One of the hardest parts of running a cleaning business is deciding what to charge. Set your prices too high and you scare customers off; set them too low and you work yourself into the ground for very little. Learning how to price your cleaning services properly is what separates a hobby from a real, profitable business. In this guide we walk through the main pricing methods, what you must factor in, and how to price your cleaning services with confidence so you cover your costs and earn what your time is worth.
Pricing is not just a number you pluck out of the air. It reflects your costs, your skill, your reliability and the value you give the customer. Get it right and you attract good clients who pay fairly and stick around. Get it wrong and you end up busy but broke.
The three main ways to price cleaning work
There is no single correct method, and many cleaners use a mix. The three common approaches are:
- By the hour. Simple and transparent. You charge an hourly rate and the customer pays for the time the job takes. Good for regular domestic cleaning where the workload is predictable.
- By the job. You quote a fixed price for the whole job, whatever time it takes. Customers like the certainty, and if you work efficiently you earn more per hour. Good for one-off deep cleans, end of tenancy and ovens.
- By the room or by size. You base the price on the number of rooms or the property size. Quick to quote and easy for customers to understand.
Whichever you choose, the underlying maths is the same: your price has to comfortably cover your costs and your time, with a proper profit on top. That is the real skill in how you price your cleaning services.
What you must factor into your prices
Undercharging usually happens because cleaners only think about the time on site and forget everything else. When you price your cleaning services, build in all of the following:
- Your time, including travel between jobs and any admin.
- Products and equipment, from cloths and chemicals to the wear on your vacuum and machines.
- Travel costs, fuel and vehicle running.
- Insurance, public liability and any other cover.
- Tax and National Insurance, which you must set aside from every job.
- Quiet periods, holidays and sick days, because you do not earn on those.
A useful sanity check is the National Minimum Wage. If, after all your costs, your effective hourly earnings dip near or below that, your prices are too low. You are running a business, not doing a favour.
Do not compete on being the cheapest
It is tempting to win work by being the cheapest cleaner around, but it is a trap. The cheapest cleaner attracts the most demanding, least loyal customers, and leaves no room for the odd difficult job or a quiet month. Instead, price fairly for good, reliable work and compete on trust, quality and professionalism. Customers letting someone into their home care far more about reliability than about saving a couple of pounds an hour. When you price your cleaning services around value rather than the lowest number, you attract better clients and protect your own wellbeing.
How to give a confident quote
A clear, prompt quote wins jobs. Where you can, see the property first, in person or through photos, so you can judge the real workload. Explain what is included, be upfront about anything that costs extra, and give the price with confidence rather than apologising for it. If a customer pushes back, you can adjust the scope, for example cleaning fewer rooms, rather than simply dropping your rate. How you present the price matters almost as much as the number itself.
A professional website helps you charge more
The way your business looks online directly affects what you can charge. When a potential customer finds a tidy, credible website with clear services and genuine reviews, they arrive already trusting you and are far less likely to haggle. A cleaner with no online presence often has nothing to compete on but price. A professional site lets you show your quality and justify a fair rate. A managed pay monthly website from CleaningProWebsites.com starts at £24.99 +VAT/mo with everything included, and it often pays for itself many times over by helping you win better-paying work. You can see the packages here.
Review and raise your prices regularly
Your costs go up over time, so your prices need to as well. Many cleaners keep charging the same rate for years out of fear of losing customers, and quietly earn less and less in real terms. Review your prices at least once a year. When you do raise them, give existing clients plenty of notice and a friendly explanation. Good customers understand that costs rise, and the ones who leave over a small, fair increase were rarely your best clients anyway. Regularly reviewing how you price your cleaning services keeps your business healthy.
Get listed and stay visible
Being easy to find makes it easier to hold your prices, because customers who seek you out specifically are less price-sensitive than those comparing ten cheap quotes. Alongside your own website, a listing in a trusted cleaning directory like Cleaner Connect puts you in front of people actively looking for a reliable cleaner, which tends to mean better-quality enquiries who value the service over the lowest price.
Common mistakes when you price your cleaning services
A few pricing mistakes catch out cleaners again and again. The most common is only charging for time on site and forgetting travel, products, insurance and tax, which quietly turns a decent-looking rate into barely minimum wage. Another is quoting over the phone without seeing the property, then discovering the job is twice the size you expected. A third is being afraid to say no to a badly priced job just to stay busy. And the biggest of all is never raising your rates, so you slowly earn less each year. Keeping these in mind when you price your cleaning services helps you avoid the traps that keep so many cleaners busy but broke.
Should you show prices on your website?
There are two schools of thought. Showing guide prices or starting-from figures filters out bargain hunters and reassures serious customers before they call, which saves you time. Others prefer to quote each job individually so they can price accurately after seeing it. A sensible middle ground is to show clear starting-from prices or ranges on your website while making it clear that a proper quote follows a look at the property. Whatever you decide, being open about roughly how you price your cleaning services builds trust and cuts down on time-wasting enquiries from people who were never going to book.
Know your worth
Perhaps the most important part of pricing is mindset. Many cleaners undercharge simply because they undervalue their own work, treating cleaning as something anyone could do rather than the skilled, reliable, trusted service it really is. Good cleaning saves people hours, keeps their home or business healthy, and gives them genuine peace of mind. That is worth paying properly for. When you truly believe your service is worth a fair price, you quote with confidence, and customers pick up on that confidence and respect it. Pricing well starts with valuing what you do.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I charge per hour for cleaning?
Rates vary by area and service, so rather than copying a figure, work out what covers your costs and time with a fair profit, then check it against local competitors. That gives you a rate that is sustainable for your business rather than a guess.
Should I charge by the hour or by the job?
By the hour suits regular domestic cleaning where the workload is steady; by the job suits one-off deep cleans and end of tenancy work where efficiency rewards you. Many cleaners use both depending on the job.
How do I price your cleaning services for a one-off deep clean?
Deep cleans take much longer than a regular tidy, so price by the job after seeing the property. Factor in the extra time, products and effort, and never quote a deep clean at your standard hourly maintenance rate.
Pricing with confidence
Learning how to price your cleaning services well is one of the best things you can do for your business. Cover all your costs, include your time, do not race to the bottom, present your quotes with confidence, back it up with a professional website, and review your rates every year. Do that and you will build a business that pays you properly rather than one that keeps you busy for too little. If a credible website to help you win better-paying clients is the missing piece, get in touch and we will build you one, so your pricing is backed up by a professional presence that makes good customers happy to pay a fair rate for reliable, quality work.
