Break-even calculator

What break-even means here

Your break-even point is the number of booked nights that pays every cost of the month and leaves nothing over. Below it, the place costs you money. Above it, each extra night is profit before tax. Knowing the number turns a vague worry into a target you can check against your calendar.

The calculator works in whatever currency you type. It doesn't know local prices, taxes or your mortgage terms. It only does the arithmetic on the numbers you give it, so the answer is as good as those numbers.

The sum, step by step

First, the take-home per night: your nightly price minus the platform fee taken from your payout. With a price of 100 and a 15.5% fee, that is 84.50.

Second, what each stay adds or costs on top: your cleaning fee after the platform fee, minus what the turnover really costs you. If you charge 60 for cleaning, the fee takes 9.30, and the clean, laundry and supplies cost 55, each stay leaves minus 4.30. That is spread across the nights of the stay.

Third, what one booked night adds towards the month: the take-home per night plus its share of the stay margin. Over a 3-night stay in the example, that is 84.50 minus about 1.43, so about 83.07.

Finally, break-even nights: the monthly costs divided by what one night adds, rounded up to a whole night. With monthly costs of 1,500, that is 1,500 divided by 83.07, which is 18.06, so 19 nights. Divided by 30 nights available, that is 63.3% occupancy.

The break-even nightly price

If you add the occupancy you expect, the calculator turns the sum around. It works out how many nights that occupancy gives you, how many stays that is, and the nightly price that covers the month at that level. It also shows what the month leaves, or how far it falls short, at your current price.

This is the more useful number for many hosts, because occupancy is partly out of your hands but price is not. If the break-even price is well above what similar places charge for the same dates, the problem is the cost side, not the price.

Which platform fee to use

Use the share of each booking that comes out of your payout. On Airbnb, the help page on service fees says that under the single fee structure most hosts pay 15.5%, and under the split fee most hosts pay 3% (help 1857). Fees differ by listing and country, so check your own.

Airbnb lets you download an earnings report from Earnings with your earnings, host service fees and cleaning fees (help 3632). Divide the host service fee by the booking amount on a few recent bookings and you have your real figure. The host fee calculator shows what a fee change does to your price.

Costs people forget

Monthly costs are easy to undercount. Add the share of yearly costs, such as insurance, licences and boiler or air conditioning servicing, divided by twelve. Add software subscriptions and any service charge. If you replace towels, linen or small appliances every year, put a monthly share of that in too.

Per-stay costs are the other gap. A turnover is not just the cleaner's fee. It is laundry, toilet roll, coffee, soap, bin bags and the welcome items. The restock par calculator helps you count what one stay uses.

Why the result rounds up

Money is worked out in whole cents and the fee in hundredths of a percent, so the same numbers always give the same answer. Break-even nights round up to a whole night, and the break-even price rounds up to the cent, because a result that is a little high is safer than one that is a little low.

What this calculator leaves out

It leaves out income tax, tourist tax, loan repayments beyond the monthly figure you type, and the value of your own time. It treats every month the same, so it won't show the difference between August and February. It is arithmetic to help you think, not tax or financial advice, and it doesn't promise bookings or income. Nothing you type leaves this page.