Can I charge a fee if a guest skips checkout chores?

No. Airbnb's ground rules for guests (help article 2894) say hosts may not charge guest fees for failing to do specific cleaning or checkout tasks.

Can guests report my checkout list?

Yes. Guests can report excessive checkout tasks, and Airbnb says listings with repeated low ratings from unreasonable tasks may be removed.

Airbnb Checkout Chore Checker: Are Your Checkout Instructions Too Much?

Your checkout instructions

Paste your list, one task per line

Runs in your browser with simple keyword rules. Nothing you paste is sent anywhere.

Results

Keyword rules can miss things or flag a fine line. Read each one before you change your listing.

What Airbnb says

The common checkout tasks in Airbnb's listing editor are: gather used towels, throw trash away, turn things off, lock up, and return keys. You can add small requests for your home, like covering the grill.
Guests expect an easy checkout without cleaning tasks. They should not leave a mess that needs excessive or deep cleaning.
Cleaning fees cover standard cleaning between stays, such as laundry and vacuuming. Hosts may not charge guest fees for skipping specific cleaning or checkout tasks. Hosts can still leave reviews based on cleanliness.
Guests can report "excessive checkout tasks" in their feedback. Airbnb says listings with repeated low ratings from unreasonable tasks may be removed.

Common questions

Can I charge a fee if a guest skips chores? No. Airbnb's ground rules say hosts may not charge guest fees for failing to do specific cleaning or checkout tasks.

What checkout tasks are okay to ask for? Gather towels, throw trash away, turn things off, lock up, and return keys. Small home-specific asks, like covering the grill, are fine too.

Can I still ask guests not to leave a mess? Yes. Guests should not leave the home needing deep cleaning, and you can review on cleanliness.

Is a "soften" flag a rule break? Not always. It marks asks that are fine in a lighter form. This tool uses its own judgment for those, not an Airbnb list.

Sources

Last checked Oct 16, 2026. Rules can change. Not legal advice.

Copy this prompt into your AI

Paste it into ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, or Grok, then paste your checkout list under it. It uses the same rules as this page, so the flags should match.

Act as a checkout list reviewer for an Airbnb host. Airbnb's own pages (checked Oct 16, 2026) say:
- Common checkout tasks: gather used towels, throw trash away, turn things off, lock up, return keys. Small home-specific asks like covering the grill are fine.
- Guests expect an easy checkout without cleaning tasks. Cleaning fees cover standard cleaning (laundry, vacuuming).
- Hosts may not charge guest fees for failing to do specific cleaning or checkout tasks.
- Guests can report "excessive checkout tasks".
For each line of my list, label it:
- CUT: stripping beds, laundry, making beds, folding linens, washing dishes, vacuuming or mopping, wiping surfaces, cleaning the bathroom, or any fee or fine for skipped chores.
- SOFTEN: running or unloading the dishwasher, emptying the fridge, hauling trash outside, cleaning the grill, moving furniture back, "spotless" or "leave it as you found it".
- FINE: the five common tasks above.
Give a one-line reason and a friendly rewrite for each CUT or SOFTEN line. Then give a trimmed list and a short guest note. Plain words. Not legal advice.
My checkout list:
Strip all beds and start a load of laundry
Lock the door and return keys to the lockbox
Check: with that list, line 1 is CUT and line 2 is FINE.

Agents and developers: JSON API (POST), OpenAPI spec, llms.txt.