TidyCheck

Free tool for UK cleaners

What should I charge per hour?

Start from the money you want to take home, not from what the cleaner down the road charges. Add your costs, the tax and National Insurance you will owe, and the weeks you won't be working, and this works out the hourly rate that gets you there. Then it writes the quote for you.

1 · Your year

After tax and National Insurance. Up to £60,000.
Only the hours a client pays for, not travel.
Holidays, bank holidays, sick days, quiet weeks.

2 · Your costs

Use your real quotes where you have them.

Charge at least

£0.00 an hour

Take-home pay£0
Income tax£0
Class 4 National Insurance£0
Running costs£0
You need to invoice a year£0
Across paid hours a year0

An estimate, not tax advice. Uses the 2026 to 2027 income tax rates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland; Scotland's rates differ. Assumes cleaning is your only income.

3 · Turn it into a quote

Quote a client

Put in the job, and you get a message you can paste straight into WhatsApp, a text or an email.

From a walk-round or your first clean.
Filled from step 1. Round it up if you like.
Oven, fridge, inside windows.

Price per visit

£0

Won the job? Keep it.

Save this client in TidyCheck and every clean gets a checklist built for their home, ticked off on your phone as you go, and a dated report with your business name on it when you leave. It is the proof that stops "did you do the oven?" turning into an argument about money.

Start free   See an example report

Free for up to 5 client homes. No card.

How the sum works

Your hourly rate has to pay for four things: what you take home, the tax on it, your costs, and the weeks you are not working. The calculator finds the profit that leaves your target after income tax and Class 4 National Insurance, adds a year of costs, and divides by the paid hours you will actually work.

The last part catches most people out. Twenty-five paid hours a week across forty-six weeks is 1,150 hours, not the 1,300 a full year would suggest, and every one of the missing weeks still has to be paid for.

Questions

How much should a self-employed cleaner charge per hour in the UK?

Work back from what you want to take home. Add your yearly running costs, add the income tax and Class 4 National Insurance you will owe, and divide by the hours you will actually be paid for across the weeks you work. This calculator does that sum with the 2026 to 2027 rates.

What tax does a self-employed cleaner pay?

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland for 2026 to 2027: no income tax on the first £12,570 of profit, 20% from £12,571 to £50,270 and 40% above that. Class 4 National Insurance is 6% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above. Scotland has its own income tax rates.

Why is my rate higher than I expected?

Because you are not paid for travel between jobs, holidays or sick days, and you buy your own supplies and insurance. An hourly rate that only covers the hours spent cleaning leaves nothing for the rest of the year.

Sources