finally, assuming the platform fee is 3%: that figure applies only to the split-fee structure, which Airbnb says it is phasing out.

Limits of this method

The calculator uses one average rate and one average stay, so it cannot show a seasonal calendar. Occupancy, the rate and the fee structure are all assumptions that change the answer, and local rules, such as permits, caps on nights or a ban in some zoning districts, can change the premise altogether. Mortgage, homeowners' insurance and landlord policies may also differ for short-term use; ask your lender and insurer. The long-term comparison counts neither the tax effects nor your time, so treat the difference as an upper bound for the benefit of hosting.

Estimates for planning only — not financial, tax or legal advice; platform rules, permits and taxes in your area decide. Sources, checked October 27, 2026: Airbnb Help Center, Airbnb service fees (split-fee and single-fee structures; fees change, check your account). Related: the rental property calculator, mortgage calculator, cap rate calculator, rent vs buy calculator and budget calculator. How we check our calculators.