v0.1
Short-term rental profitability calculator
Estimate net monthly cashflow, cash-on-cash return, ROI and break-even occupancy for a single short-term rental property. Built for operators who want a directional answer in 30 seconds, not a 50-row spreadsheet.
It works as an Airbnb and vacation rental ROI calculator and shows break-even occupancy for any short-term rental you own or are weighing as an investment.
Estimates only. Not financial advice or a guaranteed return.
Inputs
Default values are illustrative. Adjust to your property.
The 2025 US annual average was about 55% (AirDNA), but it swings by season and varies widely by market. New or non-prime listings often run lower. Use your own market data.
Charged once per stay, not per night. Only the gap between this and your cleaning cost affects cashflow.
Airbnb host-only ~15.5%, Booking ~15%, direct booking 0% (rates as of July 2026, verify your own).
Mortgage or rent, utilities, internet, insurance, building fees. Include your mortgage payment here so cash-on-cash return reflects your financing.
Used for ROI on property value (leave as is if you don't own the property).
Down payment + closing costs + furnishing and set-up. Used for cash-on-cash return.
Monthly cashflow (net)
$768
$9,210/year · 10.2 % cash-on-cash return
An estimate from the numbers you entered, not a forecast for your property or financial advice.
Revenue breakdown
- Booked nights/month
- 15.0
- Stays/month
- 5.0
- Nightly revenue
- $2,250
- Cleaning fees collected
- $300
- Gross monthly revenue
- $2,550
- OTA commission
- -$383
- Net monthly revenue
- $2,168
Costs
- Fixed costs
- $1,200
- Cleaning costs
- $200
- Total monthly costs
- $1,400
Returns
- Cash-on-cash return (annual)
- 10.2 %
- ROI on property value
- 2.6 %
Annual net cashflow divided by the cash you invested (down payment, closing costs, furnishing). The standard levered return metric.
Annual net cashflow divided by the full property value. A rough return on the asset. If your mortgage is in fixed costs, this figure is net of financing, so it is not a cap rate and not the same as cash-on-cash return.
Sensitivity
- Break-even occupancy
- 30.5 %
Occupancy required to cover fixed and cleaning costs after OTA commission. Above this, cashflow is positive. 'Not reachable' means the property does not break even at these inputs, even at full occupancy.
Estimates only. Excludes income tax, depreciation, capital appreciation, and any one-off costs (furnishing, refurbishment). Use as a directional indicator, not a financial recommendation.
What this calculator answers
Directional estimates from your inputs, not financial advice.
- Airbnb or vacation rental ROI
- Enter the nightly rate, occupancy, costs and the cash you invested. It returns cash-on-cash return (annual cashflow divided by the cash you put in) and ROI on property value (annual cashflow divided by the property price).
- Break-even occupancy
- It shows the occupancy you need to cover fixed and cleaning costs after the OTA commission. Below it the property loses money each month; above it, cashflow is positive.
- Short-term rental investment screening
- Compare cash-on-cash return, ROI on property value and break-even occupancy side by side to judge whether a short-term rental works before you commit. A directional estimate, not financial advice.
How this calculator works
Every figure comes from the inputs you enter, using the steps below. The model covers one property on a flat monthly average, so it does not include seasonality, income tax, depreciation or the eventual sale of the property.
- 01Estimate booked nights. Booked nights per month equals your occupancy rate multiplied by 30.
- 02Convert nights to stays. Stays per month equals booked nights divided by the average stay length.
- 03Add up gross revenue. Gross revenue equals booked nights multiplied by the nightly rate, plus stays multiplied by the cleaning fee charged to guests.
- 04Subtract the OTA commission. Net revenue equals gross revenue minus the channel commission, which is the commission percentage applied to gross revenue.
- 05Add up costs. Total costs equal your monthly fixed costs plus stays multiplied by the cleaning cost per stay. Include your mortgage payment in fixed costs so the return reflects financing.
- 06Get net monthly cashflow. Net monthly cashflow equals net revenue minus total costs.
- 07Annualize and compute returns. Annual cashflow equals net monthly cashflow multiplied by 12. Cash-on-cash return equals annual cashflow divided by cash invested. ROI on property value equals annual cashflow divided by the property value.
- 08Check break-even occupancy. Break-even occupancy is the occupancy at which net monthly cashflow equals zero, holding everything else constant. Above it, cashflow is positive.
What each metric means
- Net monthly cashflow
- The money left each month after OTA commissions and operating costs (fixed costs plus cleaning), before income tax. It is not revenue, and not profit after tax.
- Cash-on-cash return
- Annual pre-tax cashflow divided by the cash you actually invested: down payment plus closing costs plus furnishing and set-up. It measures the return on the money you personally put in, so it reflects your financing. It is not calculated on the property value.
- ROI on property value
- Annual net cashflow divided by the full property value. A rough return on the asset itself. Unlike cash-on-cash return, it does not isolate the cash you invested. If you include your mortgage in fixed costs, this figure is net of financing, so it is not a cap rate.
- Break-even occupancy
- The occupancy rate needed to cover fixed and cleaning costs after the OTA commission. Above it, monthly cashflow is positive; below it, negative.
Frequently asked questions
What is cash-on-cash return for a short-term rental?
Cash-on-cash return is the annual pre-tax cashflow a rental produces divided by the cash you actually invested (down payment, closing costs and furnishing). It shows how hard your invested cash works in a given year. It differs from ROI, which is usually measured over the whole holding period and includes the eventual sale, and from cap rate, which divides net operating income by the property value and ignores financing.
How do you calculate cash-on-cash return?
Divide the annual pre-tax cashflow by the total cash you invested, then multiply by 100. For example, if a rental nets 10,000 dollars of cashflow in a year and you invested 100,000 dollars in down payment, closing costs and furnishing, the cash-on-cash return is 10,000 divided by 100,000, which is 10 percent. For the figure to reflect your mortgage, include the loan payment in your monthly fixed costs.
What is a good cash-on-cash return for a short-term rental?
Many investors cite roughly 8 to 12 percent as a good cash-on-cash return for a rental property, and often look for more from short-term rentals because they involve more work and more risk. These are commonly cited benchmarks, not guarantees. Observed short-term rental returns vary widely and are often lower, and the outcome for any single property depends heavily on location, financing, occupancy, seasonality and local regulation.
What is break-even occupancy?
Break-even occupancy is the occupancy rate at which a rental just covers its fixed and cleaning costs after the OTA commission. Above that level, monthly cashflow is positive; below it, the property loses money each month. It is a quick way to see how much cushion you have if bookings soften. If the tool shows the break-even as not reachable, the property does not cover its costs at those inputs even at full occupancy.
How do you calculate ROI on an Airbnb?
Enter the nightly rate, occupancy, cleaning economics, costs, and the cash invested for the Airbnb, plus the OTA commission (Airbnb host-only fees run about 15.5 percent for most professional hosts). The calculator returns two ROI figures: cash-on-cash return (annual cashflow divided by the cash you put in) and ROI on property value (annual cashflow divided by the property price). The same method works for any short-term rental.
Can I use this as a vacation rental ROI calculator?
Yes. Vacation rental and short-term rental describe the same thing here. Enter the property revenue, costs and cash invested and the tool returns cash-on-cash return, ROI on property value and break-even occupancy, whether you list on Airbnb, Vrbo or direct.
How do you find break-even occupancy for a short-term rental?
Break-even occupancy is the share of nights you must book to cover fixed and cleaning costs after the OTA commission. Enter your nightly rate, costs and commission and the calculator returns the occupancy at which cashflow is zero. If a realistic market occupancy for your area sits well above it, you have a cushion.
How do you evaluate a short-term rental as an investment?
Use more than one number. Cash-on-cash return estimates the first-year return on the cash you invested, ROI on property value estimates the return on the asset, and break-even occupancy shows how much booking cushion you have. This calculator returns all three so you can screen a property before committing. It is a directional estimate, not financial advice.
Cash-on-cash return, ROI and cap rate: what is the difference?
Cash-on-cash return divides annual cashflow by the cash you invested, so it reflects your financing. Cap rate divides net operating income by the property value and ignores financing, which makes it useful for comparing properties regardless of how they are funded. In practice the word ROI is used loosely, and some operators use it to mean cash-on-cash return; strictly, ROI is usually cumulative over the whole holding period and includes the eventual sale and any appreciation. This calculator shows cash-on-cash return and a return on property value; it does not model the sale or appreciation.
What does this calculator include and exclude?
It includes nightly revenue, cleaning fee economics, the OTA commission, fixed monthly costs and occupancy, and it derives net cashflow, cash-on-cash return, return on property value and break-even occupancy. It excludes income tax, depreciation, capital appreciation, and one-off costs such as renovation beyond your initial cash invested. It models one property with a flat monthly average and no seasonality.
Is this a guarantee of returns?
No. The calculator is a directional estimate based on the numbers you enter. It is not financial advice and not a guaranteed return. Real results depend on your market, financing, actual occupancy and costs, so treat the output as a starting point and verify with your own figures or a professional.
Sources and honesty note
This is a directional estimate, not financial advice and not a guaranteed return. Benchmarks cited on this page, verified July 2026: Airbnb host service fees from the Airbnb Help Center (host-only fee about 15.5 percent for most hosts, typically 14 to 16 percent; this single-fee model is required for hosts connected to property-management software, while other hosts may still pay a lower split fee); Booking.com commission from Booking.com for Partners (a set percentage per reservation, commonly around 15 percent, no single published rate); United States occupancy averages from AirDNA (roughly 55 percent nationally in 2025, highly seasonal and varying widely by market); and the cash-on-cash return definition from the Corporate Finance Institute. Figures change over time; confirm your own OTA fees and market data before making a decision. Published by Nightlydata.