What is the direct answer?
For the off-season, compare the two options on what they leave after platform fees, turnovers, utilities and wear, over the same months, and not on the headline rent. Then ask the decisive question: how many months must a monthly guest actually fill for mid-term to beat your realistic nightly result? If you cannot fill at least that many months with real, signed demand, keep the calendar open for short stays.
Short-term: 60 nights at €85 (40% occupancy) = €5,100. Minus 15.5% fee (€790.50), 20 cleans (€1,100), consumables (€160), utilities (€1,100). Keeps €1,949.50. Mid-term: €1,300 a month, 4.5 months filled = €5,850. Minus 15.5% fee (€906.75), 2 deep cleans (€180), utilities you cover (€1,000), extra wear (€150). Keeps €3,613.25. Mid-term with only 3 months filled keeps €1,965.50, about the same as short-term. Illustrative figures for a two-bedroom flat.
Use your own records and verify the assumptions before making a decision.
Follow the workbook method and instructions →Every October the same question appears on host forums. A BiggerPockets thread from this month asked it directly: a new furnished rental, ready in mid-October, heading into the low season. List it on Airbnb for whatever weekends come, or hold it for a 30- to 90-day tenant from a site like Furnished Finder?
The answers were split, and the split is the useful part. Some owners run monthly stays all winter and nightly stays in season. Others said they tried monthly platforms in a beach market for two years and did not get a single inquiry. Both can be right. The decision depends on two numbers you can calculate and one you have to test.
Apply this method to your own records: apply the method with the free calculator.
A clear definition of the metric or operating question.
A calculation you can reproduce with your own data.
The limits that prevent the number being misread.
What changes when you switch to monthly guests?
Revenue per night falls. Almost everything else changes in your favour.
| Line | Short-term (nightly) | Mid-term (monthly) |
|---|---|---|
| Price per night | Higher | Lower |
| Occupancy in low season | Uncertain, gaps likely | High once signed |
| Turnovers | One per stay | One per month or less |
| Cleaning and laundry | Every stay | Deep clean at the end |
| Utilities | You pay all of them | Often included up to a cap, or billed back |
| Guest messages and check-ins | Constant | Occasional |
| Wear | Many arrivals | Daily living, one household |
| Paperwork | Platform terms | A written agreement with clear end date |
The two lines that decide most comparisons are turnovers and occupancy. Short vs longer stays shows why turnover costs bite harder the shorter the stay, and cleaning costs and profit per night quantifies it.
The calculation that decides it
Work out what short-term realistically keeps for the off-season months, using last winter's actual occupancy, not your summer one.
Then calculate how many months of a monthly guest you need to match it:
Months needed = (short-term result + mid-term fixed extras) ÷ (monthly rent × (1 − platform fee))
In the example: (€1,949.50 + €180 + €1,000 + €150) ÷ (€1,300 × 0.845) = about 3 months.
So in this case:
- If you are confident you can fill 3 months or more, mid-term wins, and with 4.5 months it keeps nearly twice as much.
- If you are not sure you can fill 3 months, nightly stays are the safer bet.
The utilities line deserves care. One operator in the BiggerPockets thread warned that a monthly guest running the heating all day through a coastal winter can quietly erase the margin, so charge utilities on top or set a cap in the agreement.
Do not lose the good months to the cheap ones
The second risk is the calendar. A single four-night booking in mid-November can block a 60-night stay worth far more.
Hosts who run both strategies described a simple rule in that thread: monthly stays get priority, and only signed agreements block the calendar, not inquiries. Then they give the monthly strategy a deadline: dates still open about three weeks ahead are released to nightly bookings with a short minimum stay. That way a gap does not sit empty waiting for a tenant who never calls.
Another owner recommended fixed end dates, a deposit, and a holdover rate that matches your high-season nightly rate, so a monthly stay cannot quietly run into your best weeks.
If your rental is in Spain, check two things first
The legal type of the contract. A stay of more than 30 nights is usually not a tourist stay. In Spain it typically falls under a seasonal lease (arrendamiento de temporada), with its own rules, and Real Decreto-ley 29/2026, in force since 8 October 2026 and pending validation by Parliament, also introduced changes to seasonal lets. Some regional tourist rules also affect how a licensed tourist flat can be used. Check with a lawyer or your regional authority before you sign your first monthly agreement.
VAT from 1 December. The same decree would apply 10% VAT to furnished stays of up to 30 nights from 1 December 2026, if it is validated. Stays longer than that are outside the new rule. That can widen the gap in favour of monthly guests this winter. See what the proposed 10% VAT does to your margin.
Your off-season decision in five steps
- Pull last winter's actual nights, ADR and stays for November to March.
- Calculate what short-term kept after fees, cleaning, consumables and utilities.
- Get a realistic monthly rent: listings comparable to yours that actually rented, not asking prices.
- Calculate the months needed with the formula above.
- Test demand before you block anything: publish the monthly offer, set a deadline, and keep nightly bookings as the fallback.
If your nightly result in winter barely covers fixed costs, read break-even occupancy first: the answer may be that neither option covers the property, which is worth knowing before you choose.
Explore related questions
Clear answers, without the jargon
Is mid-term rental more profitable than Airbnb in winter?
Often, but not always. It depends on whether you can fill enough months. Mid-term usually keeps more per occupied month because turnovers and guest management drop sharply, but an empty month keeps nothing.
How many months should a mid-term tenant fill to be worth it?
Calculate it: divide your realistic short-term result for the season, plus mid-term's extra costs, by the monthly rent after the platform fee. In our example the answer is about three months out of five.
Who pays utilities in a mid-term rental?
Whatever you agree. Common options are utilities included up to a monthly cap, or billed back at cost. In winter, an uncapped all-inclusive rent can erase the margin.
Can I list the same property for nightly and monthly stays at once?
Yes, with a clear calendar rule: monthly stays get priority, only signed agreements block dates, and open dates are released to nightly bookings a few weeks ahead.
Does Spain's proposed 10% VAT apply to monthly stays?
As drafted in Real Decreto-ley 29/2026, the new 10% VAT applies to furnished stays of up to 30 nights, not to longer ones. The decree is pending validation; confirm the final position with your adviser.
References you can check
Sources checked October 18, 2026. Worked examples and review methods are our own.
- BiggerPockets, "Offseason: midterm rental vs STR?", October 2026 — Source checked for the article.
- Notarías Barcelona, "Real Decreto-ley 29/2026: novedades fiscales en vivienda, alquiler y plusvalía" — Source checked for the article.
- Avant Servicios, "Nueva ley de vivienda 2026" (seasonal lets regime in RDL 29/2026) — Source checked for the article.
How this guide was prepared
The example compares the same five months for one property, with costs that change between strategies shown separately. Figures are illustrative operating results, not legal or tax advice. Hostpartner is an operational analysis tool.
Know what your winter nights really keep before you change strategy.
The free Hostpartner calculator shows each month's revenue, platform fees, operating costs, occupancy, ADR and operating profit for up to seven properties. Start with last winter and the comparison takes minutes.
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What the Hostpartner calculator measures and which inputs you need
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