What Is a Cleaning Fee?
In short-term rental distribution, a cleaning fee is a charge the host adds to a booking to cover cleanup after guests check out. On Airbnb it is one flat amount per booking, so a two-night stay pays as much as a two-week stay and the fee weighs more on each night of a short one (Airbnb Help Center, Fees hosts set).
Last updated: October 2026
How a cleaning fee works
Because the amount is flat, its share of the nightly price falls as the stay gets longer. For example, a USD 120 cleaning fee adds USD 60 a night to a two-night stay and about USD 17 a night to a seven-night stay, which ties the fee closely to average length of stay.
Airbnb gives hosts a way to soften that effect. Hosts can set a lower short-stay cleaning fee for one- or two-night bookings, and the fee that applies is fixed when the guest books, based on the length of the stay (Airbnb Help Center, How do I add a cleaning fee to my listing?).
Vrbo treats cleaning as one of the owner's standard fees, in the same group as fees for extra guests and pets (Vrbo Help, How do I manage my fees?).
Why cleaning fees matter for hotel and rental distribution
Cleaning fees are standard practice in US vacation rentals. As of 1 April 2025, 89% of US short-term rental listings on Airbnb and Vrbo charged one, about 1.5 million listings, based on AirDNA data (Skift, Short-Term Rental Cleaning Fees: the Global Numbers). The lowest shares were in Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka and Madagascar (Skift, Short-Term Rental Cleaning Fees: the Global Numbers).
In the United States, the FTC's rule on unfair or deceptive fees took effect on 12 May 2025 and covers short-term lodging, including hotels, short-term rentals and vacation rentals (16 CFR 464.1, Cornell LII). A mandatory cleaning fee must be included in the advertised total price; the only charges that may be left out are government charges, shipping and optional add-ons (FTC, Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees: FAQ).
The rule also reaches the channels a property sells through. Sellers must give intermediaries the information needed to calculate the total price, and an intermediary that shows the seller's prices must show that total (FTC, Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees: FAQ). For a US property listed on several online travel agencies (OTAs), the cleaning fee is therefore part of the price data every channel needs, next to the rate.
The fee pays for real work, and the cost of that work is where most hosts start when they set the amount. Our guides to writing a vacation rental cleaning contract and to outsourcing vacation rental cleaning cover that side.
Cleaning fee compared with resort fee and service fee
The table sets the cleaning fee next to the charges it is most often confused with.
| Cleaning fee | Resort fee | Platform service fee | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who sets it | The host, on Airbnb (Airbnb Help Center, Can I add cleaning fees to a confirmed reservation?) | Not covered here | Not covered here |
| Returned to the guest | No, on Airbnb, once the trip is completed (Airbnb Help Center, How do I add a cleaning fee to my listing?) | Not covered here | Not covered here |
| In the US advertised total price | Yes, when mandatory | Yes, when mandatory (FTC, Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees: FAQ) | Not covered here |
Resort fees, Airbnb's own fees and security deposits are outside the scope of this page.
Frequently asked questions
How do you add a cleaning fee to a listing?
Does Airbnb charge a cleaning fee?
How do you change a cleaning fee?
How do you add a cleaning fee on Booking.com?
What is the average cleaning fee?
Is the cleaning fee included in the listed price?
Related terms
See all termsWhere Jetstream fits
A cleaning fee is one more number that has to be right on every channel, next to the rate. Jetstream builds an AI channel manager that keeps a property's rooms, rates and availability accurate on every channel it sells through, managed from one place.