Short-Let Cleaning Fee Break-Even Calculator

Compares the cleaning fee guests pay with the true cost of a turnover, including cleaner pay, laundry, supplies and the platform fee, so hosts can see the gap per turn and per month.

Your estimate

True cost of one turnover...

Net per turnover after the platform fee...

Monthly cleaning surplus or shortfall...

Cleaning fee that breaks even...

Estimates only. Assumptions are listed below, and you can change every input.

Most hosts set a cleaning fee once, copy what nearby listings charge, and never check it against what a turnover actually costs. Cleaner pay goes up, laundry gets outsourced, supplies creep, and the fee stays where it was. The result is a quiet subsidy from the nightly rate that only shows up when you look at the monthly numbers.

This calculator adds up what you pay out for one turnover, applies the platform host fee to what the guest pays, and shows the net per turnover, the monthly surplus or shortfall across all your turnovers, and the fee that would break even. It does not tell you the fee should cover everything; some hosts keep it low on purpose. It just makes the gap visible so the decision is yours.

How to use this tool

Enter the cleaning fee guests pay and what you pay your cleaner for one turnover.
Add laundry, supplies and any other per-turnover costs, then set the platform fee percentage that applies to your bookings.
Read the true cost, the net per turnover and the break-even fee, then decide whether to adjust the fee, the nightly rate, or neither.

What the math assumes

The platform host fee is applied to the cleaning fee at the percentage you enter, 3 percent by default; set it to 0 for direct bookings.
Cleaner pay, laundry and supplies are per-turnover averages, so a one-night stay and a two-week stay are treated the same.
Your own time inspecting or coordinating is not included unless you add it to supplies and other costs.
Occupancy taxes and guest-side service fees are ignored; the calculator only compares what you receive with what you pay out.
A negative net means the nightly rate is subsidizing cleaning, which some hosts choose on purpose to stay competitive on short stays.

Frequently asked questions

Should the cleaning fee always cover the full cost?

Not necessarily. Many hosts keep the fee lower to stay competitive on short stays and recover the gap through the nightly rate. The point is to know the size of the gap, not to eliminate it.

How do I estimate laundry if I wash linens myself?

Add detergent, water and energy per load, some wear on the linens, and the value of the time you spend. A rough per-load figure multiplied by loads per turnover is good enough.

What if different units have different fees?

Run the calculator once per unit type with the fee, cleaner pay and turnovers for that type, then compare the monthly figures side by side.

Why is the break-even fee higher than the true cost?

Because the platform keeps a percentage of the fee, you have to charge slightly more than cost so that what is left after the fee equals what you pay out.

Link to this toolhttps://fliptidy.com/tools/cleaning-fee-break-even/

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More free tools from FlipTidy

Same-Day Turnover Cleaner Capacity Planner: Estimates how many same-day turnovers one cleaner can finish inside your checkout to check-in window, and how many cleaners your busiest day needs, for short-let hosts and co-hosts.
Manual Turnover Coordination Cost Calculator: Estimates the hours and dollars a host or co-host spends each year coordinating cleaners by hand, plus the cost of turnovers that get missed or delayed along the way.

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