How Much Should You Charge for an Airbnb Cleaning Fee?
Charge a cleaning fee that covers what one turnover actually costs you: your cleaner's pay, laundry, consumables and a small buffer, grossed up for the service fee Airbnb takes from it. Then check that number against the total price guests see for similar homes near you, because a fee that is technically fair can still lose you bookings if it makes your stay look expensive.
There is no single right dollar amount. A studio with an in unit washer and a four bedroom house with a hot tub have completely different turnover costs. What follows is the method I use to set a fee I can defend to myself, my cleaner and my guests.
Step 1: Add up what one turnover really costs
Most hosts set the fee by copying the listing down the street. That is how you end up quietly losing money on every stay. Start from your own costs instead.
List everything that happens because a guest checked out:
- Cleaner pay for a standard turnover (flat rate, or hours times hourly rate)
- Laundry if it is done offsite or by a separate service, including pickup and delivery
- Linen and towel replacement spread across turnovers (stains, wear, the towel that never comes back)
- Consumables the cleaner restocks: toilet paper, soap, dish tabs, coffee, trash bags
- Cleaning supplies the cleaner uses, if you provide them
- Your own time if you inspect, restock or handle issues yourself
If you are not sure what your cleaner should be earning per turnover, work through how much to pay an Airbnb cleaner first. That number drives everything else.
A worked example (illustrative numbers only)
These figures are made up to show the math. Use your own.
| Cost per turnover | Example amount |
|---|---|
| Cleaner flat rate | $90 |
| Offsite laundry, 2 bed sets plus towels | $25 |
| Linen wear and replacement, averaged | $6 |
| Consumables restocked | $8 |
| Buffer for extra time on messy stays | $6 |
| Total cost per turnover | $135 |
Step 2: Account for Airbnb's host service fee
This is the step people skip. Airbnb's host service fee is calculated on the nightly price plus any fees you charge, which includes the cleaning fee. On the split fee structure most hosts pay around 3%, and on the single fee structure most hosts pay 15.5%, deducted from your payout. Airbnb says it is moving all hosts to the single fee structure. Check the current rates and which structure applies to you in Airbnb's host service fee article.
To keep your full cost after the fee, divide by one minus the fee rate:
Cleaning fee = cost per turnover ÷ (1 − host fee rate)
Using the example above with a 15.5% host fee: $135 ÷ 0.845 ≈ $160. If you charge $135, you actually receive about $114 after the fee and cover the rest out of your nightly rate.
Step 3: Look at the total price, not the fee on its own
Airbnb made total price display standard for guests worldwide in April 2025, so search results show the full price of the stay including fees before taxes (Airbnb announcement). In the US, Airbnb says the fee inclusive total is shown on all listings and cannot be turned off (Airbnb help).
That changes how you should think about the fee. Guests compare totals. A $160 cleaning fee on a one night stay makes that night look very expensive next to a listing with a lower fee and a higher nightly rate.
To check yourself:
- Search your own area for your typical stay length (for example, a two night weekend).
- Filter to homes with the same bedroom count and similar amenities.
- Note the total prices of the listings that look most like yours.
- Compare your total. If you are well above the pack, the fee is often why.
If your fee pushes short stays out of range, you have options besides eating the cost. See whether to build the cleaning fee into your nightly rate for the math on shifting part of it.
Step 4: Decide how to handle short stays
Airbnb lets you set an optional short stay cleaning fee for one and two night bookings alongside your standard cleaning fee (Airbnb help: add cleaning fees). This is useful because the turnover cost is roughly the same whether a guest stays one night or seven, but the fee feels much heavier on a short stay.
A few ways hosts use it:
- Lower short stay fee, higher nightly rate on weekends. Recovers the cost without a scary fee line.
- Same fee for all stays, plus a two or three night minimum. Fewer turnovers, and the fee is spread over more nights. More on this in setting minimum stays to cut turnover costs.
- Higher short stay fee. Rarely helps unless your area has little competition for one night stays.
Step 5: Adjust for your home's real workload
Two homes with the same bedroom count can take very different amounts of work. Raise your cost estimate for anything that adds time:
- Extra bathrooms (usually the slowest rooms to clean well)
- Sofa beds and bunk beds, which take longer to make
- Hot tubs, grills, patios and pools
- No washer on site, so laundry leaves the property
- High occupancy (a two bedroom that sleeps eight gets messier than one that sleeps four)
- Long drive for the cleaner
If you want a structured way to estimate time by room, Airbnb cleaning cost by home size walks through it.
What the cleaning fee should not cover
The cleaning fee pays for the turnover you expect after a normal stay. It is not a damage fund. Airbnb's own guidance says unexpected cleaning costs, such as removing smoke odor, are handled through AirCover damage protection rather than the cleaning fee (Airbnb help). If a guest leaves the place in a state that goes well beyond a normal clean, document it with dated photos and request payment through the Resolution Center.
That documentation is where most hosts fall short. When my cleaner finishes, I want a photo record of every room so I know the home was ready and I can show what condition it was in. Clyn does this automatically: the cleaner takes photos in the app, the AI checks them against your standard, and you get a pass or a fix list plus a dated record you can use if a claim comes up.
Quick checklist before you save your fee
- I know my true cost per turnover, including laundry and consumables
- I grossed it up for my Airbnb host fee
- I compared my total price for a typical stay against similar listings
- I decided whether to use a short stay cleaning fee
- I have a plan for recovering extra cleaning costs that go beyond a normal turnover
Review your fee a few times a year
Costs move. Your cleaner raises rates, laundry services change pricing, and competition in your area shifts. I revisit my fee whenever my cleaner's rate changes and at the start of each busy season. If bookings for short stays have dropped and your nightly rate has not changed, look at your total price first.
FAQ
Is the Airbnb cleaning fee refundable?
Airbnb says cleaning fees are not refunded to guests once a trip is completed. If a reservation is cancelled before the stay, refunds follow the cancellation policy and Airbnb's rules, so check the cleaning fee help article for current details.
Should my cleaning fee equal what I pay my cleaner?
Usually it should be higher. Your cleaner's pay is only one part of the turnover cost, and Airbnb's host service fee is calculated on the cleaning fee too. If you charge exactly what you pay the cleaner, the difference comes out of your nightly earnings.
Does a lower cleaning fee get more bookings?
It can, especially for short stays, because guests now see the total price in search. The fee itself is not the issue. What matters is whether your total price for a typical stay is competitive with similar homes.
If you want every turnover checked before check in, you can try Clyn free on one property at clyn.com.