How to Price Your Cleaning Services Competitively (Without Undercutting Yourself)

By Attique Ur Rehman November 29, 2025

Pricing your cleaning services can feel like walking a tightrope.

Charge too much and you’re scared you’ll lose the job.
Charge too little and you’re exhausted, overworked, and wondering where the profit went.

The good news? You don’t have to guess.

In this guide, we’ll walk through a simple, practical way to price your cleaning services competitively without undercutting yourself, so you’re paid fairly for the quality you deliver and can grow a sustainable business.

Why Getting Your Pricing Right Matters

Before we jump into formulas and numbers, it’s important to understand why pricing is more than “what everyone else is charging.”

Good pricing helps you:

Cover all your costs (not just wages and chemicals).
Pay yourself properly as the business owner.
Deliver consistent quality because you’re not rushing through underpriced jobs.
Grow your team and business with enough margin to reinvest.

If your prices are too low, you might be busy, but you’ll constantly feel behind. The goal is profitable busy, not burnt-out busy.

Step 1: Know Your Numbers (Before You Set Any Price)

You can’t price confidently if you don’t know your costs. Start with three key areas.

1. Fixed Costs

These are costs you pay whether you clean one house or a hundred:

Insurance
Registration, licences, bookkeeping, accounting
Software subscriptions (scheduling, invoicing, payroll)
Vehicle registration and basic maintenance
Website hosting, domain, marketing tools

Add these up for the year, then divide by 12 to get a monthly fixed cost.

2. Variable Costs

These change based on how many jobs you do:

Wages or subcontractor payments
Cleaning products and chemicals
Cloths, mops, vacuum bags, PPE, etc.
Fuel and tolls
Parking fees

Estimate your average cost per job or per hour.

3. Your Income Target

You’re not running a charity. Decide:

How much you want to pay yourself per month
How many billable hours or jobs you realistically want to do

From there, you can work backwards to see what hourly rate or job price you need to achieve that income.

Tip: Don’t forget tax and GST/VAT if it applies in your country. Your “charge-out rate” must include these.

Step 2: Choose the Right Pricing Model

Most cleaning businesses use one or a combination of these models.

1. Hourly Rate

You charge per hour of work.

Good for:

Regular house cleaning
Casual or flexible jobs where scope can vary

Pros:

Simple to explain
Easy to adjust if the job takes longer

Cons:

Clients may focus only on the hourly rate, not the value
Efficient cleaners can earn less if they’re fast

2. Flat Rate / Per Job

You price by the job, not the hours. For example:

“3-bedroom house clean: $X”
“End of lease clean for 2-bedroom unit: from $X”

Good for:

End of lease / bond cleans
Once-off deep cleans
Standardised packages

Pros:

Clients love upfront certainty
Rewards efficiency – the faster and better you work, the more you keep

Cons:

If you underestimate, your profit disappears
Requires good experience to quote accurately

3. Per Square Metre / Per Area (Common in Commercial Cleaning)

Typical for:

Offices
Strata and common areas
Retail and medical facilities

You might charge per square metre or create a monthly contract based on:

Size of the space
Frequency (daily, weekly, fortnightly)
Level of service (basic vs. detailed)

You can also link this to your commercial cleaning service page, for example:
“Learn more about our office cleaning services and how we structure our commercial contracts.”

Step 3: Research Your Market (Without Copying Your Competitors)

Market research doesn’t mean you copy whatever the cheapest cleaner is charging.

Instead:

Look at 3–5 competitors in your area.
Note their service types (e.g. end of lease cleaning, regular house cleaning, commercial cleaning).
Check whether they position themselves as budget, mid-range, or premium.

Then ask yourself:

Where do you want to sit in the market?
Does your quality, reliability, and communication justify mid to premium pricing? (In most cases, yes – if you’re professional and consistent.)

Your goal is to be competitive, not the cheapest. Cheaper prices attract the most demanding and least loyal clients. Competitive pricing with strong value attracts people who respect your work.

Step 4: Build Your Profit Margin in (On Purpose)

Once you know:

Your hourly cost (wages + overheads + supplies)
How long a job usually takes

…you can calculate your base cost per job.

Example (simple numbers):

Total cost per hour: $35
Job duration: 4 hours
Base cost: 4 × $35 = $140

If you charge $140, you’ve only covered your costs. That’s not profit.

Add a profit margin on top – for example, 25–40% depending on your market and service type.

25% margin: $140 × 1.25 = $175
40% margin: $140 × 1.40 = $196

Your minimum price should land in this range, not at your base cost.

Important: Profit isn’t “greed” – it’s what pays for growth, new equipment, training, marketing, and your safety buffer when things go wrong.

Step 5: Adjust for Service Type, Property & Difficulty

Not all cleaning jobs are created equal.

You should adjust your pricing for:

1. Property Size & Layout

Number of bedrooms and bathrooms
Stairs vs. single level
Open-plan or lots of small rooms

2. Condition of the Property

Has it been cleaned regularly?
Is there heavy grease, mould, pet hair, or nicotine staining?

For example:

A “standard” 3-bedroom bond clean might have a base price,
But a heavily neglected property should be quoted higher or as “from $X, final price on inspection.”

3. Service Type & Add-ons

Specialised services should never be priced like a normal clean:

Oven cleaning
Inside fridge
Wall washing
Blind cleaning
Carpet steam cleaning
Balcony or garage pressure cleaning

These should be add-on line items with clear pricing. On your website, link to relevant service pages, e.g.:

“We can also include carpet cleaning and blind cleaning as add-ons to your bond clean.”

Step 6: Present Your Prices Clearly and Confidently

How you present your prices matters just as much as the number.

Use Packages Where Possible

Clients love easy decisions. For example:

Standard Clean: Weekly or fortnightly maintenance clean
Deep Clean: Once-off top-to-bottom detail clean
End of Lease Clean: Full checklist plus optional add-ons

Each package can link to a relevant page on your site:

“View our full house cleaning checklist.”
“See what’s included in our end of lease cleaning service.”

Include “From” Pricing on Your Website

Instead of locking yourself into an exact price for every situation, you can show:

“2-bedroom, 1-bathroom bond clean from $X”
“Regular house cleaning from $X per visit”

Then explain that the final price depends on condition, access, and any extras required.

Justify the Value, Not Just the Price

When sending quotes, remind clients what they’re getting:

Trained & vetted cleaners
All equipment and chemicals supplied
Public liability insurance
Quality guarantee / re-clean policy

You can link to an About or Why Choose Us page, such as:
“Find out more about why clients trust us.”

When Should You Raise Your Prices?

If you haven’t reviewed your prices in the last 12 months, there’s a good chance you’re undercharging.

Signs it’s time to increase your rates:

Your schedule is full, but your bank account doesn’t reflect the workload
Operating costs (fuel, chemicals, wages) have gone up
You’ve improved your service, systems, and reliability
You’re constantly saying “yes” to last-minute or difficult jobs to make ends meet

Start with existing clients by:

Giving reasonable notice (e.g. 30 days).
Explaining the increase politely, linking it to higher costs and sustained quality.
Offering to review their service scope if needed (e.g. shorter visits, less frequency).

The clients who value you will stay. The ones who leave would usually have left eventually anyway.

Common Pricing Mistakes to Avoid

To protect your profit and sanity, avoid these traps:

Charging “what feels fair” instead of calculating your real costs.
Copying the cheapest cleaner in your area. They might not be profitable.
Not charging more for heavily soiled properties or extra tasks.
Including too much for free (inside oven, walls, blinds) in basic cleans.
Never increasing prices for long-term clients, even after years of rising costs.

Your time, skills, and reliability have value. Your prices should reflect that.

Internal Linking Ideas for Your Blog Page

Within this blog on your website, you can naturally add links like:

“For a full breakdown of what we include in our move-out cleans, visit our End of Lease Cleaning page.”
“If you’d like help choosing the right package, see our House Cleaning Services options.”
“Businesses can learn more on our Office & Commercial Cleaning page.”
“Ready for a personalised quote? Contact us today.”

These internal links help:

Guide visitors to your main service pages
Improve SEO by strengthening your site structure
Increase enquiries and conversions

Final Thoughts: Competitive, Not Cheap

You don’t have to win clients by being “the cheapest cleaner in town.”

Instead, focus on being:

Fairly priced
Professional and reliable
Clear about what’s included
Confident in the value you deliver

When your pricing is based on real numbers, clear margins, and strong value, you can grow a cleaning business that supports you, your team, and your clients – without undercutting yourself.