Airbnb ROI calculator
Add what you spend before the first guest arrives — deposit, furniture, renovation, photos — and what the unit earns each month. The runway chart shows your cash going negative, climbing back and the month you are paid back. You also get the yearly cash-on-cash return and, if you own the unit, its gross yield and cap rate.
ROI report
Payback
23 months
Paid back in month 23 (year 2)
- Cash-on-cash return
- 54.1% a year
- Monthly profit
- $510
- Cash in
- $11,300
- After 1 year -$5,183
- After 2 years +$934
- After 3 years +$7,051
Made with the free Santara AI ROI calculator — tools.santara.ai
Santara AI is an independent third party and is not endorsed by or associated with Airbnb, Inc.
What Santara AI does for you
In Santara AI, payback runs on real numbers, not guesses
- 01 Monthly owner statement per listing: gross bookings, channel fees and your expenses, down to what you keep. Download it as CSV.
- 02 Log expenses like laundry, supplies and repairs against each listing, so they come off the month's statement.
- 03 Smart pricing sets each night's price and pushes it to every channel, and never overwrites a price you typed yourself.
First 3 months free · up to 3 listings
Santara AI is an independent third party and is not endorsed by or associated with Airbnb, Inc.
How it works
Upfront cost is everything you pay once before the unit earns: the rental deposit, furniture and appliances, renovation, setup and photos, and anything else. Monthly profit is what is left each month after the channel fee and every running cost. Type it in, or estimate it from your nightly rate, occupancy, channel fee and monthly costs.
The chart starts at minus your upfront cost and adds one month of profit at the end of each month. The payback month is the first month the running total reaches zero. Cash-on-cash return is one year of profit divided by the cash you put in.
If you own the property, enter its price. Gross yield is a year of booking revenue divided by the price; cap rate is a year of profit, before loan repayments, divided by the price. A refundable deposit still counts as cash in, because it is tied up until the lease ends.
- upfront = deposit + furniture + renovation + setup + other
- monthly profit (estimate) = 30 × occupancy × nightly rate × (1 − channel fee) − monthly costs
- payback months = upfront ÷ monthly profit, rounded up
- cash-on-cash return = monthly profit × 12 ÷ upfront
- net after n years = monthly profit × 12 × n − upfront
- gross yield = yearly booking revenue ÷ property price
- cap rate = yearly profit ÷ property price
Updated
Questions hosts ask
What is a good payback period for an Airbnb?
There is no standard number. If you rent the unit, what matters is earning back the setup costs well before the lease can end. Compare your payback month with the months left on your lease rather than with a general rule.
Should the rental deposit count as a cost?
It is usually refundable, but the cash is locked up until the lease ends, so it belongs in the money you put in. To see payback on spending alone, set the deposit to zero.
What is the difference between cash-on-cash return and cap rate?
Cash-on-cash compares a year of profit with the cash you actually put in. Cap rate compares it with the full property price, so it ignores how the purchase was financed.
Is my data saved?
No. The calculator runs in your browser and nothing you type is sent to us. We only receive an email address if you choose to download the PDF report.