AirROI alternative: a free deal feed vs a free calculator
AirROI and STR Yield are both free, which makes the choice unusual. AirROI is the more complete free calculator and it works worldwide. STR Yield works the other way round: it finds new listings for you in five US markets and adds a year-1 tax write-off estimate. This page explains which job each one is better at.
Last reviewed September 29, 2026 · By the STR Yield team
Choose STR Yield if…
- You want new listings found and scored for you each morning instead of checking addresses one at a time
- You want a year-1 tax write-off estimate on every deal
- You are shopping Gatlinburg / Pigeon Forge, Hocking Hills, Blue Ridge / Ellijay, Big Bear or Redding
- You want a daily email filtered to your buy box
Choose AirROI if…
- You already have an address, or several, and want a thorough free analysis of each
- Your target market is outside our five, including anywhere outside the US
- You want investor and lender DSCR views, a 10-year projection and 50 comps
- You want market reports, a Market Atlas or free dynamic pricing as well
At a glance
| Feature | STR Yield | AirROI |
|---|---|---|
| New for-sale listings, pre-scoredA daily feed or alerts of newly listed homes with STR returns already worked out | YesDaily, 5 US markets, plus email digest | Not listed |
| STR revenue estimate for any addressType an address, get revenue, ADR and occupancy | YesAny US address | |
| Comparable rentals shownThe nearby STRs the estimate is based on | Yes10 nearby STRs with links | |
| Cash flow with your financingMonthly cash flow, cash-on-cash and cap rate from your down payment, rate and costs | Yes | |
| DSCRDebt service coverage ratio, the number DSCR lenders underwrite to | Yes | |
| Year-1 tax write-off estimateCost segregation and bonus depreciation estimate, not just a straight-line depreciation line | YesAutomatic on every listing | Not listed |
| Market dataOccupancy, ADR and seasonality for a whole market | PartialOur 5 markets only | |
| CoverageWhere the product works | Feed: 5 US markets. Analyzer: US-wide | 190+ countriessource |
| Long-term rental, flip or BRRRRAnalysis for strategies other than short-term rentals | NoSTR only | Not listed |
| PDF or spreadsheet exportDownload or share a report | No | Not listed |
| Native mobile appAn iOS or Android app, not just a mobile website | NoMobile website | Not listed |
| PriceCheapest way to use it (as of the review date) | Free | Freesource |
Checking one address: where AirROI is stronger
If you already know which property you are looking at, AirROI is hard to beat for free. Enter an address and bedrooms, then your price, and its ROI calculator returns cap rate, cash-on-cash and DSCR. It shows both an investor and a lender view of DSCR, plus NOI and a 10-year projection, and it bases the estimate on 50 nearby comps. Its defaults are 20% down and a 7.0% rate, and you can change them.
It also works well beyond the US. AirROI covers 190+ countries and publishes a Market Atlas and regional reports, so you can compare a lake town in Ontario with a beach town in Portugal in the same tool. STR Yield's feed is five US markets and its analyzer takes US addresses only, so for anything abroad it is not an option.
STR Yield's analyzer is narrower on comps (10 nearby short-term rentals against AirROI's 50) but gives the same category of output: revenue, ADR, occupancy, NOI, cap rate, cash flow, cash-on-cash and DSCR. If your only question is whether one address pencils, either tool will answer it, and AirROI will show you more of the workings.
Finding deals instead of checking them
The gap is upstream of the calculator. A calculator answers a question once you have an address. It does not tell you which addresses are worth asking about. We couldn't find a feed or alerts of newly listed for-sale homes on AirROI's site, so you would bring the listings from Zillow, Redfin or an agent.
STR Yield does that step. Every morning it pulls newly listed homes in Gatlinburg / Pigeon Forge, Hocking Hills, Blue Ridge / Ellijay, Big Bear and Redding, with a buy box of up to $1.2M, at least two bedrooms, and single-family, condo or townhome. Listings whose descriptions say short-term rentals are not allowed, such as no short-term rentals or a 30-day minimum, are dropped. What remains is scored and sortable by cash-on-cash, cap rate, return on equity or year-1 write-off.
The daily email digest carries up to 15 new deals since your last email, sorted by cash-on-cash and filtered to your markets, price cap, bedrooms and minimum return. If you only look at deals when you remember to, this changes how quickly you see a good one.
The tax write-off estimate
On the ROI calculator page we found cap rate, cash-on-cash and DSCR but no depreciation or cost segregation estimate. That does not mean AirROI lacks one elsewhere, only that we could not find it.
STR Yield adds a year-1 write-off to every listing. It is a component-level cost segregation estimate (appliances, furniture, flooring and site work moving to 5- and 15-year property) combined with 100% bonus depreciation, plus tax savings at your bracket and a conservative floor figure. It is federal only, and it is an estimate, not a cost segregation study. Whether you can use the deduction depends on things like your average guest stay and whether you materially participate, so take it to a CPA before you rely on it.
The practical effect is on how you rank deals. A listing with mediocre monthly cash flow can look better once a large first-year deduction is counted, and one with strong cash flow may offer little write-off. Seeing both numbers side by side, on every listing, is the reason to use STR Yield alongside a calculator that focuses on the operating numbers.
Is AirROI free, and what STR Yield doesn't do
Yes. AirROI's own FAQ says it provides AirROI as a free alternative to products that charge high fees. It sells a paid API from $0.01 per call with a $10 minimum, and it offers a data portal, but the calculator and pricing tools are free.
STR Yield is free as well. A free account adds the daily digest and raises the analyzer limit from 3 analyses in total to 10 a day. It has real limits: the deal feed covers five markets, there is no PDF or spreadsheet export and no native mobile app, and it analyzes short-term rentals only, with no long-term rental, flip or BRRRR modeling. It launched in September 2026, so there are no third-party reviews yet.
Pricing
Prices as of September 29, 2026.
| Plan | Price | Note |
|---|---|---|
| STR Yield | Free | Deal feed, analyzer and email digest |
| AirROI calculator and tools | Free | Includes the ROI calculator and free dynamic pricing |
| AirROI API | From $0.01 per call | $10 minimum |
AirROI says it exists as a free alternative to products that charge high fees for analytics and pricing tools. STR Yield is free too: no paid plan, no trial, no card.
Source: AirROI pricing page, as of September 29, 2026.
Where AirROI is stronger
- Global coverage across 190+ countries, against our five US feed markets
- A more complete free calculator: investor and lender DSCR views, NOI, a 10-year projection and 50 comps
- Market Atlas and regional reports for comparing markets
- Free dynamic pricing once you own a property
- A paid API and data portal if you need data in your own tools
Using both
Let the STR Yield feed and digest surface new listings in our five markets, then paste any address you like, including ones from other sources, into AirROI for a second opinion with 50 comps and a 10-year projection. Two free tools that disagree on revenue are telling you to look at the comps yourself.
FAQ
Is AirROI free?
Yes. AirROI says on its FAQ that it offers its analytics and automatic pricing tools free, as an alternative to products that charge high fees. It also sells a paid API from $0.01 per call with a $10 minimum. STR Yield is free too, with no paid plan, trial or card required.
What is a good AirROI alternative?
STR Yield is a free AirROI alternative if you want new listings found for you rather than one address at a time. It scores newly listed homes in five US markets daily and adds a year-1 tax write-off estimate. AirROI is stronger if you need worldwide coverage or 50 comps.
Is there a free Airbnb ROI calculator?
Yes, several. AirROI's ROI calculator is free and returns cap rate, cash-on-cash and DSCR from an address, bedrooms and your price. STR Yield's analyzer is also free for any US address and adds a year-1 tax write-off estimate and 10 nearby comps. You get 3 analyses without an account and 10 a day with one.
Does AirROI include DSCR?
Yes. AirROI's ROI calculator shows DSCR alongside cap rate and cash-on-cash, with investor and lender views. STR Yield also calculates DSCR for every listing, using your down payment and loan term, so you can see the ratio a DSCR lender would underwrite to before you contact one.
Does AirROI send alerts for new Airbnb listings for sale?
We couldn't find a feed or alerts of new for-sale listings on AirROI's site, so it appears to be built for analyzing addresses you bring. STR Yield sends a daily email of up to 15 newly listed homes in its five markets, scored and sorted by cash-on-cash.
Does AirROI work outside the United States?
Yes. AirROI covers 190+ countries. STR Yield does not: its deal feed covers five US markets and its address analyzer takes US addresses only. If you are weighing a property abroad, or comparing a US market against an overseas one, AirROI is the better free choice of the two, and we would point you there.
See what STR Yield finds today
New listings scored on cash flow and a year-1 tax write-off estimate, free.
Sources
Public pages consulted as of September 29, 2026.