Is Airbnb Better than Long-Term Rental?

What this calculator compares

The model compares two operating strategies for the same property over the exact same time horizon: short-term rental (STR) and long-term rental (LTR). It focuses on operating cash flow, then aggregates revenue, costs, and net totals so you can see which strategy produces higher income for your assumptions.

Short-term rental (STR) math

• Gross monthly STR revenue = Nightly Rate × Occupancy Rate × 30 days.
• Platform fee deduction = Gross STR Revenue × Platform Fee %.
• Management fee deduction = Gross STR Revenue × STR Management Fee %.
• Cleaning cost load is treated as an operating expense over the horizon using your cleaning fee assumption.
• STR net = Revenue after STR fee deductions − Cleaning − HOA − Maintenance − Utilities.

Long-term rental (LTR) math

• Gross monthly LTR revenue = Monthly Rent.
• Management fee deduction = Monthly Rent × Realtor / Management Fee %.
• LTR net = Rent after fee deduction − HOA − Maintenance − Utilities.
• If your tenant pays utilities directly, set utilities to $0 for a cleaner LTR comparison.

Time horizon and totals

You can compare by weeks, months, or years. The calculator converts that horizon into a consistent timeline, projects both strategies over that period, and returns total revenue, total costs, and total net for each path. The difference between totals drives the verdict card.

What to look at first

• Net gap: how much one strategy outperforms the other over your chosen horizon.
• Cost mix: whether cleaning/fees (STR) or fixed carry costs (LTR) dominate.
• Sensitivity: re-run with lower occupancy, higher fees, or a weaker nightly rate to test downside risk.
• Operational burden: STR may show higher upside but usually requires more hands-on operations and variability.