What does a cleaner cost per hour in the Netherlands in 2026?

What does a cleaner cost per hour?

What you pay depends mostly on how you hire someone. There are three routes:

• Directly, for example someone from your neighbourhood. You agree an hourly wage together. On KlusjeBij we use a guide price of €17 to €22 an hour.
• Through an agency. The agency finds the cleaner and takes part of the hourly rate. At Stichting Hulp voor Thuis that is €19 an hour, of which €15 goes to the cleaner and €4 to the agency. Hups quotes from €20 an hour.
• Through a cleaning company. According to Offerteadviseur that costs €30 to €45 an hour, about €35 on average.

Rates side by side

The self-employed (zzp) rate of €29 an hour on average comes from an overview by Knab and mainly concerns cleaners with business clients. For cleaning in your home it is an upper limit, not a common price.

Worked example: 3 hours a week for a year

Domestic help often comes every week, so it pays to calculate per year. Say you want 3 hours of help a week. Through an agency you pay €22 an hour in this example; directly you agree €18 an hour.

Hiring directly is about €400 a year cheaper in this example. We count 52 weeks because you keep paying during her holiday: at 3 hours a week she is entitled to 12 hours of paid leave a year. If you are away for a few weeks yourself and skip the cleaning, the amount comes out lower. Agree that beforehand.

An agency can take work off your hands, though, such as finding a cleaner. Ask what is included in the rate. If you hire directly, you arrange everything yourself.

What determines the price?

1. Directly or through an intermediary

An agency or company adds a mark-up for matching, planning and administration. At Hulp voor Thuis that is €4 an hour. A cleaning company adds staff, materials and VAT on top.

2. VAT

A cleaning company charges 9% VAT for cleaning a home. A private cleaner charges no VAT.

3. Age and experience

The minimum wage depends on age. For a cleaner aged 21 or older it is €14.99 an hour from 1 July 2026. Someone with years of experience and regular clients often asks more than the minimum.

4. Type of cleaning

Weekly upkeep is different from a big spring clean or an end-of-tenancy clean after a move. For a one-off job you often agree a total price.

5. Cleaning products

Agree beforehand who supplies the cleaning products and equipment. If the cleaner or company brings them, they are often included in the rate or charged on top.

The rules: minimum wage, holidays, tax

Do you hire someone as a private person to clean your home, and does that person work for you fewer than 4 days a week? Then the Regeling dienstverlening aan huis applies, the Dutch scheme for services in and around the home. How many hours a day she works does not matter. These are the rules:

• You pay at least the minimum wage for her age plus 8% holiday pay. For ages 21 and older that is €14.99 an hour, about €16.19 with holiday pay.
• She is entitled to paid leave of 4 times the number of hours she works per week.
• If she is ill, you keep paying for up to 6 weeks.
• You withhold no wage tax and do not have to pay anything to the tax office. She declares the money herself as income from other work in her tax return.
• If she works for you 4 days a week or more, it is an ordinary employment contract and you are an employer with all the obligations that come with it.

Paying a cleaner off the books or on the books?

Many people search for what a cleaner costs per hour off the books. According to Trustoo, hiring a cleaner off the books costs €10 to €20 an hour on average. But hiring directly and paying in cash is not automatically off the books.

If your cleaner works for you fewer than 4 days a week, the scheme for services at home applies. The Dutch government (Rijksoverheid) writes that in that case you do not need to arrange anything further with the Belastingdienst, the Dutch tax office. You withhold nothing and pay nothing over. Your cleaner declares the money herself as income from other work in her income tax return.

What you do have to do as a private person:

• Pay at least the minimum wage plus 8% holiday pay. For ages 21 and older that is about €16.19 an hour together. An hourly wage of €10 or €12 is below that.
• Keep paying during holidays (4 times her weekly hours) and during illness for up to 6 weeks.

The difference between a fair direct rate and the low off-the-books rate is therefore smaller than it seems: at 3 hours a week and €17 instead of €12 an hour it is about €15 a week.

How to save on domestic help

Looking for cleaning help in your own neighbourhood? On KlusjeBij you post a job for free and replying is free too. We charge no commission. You and the cleaner agree the hourly wage together and pay each other directly, in cash or with a payment request. More on the page cleaner in your area.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

All sources are in Dutch.

• Stichting Hulp voor Thuis: costs (2026)
• Hups (2026)
• Trustoo: what does a cleaner cost? (updated September 2026)
• Knab Bieb: what a self-employed cleaner earns (2026)
• Offerteadviseur: cleaning company costs (2026)
• Belastingdienst: 9% VAT on work on homes
• Rijksoverheid: hiring someone for household work
• Belastingdienst: declaring income from household work
• Rijksoverheid: minimum wage amounts 2026