What: Fairy connects housekeepers with families that want a quick — 30 to 60 minute — hotel-like clean, paying $16+ per hour.

Expected pay: $16 – $25 per hour

Husl$core: $$

Commissions & fees: NA

Where: San Francisco, Manhattan and Brooklyn

Requirements: Smart phone; be authorized to work in the U.S.; pass a background check; have one or more years of housekeeping experience

Review: Fairy, a.k.a. ItsFairy, is a service that aims to connect housekeepers with families that want a quick — 30 to 60 minute — hotel-like clean. The idea is that housekeepers will go from house to house in a tight geographic area and establish a cadre of regular clients, for whom they would work several days each week. However, customer reviews maintain that Fairy’s turnover is substantial, which may indicate trouble with the model. A few housekeepers who have reviewed the site indicate that they could spend as much time getting to jobs as cleaning, which is an expensive prospect. And others have said that Fairy isn’t great about paying on time. The hourly pay, which starts at $16, would be considered good if it were a national average. But Fairy is only available in the high-rent districts of New York and San Francisco, where you need higher pay to scrape by.

There are precious few reviews, and the site does not disclose its terms and conditions on its website, which we consider a red flag. When trying to sign up for the app to test what users would experience, the app froze. We suggest you try to find cleaning work at Managed by Q, Handy and Nextdoor.

What their workers say: (From Yelp)

My dedicated housekeeper asked for a raise from the company recently after working there for 2 years. Without her consent, Fairy then reached out to all her customers saying she had asked her customers to pay 25% more. My housekeeper was close to tears – Fairy had effectively cut a significant chunk of her customers simply because she asked for a raise. I was very disappointed to see how Fairy treats their employees.

From Glassdoor:

They never pay on time and somehow are able to deduct money from your earnings behind your back. Crappy holiday pay and they only look out for the client not you. There’s a lot I can go on about but the biggest problem is the pay. The day you are paid every week always varies never consistent. I went 3 weeks without pay and if I had never said anything they would never have noticed.

They say you can pick your own schedule but if you don’t work when they want you to you get no work. They also are not good on keeping track of your pay so make sure you do. 

Try Fairy