What should your cleaning fee actually be?
Enter what you pay your cleaner and what you charge per night. You get the fee that leaves the cleaner fully paid after Airbnb's service fee, how heavy it looks on a short stay, and the yearly total.
Per turnover, including linen if the cleaner supplies it.
The cleaning fee shown on your listing today.
Guests judge the cleaning fee against this number, not against your costs.
The fee is charged once per stay, so a short average makes it heavy.
Airbnb charges its fee on the cleaning fee too, which is why charging exactly your cleaner's price loses money.
An estimate. The Airbnb service fee comes from Airbnb's help center, read September 10, 2026. Your cleaner's invoice is the other half.
Fee that breaks even
$142.01
What US hosts charge, by property size
Ranges observed across US listings in 2026. Coastal and mountain markets sit at the top of each band, and a cleaner who also handles linen adds to it.
| Property | What a cleaner charges | Typical guest-facing fee |
|---|---|---|
| Studio or 1 bed | $60 to $95 | $75 to $110 |
| 2 bed | $85 to $130 | $100 to $150 |
| 3 bed | $110 to $170 | $130 to $195 |
| 4 bed or house | $150 to $230 | $175 to $250 |
A cleaning fee above roughly half your nightly rate starts costing you bookings, because Airbnb shows the total price before booking.
How it works
Two numbers you already have
Your cleaner's invoice
The real per-turnover price, linen included if they supply it. Not the price from two years ago.
Your current cleaning fee
What the listing charges today. Most hosts discover here that it has not moved since they set it.
Your average stay
A $150 fee on a seven-night stay is $21 a night. On two nights it is $75, and that is the version guests review.
Why charging your cleaner's exact price loses money
Airbnb applies its service fee to the whole booking subtotal, and the cleaning fee is part of that subtotal. Charge $150 because your cleaner charges $150, and 15.5% of it goes to Airbnb. You are paying $23.25 a turnover out of your own margin, sixty times a year.
The fix is arithmetic, not negotiation. Divide the cleaner's price by 0.845 and charge that. On a $150 invoice the fee becomes $178, the cleaner is paid in full, and nothing comes out of your nightly revenue.
The limit on that logic is the guest. Since Airbnb started showing the total price before booking, a heavy cleaning fee is visible at the exact moment a guest compares two listings. Past about half a nightly rate it reads as a trick, and it shows up in reviews rather than in the booking.
Questions
Cleaning fees, answered
How much should I charge for cleaning on Airbnb?
Does Airbnb take a percentage of the cleaning fee?
What do cleaners charge for an Airbnb turnover in the US?
Should I include cleaning in the nightly rate instead?
Can I charge a different cleaning fee for longer stays?
Do guests really care about the cleaning fee?
Sources
- Airbnb Help Center, Service fees: 15.5% single host fee for most hosts, applied to the booking subtotal. Read September 10, 2026.
- Fee ranges: US listings and cleaner pricing observed in 2026. Treat them as orders of magnitude, not as a survey.
Keep going
Other free tools
Airbnb cleaning checklist generator
Build a printable turnover checklist by room, with restock, photos to take and a place for the cleaner to sign. Free PDF, no sign-up.
Airbnb host fee calculator
What Airbnb takes on a booking under the 15.5% host-only fee or the old split fee, what the guest pays on top, and the payout that reaches you.
Welcome guidebook PDF and Word
Generate a welcome guidebook for your guests: access, WiFi, house rules, recommendations, check-out. Export as PDF or Word, no sign-up.