How to set your cleaning fee

Cleaning fee that covers a turnover = turnover cost ÷ share you keep after fees. Share kept = (1 − platform fee %) × (1 − co-host fee %).

For a short-term rental, the cleaning fee is what you charge each stay for the turnover clean. If your platform fee and any co-host fee are taken from the cleaning fee as well as the nightly rate (your payout statement shows this), charging exactly what the clean costs leaves you short on every stay. The answer is to divide by what you keep, not to add the fees on top.

Not affiliated with Airbnb, Vrbo or any booking platform. The numbers on this page are a fictional example, not market data.

Step 1: what one turnover really costs

The cleaner's pay for the turnover, or your own time at the hourly rate you want.
Laundry: a linen service, the laundromat or your own machine costs.
Supplies and restocking: cleaning products, toilet paper, soap, coffee and so on.

Use receipts and your cleaner's invoices. If the cost changes with the length of the stay (a long stay may need a deeper clean), work out each case separately.

Step 2: the share you keep

Take the platform host fee from your payout statement, and any co-host or management fee from your agreement. Multiply what is left after each: with a 3% platform fee and no co-host, you keep 97%.

Step 3: divide, then round up

Fee = turnover cost ÷ share kept. Round up to a figure you are happy to show guests.

Worked example (fictional numbers)

A host pays a cleaner $60 per turnover, $18 for laundry and $12 for supplies: $90.00 per turnover. The platform fee in this example is 3% and there is no co-host.

Share kept: 1 − 0.03 = 97%.
Fee that covers the turnover: $90 ÷ 0.97 = $92.78.
The host's current fee is $80: they keep $80 × 0.97 = $77.60, which is $12.40 short on every turnover.

With a 15% co-host fee as well, the share kept is 0.97 × 0.85 = 0.8245, and the fee that covers the same $90 turnover rises to $90 ÷ 0.8245 = $109.16.

What the fee does to short stays

Guests see the cleaning fee as part of the total price. Spread over the stay, the $92.78 fee adds $46.39 a night to a 2-night stay but $23.20 a night to a 4-night stay. That is the trade-off to weigh up:

Charge the full fee. Every stay pays for its own turnover, and short stays look more expensive per night.
Put part of it in the nightly rate. The cleaning fee looks smaller, but the cost still has to be covered, so the nightly rate goes up.
Set a minimum stay. Fewer, longer stays mean fewer turnovers to pay for.

Whichever you choose, check that the whole month still adds up after every cost.

Review it regularly

Cleaner rates, laundry and supply prices change. Re-run the numbers when any of them changes, and when your platform or co-host fee changes.

Find your own fee in the cleaning fee calculator, then check the whole month in the Airbnb profit calculator or the break-even nightly rate calculator.