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Airbnb Cleaning Fee Calculator: fee against cost

Enter your cleaning fee and what each turnover costs. See how much of the cost the fee recovers and the fee that breaks even.

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Examples computed by this calculator on sample inputs. Not market data.

Your turnover in three numbers

  • No account needed
  • Airbnb fees per Help Center article 1857
  • Every formula shown, sources dated
  • Free PDF report with every chart
How it works

Three steps. About a minute.

  1. Step 1: Enter fee and turnover

    Your cleaning fee, cleaner pay, laundry and consumables. Add the nightly rate and stay length to see the guest's view.

  2. Step 2: See what it recovers

    The share of each turnover the fee covers after Airbnb's cut, the break-even fee, and the yearly gap.

  3. Step 3: Keep the PDF

    Download the turnover breakdown, the yearly result at other fees and the fee as a share of each stay.

Your report

What you'll get

Cleaning cost recoveryFrom the sample
THE HEADLINE

How much of each turnover the fee actually covers

The fee you keep after the channel fee, divided by the full turn cost. Under 100%, the nightly rate is paying for cleaning on every stay.

  • Cleaning cost recovery
  • Turn cost
  • Fee you keep per stay

Showing part 1 of 5: Cost recovery

  • Turnover cost against the fee you keep
  • The cleaning fee that covers your cost
  • What the gap costs you over a year
  • Your fee as a share of the guest's total
  • Three ways to close the gap, and results by stay length

Airbnb takes its fee from the cleaning fee too

From the sample

Airbnb's host fee applies to the nightly price and any fees you charge, cleaning included (Airbnb Help Center, article 1857). At the 15.5% host-only fee, a cleaning fee set exactly at your cleaner's price loses 15.5% of itself every stay.

To break even, divide your full turnover cost (cleaner, laundry, consumables, any restock time) by one minus the fee rate. Anything below that is paid out of the nightly rate.

Cleaning fee mistakes this calculator catches

Most hosts set a cleaning fee once and never check it against the real turn cost.

  1. 01Matching the fee to the cleaner's pay

    The sample cleaner gets $95, but laundry and consumables take the turn to $131. A $120 fee looks generous and recovers 77.4%.

  2. 02Forgetting Airbnb takes 15.5% of it

    Of a $120 cleaning fee, $18.60 goes to the host fee. The break-even fee is the turn cost divided by 0.845: $155.03 on the sample.

  3. 03Ignoring how many turns a year that is

    A $29.60 gap per turn sounds small. At 82.7 turnovers a year it is $2,449 of rent paying for cleaning.

  4. 04Using one fee for every unit size

    The same $120 fee recovers 87.4% of a 1-bedroom turn and 48.1% of a 4-bedroom turn on the rate card.

How much of each turnover the fee covers

Cleaning cost recoveredFrom the sample

Recovery is the fee you keep after Airbnb's cut, divided by the turnover cost. Under the full cost, the rent is quietly paying for cleaning on every stay, and it adds up over a year of turnovers.

MagicBNB's Discovery spotlights flag a cleaning burden pattern across properties, so the door where cleaning eats the margin gets named.

What good looks like

Recovery is the reading that matters. The fee level itself depends on your market.

OutputWeakOkayGood
Cleaning cost recoveryRule of thumb used by this calculator's verdict.Under 85%85% to 99%100% or more

What the guest actually reacts to

Cleaning fee share of the stay totalFrom the sample

Airbnb shows guests the total price, so the number a guest weighs is the cleaning fee as a share of the whole stay. On a one-night stay that share is large. On a week it fades.

Set the fee from your turnover cost first, then check the share at your shortest common stay. If it looks steep there, a minimum stay usually works better than a fee below cost.

How operators use it

  1. Operator after a cleaner rate rise

    Cleaning company raised per-turn pay by $15.

    Enters the new pay, reads the new break-even fee, and raises the fee only on the units now under 100%.

  2. Host testing a no-fee listing

    Wants to fold cleaning into the nightly rate for 1 and 2-night stays.

    Uses the nightly rise column to price it so the turn is still covered.

Cleaning fees, worked through

What does an Airbnb turnover really cost?

The cleaner's pay plus laundry, consumables and any inspection time. On the sample 2-bedroom, a $95 clean is a $131 turnover.

The cleaner's invoice is the visible part. Linens, laundry service, toilet paper, coffee, soap and the restock run are the rest, and they rarely get counted against the fee.

Then Airbnb takes 15.5% of the cleaning fee itself. Of a $120 fee you keep $101.40, which is the number to compare with the $131 turn cost.

Sample turnover, 2 bedrooms
  • Cleaner $95 + laundry $22 + consumables $14$131 turn cost
  • Cleaning fee $120, less 15.5% channel fee ($18.60)$101.40 kept
  • Gap per turn-$29.60, recovery 77.4%
  • Break-even fee$131 / 0.845 = $155.03

How many cleanings does an Airbnb need per year?

Booked nights divided by average stay: 365 x occupancy / stay length. At 68% occupancy and a 3-night average stay, that is 82.7 turnovers a year.

Turnovers multiply every per-stay gap. A $29.60 shortfall on each turn is $2,449 a year on the sample, paid from the nightly rate without anyone deciding it should be.

Shorter stays raise the count fast. At a 2-night average the same door turns 124 times a year and the shortfall reaches $3,673.

Sample, annual cleaning result by average stay
  • 1 night248 turns, -$7,347
  • 2 nights124 turns, -$3,673
  • 3 nights83 turns, -$2,449
  • 7 nights35 turns, -$1,050

Should I raise the cleaning fee or the nightly rate?

For a 3-night stay the guest pays the same either way: $231.68 a night. They differ on short stays, where a higher cleaning fee makes a 1-night stay look expensive.

To cover the sample's turn, the fee rises $35.03 to $155.03, or the nightly rate rises $11.68. On a 3-night stay both cost the guest the same total. On a 1-night stay the higher fee adds $35.03 to that night, which shows up hard in search results sorted by total price.

On a 7-night stay the rate rise costs the guest more, because it applies to every night. So raise the fee if your stays are long, and fold it into the rate if they are short.

Guest total per night at the break-even fee ($155.03)
  • 1 night$300.00 now, $335.03 after
  • 3 nights$220.00 now, $231.68 after
  • 7 nights$197.14 now, $202.15 after

Does a high cleaning fee hurt Airbnb bookings?

It may, but no published data measures it at listing level, so this calculator does not model a booking effect. What it shows is how large the fee looks to a guest at each stay length.

On a 1-night stay the sample's $120 fee is 40% of the guest's total. On a 7-night stay it is 8.7%. If many of your bookings are one or two nights, the fee is a large part of what the guest sees.

Test it on your own listing: change one variable, hold it for four weeks in a comparable season, and read booking count and lead time. That beats any industry average.

Where it fits in your quarter

  1. When rates or suppliers change

    Enter real cleaner pay, laundry and consumables. Read recovery and the break-even fee.

  2. Before changing the fee

    Check the guest-view table at your shortest common stay. If the fee would pass 25% of a 2-night total, consider folding part of it into the rate.

  3. After the change

    Watch the reviews. MagicBNB's Guest Experience dashboard shows the cleanliness rating per property over time.

Terms on this page

Turn cost
Everything one turnover costs: cleaner, laundry, consumables, inspection.
Cost recovery
The fee you keep after Airbnb's cut, divided by the turn cost.
Break-even cleaning fee
The fee that exactly covers the turn after the channel fee.
Turnover
One check-out and the clean before the next guest.
Subsidy from rent
The part of each turn the nightly rate pays for because the fee falls short.

Questions

How much should I charge for an Airbnb cleaning fee?

At least the turnover cost divided by one minus Airbnb's fee, because Airbnb takes its share of the cleaning fee too. For example, a $131 turnover at the 15.5% host-only fee needs a fee of about $155. Anything below that is paid out of the nightly rate on every stay.

What percentage of the nightly rate should a cleaning fee be?

There is no reliable percentage, and the nightly rate is the wrong yardstick. Airbnb shows guests the total price, so the number a guest reacts to is the fee's share of the whole stay, which falls as stays get longer. Set the fee from your turnover cost, then check the share at your shortest common stay.

Should I include the cleaning fee in the nightly rate?

You can fold it in: raise the nightly rate by the fee divided by your usual stay length. Longer stays then pay more than the turnover costs and one-night stays pay less, so it works best with a minimum stay that matches your common booking length.

Does Airbnb take its fee from the cleaning fee?

Yes. Airbnb's host fee applies to the nightly price and any fees the host charges, which includes cleaning, and excludes taxes (Airbnb Help Center article 1857). At 15.5%, a fee set exactly at cost loses 15.5% of itself every stay.

How much do Airbnb cleaners get paid per turnover?

It varies by market and by home size, and there is no reliable national figure. The calculator starts on a sample rate by bedroom count only as a starting figure, so set cleaner pay to your own cleaner's actual rate.

What is the most I can pay my cleaner?

Whatever the fee keeps after the channel takes its share, minus laundry, consumables and restock labour. Pay more than that and the nightly rate funds part of every clean. The results work it out from your own fee and costs, next to the fee rise or nightly rate rise that would close the same gap, and show how the yearly result moves with shorter or longer stays.

Should the cleaning fee change with the number of bedrooms?

Yes, because turn cost does. On the calculator's rate card, the same $120 fee recovers 87.4% of a 1-bedroom turn and 48.1% of a 4-bedroom one.

Is laundry part of the cleaning fee?

It should be part of the turn cost the fee covers. Leaving laundry out is one of the most common reasons a fee that matches the cleaner's pay still falls short.

Can I charge different cleaning fees for short and long stays?

Not through one fixed fee, but you can raise the nightly rate for short stays or set a higher minimum. The guest-view table shows where a single fee starts to look out of proportion.

Who keeps the cleaning fee when someone else manages the listing?

Whoever the agreement says. Often it passes to the owner, who pays the cleaner. The owner payout calculator shows the cleaning gap on the statement.

See all 20 free calculators

Formulas last checked .

Guest Experience dashboard

Check the fee against what guests say about cleanliness

This calculator prices the turn. MagicBNB's Guest Experience dashboard breaks ratings down by category, cleanliness included, so you can see whether a cheaper turn is costing you in reviews.

Two more places this shows up in MagicBNB

  • Discovery spotlightsAI insight cards include a cleaning burden flag, which surfaces the doors where cleaning takes an outsized share.
  • Today's schedule cardToday's check-ins and check-outs per property with times and status, ready to hand to the cleaning crew.
See cleanliness ratings per door
Go deeper

Every turnover's real cost, run in depth

This calculator is the quick look at one turnover. MagicBNB runs the same numbers in depth and in real time, property by property, in its Listings table.

Run the numbers in depthBack to the calculator