Cleaning Company or Independent Cleaner? Costs, Cover and Status

A cleaning company usually costs more per hour but takes care of staff, cover for sickness and holidays, and insurance. An independent cleaner is often cheaper and more personal, but you need to check their insurance yourself and make sure the arrangement does not quietly turn you into their employer.

Neither is better in every case. The right choice depends on how much you value consistency, flexibility and having someone else handle the admin.

Company vs independent cleaner at a glance

	Cleaning company	Independent cleaner
Typical price	Usually higher per hour	Often lower per hour
Who turns up	May vary; ask for a named cleaner	Same person every time
Sickness and holidays	Company can often send cover	Visit is usually skipped
Insurance	Company should hold its own; ask for evidence	Varies; ask what they hold
Your legal position	Customer of a business	Customer if genuinely self-employed; possibly employer if not
Consumer rights	Yes, under the Consumer Rights Act 2022	Yes, if they are a business; employment law if they are your employee
VAT	Charged if VAT-registered	Often not registered
Flexibility	Set packages, fixed minimums	Easier to adjust tasks and times
One-off and short-notice jobs	Usually easier to book	Depends on their diary

Cost: what the numbers show

These are advertised prices we checked in October 2026, not an independent national average. One provider's market estimate puts regular cleaning at €21 to €28 an hour in Dublin and €16 to €22 outside Dublin, with a usual two-hour minimum. Another company advertises €25 to €35 an hour with a two-to-three-hour minimum, which shows how widely company rates vary.

A few things push company prices up: they pay their staff and employer costs, carry business insurance, and VAT-registered businesses add 13.5% VAT on cleaning private homes. A sole trader below the €42,500 VAT registration threshold for services does not have to register, so their price may not include VAT at all.

Compare quotes on the same hours, the same task list and the same number of cleaners. See how much a cleaner costs in Ireland and our price guide for more.

Consistency and cover

The biggest practical difference is what happens when life gets in the way.

With an independent cleaner, you get the same person every week. They learn how you like things, where everything is kept, and which jobs matter most to you. When they are sick or away, though, the visit usually just does not happen.

With a company, you may get more reliability on dates, because they can send someone else. The trade-off is that the person may change, and some firms rotate staff. If continuity matters, ask for a named regular cleaner and ask how much notice you will get if someone different is coming.

Insurance

A company should hold public liability insurance, which covers injury or damage to third parties, and usually employers' liability for its own staff. Ask for evidence of current cover rather than accepting "fully insured" at face value.

Independent cleaners vary. Some carry public liability cover; many do not. If a self-employed cleaner is injured in your home or damages something, your position depends on their cover and on your own home insurance. Check your policy wording carefully: Allianz excludes independent contractors from its domestic-employee liability cover, for example.

Our cleaner insurance guide explains each type of cover and what to ask your insurer.

Employment status: the question that matters most

This is where hiring an individual gets more complicated in Ireland. Buying a service from a genuinely self-employed cleaner, or from a company that employs its own cleaners, normally makes you a customer. But Revenue's guidance is clear that calling someone "self-employed", or receiving an invoice from them, does not settle it if the real relationship is employment.

Signs that point towards employment include:

• The cleaner must do the work personally and cannot send someone else
• You decide the hours, the tasks and how they are done
• They work only for you, or mostly for you, and do not run a business of their own
• You supply everything they use

Signs that point towards self-employment include having several clients, setting their own prices, supplying their own equipment and being able to send a substitute.

If you are an employer, you have obligations. You must register with Revenue for PAYE unless you have only one domestic employee paid less than €40 a week, and even below that, PRSI is handled through the Domestic Employer Scheme. Your employee is also entitled to the minimum wage, written terms, payslips, paid holidays and sick pay. Our guides to employing a cleaner: tax and domestic worker rights cover the detail.

Being an employer is entirely legal and many households do it well. The problem is drifting into it without realising.

Consumer rights and complaints

When you buy cleaning from a business, including a sole trader, the Consumer Rights Act 2022 means the service must be carried out with reasonable care and skill and match what was agreed. If it is not, the CCPC says you should normally give the business a chance to put it right free of charge, and if it cannot or will not, a price reduction or ending the contract may be possible.

A company is also more likely to have a formal complaints process and a manager you can escalate to. With an independent cleaner, it comes down to a direct conversation. See what to do if your cleaner broke something.

Which suits you?

A company may suit you if:

• You need guaranteed visits even when a cleaner is off
• You want a one-off deep clean, end of tenancy clean or short-notice booking
• You would rather not think about insurance or employment status
• You need several cleaners for a big job in one day

An independent cleaner may suit you if:

• You want the same person every visit and a relaxed relationship
• You are happy to be flexible when they are on holidays
• You want to adjust tasks from week to week
• You are comfortable checking their insurance and status yourself

Whichever you choose, the 20 questions to ask a cleaner work for both, and you can browse cleaners in your county to start a shortlist.