How much does a cleaner cost in Ireland? A 2026 guide

A domestic cleaner in Ireland generally costs between €16 and €28 an hour, with Dublin work sitting at the upper end of that range. Most cleaners and cleaning businesses also apply a minimum booking, usually two hours a visit, so the smallest regular bill is normally the price of two hours' work. Anyone comparing quotes for regular cleaning will find the hourly rate is only the starting point: frequency, travel, the size of the home and the way the cleaner is engaged all move the final figure.

What domestic cleaning costs in Ireland

The table below is an aggregate Irish market estimate for regular domestic cleaning, setting out the hourly rates and minimum booking patterns a household is most likely to meet on a quote or in a verbal agreement.

What the agreement shows	Typical range
Regular clean, hourly rate outside Dublin	€16 to €22 an hour
Regular clean, hourly rate in Dublin	€21 to €28 an hour
One-off or deep clean, hourly rate	€20 to €28 an hour
Minimum booking of two hours, outside Dublin	€32 to €44 a visit
Minimum booking of two hours, in Dublin	€42 to €56 a visit

The lower half of that hourly range belongs mostly to self-employed cleaners working close to home in an area with plenty of households. The upper half appears in Dublin, in commuter towns where demand runs ahead of the number of cleaners available, and on one-off jobs.

A worked example makes the arithmetic clear. A three-hour fortnightly clean outside Dublin comes to €48 to €66 a visit, and the same three hours in Dublin come to €63 to €84. The hourly figures cover the cleaner's time; anything added on top, such as a longer visit, a bigger house or a heavier task list, increases the visit total rather than the rate itself.

Regular cleans versus deep or one-off cleans

Regular cleaning is the repeating weekly, fortnightly or monthly visit that holds a home at a steady level, and it is what the table above describes. A deep or one-off clean is a longer, more detailed job covering skirting boards, inside cupboards and appliances, behind furniture and interior windows, and it is why one-off work is priced at the top of the hourly range, €20 to €28 an hour, or quoted as a flat price for the whole house (see deep cleaning prices).

Dublin rates compared with the rest of Ireland

Dublin sits at the top of the aggregate Irish market estimate, with regular cleaning quoted at €21 to €28 an hour against €16 to €22 an hour elsewhere. The gap follows demand and the cost of living and working in the city, and it shows in minimum bookings too: two hours of work costs €42 to €56 in Dublin and €32 to €44 outside it. Commuter towns within easy reach of the city increasingly price closer to the Dublin figure, while smaller towns and rural areas stay nearer the lower end, so a household between the two patterns should expect quotes landing somewhere inside the €16 to €28 an hour range rather than neatly at one end of it.

Independent cleaner, agency or cleaning company

An independent cleaner who works for several households is self-employed and is normally paid the full hourly rate, with no administration layer between the household and the person doing the work. A business, whether an agency or a cleaning company, sells cover as well as cleaning, including scheduling, insurance and a replacement if the usual cleaner is away, which is why company quotes usually sit towards the upper end of the local range. Cleaning businesses also carry employer costs that a self-employed cleaner does not. Insurance, equipment, payroll and administration sit on top of that. Some companies provide cleaning services across a whole county while others stay within one town, which is worth checking when two quotes look similar.

Hiring directly is the alternative to a business arrangement. A self-employed cleaner sets their own hours, works for several customers and invoices for the work done; where a household instead fixes the hours, directs the tasks and relies on someone who has no other customers, the arrangement can look more like employment, with tax and PRSI obligations falling on the person doing the hiring. Anyone hiring directly should confirm the current tax, PRSI and employment position with Revenue and the Department of Social Protection.

Travel time, minimum call-outs and frequency

Travel time is rarely shown as its own line, but it is priced into every quote. A cleaner working a few minutes from home can take a short booking and still fill a day, while one who drives half an hour between jobs fits fewer paid hours into the same day, so the rate moves towards €21 to €28 an hour or the minimum booking lengthens. That is what a minimum call-out does: it guarantees enough paid time to make the journey and the setup worthwhile, and it is why two hours, priced at €32 to €44 outside Dublin and €42 to €56 in Dublin in the aggregate Irish market estimate above, is the smallest job most cleaners will take on. Frequency pulls the other way. A weekly or fortnightly slot is predictable and easy to plan around, and it usually sits towards the lower end of the local range, €16 to €22 an hour outside Dublin and €21 to €28 an hour in the city, while an occasional or one-off visit costs more per hour because it has to be fitted into an already full week.

Home size, tasks and supplies

Home size changes the number of hours rather than the rate. A two-bedroom apartment is often finished within the minimum two-hour booking, while a four-bedroom house with three bathrooms and a busy kitchen can take four or five hours, multiplying the visit total while the hourly figure stays inside the €16 to €28 an hour range in the aggregate Irish market estimate. The task list works the same way: ironing, inside-oven cleaning, interior windows and bed changes all add time, and a household asking for them on every visit is usually quoted a longer minimum booking rather than a higher rate. Products are a smaller variable. Some cleaners bring their own vacuum and materials and build the cost into the rate, while others use the household's supplies and price towards the lower end of the range in the table. Agreeing which arrangement applies before the first visit avoids a disagreement later.

VAT, overheads and what a quote includes

Overheads explain much of the gap between a self-employed rate and a company quote, and in the aggregate Irish market estimate they sit inside the €16 to €28 an hour range rather than pushing past it. A cleaning business registered for VAT must add VAT to its invoice, sometimes as a separate line, and its price also has to cover insurance, equipment replacement, holidays and administration. A figure that looks high next to a direct arrangement may simply be one that carries those costs, so the comparison worth making is between what two quotes include, not only the hourly number each carries. A quote that is silent on VAT, on the minimum booking and on who supplies products is not yet a complete quote.

Comparing quotes before the first clean

Two or three quotes are easiest to compare line by line: the hours included, whether the price is per hour or per visit, the minimum booking, who supplies products and equipment, whether VAT is included, and how much notice is needed to change or cancel a visit. The lowest hourly figure is not automatically the cheapest arrangement once those details are lined up beside each other. See also what to expect from a cleaner.

On ShamFix, posting a job and listing it is free and there is no commission, and a subscription is planned for the future. ShamFix does not check or certify tradespeople and profiles are filled in by tradespeople themselves, so homeowners should check registrations themselves and read reviews before agreeing a price.

FAQ

Is it better to pay a cleaner by the hour or by the job?

Paying by the hour suits a home whose needs change from visit to visit, and it makes the bill easy to check against the €16 to €28 an hour range in the aggregate Irish market estimate above. A flat price per visit suits a fixed list of tasks in a home that stays much the same, and it protects the household from paying more when a job takes longer than expected. Whichever basis is chosen should be written down, because a flat price that creeps upwards is harder to question than an hourly rate.

What happens if the household skips a week or pauses for a holiday?

Most cleaners hold a regular slot for a long-standing customer and simply expect a longer visit on the return. A household that stops for several weeks may find the day or the rate changes, and it is worth asking at the start whether a missed visit is made up, charged or carried over. Predictability is the reason a regular slot sits towards the lower end of the range shown earlier.

Which products and equipment does the cleaner bring?

Many cleaners arrive with their own vacuum, cloths and general-purpose products, with the cost of consumables built into the hourly rate, while others expect products and a vacuum to be kept in the home. Households with allergies, pets or delicate surfaces such as sealed timber and natural stone should say so in advance, since some products are unsuitable for them. It is also worth agreeing who replaces materials when they run out.

How long should the first clean be booked for?

The first visit to an unfamiliar home always takes longer than the visits that follow, because the cleaner is learning the layout, the surfaces and the household's priorities. Booking a longer first session rather than the usual two-hour minimum lets the cleaner reach a steady routine sooner, and the time is charged at the same hourly rate as every other visit.