How much does it cost to start an Airbnb? Budget it with your own numbers

Add a quote for every category you will actually buy, then treat that sum as cash you put in before the first stay. The Airbnb help and resource pages checked for this guide do not publish one price for starting a listing. A sofa in one city and a permit fee in another city are different numbers.

Type the sum into the ROI calculator as furniture and setup. Type it into the break-even calculator when the question is how long operating profit takes to recover that cash. The New Airbnb host checklist is the wider list for the first stay. This page stays on the quotes.

The startup cost estimator adds the quotes you type. Every amount on that page starts at zero. It does not look up a price or fill in a typical budget. It adds the category amounts and up to 20 custom lines, and it can divide the total by a monthly net profit you enter. The total stays in the browser. Type that total into the ROI calculator and the break-even calculator yourself. The estimator does not send it there.

The worked total below is a made-up example. Replace every quote. This is a planning estimate. It is not financial, tax, legal, or pricing advice, and a guest may not book at a nightly rate you type later. The pages below were checked on 27 October 2026.

Furnishing

Price the furniture the guest will use and the photos will show: beds and mattresses, seating, tables, lamps, and window coverings. If the home is already furnished, the quote for those pieces is zero, and you still price anything you will buy before the first stay.

Do not use a package price from a different home. Ask the shop, or add the receipts for what you already bought for this place. A later replacement reserve is an operating cost, not part of this opening sum. Airbnb vs long-term rental: how to compare them with your own numbers separates that reserve from cash already spent. The figures there are a made-up example.

Linens

Essential amenities: Airbnb strongly encourages toilet paper, soap for hands and body, one towel per guest, one pillow per guest, and linens for each guest bed. Selecting Essentials without providing them may lead to penalties, including removal. Count the maximum number of guests you will allow, then price that many towels and pillows, and linens for each bed you list.

A second set, so laundry can run while the next guest arrives, is a choice. Airbnb’s essentials page does not require a spare set. If you buy one, put that receipt in this category. Replacements after you open belong with ongoing supplies, not in the opening sum, unless you are only counting the first purchase and you say so.

Kitchen

Price the cookware, dishes, and small appliances you will actually offer. Amenities include a Kitchen and dining category among the groups a host can select. Ground rules for homes say the listing should represent the amenities that will be available from check-in to checkout, and that a limit on hours or season has to be on the listing.

If you will not offer a kitchen, leave this quote at zero and leave Kitchen off the listing. This guide does not publish a required list of pots. The quote is the cart for the amenities you select.

Safety items

Two alarm pages, a first aid page, and a United States notes page are the sources for this category. Local fire rules can require more than any of them. This section is not safety or legal advice.

Alarms: Airbnb strongly urges hosts to install smoke and carbon monoxide alarms where fuel-burning appliances are used, to test them regularly, and to keep the listing current. Eligible hosts can request one self-contained, battery-powered combination alarm at no cost. The page says Home Safety Terms and Conditions apply. This guide cannot tell you whether you are eligible. If you are, the quote for that one alarm can be zero, and you still price any additional alarms the listing needs.

If the place uses only electric appliances and has no attached garage, the same page says you can select that a carbon monoxide alarm is not necessary. It also says local regulations may require more than one working alarm.

Safety expectations: hosts should say whether the detectors are present. If they are, they need to be in working order. Hosts must address known hazards before accepting reservations. Hazards that are part of the property, such as a pool, a height, or open water, have to be in the listing description. Hosts must follow applicable laws, including fire code and occupancy limits.

First aid: Airbnb says hosts and guests should have a first aid kit, and that guests should know where it is. The page lists a Red Cross kit. Price that kit from a pharmacy or clinic, rather than guessing a contents list. The page also recommends a local first aid and CPR course. A course fee you decide to pay can sit in this category. This guide does not give medical advice.

The United States responsible-hosting notes tell hosts there to provide a functioning smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector, a functioning fire extinguisher with required maintenance, a marked exit and a posted map, a first aid kit that is easy to reach, and a written note with local emergency numbers, a hospital, a way to reach the host, and a backup contact. If you host outside the United States, treat the extinguisher, the posted map, and the written note as questions for the local fire authority. Do not copy an emergency number from a different city.

What emergency information to give Airbnb guests is the note itself. The emergency card generator prints it from words you type. The card is not a substitute for the alarms or the extinguisher.

Smart lock

A lock is optional. Price the lock and any hub you will buy, or write zero if guests will use a key you already have.

Connected smart locks: Airbnb describes connecting a compatible lock so each guest gets a code that is active at check-in and removed after checkout. Unless you use a third-party property management system, that feature is only available for listings in the United States and Canada. Eligible hosts can connect one smart lock per listing. A keypad you program yourself is a different setup. The help page does not publish a lock price, and this guide does not name a brand.

How to write Airbnb check-in and checkout instructions covers the door, the code, and the 48-hour instructions. The purchase price of the lock is the line on this page. The code is not.

Safety expectations say lockboxes and codes must stay secure, and that hosts should change codes between reservations. A lockbox you already own can stay at a quote of zero.

Photos

Professional photography: Airbnb says freelance photographers in many cities take 2 to 3 images per room, editors enhance them, and the images are uploaded within about one week. The number of images depends on the size of the property. None of the previous photos are removed. The page says to request a price quote at photography@airbnb.com, with links to the listings, and that the team responds within 72 hours. It offers one professional photo shoot per listing, and that shoot is not refundable once it has started. The page says not to request the shoot until changes to the space are done. It does not publish a price. The quote in the email is the number for this category, if you use that program.

You can also hire someone else, or take the photos yourself. Refresh your listing, updated 18 November 2024, says to use landscape photos with ample light, to upload a file at least 1024 by 683 pixels, and to consider hiring a professional photographer. The page says information in it may have changed since publication. A quote of zero is honest when you will shoot the photos and you have no extra cost.

A Durable Short-Term Rental Listing Checklist is about photo order and a title that matches the rooms. It does not set a photography price.

Supplies

Price the opening stock: toilet paper, soap, and other consumables you want in the home before the first check-in. The essentials page above is the list Airbnb names. Anything beyond that is your choice.

Replacements after opening move with bookings. Put those in the variable cost you type later, or in monthly costs if you buy them on a schedule whether or not anyone stays. Do not put the same first case of soap in the startup sum and again in the first month of variable costs.

Permits

The fee is whatever the local authority charged you, or quoted you, after you looked up the rule. It can be an application fee, a license fee, an inspection fee, or zero.

Adding a permit number: if a local government requires a short-term or vacation-rental permit, a host can add the number, or claim a hotel exemption where that applies, under Listing editor, Settings, Regulations. On desktop the page says to open Listings, choose the listing, open Settings, open Regulations, and complete the information required. Airbnb says it does not provide legal advice on that page, and it points hosts to local rules, government agencies, or a local lawyer or tax professional.

Terms for hosts say you are responsible for understanding and complying with laws, rules, regulations, and third-party contracts that apply to the listing. The page’s examples include leases and association rules that restrict subletting, zoning that restricts short stays, and places that require a registration, a permit, or a license. It says information Airbnb provides about legal requirements is informational, and that hosts should confirm their obligations. Some places prohibit the hosting you want to offer.

The United States notes tell hosts to look up permitting, zoning, safety, and health rules, and any local taxes or business-license requirements, including occupancy taxes and income taxes. This guide does not say which of those apply to a property, and it does not interpret a lease or a tax form. If the authority told you the fee is zero, write zero. If you have not asked, the line is unknown, not zero.

Deposits

This category is cash you pay before the first stay: a utility deposit, a landlord deposit, or a vendor deposit. A refundable deposit is still cash you need now. When you read the break-even result, say whether you expect that cash back. Getting a deposit returned is not the same as earning it from bookings. If you expect it back and you still include it in the upfront amount, the break-even time is about the cash tied up, not about money that is gone.

A security deposit you hope to collect from a guest is a different thing. Off-platform and fee transparency says most hosts are not allowed to charge a security deposit or a credit card hold for incidentals. Security deposits and holds are allowed only in select cases. The page’s examples are some hosts, including select software-connected hosts, who may collect a deposit off the platform if it is in the fee field before booking, and hotels that disclose a hold or a deposit in the fee field. If no damage or incidental charge occurs, the page says hosts must refund the deposit or release the hold within 7 days of checkout, or within 14 days for hotels. This guide does not decide whether a listing is one of those cases. Do not put an assumed guest deposit into the startup sum as money you will collect.

Host damage protection, part of AirCover for Hosts, says it reimburses hosts up to $3 million USD for certain guest damage if the guest does not pay, with other limits on the page. The page says host damage protection is not insurance or a financial service, and that it is not an insurance policy. It does not replace a premium you were quoted. The United States notes say AirCover’s host damage protection and host liability insurance do not replace homeowners insurance, renters insurance, or adequate liability coverage, and they tell hosts to review a policy with the carrier. A recurring premium goes in monthly fixed costs. A one-time premium you pay before opening can sit with startup cash. Write down which one you did. This page does not recommend a policy.

Add your quotes

These amounts are a made-up example. They are not a suggested budget, a city average, or a quote from Airbnb’s photo program. The 350 for photos is not the price on the photography help page. That page tells you to request a quote. The 200 for permits is not a fee from a named city.

furnishing 2400
linens 480
kitchen 620
safety items 160
smart lock 190
photos 350
supplies 90
permits 200
deposits you pay 250
startup sum = 2400 + 480 + 620 + 160 + 190 + 350 + 90 + 200 + 250 = 4740

The currency control on the calculators changes the symbol and the grouping. It does not convert one currency into another. The dollar figures below are what the calculators display when USD is selected. In another currency the digits stay the same.

Connect the total to ROI

Open the ROI calculator and replace the filled-in amounts with this made-up run:

• Purchase price 250000
• Down payment 25%
• Closing costs 5000
• Furniture and setup 4740
• Average nightly rate 140
• Expected occupancy 50%
• Monthly fixed expenses 1600
• Variable expenses 20% of revenue

The 4740 is the startup sum above. The down payment and the closing costs are separate. Putting 4740 in furniture and setup, and also adding the down payment into that same 4740, would count the down payment twice. The 20% variable allowance is part of the illustration. It is not an Airbnb service fee and it is not a recommended percent. The 1600 of monthly fixed expenses is made up. It is not a mortgage quote and not an insurance quote.

How to estimate Airbnb ROI and break-even shows how a host fee sits in a stay, and why typing a fee percent into variable expenses does not reproduce that fee when a cleaning fee is also in the booking. Airbnb host service fees explained quotes the percentages Airbnb publishes. Annual revenue in the ROI calculator is the nightly rate times booked nights. It is before a platform fee unless the variable percent includes an allowance you chose.

cash invested = 250000 × 25% + 5000 + 4740 = 72240
booked nights = 365 × 50% = 182.5
annual revenue = 140 × 182.5 = 25550
annual variable costs = 25550 × 20% = 5110
annual fixed costs = 1600 × 12 = 19200
annual operating profit = 25550 − 19200 − 5110 = 1240
cash-on-cash return = 1240 ÷ 72240 × 100 = 1.716500553709856%
cap rate = 1240 ÷ 250000 × 100 = 0.496%

With USD selected, the calculator shows cash invested $72,240, 182.5 booked nights, annual revenue $25,550, variable costs $5,110, fixed costs $19,200, annual operating profit $1,240, cash-on-cash return 1.7%, and cap rate 0.5%. Whole currency units, and one decimal place on a percentage, are display rounding. They are not part of the formula. If cash invested is zero, cash-on-cash return is unavailable. If the purchase price is zero, the cap rate is unavailable.

That profit is the output of these assumptions. It is not a verdict on a property. How to Calculate Short-Term Rental ROI is the short version of cash invested, and it asks for a lower case, a base case, and a higher case. Run this sum again with a lower occupancy and with a quote that came in higher than 4740.

Once the rooms exist, the listing has to describe those rooms. How to write an Airbnb listing description guests actually read is the title, the summary, the space, guest access, and the other details.

Connect the total to break-even

The break-even calculator has one upfront field. This made-up run puts 4740 there: the startup sum only. The down payment and the closing costs stay in the ROI cash-invested figure and are left out of this run, because this run asks how long operating profit takes to recover the opening quotes. Say so when you compare the two results.

The nightly rate is still 140 and occupancy is still 50%. Monthly fixed costs are 900 in this run, not the 1600 from the ROI run. The 900 is made up. It stands for bills you still pay when the calendar is empty, without assuming the ROI run’s 1600. The variable cost per booked night is 28, which is 20% of 140, so the variable allowance matches the ROI run’s 20%. That match is only for the illustration.

booked nights per month = (365 ÷ 12) × 50% = 15.208333333333334
monthly revenue = 140 × 15.208333333333334 = 2129.166666666667
monthly variable costs = 28 × 15.208333333333334 = 425.83333333333337
monthly operating profit = 2129.166666666667 − 900 − 425.83333333333337 = 803.3333333333336
months to break even = 4740 ÷ 803.3333333333336 = 5.900414937759334
booked nights to break even = 4740 ÷ (140 − 28) = 42.32142857142857

The calculator’s monthly operating profit for these inputs is 803.3333333333336. With USD selected, it shows 15.2 booked nights per month, monthly revenue $2,129, variable costs $426, monthly operating profit $803, and a break-even time of 5.9 months. The booked-nights result displays as 42.3. That nights figure divides the upfront amount by the nightly rate minus the per-night variable cost. It does not subtract monthly fixed costs. The months figure does. If monthly profit is not positive, the calculator does not show a break-even time.

The same monthly profit with an upfront investment of 72240, the cash invested from the ROI run, is a different question. Type the upfront amount you actually want operations to recover.

What the estimate leaves out

Appreciation, income taxes, depreciation, sale costs, and a later change in an interest rate are outside both formulas, unless a monthly cash figure you typed already includes a payment you chose to count. The ROI page says the same thing next to the result.

The startup sum is not the guest’s price, and it is not a cleaning fee. A cleaning fee is a flat amount per booking when you choose to charge one. How to set an Airbnb cleaning fee is that fee. Ongoing cleaner pay belongs in operating costs, not in the opening furniture line, unless the quote is a one-time setup the cleaner charged you before the first stay.

How to calculate your Airbnb occupancy rate, ADR and RevPAR is the calendar count behind the occupancy percent, including blocked nights and nights you use yourself. The calendar there is made up.

Help center pages checked on 27 October 2026

• https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2343 for essential amenities, including towels, pillows, linens, toilet paper, and soap.
• https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/586 for amenity categories, including Kitchen and dining.
• https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2895 for listing accuracy and amenities that have to be available.
• https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/514 for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, including a no-cost alarm for eligible hosts.
• https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2904 for detectors, hazards, entry codes, and local safety laws.
• https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2604 for the first aid kit.
• https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1376 for the US notes on extinguishers, exits, permits, taxes, and insurance.
• https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/3476 for connecting one compatible smart lock, and for the US and Canada limit unless a property management system is used.
• https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/297 for requesting a professional photo quote, the 72-hour reply, and the one non-refundable shoot.
• https://www.airbnb.com/resources/hosting-homes/a/refresh-your-listing-661 for photo size and the suggestion to consider a professional photographer.
• https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/3953 for adding a permit number under Regulations.
• https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2908 for the host’s responsibility to follow local laws, including permits.
• https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/140 for security deposits and credit card holds.
• https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/279 for host damage protection, the published limit, and the statement that it is not insurance.