Pricing is where most new cleaning businesses go wrong. Prices copied from a competitor or a forum leave out the things that make your business different: your pay, your drive time, your supplies, and how fast you actually clean. This guide covers the three common ways to price cleaning work, how to add up what an hour really costs you, how commercial bids differ from home cleans, and how to turn all of it into a quote a client can say yes to.
Every number in this article is a made-up illustration to show the math. It isn't an industry average or a recommended price. Use your own costs.
The three ways to price cleaning services
1. Hourly pricing
You charge a set rate for each cleaner-hour. It's simple to explain and it protects you when a home turns out dirtier than expected. The downside is that clients can't easily compare you with others, some worry the job will be "stretched", and you earn less as you get faster.
Good for: first-time deep cleans, move-out cleans, and jobs you can't size well in advance.
2. Flat-rate (per-job) pricing
You quote one price for the whole job, usually built from room counts, home size, condition and add-ons. Clients like knowing the total up front. As you get more efficient, more of that flat price stays with you.
The risk: if your time estimate is wrong, you absorb the difference. Flat rates only work when they're built on real time records.
3. Square-foot pricing
You charge per square foot, which is common for commercial and office work. It scales neatly with the size of the space, but square footage alone ignores what's in the space. A carpeted open office and a clinic with many restrooms take very different amounts of time. That's why commercial cleaners pair square footage with production rates: how many square feet a cleaner can finish per hour for each type of space.
Step one: work out what an hour really costs you
Whatever method you choose, everything rests on one number: your true cost per working hour. Build it from these parts:
- Labor: what you pay yourself or your cleaners per hour, plus employer payroll costs if you have employees. Ask your accountant, or check official state and federal guidance, for what applies to you.
- Supplies: chemicals, cloths, vacuum bags and equipment wear, spread over the hours you work.
- Drive time and fuel: time spent driving between jobs is paid time that nobody bills for unless you build it in.
- Overhead: insurance, phone, software, marketing, bank fees. Total them for a month, then divide by the hours you actually bill in that month (not the hours you're "on the clock").
- Profit: a margin on top, so the business can save, grow and survive a slow month.
Illustration: say a solo cleaner adds it all up and finds that labor, supplies, drive time and overhead come to $30 per billable hour. If they want a profit margin of 20% of the price, they divide $30 by 0.80 to get a $37.50 price per hour. (Note that adding 20% on top of cost gives a different answer. Margin and markup aren't the same thing.) Your numbers will differ, and that's the point.
Step two: turn your hourly cost into job prices
Once you know your cost per hour, flat rates come from time estimates:
- Time yourself on real jobs. Write down how long each type of room takes in normal condition.
- Add condition multipliers: a first clean or a neglected home takes longer than a maintenance visit.
- Price add-ons separately, such as inside the oven, inside the fridge, interior windows or laundry.
- Set a minimum job price so small jobs still cover the drive and setup.
- Decide how recurring clients (weekly or biweekly) are priced compared with one-time cleans. Regular visits usually take less time per visit, but only your own records can tell you how much less.
Illustration: if a typical 3-bedroom maintenance clean takes you 3 hours and your price per hour is $37.50 (from above), the base job price is $112.50, before add-ons or a first-clean adjustment.
Commercial bids vs. home cleans
Commercial work is quoted differently:
- Measure the space by type: offices, restrooms, break rooms and hard floors each take a different amount of time.
- Apply production rates (square feet per hour) for each type to estimate the hours per visit.
- Multiply by visit frequency to get monthly hours, then multiply by your price per hour.
- Present it as a monthly price in a written proposal: scope, frequency, what's excluded, and how changes are handled.
Production rates vary a lot with the layout, the equipment and the cleaner. Treat any published rate as a starting point, and replace it with your own timed results as soon as you have them.
Writing a quote clients understand
A good cleaning quote is short and specific:
- What's included, room by room or area by area
- What's not included
- The price, and whether it's per visit or per month
- Any first-clean or condition adjustment, and why
- Your cancellation and lockout policy
- How long the quote is valid
Being clear about these things up front heads off most pricing disputes later.
Review your prices regularly
Prices go stale. Supplies, fuel, insurance and wages change. Check your cost-per-hour math every few months, and check whether your time estimates still hold up. If a job always runs long, re-quote it.
Tools to do the math for you
If you'd rather not build all of this from scratch, The Collective's Digital Archive has ready-made tools built on the method above:
- Cleaning Business Pricing Calculator & Quote Template: works out your true hourly cost, turns it into prices for each type of clean, and builds the quote.
- Commercial Cleaning Bid Calculator & Proposal Template: for bidding offices and small commercial spaces from production rates, with a monthly proposal.
- Cleaning Business Quick Reference (Printable PDF): pricing formulas, time estimates, production rates and job checklists, each with a worked example.
FAQ
Should I charge by the hour or by the job?
Many cleaners use both: hourly (or a range) for first cleans they can't size yet, then a flat rate once they know the home. Whichever you choose, base it on your own cost per hour.
How do I price a deep clean?
Time it like any other job, then apply a condition adjustment. Explain clearly what "deep" includes, because clients often picture different things.
Can I just match a competitor's prices?
You can use them as a reality check, but a competitor's costs, speed and margins aren't yours. Start from your own numbers, then compare.
Want more clients finding your prices?
Once your pricing is set, a simple website with clear services and a quote form helps people find you and get in touch. See website design from The Collective.