A fit should not start at $450 a month.
Tell us what you were going to buy a platform for. We will show you the shorter route.
hello@crayon.softwareBUILT FOR CLEANING
MaidCentral is where cleaning companies go when they outgrow a small scheduler. It is a serious product. The question this page asks is whether outgrowing your software should cost that much.
Last checked 17 September 2026
MaidCentral describes itself as the only platform built to scale residential cleaning companies. It starts at $450 a month plus $1.50 per completed job, each physical location adds to the monthly cost, and a one-time onboarding fee applies.
Crayon is $99 a month for the first year, then $199, and $299 then $399 on Growth. It is a smaller product with one thing MaidCentral does not do: you change it by asking.
THE DIFFERENCE
Every product on this page is a fixed shape. Where it matches how you work, it works well. Where it does not, you change how you work, pay a developer, or bolt on another tool. Crayon is the proven core for bookings, customers and payments, and the AI changes it when you ask. Rename what things are called. Add the field every job has to carry. Change what a button says.
SIDE BY SIDE
Figures come from each vendor’s own pricing page, read on the date shown. Entry price is the cheapest published plan.
| MaidCentral | Crayon | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Multi-crew residential cleaning with office staff | Service businesses, operations first |
| Entry price | From $450 a month | $99 a month for the first year |
| Also charged per | $1.50 per completed job, plus per location | Nothing per job |
| Onboarding | One-time onboarding fee | Included |
| Change the software itself | Configuration within the product | Ask, review the change, approve it |
| Strongest at | Depth for large residential operations | Fitting a business that does not run standard |
OUTGROWING IT
Almost nobody shops for enterprise software. They arrive because the small product stopped fitting.
Outgrowing your software should mean the software changes, not that you buy a bigger one and grow into it. That is the whole reason Crayon exists. If MaidCentral is on your shortlist because nothing smaller fits, the fit is the thing to solve.
PRICING
Figures come from each vendor’s own pricing page, read on the date shown. Entry price is the cheapest published plan.
USD. Crayon is in early access, so this is founding pricing.
THE HONEST PART
KEEP COMPARING
The scheduling-first maid service standard. Cheap, focused, and hard to beat until your process stops fitting it.
Compare →The best consumer booking experience in cleaning. Priced by provider count, and fixed in shape.
Compare →Launch27, renamed in May 2026 and pointed at automation. Same product, same owner, new direction.
Compare →Or see every comparison, what Crayon costs on pricing, and how changing it works on the AI.
Every figure above about MaidCentral comes from these pages, read on 17 September 2026.
Tell us what you were going to buy a platform for. We will show you the shorter route.
hello@crayon.software