Airbnb Profit Calculator UK — What You Actually Keep After Every Cost
Last updated: April 2026
This UK Airbnb profit calculator shows what lands in your account each month — after platform fees, management, cleaning, and running costs are all deducted from gross booking revenue.
It's designed for landlords who've already seen an income estimate and now want to know what they'd actually keep — the figure that determines whether short-term letting genuinely beats their long-term alternative.
The gap between gross revenue and net profit is bigger than most estimates imply — and understanding what closes that gap is what makes the difference between a viable operation and a disappointing one.
Enter your own figures below, then use the worked comparison and cost guide further down to pressure-test the result.
An Airbnb profit calculator deducts all operating costs from gross booking revenue — platform fees (15.5% on Airbnb), changeover cleaning, management fees (15% + VAT with Stayful), utilities, insurance, and maintenance — to show what actually lands in your account. On a typical two-bedroom UK city property, gross revenue and net profit are £300–£600 apart per month. The calculator below shows the exact breakdown for your specific inputs.
Airbnb profit calculator — full P&L breakdown
Enter your figures to see what you'd actually keep after every deduction
net per year
Based on Stayful managed portfolio data and 189 verified UK property enquiries · Conservative estimate
See what your property would actually net each month
Postcode-specific net income estimate. Includes quieter months, long-let comparison, and a realistic view of the full cost stack. Takes 2 minutes.
The five costs that turn gross booking revenue into what you actually keep
Most income estimates stop at platform fees — leaving out the four other costs that collectively remove a further 15–30% from gross revenue before profit is reached.
- Platform fees (15.5% on Airbnb host-only model) — deducted directly from the gross booking before you receive anything. On a £2,000 gross month, that's £310 gone immediately.
- Management fee (15% + VAT with Stayful) — charged on the net booking value after the platform has taken its cut, not on gross. With Stayful, this is 18% of the net booking — typically £360 on a £2,000 gross month.
- Cleaning (£50–£120 per changeover) — the most underestimated cost in self-managed P&Ls. With Stayful, the cleaning fee is charged to the guest at cost, so it does not appear in the owner's P&L at all. Self-managing landlords typically absorb £400–£600 per month in cleaning costs on a two-bedroom property.
- Utilities (£150–£350 per month) — electricity, gas, water, and broadband run continuously whether the property is booked or not. These are fixed costs that compress profit margin further in quieter months.
- Maintenance and insurance (£100–£200 per month) — wear-and-tear coordination, minor repairs, consumables replacement, and specialist short-let insurance. Often excluded from initial projections, always present in reality.
On properties in Stayful's managed portfolio, the gap between gross monthly revenue and net owner profit averages 38–44% of gross.
For every £2,000 in gross bookings, owners typically net approximately £1,120–£1,240 after all costs — including Stayful's management fee, platform fees, and fixed running costs, but excluding cleaning (which is passed to the guest).
Self-managed at 55% vs Stayful-managed at 65% — what the profit comparison actually shows
The intuitive assumption is that removing the management fee means more profit.
The reality, based on Stayful's managed portfolio data and the UK market average occupancy figure (55%, AirDNA), is the opposite for most properties.
| Line item | Self-managed (55% occ) | Stayful-managed (65% occ) |
|---|---|---|
| Nightly rate (ADR) | £120 | £120 |
| Nights booked (30.4-day month) | 16.7 nights | 19.8 nights |
| Gross monthly revenue | £2,004 | £2,376 |
| Platform fee (15.5% Airbnb) | −£311 | −£368 |
| Management fee | £0 (self-managed) | −£361 (15% + VAT of net) |
| Cleaning (owner pays) | −£525 (7 stays × £75) | £0 (charged to guest) |
| Fixed costs (utilities, insurance, maintenance, consumables) | −£370 | −£370 |
| Net monthly profit | £798 | £1,277 |
The Stayful-managed property nets £479 more per month — £5,748 more per year — despite paying a 15% + VAT management fee.
The occupancy gap (10 percentage points) produces 18% more gross revenue.
The cleaning pass-through removes a £525/month cost from the owner P&L entirely.
Together, these two factors more than offset the management fee.
In January and February — typically the slowest months — a well-managed property earns approximately 40–55% of its peak month gross revenue.
Fixed costs (utilities, insurance) stay constant regardless of bookings, which compresses profit margin further in slow months than the raw revenue drop suggests.
Even at 40–55% of peak gross, the Stayful-managed net figure for this property type typically remains above the long-let equivalent — because the long-let pays a fixed monthly amount that slow months cannot undercut.
See the full-year profit picture for your property
Net income shown after all costs. Includes slower months alongside peak. You can block any dates you want to use the property yourself — no approval needed.
The questions UK landlords ask when they see the profit figure for the first time
-
Income is the revenue estimate — what the property could generate in bookings before any costs are deducted.
Profit is what actually lands in your account after platform fees, management fees, cleaning costs, and fixed running costs are all subtracted.
Profit is the only figure that determines whether short-term letting beats your long-term alternative — and it's typically 38–44% lower than gross revenue on a well-managed UK property.
-
For most properties, yes — but the logic is not about the fee in isolation.
Stayful-managed properties average 65–70% occupancy against the UK market average of 55% for self-managed properties.
That 10-percentage-point occupancy gap adds approximately £370 in gross revenue per month on a typical two-bedroom city property — before accounting for the cleaning pass-through, which removes a further £400–£600 in owner cleaning costs.
The worked example on this page shows the full comparison. In most cases, the net profit after paying Stayful's fee exceeds what a self-managing landlord at market average occupancy keeps.
-
Your profit projection will be overstated by £400–£600 per month on a typical two-bedroom property — making a potentially tight deal look viable when it isn't.
Cleaning is the most commonly under-estimated cost in self-managed P&Ls.
With Stayful, the cleaning fee is charged to the guest at cost — meaning it doesn't appear in your P&L at all. This is one of the most significant structural differences between self-managed and Stayful-managed economics.
-
In January and February — typically the slowest months — a well-managed property earns approximately 40–55% of its peak month gross revenue.
Because fixed costs (utilities, insurance) stay constant, profit margin compresses further than the revenue drop alone would suggest.
Even at that level, the Stayful-managed net figure for a typical two-bedroom city property typically remains above the long-let equivalent for the same property — because the long-let fixed monthly income cannot be undercut by a quiet month.
-
Stayful's 15% + VAT is calculated on the net booking value — the revenue after the booking platform has already taken its fee — not on the gross booking total.
On a £2,000 gross booking month, the platform takes approximately £310 first, leaving £1,690 net. Stayful's fee is 18% (15% + VAT) of £1,690, which is approximately £304 — not 18% of £2,000 (which would be £360).
The profit calculator above uses this correct basis automatically.
-
For most well-located UK properties, Stayful-managed properties net more — despite the management fee — because of the occupancy gap and the cleaning pass-through.
The honest answer depends on your property, location, and how effectively you can self-manage pricing, guest communication, and platform optimisation.
The worked example on this page shows a two-bedroom city property comparison. Run the calculator with your own figures — if the self-managed result is materially better, we'd tell you that.
Want Stayful to run the profit numbers for your specific property? We'll walk through the full P&L on a quick call.
0113 479 0251Know your profit before you decide anything
Postcode-specific net income estimate — after all costs, including the quieter months. You can block any dates you want to use the property yourself. No obligation, takes 2 minutes.
Stayful · 0113 479 0251 · 15% + VAT · No setup fee · No lock-in