Airbnb or long-term rent: which is better in 2026

Let's put it on the table first: Zgjedhja Ime is a long-term rental platform. We have an interest in one of the two answers. That is exactly why what follows isn't our opinion — it's the arithmetic, with every assumption written out, so you can redo it with your own numbers.

We'll use the same flat as our article on rental investment ROI, so the two calculations can be read against each other:

• One-bedroom, 55 m², Komuna e Parisit
• Purchase price: €95,000
• Achievable long-term rent: €450/month

Option 1 — long-term letting

Restated briefly from the ROI article:

• Gross income: 450 × 12 = €5,400/yr
• Tax on rental income: ~€600
• Building management + maintenance: ~€300
• Small repairs, furniture: ~€250
• Assumed vacancy, 1 month in 12: ~€450

Net: around €3,800/yr — a net yield of roughly 4.0%.

One point that matters later: utilities (power, water, internet) are paid by the tenant.

Option 2 — short-term letting

Gross income needs two numbers: average nightly rate and occupancy. The specialist sources disagree with each other, and that disagreement is part of the answer:

• Nightly rate: check it yourself on Airbnb for your area and dates — it swings hard with the season
• Occupancy: 40–45% per AirDNA and AirROI, while some reports claim 50–62%

When two serious sources say 40% and 62%, the gap isn't a detail — it's a flat that's full half the year versus one that's full two thirds of it. We'll take €45 a night at 45% occupancy, the cautious end:

€45 × 164 nights = €7,380/yr gross. That is 37% more than long-term. Stop here and short-term wins outright — and this is exactly where most calculations stop.

Costs that exist only in short-term letting

• Utilities — now yours, not the tenant's: ~€70/month = €840/yr
• Cleaning between stays — at a 3-night average that's ~55 turnovers a year: €660
• Platform fee — 3% on the split-fee model: ~€220
• Consumables — linen, towels, toiletries, coffee: ~€200
• Furnishing depreciation — it wears far faster: ~€400
• Building management + maintenance — same as Option 1: €300

Total €2,620, leaving €4,760 before tax. After 15% tax: about €4,045/yr net.

The comparison, in one line

• Long-term: ~€3,800/yr net
• Short-term, self-managed: ~€4,045/yr net

A difference of about €245 a year — roughly 6%. That is the answer you rarely see written down: the gross gap was 37%, the net gap is 6%.

And those €245 aren't free. They're paid for with guest check-ins, changing bed linen, messages at ten at night, complaints, reviews and a calendar that needs attention all year. It's a part-time second job paying about €20 a month more.

Hand it to a manager and the sum inverts

Management companies typically take 15–20% of revenue. At 18%, that's −€1,330 off the figure above:

Net: around €2,900/yr — clearly worse than long-term, for the same flat.

Two things the table leaves out

Upfront capital. A short-let flat has to be furnished and equipped to a different standard, and that bill lands in full before the first night. That isn't an annual cost, it's money you need to have.

Seasonality. Tirana is steadier than the coast, where the season decides everything. But 45% occupancy isn't spread evenly: the average hides good months and bad ones, while long-term rent arrives the same in January as in August.

The legal and tax side in 2026

• No business tax ID (NIPT) is required for individuals letting short-term through platforms. But the income must be declared via the DIVA declaration, with 15% tax due by 31 March.
• VAT only enters above ALL 10 million of annual turnover (about €100,000). A single flat won't reach it — so the 6%-versus-20% debate doesn't concern you unless you're building a portfolio.
• Classification as an accommodation structure goes through the National Tourism Agency on e-Albania. The reduced 6% VAT rate applies only to classified structures.
• The municipality — registration for the overnight tax and the guest register.
• Platform reporting is tightening from 2026. "Nobody knows, so I won't declare" is closing as an option.

Note that the 15% tax was deducted in both options above. It is not an advantage for either side.

When short-term genuinely wins

The maths answers this itself. Short-term is worth it when all three hold at once:

• A location with a nightly rate well above average — central, or a view that justifies a different price.
• You manage it yourself, and you genuinely have the time.
• You hold occupancy above 55%, not 45%.

Miss one and long-term comes out ahead — and it comes out ahead without the work.

Conclusion

Short-term letting is neither a scam nor a goldmine. For an average one-bedroom in Tirana, self-managed, it returns roughly the same net as long-term in exchange for continuous work. With paid management, it returns less.

If you go long-term, listing on Zgjedhja Ime is free and the owner pays 0% commission, always. The tenant pays once — 50% of one month's rent, at move-in.

Short-term market figures are market averages from AirDNA and AirROI, converted to euros, and vary by source and period. The cost lines are openly stated assumptions, not measurements from your property. Run the numbers for your own flat before deciding, and ask an accountant about the tax side.