How Much to Pay Your Airbnb Cleaner

If you host on Airbnb, this is the question underneath almost every other cleaning decision. You want to pay fairly, keep a good cleaner, and you don't want the cleaning fee you charge guests to drift so far from what you pay that you're paying to host. There's no single number that answers it for every home.

I've hosted on Airbnb since 2018. The rate isn't a price you pick from a list. It's a rate you agree with a real person, for a real home, with a clear scope, and then you pay it on time, every time.

Two jobs, one rate

Every turnover does two jobs at once, and the rate has to cover both. The first job is the clean itself: beds remade, bathrooms scrubbed, kitchen reset, floors done, trash out. The second job is the reset: fresh linens, towels replaced, supplies restocked, the thermostat set, and a check that nothing's broken or missing. A regular clean makes a home tidy. A turnover makes a home ready to sell again, in a few hours, every time. You're not buying hours. You're buying a finished turnover, on a fixed scope, at a rate you both agreed.

Per turnover, or per hour?

Most hosts start by paying per hour, because it feels safe. In practice, per hour rewards a slow clean and punishes a fast, efficient one. You don't know what a turnover will cost until it's done, and your cleaner doesn't know what they'll earn until they're finished. A flat amount per turnover works better for me. You agree one amount for the written scope, and you both know the number before the clean starts. If the scope grows, you agree the extra in advance.

Per hour still has a place. Use it for deep cleans, for a first clean of a new property, and for a messy stay where you don't yet know how long the work will take. Once the scope is settled, move to per turnover, and put it in writing.

What moves the rate

Six things move the rate more than anything else. Work through them with your cleaner, and you'll end up with a fair number, and you'll both understand why it's that number.

Beds and baths. This is the biggest driver. More beds means more linen to strip, wash, fold, and remake. More baths means more scrubbing and more time in the rooms guests judge first. Count beds and baths first, and price from there.

Laundry and linen turnover. Laundry is where a turnover can quietly double in time. If your cleaner has to wash, dry, and fold every set of sheets and towels on site, that's a different job from a clean where fresh linen is already on hand. A common rule is three sets of linens per bed: one on the bed, one being washed, and one spare for stains. If you ask your cleaner to do laundry on site, say so in the scope, and pay for it.

Restocking. Restocking is small work, item by item, and it adds up. Toilet paper, paper towels, trash bags, dish soap, dishwasher tabs, coffee, tea, shampoo, and soap. Guests notice immediately when it doesn't happen. Agree a par level, so "enough toilet paper" means a number, not a feeling. Four rolls in the bathroom, two spare in the vanity, for example. If your cleaner is buying supplies, agree how that's paid.

Location and market. Rates move by market, and they should. A cleaner in a city with high rents and long travel times can't charge the same as a cleaner in a small town with short drives. Ask what other hosts in your area are paying, and ask your cleaner what they charge their other clients. You're looking for a range that's fair in your town, for your home, then agreeing a number inside that range.

Turnover clean versus deep clean. A turnover clean resets a home between guests. A deep clean tackles the buildup a turnover can't reach: grout, shower glass, behind and under appliances, ceiling fans, vents, and upholstery. They're two different jobs, at two different rates. A common rhythm is a deep clean monthly for high-wear listings, and quarterly for lighter ones.

Pet fees, and other extras. Pets, extra guests, and messy stays are the extras that cause most arguments, because they're agreed after the fact. Agree them before the fact. A pet fee, a same day rush fee, a late cancellation fee, and a holiday rate are all normal, if they're in writing before the clean. Write the extras down, with amounts, and put them on the invoice as separate lines.

Agree the rate up front, in writing

A per-clean rate in writing beats a per-hour surprise, every time. Put the rate, the scope, and the extras in writing, and give a copy to your cleaner. Use the printable Cleaner Rate-Sheet Template if it helps.

Then use the same scope every time. Give your cleaner the same turnover checklist every time, and ask for a photo of each finished room. Pay on time, every time. Weekly, or per job, by the method you agreed.

Check your number with the calculator

I don't give a single number on this page, because a single number would be wrong for most readers. Instead, use the free Turnover Cleaning Price Calculator to check your number against your home.

The calculator has two modes. STR mode is the default here, built for Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com turnovers. Regular-clean mode is for non-STR homes, weekly to monthly cleans. Use the mode that matches your home, with your real home details. If the calculator number and your agreed rate are far apart, talk about it, and adjust the rate, or adjust the scope, so they match again. For the fee side, read the Airbnb cleaning rate guide. The fee and the pay are two different numbers, and they don't have to match, but they shouldn't drift far apart without a reason.

Where CleanSlate fits

Once the rate is agreed, the job isn't finished. It has to be invoiced, approved, paid, and recorded, every time, without re-typing it by hand. That's where CleanSlate fits, and it's built for the cleaner first, and the host second. I built it because I got tired of the invoice living in a text thread.

It works in three steps. First, connect one iCal link per Airbnb, Vrbo, or Booking.com listing. CleanSlate merges them into one calendar for the same property, so one home has one calendar, even if it's listed on three platforms. Regular homes work too, without a platform link. Second, the app builds the invoice from the calendar, at the rate you agreed. The cleaner submits it, with the extras as separate lines, and the host can approve it, or dispute it, with the calendar dates right there to check against. CleanSlate can backfill dates in the app to invoice work that hasn't been invoiced yet. That's not accounting export: invoices from before a cleaner connects don't export to QuickBooks, Xero, or FreshBooks. Third, the host approves and pays by card through the cleaner's own Stripe, in US dollars, with Apple Pay and Google Pay where supported. Venmo and Zelle are also available as external payee options on the invoice. The app directs to them, it doesn't process payment itself. Invoices then flow into QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks, and Wave.

CleanSlate never texts your clients automatically. It doesn't do dispatch, payroll, or property management. It does one job: it turns a booking calendar into a real invoice, and it helps you get paid for it. If you want to see how hosts pay, in practice, read the companion guide, How Airbnb Hosts Pay Their Cleaners.

A fair rate is a written rate

Paying a cleaner fairly isn't complicated, but it's specific. Count the beds and baths. Price the laundry and the restocking. Know your market. Separate a turnover from a deep clean. Agree the extras before the clean, not after it. Put the rate in writing, use the same scope every time, and pay on time.

Try CleanSlate free for 75 days, no credit card. After the trial, it's $89.99 per year founding, or $12.99 per month, with unlimited properties. Built by STR hosts, for the cleaners who turn homes over between guests, and the hosts who partner with them.

Related articles

• How Airbnb Hosts Pay Their Cleaners
• How Much Should I Charge to Clean an Airbnb: the cleaner's side of the same question.
• Airbnb Cleaning Rate Guide