How does the service compare?
What’s included in a basic clean
The same basics are included in a clean from all of the top five cleaning services. You can expect to have your bedrooms, living room, common areas, bathroom, and kitchen cleaned as part of a basic cleaning. The items cleaned in each room are likely to be the same also, with most services rotating between deep and light cleans of various rooms on subsequent visits.
Ultimately, the service you receive will come down to the cleaner who visits you on the day and their level of commitment to the job at hand. This is why we recommend reviewing which cleaner or cleaners will visit your home prior to booking. This allows you to see how others rate their expertise and their level of experience. If a cleaning service is unable to disclose who will be cleaning your home and how they are rated, we suggest looking for another service with greater transparency.
Homeaglow allows you to review all cleaners prior to booking and gives you the opportunity to try different cleaners.
Additional services
Of the top 5 cleaning services, Homeaglow and Handy offer the most additional services. However, Homeaglow is the only service that includes them in your fee when time allows.
Both Handy and Homeaglow offer these additional services: washing and drying laundry, cleaning interior windows, cleaning inside fridge, cleaning inside cabinets, and cleaning inside oven. Homeaglow also offers baseboard cleaning as an additional service.
The Maids and Merry Maids do not offer any additional services.
Reviews: what do customers say?
All of the top 5 cleaning services have a range of positive and negative reviews on different platforms making them difficult to compare.
Homeaglow collects on average 25,500 5-star reviews per month. Looking at reviews of all levels on Yelp, Merry Maids has accrued 3,621 reviews, The Maids has 2,788 and Handy has 9,964.
To give you an idea of what people are saying, the following are positive and negative reviews left for each cleaning service on Yelp and Trustpilot.
Example positive reviews
Homeaglow: “I didn't even know my kitchen could be that clean and it's a load off my mind when things are clean.”
Merry Maids: “While they don't normally do dishes, after hearing about our situation they said they would help with dishes as well.”
The Maids: “If they did laundry, I'd give them 6 stars....”
Handy: “She was on time, super nice and incredibly thoughtful/attentive while cleaning.”
Example negative reviews
Homeaglow: There were times where cleaners, who are private contractors, didn't show up and charged me but to their credit Homeaglow stepped in immediately and refunded me both times which was refreshing.
Merry Maids: “For 45 minutes 2 employees stood in my bedroom and talked about the office staff and other gossip.”
The Maids: “Really mediocre job for over twice what it should have cost. I won't be calling them again.”
Handy: “I requested a refund and every customer agent I spoke with was rude and uncouth, one of them hung up on me and the last one actually yelled at me”
What’s the best cleaning company to work for?
If you’re considering working with one of the top 5 cleaning services, we suggest you consider the conditions and the rate of pay before choosing.
Working conditions
Each of the top 5 cleaning services comes with different pros and cons. Some offer fixed hours, others offer the option to choose your hours. Some tie you in with a contract, others allow you to operate as your own boss. Some require you to work in a team, while others allow you to work autonomously.
If you like setting your own hours, being your own boss, and choosing which cleaning jobs you do or don’t want, we suggest choosing either Homeaglow or Handy. Both allow you to earn through their platforms without requiring you to commit to particular times or customers.
Pay rate
Of equal importance to flexibility is how much you’ll be paid.
Unfortunately, it’s not possible to see how much Merry Maids and The Maids pay their cleaners. Based on job ads, their hourly rates start as low as $16/hour.
Handy states their cleaners are paid an average of $16.20/hour. Your actual rate may be lower or higher.
On Homeaglow, you set your own rate. At the time of writing, the average hourly wage on Homeaglow is approximately $5/hour more than Handy. Homeaglow is dedicated to ensuring a living wage for cleaners and, based on available information, pays the most on an hourly basis.
If you’d like to become a cleaner on Homeaglow and start earning straight away, apply to become a cleaner today.
