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How to use the Airbnb vs Long-let calculator
This tool compares letting a property on Airbnb against a normal long lease, after every cost and after tax. Short letting looks great on the gross number. The cleaning, the platform cut, the management and the empty winter weeks quietly close most of the gap, and this works out what is left.
It models a year of short letting at your nightly rate and occupancy, strips out the costs that scale with bookings and the fixed monthly ones, taxes the profit at your marginal rate, and lines the result up against the same property on a long lease. The number that matters is net in your pocket, both ways.
Occupancy decides everything. A short let at 60% full can beat a long lease comfortably; the same flat at 35% often loses to it, once the extra costs are counted. The break-even occupancy is the single figure to watch, and the tool puts your assumed occupancy right next to it.
What you'll need
- For the short let: the average nightly rate, occupancy across the whole year, the typical stay length, cleaning per stay, and the platform and management percentages.
- The running costs: levies, rates, utilities and anything else, monthly.
- For the long let: the rent, expected vacancy and any management fee.
- Your taxable income, so the profit is taxed at your rate, and the property value, to express both paths as a yield.
How to use it
Tap a city starting point to seed a nightly rate and occupancy, then edit everything, because suburb and listing quality move these numbers hugely. Set the average stay honestly: shorter stays mean more turnovers and more cleaning fees.
Watch the rates tariff toggle. Cape Town announced in February 2026 that full-time short lets will pay commercial rates, which roughly doubles the bill; the by-law is still in public participation. Switch it to Commercial STR to stress-test that, and leave it Residential for occasional letting of your own home. Set your taxable income last, so the profit on each path is taxed at the right rate.
Reading your result
The two net-per-year figures are the answer: short let and long let, both after costs and after SARS. The break-even occupancy card gives the occupancy at which the short let catches the long let; your margin above it is your safety buffer against a bad season.
The occupancy chart draws the short let's net result across the whole range, with your assumed occupancy and the long-let line marked, so you can see how much room for error you have. The breakdown lists exactly where the booking money goes.
A worked example
An R2,000,000 Cape Town flat at R1,800 a night and 62% occupancy, a three-night average stay, R350 cleaning, a 3% platform fee, self-managed, on an R400,000 income. Against a long lease at R12,500 a month with one month vacant.
| Path | Net per year |
|---|---|
| Short let, 62% occupancy | R209,192 |
| Long let | R72,105 |
Short letting nets R209,192 after costs and tax, against R72,105 on the long lease, and it breaks even at just 26% occupancy. At those Cape Town numbers the short let wins with room to spare. Drop the occupancy toward that 26% line, or switch on the commercial rates tariff, and the gap narrows fast.
What it does not do
It does not count your time, and self-managing a short let is a real job. It floors tax at zero on a loss and does not model the SARS rules for repeated losses. The city presets are vendor estimates, not a promise of bookings. It is information, not advice.
Letting a property you own? The Landlord Year-Pack works out the tax on a long-let year in full. When you are ready, open Airbnb vs Long-let.
Money Cat is an information tool, not financial or tax advice. Figures use the SARS 2026/27 tables for an individual under 65. Confirm rates, costs and the local short-let by-laws before you rely on them.