An Airbnb cleaning fee should normally reflect the genuine cost of completing a standard turnover between reservations.
That may include:
- cleaning labour
- laundry and linen handling
- routine cleaning products
- other cleaning costs incurred for each changeover
There is no single fee that is right for every Airbnb.
A studio cleaned by the host will have a very different cost from a four-bedroom house requiring several cleaners, off-site laundry and a same-day inspection.
The most reliable starting point is therefore:
Calculate the actual standard turnover cost, decide how much of it to recover through a separate cleaning fee and then test the complete guest price against comparable accommodation.
This final step matters because Airbnb now shows guests the total price before taxes in search results. A low nightly rate combined with a high cleaning fee does not hide the real booking cost. Guests can compare the complete cost of similar stays more directly.
So the objective is not to find the highest cleaning fee the platform will permit.
It is to set a fee that supports consistent property preparation while keeping the complete stay competitively and honestly priced.
What Is an Airbnb Cleaning Fee?
Airbnb describes the cleaning fee as a one-off amount set by the host for cleaning the accommodation.
It is a fixed charge per booking rather than a nightly charge. The same standard cleaning fee may therefore apply to a two-night reservation and a seven-night reservation, unless the host uses Airbnb's separate short-stay cleaning-fee option for one- or two-night stays.
The fee forms part of the total booking price.
Airbnb currently allows hosts to configure:
- a standard cleaning fee for all stays; or
- a lower short-stay cleaning fee for reservations of one or two nights, with the standard fee applying to longer stays.
The cleaning fee is not an automatic payment made directly to a cleaner. It is booking income collected through Airbnb and included when the platform calculates the host's payout and applicable service fees.
Hosts remain responsible for arranging the cleaning, paying the cleaner and ensuring the property is ready for the next guest.
The Short Answer: Charge the Cost of a Standard Turnover
A practical calculation is:
Standard turnover labour + routine laundry + per-turnover cleaning supplies + other direct cleaning costs = standard turnover cost
Then decide:
Standard turnover cost − amount absorbed into the nightly rate = cleaning fee charged to the guest
For example:
| Turnover component | Illustrative cost |
|---|---|
| Cleaning labour | £64 |
| Laundry and linen | £20 |
| Cleaning products used | £6 |
| Total standard turnover cost | £90 |
The host could choose to:
- charge a £90 cleaning fee;
- charge £65 and recover the remaining £25 through the nightly rate;
- include the entire £90 within the accommodation price; or
- absorb part of the cost as a commercial decision.
None of these approaches is automatically correct.
The right choice depends on the property's typical stay length, nightly rate, local competition, booking strategy and the total price guests see.
The figures above are examples only. They are not suggested UK rates or industry averages. Hosts should replace them with actual supplier quotes, invoices, timings and property-specific costs.
What Should an Airbnb Cleaning Fee Cover?
Airbnb says a cleaning fee is intended to cover the housekeeping normally expected after a stay.
For most properties, that may include the routine work required to return the accommodation to its established guest-ready standard.
Standard Cleaning Labour
This may cover tasks such as:
- cleaning bathrooms
- cleaning the kitchen
- dusting and wiping surfaces
- vacuuming and mopping floors
- emptying bins
- cleaning frequently handled areas
- checking and cleaning appliances used by guests
- returning rooms to their normal layout
- completing a final cleanliness check
For a wider view of everything that may need attention between reservations, see the Airbnb turnover checklist.
Laundry and Linen Handling
Include the actual cost of preparing:
- bed linen
- bath towels
- hand towels
- bath mats
- kitchen linen
- mattress or pillow protectors when changed
- other washable guest textiles
This may be:
- an external laundry invoice;
- a linen-hire charge;
- the cleaner's laundry fee; or
- a reasonable calculation of the host's own time, utilities and products.
Avoid pretending that home laundry is free simply because there is no separate supplier invoice.
Routine Cleaning Products
The cost of products consumed during each turnover may also be included, for example:
- surface cleaner
- bathroom cleaner
- disinfectant where appropriate
- washing-up products
- laundry detergent
- bin bags used during cleaning
- cloth or mop-head replacement allowance
Do not add the full price of a large pack to every reservation. Calculate the approximate amount consumed per turnover.
Direct, Repeatable Cleaning Costs
Some properties incur other predictable turnover costs, such as:
- a fixed cleaner call-out charge
- off-site linen transport
- an agreed same-day changeover supplement
- cleaning of a regularly used barbecue or fireplace
- standard pet-related cleaning where pets are accepted and this is not covered separately
Only include costs genuinely connected with the normal cleaning service provided after that reservation.
What Should Not Be Hidden Inside the Cleaning Fee?
A standard cleaning fee should not become a vague charge used to recover every property expense.
Keep the following items separate in your own records.
Damage and Exceptional Cleaning
Routine turnover cleaning is different from dealing with:
- heavily stained carpets or upholstery
- smoke odour
- pet accidents beyond the expected standard
- excessive rubbish
- damaged linen
- broken items
- other guest-caused damage
Airbnb's guest ground rules distinguish ordinary cleaning from excessive or deep cleaning. Airbnb also says Host damage protection may reimburse certain eligible extra-cleaning costs, including stain, pet-accident and smoke-odour removal, subject to its terms and evidence requirements.
Do not inflate every guest's standard cleaning fee in anticipation of occasional damage.
Periodic Deep Cleaning
Tasks such as cleaning behind large furniture, detailed grout restoration, upholstery extraction and seasonal high-level cleaning may not occur after every stay.
These costs should usually be budgeted separately and spread across the business rather than presented as though each reservation directly caused them.
Maintenance and Repairs
Replacing a broken appliance, repairing a leak or repainting a room is not standard cleaning.
Maintenance costs should remain visible as maintenance expenses so the property’s operating performance can be reviewed accurately.
General Guest Supplies
Toilet paper, toiletries, coffee, welcome gifts and other guest consumables are real operating costs, but they are not all cleaning costs.
Record them separately where possible. This helps the host understand whether the cleaning fee covers the turnover itself rather than masking the cost of amenities.
How to Calculate Your Airbnb Cleaning Fee
1. Define the Standard Turnover
Start by deciding exactly what must happen between ordinary stays.
Document:
- rooms and areas cleaned
- laundry requirements
- restocking responsibilities
- staging expectations
- property checks
- final inspection
- completion reporting
A vague instruction to “clean the property” makes accurate pricing difficult.
If the cleaner's scope changes from one turnover to another, the host cannot reliably compare the fee collected with the service delivered.
2. Measure the Labour
Use several normal turnovers rather than estimating from one unusually easy or difficult stay.
Record:
- number of people cleaning
- hours worked
- hourly or fixed supplier charge
- laundry time
- inspection time where included in the cleaning service
- travel or call-out cost charged by the provider
If two cleaners work for two hours, the property has used four labour hours—not two.
3. Include Your Own Time
Hosts who clean their own properties often charge too little because no invoice arrives.
Your time still has an economic cost.
A simple calculation is:
Host cleaning hours × reasonable hourly labour value = host cleaning labour cost
Add any separate laundry, product, travel or equipment costs.
The cleaning fee does not have to become personal profit, but the calculation should reveal whether the host is donating several hours of unpaid work to every reservation.
4. Add Laundry and Direct Supplies
Use real invoices or a reasonable average based on several turnovers.
If laundry varies with occupancy, calculate a typical cost and monitor whether larger groups consistently cost more than the fee recovers.
Avoid excessive precision based on assumptions. A simple, regularly reviewed estimate is more useful than a complicated formula built on unreliable numbers.
5. Account for Airbnb's Host Service Fee
The amount charged to the guest may not be the amount retained by the host.
Airbnb calculates service fees using the nightly price plus host-added fees such as the cleaning fee. The applicable structure and percentage can vary by host, listing and market.
If a host wants to understand how much of a separate cleaning charge remains after the host service fee, the calculation is:
Cleaning fee charged × (1 − host service-fee rate) = approximate amount retained before other deductions
For illustration only, if the cleaning fee is £90 and the applicable host service-fee rate is 15.5%:
£90 × 0.845 = £76.05
If the host wanted to retain £90 from that charge alone at the same illustrative rate:
£90 ÷ 0.845 = £106.51
This does not mean the host should automatically charge £106.51.
Guests judge the complete stay price, and an aggressive gross-up may make the listing uncompetitive. The host may instead recover part of the service cost through the overall nightly pricing strategy.
Check the fee structure and payout preview applying to your own account rather than copying this example.
6. Decide How Much to Recover Separately
The cleaning fee does not have to equal the complete turnover cost.
Choose deliberately between:
- full recovery through a separate cleaning fee;
- partial recovery through the fee and nightly rate;
- full inclusion in the nightly rate; or
- partial absorption by the business.
The decision should be visible in your financial records.
For a wider method of connecting cleaning-fee income with turnover expenses and operating profit, see How to Calculate Holiday Rental Profitability.
7. Test the Total Guest Price
Airbnb guests see and compare the total price, not only the amount labelled “nightly rate”.
Preview representative bookings for:
- one night
- two nights
- three nights
- a normal average stay
- seven nights
- peak and low-season dates
Compare like with like:
- similar location
- similar guest capacity
- similar bedroom and bathroom count
- similar quality and amenities
- same dates
- same stay length
Do not copy another listing's cleaning fee in isolation. Its nightly rate, minimum stay, service-fee structure, cleaning arrangement and target market may be completely different.
Why Stay Length Changes the Result
A cleaning fee is normally charged once per reservation.
Its effective cost per night therefore falls as the stay becomes longer.
For example:
| Stay length | £60 cleaning fee expressed per night |
|---|---|
| 1 night | £60.00 |
| 2 nights | £30.00 |
| 3 nights | £20.00 |
| 5 nights | £12.00 |
| 7 nights | £8.57 |
The cleaner may perform broadly the same standard turnover after a one-night stay and a seven-night stay, but the short-stay guest feels the fixed fee much more strongly.
This is why the question is not only:
“Does the fee cover the cleaner?”
It is also:
“What total price does this create for the stays I want to attract?”
Should You Use Airbnb's Short-Stay Cleaning Fee?
Airbnb allows hosts to offer a lower cleaning fee for stays of one or two nights.
This may be useful when:
- short breaks are important in the local market;
- the standard fee makes one- or two-night totals uncompetitive;
- the host is willing to absorb part of the turnover cost;
- shorter stays genuinely require less laundry or preparation; or
- the nightly rate can recover part of the difference.
However, a lower short-stay cleaning fee does not make the cleaner's invoice disappear.
Before reducing it, calculate whether the resulting booking still covers:
- cleaning
- laundry
- platform fees
- utilities
- guest supplies
- other variable costs
- an acceptable contribution towards fixed expenses and profit
If one-night stays repeatedly produce weak or negative margins, the answer may be a longer minimum stay rather than an artificially low cleaning fee.
Separate Cleaning Fee or Higher Nightly Rate?
Both approaches can work.
Separate Cleaning Fee
Advantages may include:
- direct connection between each booking and its turnover cost
- clearer internal tracking
- stronger cost recovery on longer reservations
- easier allocation to a cleaner or co-host where supported
Possible disadvantages include:
- a high effective cost on short stays
- stronger guest attention to the fee as a separate line item
- reduced competitiveness if the total price becomes too high
Cleaning Included in the Nightly Rate
Advantages may include:
- simpler presentation
- less friction around a separate cleaning charge
- more competitive short-stay fee structure in some markets
Possible disadvantages include:
- one-night stays may not recover the turnover cost
- long stays may contribute more than necessary unless pricing is adjusted
- discounts can unintentionally reduce the amount available for cleaning
- performance records may make cleaning income and cost less easy to compare
A Hybrid Approach
Many hosts may find it practical to recover part of the turnover cost through a moderate cleaning fee and the remainder through the nightly rate.
For example:
- actual standard turnover cost: £90
- cleaning fee charged: £60
- balance supported through the overall accommodation price: £30
This is not automatically better. It is simply a way to reduce the fee's effect on short stays without pretending the turnover cost does not exist.
Worked Cleaning-Fee Examples
The following examples demonstrate the method only. They are not market recommendations.
Example 1: Host-Cleaned Studio
| Cost | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Host cleaning labour | 2.5 hours × £18 | £45 |
| Laundry | Estimated per turnover | £12 |
| Cleaning products | Estimated use | £4 |
| Standard turnover cost | £61 |
Possible decision:
- cleaning fee: £40
- remaining £21 recovered through the nightly rate or absorbed
The host should still test the total for one-, two- and three-night stays.
Example 2: Professionally Cleaned Two-Bedroom Property
| Cost | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Cleaner | Fixed turnover quote | £78 |
| Linen service | Per reservation | £24 |
| Cleaning products | Per-turnover estimate | £6 |
| Standard turnover cost | £108 |
Possible decision:
- standard cleaning fee: £95
- lower one- or two-night cleaning fee: £70
- difference recovered through the wider pricing structure
The host should confirm that short reservations remain worthwhile after every variable cost—not only cleaning.
Example 3: Larger House With Off-Site Laundry
| Cost | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Cleaning team | Fixed turnover quote | £175 |
| Off-site linen and towels | Per reservation | £52 |
| Cleaning products | Per-turnover estimate | £10 |
| Final inspection | Included service | £18 |
| Standard turnover cost | £255 |
A £255 fee may appear high when viewed alone. The host needs to compare the complete price of a representative stay with genuinely similar large properties—not with studios or hotel rooms.
The size of the fee is less meaningful without the property type, occupancy, stay length and total price.
How to Compare Your Cleaning Fee With Competing Listings
Competitor research is useful, but only after calculating your own cost.
Choose a small group of genuinely comparable listings and review:
- total price for identical dates
- minimum stay
- guest capacity
- bedrooms and bathrooms
- property quality
- professional versus self-catering positioning
- included amenities
- review strength
- cleaning fee where visible
Then ask:
- Is our total price competitive for our most common stay length?
- Is the cleaning fee disproportionate to the nightly rate?
- Are we under-recovering a real operating cost?
- Would a lower short-stay fee improve bookability without creating loss-making reservations?
- Should the minimum stay change?
Do not reduce the cleaning fee merely because another host charges less.
They may clean the property themselves without costing their labour, use cheaper linen arrangements, accept lower margins or have inaccurate pricing.
Equally, do not increase the fee simply because nearby listings charge more.
Your fee should begin with your property—not somebody else's number.
Does a Cleaning Fee Mean Guests Should Clean the Property?
No. A cleaning fee pays for the standard turnover; it does not transfer the host's entire cleaning responsibility to the guest.
Airbnb's ground rules say guests should not leave accommodation in a condition requiring excessive or deep cleaning. However, Airbnb also says hosts may not impose charges or penalties because a guest failed to complete particular cleaning or checkout tasks.
Hosts can still ask guests to complete a short, reasonable departure routine, such as:
- switch off appliances
- lock doors and windows
- place rubbish in the identified bin
- return keys
- report damage
Avoid asking paying guests to strip every bed, wash floors, clean bathrooms or perform a full turnover—particularly when a substantial cleaning fee has also been charged.
For clearer departure guidance, see Airbnb Check-Out Instructions: What to Include and Examples.
What If the Property Requires Excessive Cleaning?
Treat unexpected excessive cleaning separately from the standard fee.
If a guest leaves serious stains, smoke odour, pet damage or another exceptional condition:
- photograph or record the condition promptly;
- preserve cleaner reports and invoices;
- communicate through the Airbnb message thread;
- follow Airbnb's current Resolution Centre and Host damage protection process;
- submit any request within the applicable time limits; and
- avoid inventing an arbitrary penalty that was not permitted by the platform.
Airbnb states that its Host damage protection may cover certain eligible extra-cleaning services, but coverage is subject to terms, exclusions and supporting evidence. It is not a replacement for appropriate business or holiday-let insurance.
Why a Cleaning Standard Matters to the Fee
A cleaner cannot quote accurately if the expected result is unclear.
“Clean to a high standard” may mean different things to different people.
A property-specific cleaning system can define:
- room-by-room tasks
- linen requirements
- standard restocking quantities
- staging photographs
- issue-reporting procedures
- final inspection expectations
- turnover-completion records
This makes it easier to understand what the cleaner's price includes and whether additional requests are changing the cost.
The Holiday Rental Cleaning & Staging Manual provides an editable framework for documenting these standards for a specific property. It can be customised once and reused digitally or in print for future turnovers.
The purpose is not to justify a higher fee automatically.
It is to connect the price paid with a clear, repeatable service.
When Should You Review the Cleaning Fee?
Review it whenever the underlying service changes and at least periodically as part of the property's wider pricing review.
Recalculate after:
- a cleaner changes their rates
- a new laundry service is introduced
- guest capacity changes
- more linen or beds are added
- pet bookings are introduced
- cleaning standards are expanded
- the property begins accepting shorter stays
- service-fee arrangements change
- local competitors change their total pricing
- repeated turnovers take longer than expected
Use actual results from several ordinary stays.
A useful monthly record is:
| Measure | Amount |
|---|---|
| Cleaning fees collected | [Enter amount] |
| Host service fees attributable to booking income | [Enter amount] |
| Cleaner and laundry costs | [Enter amount] |
| Other routine turnover-cleaning costs | [Enter amount] |
| Difference | [Calculate] |
This shows whether the current arrangement is broadly recovering, exceeding or falling short of the standard cleaning cost.
It does not replace complete profitability reporting because the property still has utilities, supplies, maintenance, insurance and other operating costs.
Common Airbnb Cleaning-Fee Mistakes
Copying an “Average” From the Internet
National or platform-wide figures combine very different locations, property sizes and service standards.
An average cannot tell you what your own turnover costs.
Copying the Nearest Listing
The other host may have a different minimum stay, cleaner, nightly rate, property size or service-fee structure.
Compare total prices, not one line item.
Treating the Fee as Extra Profit
An excessive fee may increase the total price enough to discourage bookings. It can also create stronger guest expectations about cleanliness.
Ignoring the Host's Own Labour
Self-cleaning still consumes time, products, laundry and travel.
Record those costs before deciding the work is “free”.
Charging Every Guest for Occasional Damage
Routine cleaning, deep cleaning and damage are different costs.
Do not inflate the standard fee because a small number of guests may create exceptional work.
Ignoring Service Fees
The cleaning amount shown to the guest may not be the amount retained in the payout.
Review the current fee structure applying to the listing.
Making Short Stays Uncompetitive
A fixed fee has its greatest per-night effect on the shortest reservation.
Test the total for the stay lengths guests actually search.
Asking Guests to Complete the Turnover
A short checkout routine is reasonable. A full cleaning shift is not a substitute for the host's turnover process.
Failing to Review Special Offers
Airbnb currently advises hosts to factor the cleaning fee into special offers because it is not added automatically in the usual way.
Adding a New Fee After Confirmation Without Approval
Airbnb says adding a cleaning fee to an already confirmed reservation requires a trip-change request and the guest's acceptance of the updated price.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average Airbnb cleaning fee?
There is no sufficiently useful universal average for an individual host.
Cleaning costs vary according to location, property size, bathrooms, beds, guest capacity, laundry, access, cleaning standard and supplier rates. Calculate the real turnover cost first, then compare the complete booking price with similar local properties.
How much should I charge for an Airbnb cleaning fee?
Begin with the direct cost of a standard turnover: labour, routine laundry, cleaning products and other repeatable cleaning costs. Decide whether to recover all of that amount through the fee or share it between the fee and nightly rate. Finally, test the total guest price across typical stay lengths.
Should the cleaning fee equal the cleaner's invoice?
Not necessarily.
The invoice may exclude laundry, supplies or host inspection time. Alternatively, the host may intentionally recover only part of the total cost through the separate fee and support the remainder through the nightly rate.
Can I charge a cleaning fee if I clean the property myself?
Yes. Cleaning the property yourself still involves labour, laundry, products and potentially travel. Assign a reasonable value to your time so you can understand the true cost of each turnover.
Is the Airbnb cleaning fee charged per night?
No. Airbnb describes it as a one-off, fixed fee per booking. Hosts may also configure a lower fee for one- or two-night stays.
Do guests see the cleaning fee?
Yes. It forms part of the total price and can appear as a separate item in the price breakdown. Airbnb now shows total price before taxes in search results globally.
Does Airbnb charge a service fee on the cleaning fee?
Airbnb states that service fees are calculated using the nightly price plus fees added by the host, including the cleaning fee. The fee structure and percentage applying to an individual host may vary, so check the listing's payout preview.
Can I lower the cleaning fee for short stays?
Airbnb currently permits a lower short-stay cleaning fee for reservations of one or two nights. The standard fee then applies to longer stays. Check whether the lower amount still produces a viable total booking result.
Can I charge extra when guests leave a mess?
The standard cleaning fee covers ordinary turnover cleaning. Exceptional guest-caused cleaning or damage should be documented and handled through Airbnb's permitted reimbursement process where eligible. Hosts should not invent penalties for failure to perform individual checkout chores.
Should laundry be included in the cleaning fee?
It may be included when laundry is a normal, direct part of every turnover. Keep a record of the actual linen cost so it does not disappear inside a general estimate.
Is the cleaning fee taxable income?
Amounts received through a booking may form part of the host's rental or business income, but tax treatment varies by country, business structure and registration status. Hosts should keep records of both cleaning income and cleaning expenses and obtain qualified advice for their circumstances.
Can I add a cleaning fee after a guest has booked?
Airbnb currently says a host must send a trip-change request with the revised total price. The guest must accept the change before the fee is added.
A Fair Fee Starts With the Real Turnover Cost
The most useful Airbnb cleaning fee is neither the lowest amount in the market nor the highest amount a host thinks guests will tolerate.
It is an informed pricing decision based on:
standard cleaning work → labour → laundry → direct supplies → platform fees → typical stay length → total guest price
Begin with the cost of returning the property to its normal guest-ready standard.
Then decide how much to recover as a separate fee and how much, if any, to support through the nightly rate.
Test the total price for the reservations you actually want to attract.
Finally, compare fees collected with cleaning costs over time rather than assuming the arrangement remains profitable.
A clear cleaning standard, accurate cost record and realistic total-price comparison will produce a more defensible answer than any generic online average.
Important Disclaimer
This article provides general operational information for Airbnb and holiday-rental hosts. It does not provide tax, accounting, legal or insurance advice.
Platform settings, service fees, reimbursement rules and tax treatment can change and may vary by location, account and listing. Check Airbnb's current guidance, your local requirements and qualified professional advice where appropriate.
Sources
Airbnb: Add cleaning fees to home listings
https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/58
Airbnb: Ground rules for home guests
https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/2894
Airbnb: Airbnb service fees
https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/1857
Airbnb: Add a cleaning fee to a confirmed reservation
https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/1511
Airbnb: Total price display is now standard for guests worldwide
https://news.airbnb.com/total-price-display-is-now-standard-globally/
Airbnb: Host damage protection
https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/279
PriceLabs: Airbnb Cleaning Fee — A Comprehensive Guide
https://www.hello.pricelabs.co/blog/airbnb-cleaning-fee/
The article deliberately avoids presenting a platform-wide average as a recommended charge. Market data can provide comparison context, but the fee for an individual property should begin with its actual turnover cost and complete guest price.
