Flat-rate or hourly: two ways to price a house cleaning, and when each one wins
Flat-rate and hourly pricing both pay the bills. Here is which one books more clients, which one protects your margin, and how to choose for your area.
A new client asks "how much for a cleaning" and you freeze, because the honest answer depends on the house. Some cleaning companies quote a flat price per visit. Others charge by the hour. Both work. They just work for different businesses, and picking the wrong one quietly costs you either clients or margin.
Here is how each one plays out in the real world, and how to choose.
How flat-rate pricing works
You quote a fixed price per visit based on size, bedrooms, bathrooms and condition. A three-bedroom, two-bath home on a biweekly plan might be $150 to $200 a visit in many markets. The client knows what they will pay before you arrive.
Where flat-rate wins:
- It books faster. People shopping online want a number. A clear price on a page or in a text removes the biggest reason they stop replying.
- It rewards a fast crew. If your team gets the house done in two and a half hours instead of three, you keep the difference.
- It fits recurring plans. Weekly and biweekly clients like a predictable bill, and predictable bills are what keep them from canceling.
- It is easier to put on your website. A starting price range is something you can actually publish.
Where flat-rate hurts:
- The first clean. A house that has not been cleaned in months can take twice as long. If you quote it at the recurring rate, you lose money on day one.
- Bad walkthroughs. A flat price is only as good as the information behind it. Quote from a vague phone call and you will underprice.
How hourly pricing works
You charge a rate per cleaner per hour, often $35 to $60 per hour per person depending on the area, with a minimum visit. The client pays for the time it takes.
Where hourly wins:
- Unpredictable jobs. Move-outs, post-construction and hoarding-level cleans are hard to price from a photo. Hourly protects you.
- New businesses. If you do not yet know how long a typical house takes your team, hourly keeps you from guessing wrong.
- Clients who want control. Some people want "three hours, start with the kitchen and baths." Hourly fits that.
Where hourly hurts:
- It sounds expensive and open-ended. "It depends" makes people nervous. Many shoppers will pick the company that gave them a number.
- It punishes speed. A crew that gets faster earns you less, unless you raise the rate.
- Clients watch the clock. You will get questions about breaks and drive time.
The hybrid most growing companies land on
Many cleaning companies end up here:
- Flat-rate for recurring service. Price by size and frequency. Publish a "starting at" number.
- A separate first-clean price. Often 1.5 to 2 times the recurring rate, explained plainly: "The first visit takes longer because we are catching up. After that, your biweekly price is $165."
- Hourly for one-off deep work. Move-outs and construction cleanup stay hourly, with a minimum and an estimate range.
This gives shoppers a number, protects you on the hard first visit, and keeps the messy jobs from eating your week. The pricing and quoting guide walks through how to build the size table.
A hypothetical side by side
Picture two owners in the same town.
Owner A quotes hourly: "$45 per cleaner per hour, two cleaners, usually three to four hours." A shopper does the math and lands somewhere between $270 and $360. That range feels big and uncertain.
Owner B quotes flat: "Three bedrooms, two baths, biweekly: $185 a visit. First clean is $295." The shopper knows exactly what to expect.
In our experience, Owner B gets more replies from the same number of inquiries. Owner A may still win the client who values flexibility. Neither is wrong. But if your goal this fall is signing recurring clients, the flat price is easier to say yes to.
How pricing affects your marketing
Your pricing style changes what you can say in ads, on your Google profile and on your website.
- Flat-rate lets you run an ad that says "biweekly cleaning from $150." That number filters out people looking for $60 cleanings and pulls in people ready to book.
- Hourly ads tend to say "free quote," which brings in more calls but more tire-kickers.
It also changes how fast you need to respond. A shopper comparing three companies often books the first one that sends a clear price. If a quote request sits for a day, it is usually gone. The missed calls and follow-up guide covers how to reply in minutes, and the calculator shows what slow replies cost.
Where you sit in the field
The median cleaning company on Google has 6 reviews, and 37.3% have no website at all, so most shoppers cannot find a price anywhere before calling. Companies with a site have a median of 12 reviews, versus 1 for those without. A simple pricing page is one of the easiest ways to stand out. See the benchmark report for the full picture.
How to choose this week
- If most of your work is recurring, switch to flat-rate with a first-clean price.
- If most of your work is one-off and messy, stay hourly with clear minimums.
- If you are not sure, time your next ten jobs, then build a flat price table from the real numbers.
If you want help putting your prices in front of more shoppers, start a free 14-day trial of any service, no card, text or call (801) 666-2415.
Steven has spent the last several years running growth campaigns for local service businesses, house cleaning companies among them, and builds the benchmark datasets on this site from public Google listings. About the editor