---
title: "Hourly and area pricing defaults · BlastoClean docs"
description: "Price by the hour for smaller spaces and by the square foot for larger ones, using your own rates."
url: "https://www.blastoclean.com/docs/size-pricing"
---

# Hourly and area pricing defaults

Quoting · Web and mobile · 3 min read · Updated October 19, 2026

**Set your own threshold and rate range, give a property its own rate if you like, and price per-visit or monthly quotes by the hour or by the square foot. You can also charge more for the first clean.**

Many cleaning businesses price a small apartment by the hour and a large home
or office by the square foot. Size pricing lets BlastoClean start each new quote
the way you would price it. It works for residential and commercial quotes,
whether you price each visit or a monthly agreement.

## Set your defaults

1. Open **Settings**, then **Pricing & quotes**.
2. In **Size pricing defaults**, tick **Use size-based defaults for new quotes**.
3. Enter your **Area threshold in square feet**, for example 2,500.
4. Enter your **Default rate per square foot**, **Minimum rate per square
   foot** and **Maximum rate per square foot**.
5. Select **Save pricing**.

Nothing changes until you save your own numbers. New quotes below the threshold
start hourly. Quotes at or above it start by the square foot. Quotes you
already wrote keep their prices. The owner sets these defaults.

## Give a property its own rate

Some buildings are harder or easier to clean than your usual job. Open the
property and enter a **Price per square foot for this property**. Leave it
blank to use your company's default.

New quotes for that property start with its rate. If the rate is outside your
minimum and maximum, the quote uses the nearest allowed rate. If you change the
property on a quote, the quote picks up the new property's square feet and
rate, and you choose the pricing mode again.

## Choose the pricing mode on a quote

On the quote's pricing step, find **Quote pricing mode** and choose the
**Pricing mode**:

- **Hourly**: the price comes from your task times and hourly rate, as usual.
- **By square foot**: enter the **Measured square feet** and the **Rate per
  square foot**. You can change the rate on each quote, as long as it stays
  within your range.

Square-foot pricing replaces the hourly labor. Your fees, discounts and taxes
still apply, and the estimated work time is kept for scheduling. If the size is
unknown or the property changed, choose a mode before you send the quote.

You can choose **By square foot** before you know the area. The draft saves,
and waits for the **Measured square feet**.

## Monthly quotes

A commercial quote priced by the month can also be priced by the square foot.
The monthly price is the price for one clean times the cleans in a month: visits
per week times 52, divided by 12. A weekly clean counts as about 4.33 visits a
month. The quote shows both the price for each clean and the price for each
month.

## First clean price

To charge more for the first visit of a recurring quote, priced by the hour or
by the square foot, use the **First clean** card on the quote's **Send** step.
See [First clean price](/docs/first-clean-alternatives).

## When square-foot pricing is not offered

Square-foot pricing is not offered for quotes with a layout added as a
repeated unit or tax-exempt tasks, or before your
company rates are set up.
In those cases the quote explains why **By square foot** is not available.

Choosing **By square foot** removes fixed room prices from this quote. If you
switch back to **Hourly**, those rooms are priced by time; their old fixed
prices do not return. You can save an unfinished square-foot draft before
measuring, but must enter the area and resolve pricing before sharing it.

Photo quotes keep their reviewed hourly price.

Native versions with area-pricing controls use the same rules. See
[Native version availability](/docs/the-mobile-app).

See also [Pricing a quote](/docs/pricing-a-quote).