Guide

How much does a cleaner cost? What actually moves the number

This is the most-asked question on the site and the one with the worst answers elsewhere, because a number that sounds authoritative is easy to publish and almost always wrong for your property. Here is what we can quote, what we cannot, and what genuinely decides the figure you are given.

What we can quote, and what we cannot

Australia is the one market where this platform holds a sourced price band, and it covers bond and end of lease cleans by property size: a studio or one bedroom sits between $290 and $380, a two bedroom between $360 and $520, a three bedroom between $450 and $650, a four bedroom between $550 and $750, and a five bedroom or larger between $750 and $1,100.

Now the part other sites leave out. Everywhere else — New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Singapore — we publish no figure at all. Not because we are being coy, but because we have no sourced number for those markets, and a number we invented would be a claim rather than a guide.

What actually moves the number

Cleaners set their own prices on this platform, so what you are quoted is a person's judgement about your job. Six things mostly determine it.

The condition, which is not the same as the size. A two bedroom that has been maintained for years is a shorter job than a two bedroom that has not.
The service. A regular home clean, a bond clean and a builders clean are three different jobs with three different checklists.
The state of the things nobody looks at. Ovens, extractor hoods, shower screens, window tracks and inside cupboards are where hours disappear.
Frequency. A regular clean costs less per visit than a one-off, because the work compounds and the second visit is quicker than the first.
Access. Parking, stairs, a lift that needs booking, keys or an agent who has to meet you — all of it is time.
How far the cleaner has to travel, and whether their calendar has room. Rates are not identical across a city.

Why an hourly rate is the wrong question for a bond clean

For a regular clean an hourly rate is a reasonable way to think, because the job is roughly the same every time. For a bond clean it is close to meaningless, and this is where quotes that look cheap in an advertisement turn expensive in reality.

A bond clean is judged against the condition the property was in when the tenancy started. A cleaner pricing it is working through a mental checklist — oven, extractor, inside cupboards, tracks, grout, limescale — and quoting the job, not the time. An hourly figure invites the fastest possible pass at that checklist, which is precisely the outcome you do not want when a bond is on the line.

The only number that matters

You should see your actual figure before anyone starts, for your actual property, from the person who will do the work. Everything before that is an estimate of an estimate.

On this platform that is how it works by design: you describe the clean, cleaners covering your area send their own price, and you compare price, documents and free times side by side before you choose anyone. Nothing to pay to ask, and no obligation to accept any quote.

Questions people ask

Why will you not give me a rate for my city?

Because we do not have a sourced one. We hold a published band for Australia and nothing for the other markets we operate in, and inventing a plausible-looking average for your city would be a claim dressed up as information. You will get a real figure from real cleaners instead, which is slower by an hour and correct by a thousand dollars.

Is the cheapest quote the best deal?

Rarely, and almost never on a bond clean. The differences between quotes are usually in what is included rather than in profit margin: the oven, the extractor, the inside of the windows, the garage. Compare what each quote says it covers before comparing the figures.

Do cleaners set their own prices?

Yes. Every cleaner on this platform is their own business and sets their own rate. We do not set rates, cap them or add a margin on top, and the platform takes no cut of what a client pays the cleaner on the day.

House cleaning in Australia

House cleaning Post a clean All guides

End of lease cleaning: what the check-out inspection actually looks at · What actually decides the price of an end of lease clean · Airbnb turnover cleaning: what a two-hour changeover actually needs · Getting your first ten cleaning clients without paying for advertising · How to price a cleaning job without undercharging · Reviews and complaints: the two things that decide your next ten jobs · Growing from one cleaner to a small team without losing the standard · Insurance for cleaners: what the policies are and what to check · A cleaning equipment checklist that pays for itself · Keeping cleaning business records that survive a tax review · Keeping the clients you have won · How often should you clean your house? A schedule that holds · A cleaner or a cleaning company? What you are actually choosing

Practical advice rather than an inspection standard. The standard that matters is whatever your tenancy agreement and entry report say.

Post a cleaning jobNo fee to post. Compare prices before you choose.