How to price Airbnb cleaning services: a host's view

Almost everything written about how to price Airbnb cleaning services is aimed at hosts setting the cleaning fee guests see. Very little is written for the cleaner deciding what to charge the host. This article is for you, the cleaner, written by someone on the paying side.

I'm Mark. I own a vacation rental in Ucluelet, BC, and I pay my cleaner for every turnover. I'll tell you what I pay and why, what makes me happy to pay more, and what makes pricing easy or painful from where a host sits.

One thing up front: there's no single right rate. Local wages, travel and the property itself all move the number. What follows is a method for finding your own price, plus a host's view of how to present it.

How should you price an Airbnb turnover clean?

Price each turnover as a flat rate per clean, and build that rate from time multiplied by a fair hourly rate for your area. Hosts generally prefer a flat rate, and it rewards you for getting faster, because a quicker clean earns the same money.

To work out your rate for a property:

1. Find a fair hourly rate for your area. Ask other cleaners what they earn, look at what local residential cleaners charge, and check local job postings for cleaning work. You're looking for the rate you'd want for skilled work done to a deadline, not the lowest number you can find.
2. Time a few normal turnovers at that property. Not your fastest one. A normal one, with the usual mess, laundry and restocking. A paid trial clean is a good first measurement.
3. Multiply and round. For example, if a normal turnover takes 3 hours and your rate is $40 an hour, your base price is $120. Those figures are for illustration only. Use your own.
4. Add travel if the property is out of the way. A clean that takes an extra hour of driving each way is worth more than the same clean down the street.

Avoid pricing purely by bedroom count. Two properties with the same number of bedrooms can take very different amounts of time because of laundry, outdoor space, the number of beds, the kitchen, or how hard guests are on the place. Timing your own cleans gives you a price you can defend.

Why do hosts prefer a flat rate per clean?

A flat rate lets a host know what each turnover will cost before it happens. That matters because most hosts set the cleaning fee guests pay, and many of us set it by hand on each platform. I set mine manually on both Airbnb and Vrbo, and I charge the same cleaning fee on each. If your price changes from clean to clean with no clear reason, I can't set that fee properly.

Hourly pricing still has a place. Deep cleans, seasonal openings and closings, and one-off jobs like cleaning up after a renovation are hard to predict, so hourly makes sense there. Our guide on deep cleans versus turnover cleans explains how hosts think about the difference.

What should you charge extra for?

Charge extra for anything that adds real time or effort beyond a normal turnover, and list those extras clearly so the host can see them coming.

What I pay my cleaner shows how this works in practice. I pay her between C$200 and C$300 per turnover. Where it lands in that range depends on the tasks needed, how many guests stayed, how many extra beds she has to set up and take down, and whether there was a pet. When a guest brings a pet, I give her the whole pet fee, because she's the one dealing with the hair and the extra work. (If you're curious how hosts weigh pets, see should you allow pets in your Airbnb.)

Extras worth pricing separately:

• Pets. Hair, accidents and extra laundry.
• Extra beds. Setting up sofa beds or rollaways, and taking them down again.
• Cribs and high chairs. Putting them out for a family and putting them away afterwards.
• Larger groups. More guests usually means more laundry and more mess.
• Deep cleans. Ovens, inside cupboards, windows, behind furniture.
• Errands. Picking up supplies or dropping off linen for the host.
• Outdoor equipment. Cleaning the barbecue or a hot tub.

The key is agreeing these with each host in advance and asking how they'll tell you when an extra applies. Finding out about three extra beds when you walk in the door means doing work you didn't price for, on a deadline.

How much more should a same-day turnover cost?

Charge more for same-day turnovers. I pay my cleaner more for them, because they're harder on her.

A same-day turnover means the next guest arrives the same day the last one leaves. With an 11am checkout and a 4pm check-in, you have five hours, and that window doesn't move. If the last guest leaves late, or the place is in worse shape than usual, you still have to finish on time. You may also have to turn down other work that day to protect that window.

How much more is between you and your host, but price it so the pressure is worth it to you. Hosts know these cleans are harder. For more on what can go wrong, see why back-to-back Airbnb turnovers go wrong.

How should you tell a host your price?

Put your prices in writing: a base price for a normal turnover at their property, and a short list of extras with a price for each. A host can then check any invoice against the list in seconds, and you avoid awkward conversations later.

Then make sure you know which extras apply before each clean. This is where a lot of disputes start. The host knew there were six guests and a dog. You didn't, and now the invoice is a surprise.

Some hosts use a tool that sends you this automatically. GleamSync, a cleaning coordination tool for vacation rental hosts, reads the host's Airbnb and VRBO calendars and sends the cleaner each clean's details by email, text (in the US and Canada) or WhatsApp, including the base fee and any add-ons the host has entered. I use it at my own place. My cleaner loves the text messages, because the day before a clean she knows any extras she needs to do and exactly how much she's getting paid, so she can send me the right invoice without asking me. It's free for cleaners and needs no account.

When should you raise your prices?

Raise your price when the job changes, and review it at least once a year.

Good reasons to raise a price:

• The host has added work, such as a hot tub, a second bedroom or more frequent pets.
• Your costs have gone up, such as fuel, supplies or your own time.
• You've timed the property again and it consistently takes longer than your price allows.

Give hosts plenty of notice, in writing. Many hosts set the guest cleaning fee by hand on each platform, and some already have bookings taken at the old fee. A host who hears about a rise months ahead can adjust their cleaning fee before the next season. A host who hears the week before is stuck absorbing it, and that's a bad start to a conversation about money.

Getting paid on time

Pricing well is only half of it. Hosts also notice how you invoice.

Send each invoice promptly after the clean, by email is fine, with the date, the property, the base price and each extra listed. A clear invoice that matches your price list is easy to pay. One that needs a back-and-forth gets put off until the host has time to work it out.

Paying late is one of the worst things a host can do to a cleaner who relies on that money. If a host is regularly slow to pay, raise it early and agree on a payment window. As a host, I pay my cleaner within a day or two of the clean. Our guide for hosts on what to pay a vacation rental cleaner tells hosts that paying on time is one of the main reasons good cleaners stay.

Frequently asked questions

Should I charge Airbnb hosts hourly or a flat rate?

Charge a flat rate per turnover for regular cleans, built from the time a normal clean takes multiplied by your hourly rate. Use hourly pricing for deep cleans and one-off jobs where the time is hard to predict.

How do I price a property I've never cleaned?

Give the host a provisional price based on the property's size and layout, and do a paid trial clean. Time it, then confirm your price after the trial or after the first few cleans, once you know how long a normal turnover really takes.

Should I charge for cleaning supplies?

Agree up front who buys them. Some hosts supply everything, others expect the cleaner to bring their own. If you buy supplies for the host, list them on your invoice with receipts, and charge for your time if picking them up is an extra trip.

Does my price have to match the host's cleaning fee?

No. The cleaning fee is what the host charges the guest, and the host decides it. Your price is what you charge the host, and it's one of the costs the host weighs when setting that fee. If you want to see how hosts think about it, see our Airbnb cleaning fee calculator.

How much more should I charge for a pet?

Agree a set pet charge with each host so it's not argued about each time. Some hosts, including me, pass the whole pet fee the guest pays straight to the cleaner.

Related reading

• How to get Airbnb cleaning clients: what hosts look for
• What should I pay my vacation rental cleaner?
• Airbnb deep clean vs. turnover clean: when to do each
• Why back-to-back Airbnb turnovers go wrong
• How to start an Airbnb cleaning business

See each clean's pay before you get there

The easiest invoice is the one where you already know what the clean pays. GleamSync reads your hosts' Airbnb and VRBO calendars and sends you each clean's times, extras and pay the day before, by email, text or WhatsApp. It's free for cleaners, with no account or app needed. Your hosts pay $8 a month per property, with a 14-day free trial and no credit card.

See how GleamSync helps cleaners