Vrbo cleaning fees: where to set them and how refunds work

The Vrbo cleaning fee looks like the simplest number on your listing. You pick an amount, it gets added to the booking, and the money pays for the turnover. Then the questions start. Where exactly does it go in the dashboard? Does Vrbo take a cut of it? What happens to it when a guest cancels? And why do guests keep saying it's too high?

This guide answers those from Vrbo's own help pages, as they read in September 2026. It covers how the fee works, not how much to charge. For the amount, our cleaning fee calculator guide walks through benchmarks by property size for both Airbnb and Vrbo.

What is the Vrbo cleaning fee?

It's one of three standard fees Vrbo lets you set, alongside fees for extra guests and pets. It's a flat charge added to each booking to cover getting the property ready for the next guest. You decide whether to charge one and how much.

It's also a mandatory fee in Vrbo's terms, and that has two consequences. Vrbo shows it to guests upfront, as part of the price they see in search results, not as a surprise at checkout. And it has to be entered in the proper fee field. Vrbo's help centre is specific that fees and taxes belong in the Fees section of the Owner Dashboard, not in the property description or any other text box.

Where do you set the cleaning fee on Vrbo?

Vrbo's help article on managing your fees gives the current path:

1. Log in to your Vrbo Owner Dashboard.
2. If you manage more than one property, open the listing you want to change.
3. In the menu, select Calendar.
4. In Settings, open the Pricing tab.
5. Under Additional charges, select Fees.
6. Under Standard Fees, enter your cleaning fee.
7. Select Save.

Two details on that screen are worth knowing. If you've set a tax percentage on your listing's Rules & Policies page, a checkbox appears next to each fee so you can choose whether tax applies to it. If Vrbo handles taxes in your region, those checkboxes don't appear at all.

Below the standard fees sit custom fees, for charges specific to your property. Vrbo allows up to six. They're useful when a cost is real and separate, but every fee you add lengthens the list a guest reads at checkout, so add them sparingly.

Dashboard menus move around. If the path above doesn't match what you see, search Vrbo's help centre for "manage your fees" for the current version.

What happens when you change your cleaning fee?

A change to any fee applies only to future bookings. Every stay already on your calendar keeps the cleaning fee it was booked at.

That matters most when your cleaner raises their rate. Say you have eight Vrbo bookings on the calendar and your cleaner's per-turnover price goes up by $20. You cover the difference on all eight, which is $160, because none of those guests will pay the new fee. The sooner you update the fee after a price change, the fewer bookings carry the old number.

If you genuinely need to add a charge to an existing reservation, Vrbo's route is a payment request to the guest, sent before their stay is complete. That works for a one-off. It isn't a practical way to recover a fee increase across a full calendar.

Does Vrbo charge commission on the cleaning fee?

Yes. On the pay-per-booking model, Vrbo's 5% commission is charged on the rental amount and on any additional fees you charge the guest, cleaning fees included. A separate 3% payment processing fee is charged on the total payment you receive, including taxes and refundable damage deposits. Vrbo also notes that bookings coming through its expanded distribution partners may carry higher fees.

Here's what that means for the fee itself. On a $150 cleaning fee, the commission is $7.50 and the processing on that $150 is $4.50, so $12 of Vrbo's fees attach to your cleaning fee. If you pay your cleaner exactly $150 per turnover, you're $12 short on every Vrbo booking before you've counted supplies.

One consequence surprises people. Because Vrbo charges commission on the rent and the fees alike, moving money out of the cleaning fee and into the nightly rate doesn't change your Vrbo commission. It changes how the price reads to guests, which is covered below, but not what Vrbo takes. For how this compares with Airbnb and Booking.com, see our comparison of host fees on all three platforms.

What happens to the cleaning fee when a guest cancels?

Vrbo refunds according to the cancellation policy you've chosen, and the refund is calculated on the booking amount, not the rent alone. Your cleaning fee is refunded at the same percentage as everything else.

The policies that produce partial refunds are the ones to understand. Vrbo's help article on cancellation policy options sets them out:

• Relaxed: full refund 14 days or more before check-in, 50% between 7 and 14 days
• Moderate: full refund 30 days or more before check-in, 50% between 14 and 30 days
• Firm: full refund 60 days or more before check-in, 50% between 30 and 60 days

To qualify, a guest has to cancel by 11:59 p.m. in the property's time zone on the last day of the window.

So on a 50% refund, the guest gets half the cleaning fee back and you keep the other half, for a clean that will never happen because the stay is gone. Some hosts are comfortable with that. If you're not, Vrbo lets you issue a custom refund, as long as it is equal to or greater than what your policy requires. You can hand back the whole cleaning fee on top of the policy refund. You can't give back less than the policy says.

On a pay-per-booking listing, Vrbo's booking fee is based on what you keep after any refund, so you aren't paying commission on money that went back to the guest.

If you cancel instead of the guest, the numbers run the other way. Vrbo's host cancellation fee is calculated on the reservation amount including mandatory fees such as cleaning, with a minimum of $50 USD plus applicable taxes. Vrbo gives hosts 10 days to request a waiver when a cancellation happens for a reason its policy recognises.

Can you charge a guest extra if they leave a mess?

Not as a penalty for skipped chores. Vrbo's Cleaning Tasks Policy lets you list specific tasks you expect guests to do before they leave, as long as they're reasonable and take only a few minutes. It does not let you charge financial penalties when those tasks aren't done. If you want a missed task to have consequences, the only one allowed is a negative guest review, and only if your listing says so in advance.

The same policy requires any mandatory cleaning fee to be disclosed in your property charges. A fee that only appears in the description or a house rules document isn't compliant.

Real damage is a different matter from a messy departure, and Vrbo handles it through damage deposits and damage protection rather than the cleaning fee. The cleaning fee covers the turnover you expect. It isn't a fund for the one you don't.

Why do guests think Vrbo cleaning fees are so high?

Mostly because of when they see them. Vrbo shows travellers an upfront price that already includes all mandatory fees and service fees, in search results, on the map and on the listing page. Taxes are usually added at checkout. A guest scrolling results isn't comparing your nightly rate. They're comparing a total with your cleaning fee already folded in.

A flat fee lands hardest on short stays. A $150 cleaning fee on a two-night booking adds $75 a night to what the guest sees. On a seven-night booking the same fee adds about $21 a night. Same fee, same turnover, very different impression in search.

There are a few honest ways to handle it:

• Keep the fee close to what a turnover actually costs you. A fee that tracks a real cost is easier to defend. Our guide to what to pay your vacation rental cleaner covers how to work that cost out.
• Use a minimum stay so the fee is always spread across enough nights to read sensibly.
• Move part of the fee into the nightly rate if most of your bookings are short. On Vrbo this doesn't change your commission, since both are commissionable. It only changes how the total reads to guests.

The fee the guest pays isn't what your cleaner is paid

It's easy to treat the Vrbo cleaning fee and your cleaner's pay as the same number. They aren't. The fee is what the guest pays you, less Vrbo's commission and processing. Your cleaner's pay is what you owe them for the turnover, whether or not the fee covers it. When the two drift apart, it's usually because the cleaner's rate went up and the fee on the listing didn't.

There's a timing side too. Every Vrbo cancellation or date change also cancels or moves a turnover, and your cleaner doesn't see your Vrbo inbox. GleamSync, a vacation rental cleaning coordination tool, reads the calendar feeds from your Vrbo and Airbnb listings twice a day. When a booking is cancelled or its dates change and a clean in the coming month is affected, it messages your cleaner by email, SMS or WhatsApp. Your cleaner doesn't need an account or an app.

Frequently asked questions

Will changing my Vrbo cleaning fee affect bookings I already have?

No. Fee changes apply only to future bookings. Existing reservations keep the fee they were booked with. To add a charge to one of them, you send the guest a payment request before their stay is complete.

Can I put my cleaning fee in the listing description instead of the fee field?

No. Vrbo asks for all fees and taxes to be entered in the Fees section of the Owner Dashboard, not the description or other text fields, and its Cleaning Tasks Policy requires mandatory cleaning fees to be disclosed in your property charges.

Is the Vrbo cleaning fee taxable?

That depends on your local rules, not on Vrbo. If you've set a tax percentage in your listing's Rules & Policies, Vrbo shows a checkbox next to each fee so you can apply tax to it. If Vrbo handles taxes in your region, the checkbox won't appear. Check with your local tax authority if you're unsure.

Does the guest get the cleaning fee back if they cancel?

They get it back at the same percentage as the rest of the booking under your cancellation policy. A 50% refund returns half the cleaning fee. You can issue a custom refund that returns more than the policy requires, but not less.

Does Vrbo charge guests a service fee on top of the cleaning fee?

Yes. Vrbo's upfront price includes service fees as well as your mandatory fees. Vrbo doesn't refund booking and service fees when a guest receives only a partial refund, which is worth knowing if a guest asks why their refund came back smaller than they expected.

Related reading

• Airbnb cleaning fee calculator: what to charge in 2026
• Vrbo vs Airbnb vs Booking.com host fees: what you keep
• What should I pay my vacation rental cleaner? 2026 rates
• Is Vrbo cheaper than Airbnb now? What to tell your guests
• How to share your Airbnb and Vrbo calendar with your cleaner

Keep your cleaner in step with your Vrbo calendar

GleamSync reads your Vrbo and Airbnb calendars and messages your cleaner by email, SMS or WhatsApp when a cancellation or date change affects a clean in the coming month. Your cleaner doesn't need an account or an app. It costs $8 a month per property.

See how it works