Free calculator
Short-term vs long-term rental calculator
Compare a short-term rental scenario against a long-term lease using your own nightly rate, your own occupancy assumption, and the costs you enter for each. The gap is your math, not a market forecast.
The short answer
Last updated: July 2026
To compare a short-term rental with a long-term lease, estimate STR net as nightly rate × assumed occupancy × 30.4 nights − extra monthly costs, and LTR net as monthly rent − monthly costs. At $150 a night and 65% assumed occupancy, an STR grosses about $2,964 a month before costs.
After the estimate:
Join the waitlistSTR vs LTR calculator
Short-term or long-term rental?
Compare your own short-term scenario (nightly rate × the occupancy you assume) against a long-term lease, after the monthly costs you enter for each. Every input is your assumption.
Short-term: nightly rate
$
Short-term: occupancy you assume — 65%
0%
100%
Your guess at booked nights, not a market figure. Occupancy swings with season, pricing, and listing quality.
Short-term: extra monthly costs
$
Cleaning, supplies, platform fees, furnishings wear, utilities you cover — everything the STR adds each month.
Long-term: monthly rent
$
Long-term: monthly costs
$
Costs specific to the lease setup — management, tenant-caused wear, utilities you'd still pay.
Input-driven result
Your inputs
Formula
Result below
Short-term ahead by
$164
Per month, on your assumptions. A small gap can flip with one slow season.
Short-term net (est.)
$2,064
$150/night × 65% × 30.4 nights = $2,964 gross − $900 costs.
Long-term net (est.)
$1,900
$2,200 rent − $300 costs.
Monthly net-income comparison
Short-term rental net
$2,064
Long-term rental net
$1,900
Difference
$164
Estimate based on your inputs. Not a promise of results.
Estimate only. Short-term income is far more variable than a lease — occupancy here is your assumption, and the workload is much higher. Many cities restrict or license short-term rentals; check your local rules before deciding.
How it works
How this tool works.
Short-term rentals usually show a bigger headline number — a nightly rate multiplied across a month looks great next to a lease. The honest comparison is net of what it takes to earn that number: cleaning between stays, platform fees, supplies, furnishings, the utilities you now cover, and above all the occupancy you can actually sustain. A long-term lease earns less per night but earns it every night, with far less work.
This calculator puts both on one screen. On the short-term side, enter your nightly rate, the occupancy you believe you’d achieve, and the extra monthly costs the STR adds; on the long-term side, the monthly rent and its costs. The tool converts occupancy to booked nights using the calendar average of 30.4 nights per month and shows both nets and the gap. Every figure in the result is your assumption — especially occupancy, which is the number that decides the comparison.
Make the result useful
Compare net income and operating load
Short-term and long-term rentals have different revenue timing, costs, vacancy patterns, furnishing needs, and operating work. The comparison must use net figures and assumptions you can revisit.
Short-term rental legality can change by address and over time. A higher modeled net is not useful if the use is restricted by law, HOA, lender, or insurance terms.
Does the tool confirm STR legality?
No. Check local, HOA, lender, and insurance rules directly.
Questions landlords ask
Questions about this tool and its limits.
Built by a landlord who's done every one of these jobs by hand.
Aptoria was built by an owner-operator managing a Brooklyn portfolio — the 11pm calls, the awkward rent texts, the April receipt-pile — not by a software team guessing at the problem.
Keep exploring