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Compare: Airtasker
Quick answer: On Airtasker you post a cleaning task, compare offers from individual Taskers and choose one, paying the agreed price plus a Connection Fee of $9.95 to $59.95. A cleaning service such as Simply Maid gives a fixed price for your home and arranges the cleaner. Airtasker suits people who want to pick the person; a service suits people who want the details handled.
How the two compare on price, choosing a cleaner, insurance, cancelling and regular cleans, from Airtasker's and Simply Maid's own published terms.
Simply Maid · completed cleans
Selected examples from Simply Maid’s own records across Australia. Any customer feedback shown is selected positive feedback about that visit. Historical work and prices do not establish current availability.
Hyde Park, Adelaide
Julian M.’s clean
monthly
Completed October 2026
$537Recorded booking amount
Recorded tasks: Inside Oven Deep Clean, Inside Fridge Clean, Inside Cabinets & Drawers + 1 more
Cleaners on this visit
South Lake, Perth
Christopher C.’s clean
one time
Completed October 2026
$333Recorded booking amount
Recorded tasks: Inside Oven Deep Clean
Punchbowl, Sydney
Maryam S.’s clean
one time
Completed October 2026
$257Recorded booking amount
Showing 3 of 9 selected examples. Amounts are historical booking records; today’s quote uses your property and requirements.
TaskBox was a marketplace for everyday tasks. Airtasker announced its acquisition of TaskBox in February 2013. If you are choosing help with cleaning today, this guide compares posting a task with booking a cleaning service.
For broader jobs, explore Airtasker's current marketplace. Simply Maid offers its own cleaning services; it does not operate former TaskBox accounts or bookings.
The biggest difference is who sets the terms. On Airtasker, each Tasker offers their own price and scope for your task; with Simply Maid, the price, checklist and policies are set before you book.
| Compared | Simply Maid (us)Booking platform with independent cleaners | AirtaskerOnline marketplace |
|---|---|---|
| How you get a price | A fixed price online before you book. No quote visit or call needed.[1] | Post a task for free with a description and a budget, then receive offers from Taskers.[2] |
| Who chooses the cleaner | The job is offered to available cleaners near you; you can't choose a named cleaner when you book.[3]Cleaners are independent contractors who set their own availability and accept or decline work. | You choose a Tasker from the offers, after checking their profile, badges and reviews.[4]There's no obligation to accept any offer. |
| How the price is set | Fixed price by service, bedrooms, bathrooms and how often. A standard clean starts from $221.[1]Includes GST and the Care & Cover fee. The same in every city. Live from the booking calculator. | Each offer is one total price for the task, agreed before the work starts.[5]Set by each Tasker. Open-ended hourly offers settled after the job fall outside Airtasker's payment guidelines. |
| Fees you pay on top | The price you see includes GST and a Care & Cover fee (insurance and card processing). A same-day booking adds $40, which you accept first.[6]No weekend, pet or second-storey surcharge. | A Connection Fee of $9.95 to $59.95 (including GST), set by the task price, paid when you assign a Tasker.[7]Waived with an $89-a-year membership. The Tasker's own service fee comes out of the agreed price, not on top. |
| When you pay | A card hold about 48 hours before the clean; the charge is taken after it.[8]Visa, Mastercard or American Express. | Your card is charged when you accept an offer, and Airtasker holds the money until you release it after the task.[9]Released payments can't be recovered in a dispute. Cash isn't supported. |
| Equipment and products | The cleaner brings products and equipment, including a vacuum and mop.[10] | Agreed for each task; there's no platform default.[11]Customers are asked to say what equipment they have; Taskers arrange what's needed. |
| Cleaner checks | Cleaners are identity-verified and pass Simply Maid's skills assessment.[3] | ID verification is required before a Tasker can be paid, but not before they make offers.[12]Airtasker describes badges as point-in-time checks. A police check badge is optional for Taskers.[13]Shown only when the check has no disclosable outcomes; valid for up to 12 months. |
| Insurance | Care & Cover on every booking includes up to $10 million public liability insurance through Chubb.[14]Conditions and exclusions apply; report damage within 48 hours. | Third-party liability insurance up to $10 million, through Chubb, for registered Taskers.[15]Excludes poor workmanship and cash or off-platform jobs. Claims within 30 days; an excess is paid by the Tasker. |
| If something is missed | Report a missed task within 48 hours and eligible concerns get a free re-clean of those areas within seven business days. If you're still unhappy, a review and a fair credit or refund.[16]Doesn't apply if access, water or power was missing, or the scope changed after booking. | A free dispute service once work has started; Airtasker reviews both sides and decides.[17]Its insurance excludes poor workmanship, and it suggests asking Taskers about their own cover. |
| Cancelling or rescheduling | Free with at least 24 hours' notice. Inside 24 hours, a fee may apply under the current terms.[3]If the cleaner can't get in after 20 minutes, the booking is cancelled and the lockout fee in the current terms applies. | Either side asks to cancel and the other accepts. If you're found responsible you lose the Connection Fee; the task price is refunded.[11]With no reply in 48 hours the task cancels automatically. Illness or travel problems don't count as exceptions. |
| Problems and support | Phone and email, Monday to Saturday, 9 am to 5 pm local time, plus the help centre.[18] | Support by online form, aiming to reply within 1 to 2 business days. No phone support.[19] |
| Same cleaner each time | On a regular plan Simply Maid aims to keep the same cleaner, and you can ask for a change.[20]A particular cleaner can't be guaranteed every visit. | Rebook a Tasker you've used with a private offer, or set up weekly, fortnightly or monthly recurring tasks with them.[21]Recurring tasks are charged automatically until cancelled. |
When weighing up a task quote and a cleaning service, use our house-cleaning price guide to check the complete Simply Maid amount, frequency and extras. For a more detailed visit, compare deep cleaning prices against the same agreed tasks.
Airtasker's own house cleaning pages show median task prices of $150 to $170 across the seven cities we serve. The Connection Fee is added on top.
These are marketplace task prices, not hourly rates. Airtasker doesn't say how it works them out or what size homes they cover, so a figure can't be matched to a home like yours.
An example with the fee added. A $160 task, the Sydney median, falls in the $150 to $199.99 band, so the Connection Fee is $29.95 and you'd pay $189.95 in total.
Simply Maid, for comparison. A standard clean of a two-bedroom, one-bathroom home is $253 one-off, and $317 for three bedrooms and two bathrooms, live from our booking calculator, including GST and the Care & Cover fee. The standard clean checklist shows what that includes.
| City | Low | Median | High | Page last updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | $125 | $160 | $220 | 28 September 2026 |
| Melbourne | $125 | $160 | $220 | 5 October 2026 |
| Brisbane | $120 | $160 | $230 | 5 October 2026 |
| Adelaide | $120 | $150 | $200 | 28 September 2026 |
| Canberra | $125 | $160 | $250 | 5 October 2026 |
| Perth | $120 | $154 | $200 | 28 September 2026 |
| Gold Coast | $125 | $170 | $250 | 28 September 2026 |
Prices as shown on Airtasker's house cleaning page for each city (for example airtasker.com/au/services/house-cleaning/sydney/). They exclude the Connection Fee. Sources are listed at the end of this guide. Checked 6 October 2026.
Compare equivalent work and arrangements before comparing prices. Unstated fees or terms remain unknown until confirmed; this diagram does not rank providers.
A headline hourly rate is only one part.
You pay a Connection Fee when you assign a Tasker, set by the task price. The Tasker's service fee comes out of the agreed price, so it isn't added to yours.
An Airtasker membership costs $89 a year and waives the Connection Fee. It renews automatically, and the current year isn't refundable.
With Simply Maid, the price you see already includes GST and the Care & Cover fee, which covers insurance and card processing. A same-day booking adds $40, shown before you accept it.
| Task price | Connection Fee |
|---|---|
| Under $50 | $9.95 |
| $50 to $99.99 | $14.95 |
| $100 to $149.99 | $19.95 |
| $150 to $199.99 | $29.95 |
| $200 to $249.99 | $39.95 |
| $250 to $299.99 | $49.95 |
| $300 or more | $59.95 |
Source: Airtasker Help Centre: what is the Connection Fee?. Checked 6 October 2026.
On Airtasker you choose the Tasker yourself; with Simply Maid the job is offered to available cleaners near you and one accepts it.
You see each Tasker's offer, profile, reviews and badges before you accept. ID verification is required before a Tasker can be paid, though not before they make offers. A police check badge is optional, and Airtasker describes badges as checks at a point in time, so it suggests confirming what you need with the Tasker.
You can't pick a named cleaner when you book. Cleaners are identity-verified and pass a skills assessment, and they bring their own products and equipment. On a regular plan, Simply Maid aims to keep the same cleaner, though it can't promise the same person every visit.
Employment, franchise, contractor and introduction models allocate selection, payment, attendance and remedies differently. These are questions for the chosen service, not claims that any model always assigns a duty to a particular party. Establish who selects the cleaner, who receives payment, who manages absence and who can authorise a remedy. A business name or platform label alone does not answer those questions.
Get the responsibility for each job in writing.
Both carry liability insurance up to $10 million through Chubb. They differ on poor workmanship: Airtasker's cover excludes it, while Simply Maid offers a re-clean.
Registered Taskers are covered for liability to third parties, such as damage to your property, up to $10 million. The cover excludes poor workmanship, jobs paid off the platform or in cash, and helpers who aren't registered. Claims must be lodged within 30 days, and the Tasker pays an excess. If a clean isn't right, Airtasker has a free dispute service once work has started. Released payments can't be recovered in a dispute, so Airtasker advises releasing payment only when you're satisfied.
Every booking includes Care & Cover: up to $10 million public liability insurance through Chubb, with conditions and exclusions. If a task in the checklist was missed, report it within 48 hours and eligible concerns get a free re-clean of those areas within seven business days.
On Airtasker, cancelling is a request the other side accepts; with Simply Maid, it's free with at least 24 hours' notice.
Both can set up regular cleans; they differ on price and on who arranges a replacement.
Airtasker can be the better fit when you want control over who comes, what's done and what you'll pay.
A cleaning service may suit you better if you'd rather have a fixed price for your home up front, the cleaner arranged for you, a set checklist, and a re-clean process if something's missed.
These pass your job to businesses rather than individual Taskers, and Oneflare no longer operates on its own.
Method
We compare what each business publishes about how its service works, not how well any one clean was done.
Taskers pay Airtasker a service fee of 10% to 20% of the task price, or 1.9% for repeat customers. It comes out of the agreed price, so you don't pay it on top. You pay the Connection Fee instead.
Airtasker requires ID verification before a Tasker is paid, offers an optional police check badge, holds payment until you release it, and arranges liability insurance for registered Taskers. It still suggests checking a Tasker's credentials, reviews and own cover before you accept an offer.
It's agreed for each task. Say in your task what you have at home and what you'd like the Tasker to bring.
Airtasker doesn't support cash payments, and jobs paid off the platform aren't covered by its insurance.
Airtasker doesn't publish hourly cleaning rates; each offer is a total for the task. Simply Maid prices by home size rather than by the hour: a standard clean of a two-bedroom, one-bathroom home is $253 one-off.
Oneflare's website now redirects to Airtasker. Airtasker's help centre says Oneflare was retired on 30 June 2026.
Who wrote and edited this article, when its sources were checked, and what changed.
Current version
8 October 2026 — Updated by Huy Hoang.
Replaced fixed Simply Maid discounts and applicable fees with live booking values, and corrected package inclusions where relevant. Competitor figures retain their original source dates.
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The pages this guide relies on, with the date we read each one. Each fact in the tables links to its own source.
Competitor details are taken from each provider's own published pages on the dates shown. Terms and prices change, so check the provider's current terms before you book. Simply Maid publishes these guides and competes with the businesses in them.