The real cleaning company software cost, once every seat and every add-on is counted, and how to compare two quotes without getting caught out.
Cleaning company software cost in the UK is usually quoted as a per active user, per month price, somewhere between £3 and £15 depending on the vendor and the plan. That headline figure is only ever half the answer, though. The number that actually lands on your card each month depends on whether the cleaner app is included, whether the client portal is a separate charge, how many admin seats you need, and how long a genuine free trial is before you have to commit. This article walks through how pricing is structured, where vendors quietly add cost, and how to compare two quotes so you are looking at the same thing.
Almost every UK vendor prices cleaning company software on a per active user, per month basis, typically somewhere between £3 and £15. “Active user” usually means anyone with a login, which can include admins, supervisors and cleaners, or sometimes just the office staff, with cleaners counted differently. That distinction matters a lot for a cleaning business, because your headcount is mostly cleaners, not admins, so the definition of “user” in the small print changes your real bill more than the headline £ figure does.
Annual billing is usually a little cheaper than monthly, and some vendors have a minimum seat count or a minimum monthly spend that catches out smaller teams. Before you compare two prices, always ask exactly who counts as a user, whether it is billed monthly or annually, and whether there is a minimum you have to pay regardless of how many people you actually have logged in.
The two most common places a quote balloons are the cleaner mobile app and the client portal. Some vendors sell a low admin price and then charge a separate fee per operative for the mobile app that cleaners actually clock in and work from. If your business has thirty cleaners and three admins, an app charge per cleaner will dwarf the admin price you were originally quoted. Our cleaner app page covers what a mobile app for operatives should include as standard, clock in and out on site, checklists, photo proof and absence requests, without a separate per-seat charge on top. See the screens themselves on the mobile app product page.
The client portal is the second common add-on. Some vendors bundle it only into a higher priced tier, or bill it per client rather than per user, which is an odd way to budget when you do not control how many clients ask for access. Ask specifically whether portal access, both a client login and shareable public links for a project, invoice or quote, is included at your plan level. See cleaning company client app and portal for what a proper client portal setup should cover.
Other extras worth asking about before you sign: a one-off onboarding or setup fee, a charge for importing your existing client and site data, a support tier that costs more for anything faster than email, and whether payroll or invoicing features sit behind a separate add-on module rather than being part of the core price.
A price only means something once you have seen it survive a real month of work. A fourteen day trial is barely enough time to import your clients and set up your first week of bookings, let alone run a full payroll cycle or raise a full month of invoices from signed-off jobs. That is precisely when hidden costs and missing features tend to surface, so a short trial protects the vendor's price more than it protects your decision.
Look for a trial long enough to move your actual schedule across, not a sandbox with sample data, and check whether a card is required upfront. A trial that demands a card before you have proven the platform works for your business is a soft commitment dressed up as a free look.
The only fair comparison is total monthly cost for every seat you will actually use, not the two headline prices side by side. Ask each vendor to confirm the following in writing, then do the maths against your real headcount rather than theirs.
| Ask about this | Why it changes the real cost |
|---|---|
| What counts as an “active user” | Admins only, or every cleaner too. This is usually where the real bill hides. |
| Is the cleaner app included | A per-operative app fee can multiply the admin price several times over. |
| Is the client portal included | Sometimes gated behind a higher tier or billed per client. |
| Any setup, onboarding or data import fee | A one-off cost that does not show up in the monthly headline price. |
| Minimum seats or minimum monthly spend | Can make a “low” per-user price irrelevant for a small team. |
Once you have those five answers for each vendor, multiply by your actual headcount, admins and cleaners, and compare the two totals. That is the number that matters, not the price on the homepage. For a wider look at what to weigh up beyond price alone, our cleaning company software buyer's guide covers scheduling, the cleaner app, proof of clean, payroll and the client portal in one place.
Xota charges a single per-user price with the cleaner mobile app and client portal included as standard, so there is one number to put in a budget rather than an admin price plus an app fee plus a portal fee. The trial runs for 90 days with no credit card required, long enough to move your real schedule, run a full payroll cycle and raise a full month of invoices before you decide anything. Payroll calculation and invoicing both live in the finance area of the app. Full current pricing is on our pricing page.
To be equally plain about what is not included in that price: Xota does not currently export payroll to a spreadsheet or connect directly to Xero, QuickBooks or Sage. There is a public REST API for teams who want to build their own connection, and direct accounting integrations are on the roadmap, not something we charge for today or claim to have.
Straight answers to the pricing questions we get asked most before a switch.
Most UK vendors charge between £3 and £15 per active user per month, billed monthly or annually. That headline number is only part of the story though, because a lot of vendors then charge extra for the cleaner mobile app seat, the client portal, or both, so the price on the website is rarely the price you end up paying per cleaner. Xota is free for 90 days with no card required, then charges a single per-user price that includes the cleaner app and client portal as standard, so there is one number to budget against.
It depends on the vendor, which is exactly why it is worth asking before you sign. Some platforms quote a low admin price and then add a separate charge per cleaner for mobile app access, which can double your real monthly cost once every operative has a seat. Xota includes the cleaner mobile app for iOS and Android in the standard per-user price, with no separate app seat fee.
With many vendors, yes, the client portal is sold as an add-on tier or a higher-priced plan rather than something every customer gets by default. Ask specifically whether portal access is included at your plan level or billed per client. Xota includes client portal access, plus shareable public links for a project, invoice or quote that need no login at all, in the standard per-user price.
Long enough to run at least one full payroll cycle and one full invoicing cycle with real staff and real clients, not a demo account with sample data. A two week trial will show you the interface but will not show you what happens when you hit month end. Xota offers a 90-day free trial with no credit card required, which is enough time to move your actual schedule across and see the real cost play out over a normal working month.
Work out the total monthly cost for every seat you will actually need, admin, cleaner app and client portal included, rather than comparing the two headline prices on each vendor's website. Ask each vendor to write down exactly what is included at your quoted price and what triggers an extra charge, then multiply by your real headcount. The vendor with the lower headline price is not always the cheaper one once every seat is counted.
One per-user price, cleaner app and client portal included, no separate seat fees. Start your 90-day free trial of everything. No credit card, cancel any time.