In recent years, Airbnb long-term rentals, also called Airbnb monthly rentals, have become a popular strategy for hosts and property investors looking to maximize occupancy and minimize turnover. Whether due to remote work, digital nomad lifestyles, or housing flexibility, more guests are seeking stays lasting a month or more.

For hosts and investors, this presents a powerful opportunity that comes with steady income, lower operational hassle, and access to a growing pool of medium- to long-term guests. But it also requires a different approach – one that balances pricing, legal considerations, and property suitability.

That’s where Airbtics comes in. With detailed market analytics and short-term rental regulations info, you can discover which markets are most profitable for long-term Airbnb stays, which property types perform best, and how seasonality, amenities, and reviews impact occupancy and revenue.

Key Takeaways:

• Airbnb long-term rentals refer to listings available for stays of 28 days or more.
• These rentals can provide hosts with consistent income and fewer turnovers but may involve different tax, legal, and operational factors from short-term stays.
• Pros include higher occupancy stability, reduced management workload, and long-term relationships with guests.
• Cons comprise potentially lower flexibility, legal restrictions, and possible wear and tear from longer stays.
• Airbtics helps investors identify profitable long-term rental markets, understand seasonality, compare property types, and make smarter investment decisions backed by real data.

What Are Airbnb Long Term Rentals?

Airbnb long-term rentals are listings that allow guests to book stays of 28 days or more. These properties cater to people looking for extended stays, such as remote workers, students, business travelers, families relocating, or digital nomads seeking temporary homes.

Airbnb itself promotes monthly stays under its Airbnb Monthly Stays section, which highlights properties that offer discounted rates for longer bookings. These listings often include features like fully equipped kitchens, laundry facilities, and home offices to make longer stays more comfortable.

So, what’s the difference between Airbnb monthly rentals and traditional long-term rentals?

The main difference between Airbnb long-term rentals and traditional monthly rentals is that Airbnb rentals come furnished with all essential furniture and appliances for a comfortable stay. Moreover, they focus on providing good guest experience and offer relevant services, such as cleaning, supplies restocking, and others.

Aside from Airbnb, other vacation rental websites also have similar offerings:

• Vrbo supports long-term stays, particularly in vacation destinations where guests book seasonal rentals. These are referred to as monthly vacation rentals.
• Booking.com also allows hosts to set extended stay pricing, making it an alternative to Airbnb for monthly guests. These are typically advertised as monthly stays.

However, Airbnb remains the most flexible and globally recognized platform for both short-term and long-term stays, attracting a broad audience of travelers and remote professionals.

Factors Impacting the Recent Growth in Airbnb Long-Term Rentals

While short-term rentals continue to be a strong real estate investment strategy, extended stays are growing in demand and supply. Brian Chesky, Airbnb CEO, recently noted that long-term bookings now comprise 17-18% of all rentals through the platform, while they comprised 13-14% of reservations before the global pandemic.

The rise of ِِِAirbnb monthly rentals isn’t happening in isolation. It’s driven by a number of converging macro-trends that create demand for stays of 28 days or more.

Below are key factors worth highlighting:

• Remote work and hybrid work adoption: As of 2025, over 32.6 million Americans, or roughly 22% of the US workforce, work remotely, and globally about 83% of workers say they favour hybrid arrangements. This workplace flexibility enables people to shift where they live and stay for longer blocks of time, making monthly stays on platforms like Airbnb more viable and attractive.
• Digital nomads, slomads, and travelling professionals: Research shows that the probability of a stay of at least 28 nights on platforms like Airbnb nearly doubled during the Covid-19 pandemic and has settled at about 2.04% of stays, up from pre-pandemic levels of 1.43%. These longer-stay guests are often remote workers, vloggers, content creators, relocating professionals, or extended-travelers, all of whom look for a comfortable home-base for a month or more.
• Changing guest behavior towards longer stays: Reports signify that guests are staying longer, so hosts offering long-term stay Airbnb options find steady demand beyond short-term vacationers.
• Regulatory and supply-side shifts: As short-term vacation rentals face increased regulation in many cities, both hosts and investors are pivoting toward monthly rentals – which in most jurisdictions carry different rules – to maintain flexibility and occupancy.
• Operational benefits for hosts/investors: From a supply-side view, longer-term stays mean fewer turnovers, lower marketing cost, fewer cleanings and check-ins, thus improving economics for the host. That operational efficiency encourages more listings to opt into month-to-month Airbnb availability.
• Seasonality mitigation and guest diversification: When a host offers long-term stays, they can smooth occupancy across off-peak periods (when short-term nightly rates drop). This helps stabilize income.
• Technology, connectivity, and global mobility: With stronger broadband, better remote-working gear, and increased mobility, travellers, vloggers, and professionals relocating temporarily) have the ability and the desire to stay for 30-90 days in a destination (rather than just weekends) more than ever before.

These factors create a robust environment for hosts and investors interested in strategies for Airbnb for long-term rent, making the case that offering a property for 28+ day stays is not just a niche play, but a growing segment of the hospitality market.

Airbnb Monthly Rentals: Pros and Cons for Investors & Hosts

If you’re considering hosting long-term stays on Airbnb, it’s a good idea to think about the pros and cons before making up your mind.

Let’s take a look at the most common benefits and drawbacks of this vacation rental investment strategy:

Advantages of Airbnb Long Term Rentals for Investors

Opting for long-term Airbnb rentals can bring several advantages that appeal to property investors and hosts alike:

• Consistent income flow: With month-to-month Airbnb stays, you minimize the risk of frequent vacancies, boost your Airbnb occupancy rate, and ensure predictable revenue.
• Lower management overhead: Longer stays mean fewer check-ins, cleanings, and guest communications, reducing operational workload and lowering Airbnb host expenses.
• Less seasonality impact: Even in markets with strong seasonality differences, long-term guests help maintain occupancy throughout the year.
• Reduced marketing efforts: Once a tenant books for several weeks or months, you don’t need to constantly re-advertise or manage your Airbnb listing. This means that you can reduce your vacation rental marketing efforts and costs while still reaping positive results.
• Better guest relationships: Hosting longer-term guests fosters trust and accountability, often leading to better care of the property and the possibility for repeat bookings in the future.
• Potential for corporate clients: Businesses seeking temporary housing for employees often prefer longer-term Airbnb options, offering a reliable income source as they are typically willing to pay more than travelers who pay for themselves.

Disadvantages of Airbnb Extended Stay Rentals for Hosts

While profitable, Airbnb month-to-month rentals come with challenges hosts should consider:

• Reduced flexibility: Extended bookings limit your ability to adjust pricing frequently or accommodate peak-season short stays.
• Legal and zoning restrictions: Some cities have regulations that differentiate between short-term and long-term leases. You’ll need to comply with local rental laws.
• Potential for property wear and tear: Longer occupancy can lead to increased maintenance costs or appliance usage.
• Payment risks: Although Airbnb processes payments monthly, refunds or cancellations can still impact your expected income.
• Lower daily rate: Monthly rentals usually have discounted rates to attract long-term tenants, which may reduce the average daily rate (ADR) and thus profit margins.
• Tenant-like issues: Long-term guests may develop tenant rights depending on local laws, complicating evictions or disputes. Airbnb squatters also pose a real threat for investors and hosts that is more prevalent with longer stays.

The key to successful monthly Airbnb rental investments is to find the right balance that leverages the stability of long-term bookings without losing the flexibility and profitability of short-term hosting. The way to do this is with the use of the best vacation rental software tools.

How to Find the Best Property for Month to Month Airbnb Renting

Finding success with Airbnb for long-term rent isn’t just about listing a property – it’s about choosing the right market, the best property type, and the optimal amenities. Data-backed research is essential, and that’s where Airbtics becomes your best ally.

1. Use Airbtics to Discover Profitable Long-Term Rental Markets

Start by analyzing potential markets with Airbtics’ Market ExplorerTool, which lets you investigate occupancy rates, average monthly revenue, and seasonality for different locations worldwide.

Simply set up the Minimum Stay filter to 28+ days to analyze the performance of Airbnb extended stays in the local market.

Airbtics Market Explorer: Key West, FL Airbnb Market, 28+ Day Stays, November 2025

Source: Airbtics app

You can:

• Compare cities and neighborhoods to see where Airbnb rentals perform best
• Identify which destinations have steady occupancy beyond the typical tourist season
• Discover the average monthly earnings for hosts

For example, a market with high short-term demand but strong off-season dips might benefit from introducing Airbnb monthly rentals to maintain occupancy. Airbtics helps quantify this with historical and seasonal performance data.

You can further narrow down your market search by checking out the best areas for Airbnb properties in the city. Neighborhood-level Airbnb rental data is provided by Airbtics.

Airbtics Market Overview: Top Neighborhoods in the Key West, FL Airbnb Market, November 2025

Source: Airbtics app

Moreover, the Airbtics app provides up-to-date data on the average rent in major global cities, which relates directly to monthly Airbnb rentals. You can see the average monthly rental income as well as the number of available rental properties as a measure of competition to assess whether a market offers good opportunities for long-term rental investments.

Airbtics Average Rent: London, UK Market, November 2025

Source: Airbtics app

2. Analyze the Best Property Type for Long-Term Airbnb Profitability

Not all property types perform equally when listed for extended stays on the Airbnb platform. Using the Airbtics’ Market Overview Tool, you can filter by property type and property size (studio, 1BR, 2BR, etc.) to identify which formats generate the highest returns for Airbnb bookings.

Generally speaking:

• Airbnb studios and 1BR apartments often perform best for digital nomads and solo travelers.
• 2-3BR homes attract families, professionals relocating, or small work teams.
• Houses with amenities like offices, parking, or outdoor spaces can command higher monthly rates.

Still, there are important regional differences, so it’s best to analyze the performance of your selected market to boost the performance of your Airbnb investment.

Airbtics’ property type breakdowns show average occupancy and monthly income per property category, so you can confidently choose the right investment.

Airbtics Market Overview: 2-Bedroom Performance in the Key West, FL Airbnb Market, November 2025

Source: Airbtics app

3. Evaluate Seasonality and Long-Term Demand Patterns

Airbtics provides detailed seasonality charts that highlight demand fluctuations. This helps investors understand how month-to-month Airbnb rentals can stabilize income during the low season.

For instance, a mountain town might see a surge during ski season and drop afterward. Offering long-term Airbnb stays for remote workers during the off-season can maintain steady occupancy – something that Airbtics data makes easy to spot.

In addition to providing a quick classification of the seasonality of a market (Low, Mid, High), the Airbtics Market Overview Tool also shows how daily rates, occupancy, and revenue change month by month.

Airbtics Market Overview: Monthly Airbnb Occupancy Rate in Aspen, CO, November 2025

Source: Airbtics app

4. Study the Impact of Amenities and Reviews

Guest satisfaction plays a crucial role in long-term bookings. Airbtics allows you to analyze the number of Airbnb reviews and average rating of top-performing listings in the local market and assess how this impacts revenue and occupancy.

You can see to what extent:

• Higher-rated properties attract longer bookings.
• Consistent cleaning and communication positively influence repeat bookings.
• A strong rating can justify slightly higher monthly pricing.

In this way, you can know how much effort you’d need to put into generating positive guest reviews and which aspects of Airbnb management you’d need to focus on to outperform your chosen market.

Airbtics Market Overview: Reviews and Ratings of Listings in Aspen, CO, November 2025

Source: Airbtics app

To further tune up your strategy from the get-go, you can check out the type of Airbnb cancellation policy that dominates the market.

Airbtics Market Overview: Airbnb Cancellation Policy in Aspen, CO, November 2025

Source: Airbtics app

5. Estimate Your Potential ROI Before Investing

Importantly, Airbtics enables you to calculate the expected ROI of an Airbnb property. With the Airbtics Airbnb Calculator, you can simulate occupancy, nightly rates, and estimated cash flow based on actual market data.

Airbtics Airbnb Calculator: Miami, FL, November 2025

Source: Airbtics app

You can see 5-year cash flow and 10-year return rate to make sure that your investment performs well not only now but also in the future.

The analysis has a section dedicated to long-term rental performance to evaluate the viability and profitability of Airbnb monthly rentals.

This level of analysis helps you determine whether a long-term Airbnb strategy will outperform traditional short-term rentals in your chosen area—before making any investment decisions.

6. Evaluate the Airbnb Legal Framework

Finally, before buying an Airbnb to rent out on a monthly basis in any global market, you have to know what long-term and short-term rental regulations you face. That’s one more aspect of the investment process where you can lean on Airbtics.

First of all, in the summary provided by the Market Overview Tool, you can see whether a location has Strict or Lenient Airbnb rules.

Airbtics Market Overview: Regulations in Los Angeles, CA, November 2025

Source: Airbtics app

Second, the website offers detailed information about the Airbnb rules in major markets regarding short-term rental licensing and permitting, maximum occupancy, maximum rental nights, and other typical regulations imposed by local authorities.

Airbtics Airbnb Rules: Austin, TX, November 2025