Co-hosting
Also called co-host, cohost, Airbnb co-host, Cohost analysis. Last reviewed Oct 21, 2026 by Jeremy Werden
Co-hosting means running someone else's short-term rental, from guest messages and cleaning to pricing, for a share of its revenue. BNBCalc's Cohost analysis models a co-hosting deal: it estimates the home's revenue, then shows your commission (20% to start) and the owner's payout, with no purchase price or mortgage.
How do I analyze a co-hosting deal in BNBCalc?
Enter the home's address and pick Co-Host as the analysis type (it reads Cohost in the search box's type picker). There's no price to enter, because you aren't buying anything. BNBCalc estimates the home's revenue from nearby comps, the same way it does for every analysis, and then splits it three ways:
- Cleaning, the cleaning cost (a percentage of revenue, or an amount you enter) plus supplies;
- Cohost commission, your share, which starts at 20% of revenue and can be set anywhere up to 50%;
- Owner payout, what's left for the owner.
Your only cash investment is any renovations and furnishing you'd pay for yourself, so a Cohost analysis has no cap rate, cash-on-cash return or investor grades. Keep in mind that the owner payout comes before the costs a Cohost analysis doesn't subtract, like the Airbnb fee, utilities and insurance, so agree with the owner on who pays which.
How much should a co-host charge?
BNBCalc starts the commission at 20% and lets you set it up to 50%. The right rate pays you for what you'll handle while leaving the owner more than they'd make from the home another way. To test a rate, click edit on the Cohost commission line, change Cohost Commission percentage and watch the owner payout move. If the payout, after the costs the owner would still cover, beats their other options, you've got a pitch, and if it doesn't, a lower rate or a bigger revenue plan might.
On your dashboard, Cohost analyses show Owner Return and your commission as a percentage and in dollars, which makes it easier to compare several homes you're pitching.
Who already manages homes in a market?
Property managers who list homes under their own host account show up on a market's Operators tab in BNBCalc Markets, with their listings and revenue. That's a quick way to see who you'd compete with for owners, and what established operators earn per home.