Pricing & The Estimator

Pricing & The Estimator

Files: src/content/pricing/english/-index.md, src/content/pricing/french/-index.md, src/config/config.toml ([settings.estimator]) · Skill level: Beginner

Every price in Homio comes from one file per language: src/content/pricing/english/-index.md (and the French copy). The estimator, the plans, the add-ons, the trade rate sheet, the booking form total, the “from” prices on service and area pages, and the prices in structured data all read it. Change a rate there and every page that shows it updates on the next build. You never type the same price twice.

What Is In The Pricing File

The top of the file is the pricing page (title, page header, jump links). Under the line PRICE DATA come four blocks:

The page sections (plansSection, estimateSection, addOnsSection, ratesSection, includedSection, questionsSection, ctaSection) come after the data. They set titles and layouts only. Their prices are computed from the data above.

Frequencies And Discounts

rounding: 5 # Discounted service prices round to the nearest 5. Use 1 to keep exact amounts

frequencies: # Discount applies to the service line only, never to add-ons
  - id: "weekly" # used in /book/?frequency=
    label: "Weekly"
    discount: 20 # percent, sample
  - id: "biweekly"
    label: "Every 2 weeks"
    discount: 15 # sample
    default: true # preselected everywhere
  - id: "monthly"
    label: "Monthly"
    discount: 10 # sample
  - id: "once" # keep the id `once` for the one-visit option
    label: "One-time"
    discount: 0

• discount is a percent from 0 to 100.
• default: true marks the frequency that is selected first. Put it on one frequency only.
• Keep the id once for the one-visit option. The ticket then says “one visit” instead of “per visit”.
• Change the label freely. Keep the id values: they appear in booking links (/book/?frequency=biweekly).

Rate Cards

Each rate card is one service you can price online. Its id must match the file name of the service page in src/content/services/english/ (standard-cleaning for standard-cleaning.md). That link gives the service page its “from” price and its estimator. A service without a rate card shows “Price on request”.

A card uses one of three pricing modes:

A rooms card, from the shipped file:

rateCards:
  - id: "standard-cleaning"
    label: "Standard clean"
    trade: "cleaning" # trade id from src/content/services/{lang}/-index.md `trades:`
    mode: "rooms" # rooms | hourly | units
    base: 70 # sample
    perBedroom: 20 # sample
    perBathroom: 25 # sample
    minimum: 110 # sample; smallest total for one visit
    recurring: true # frequency discounts apply
    frequencies: [] # ids allowed for this card; empty = all
    bedrooms: { min: 0, max: 6, default: 2 } # 0 reads "Studio"
    bathrooms: { min: 1, max: 5, default: 1 }
    duration: { base: 1, perBedroom: 0.5, perBathroom: 0.5 } # hours, optional
    note: "Supplies and equipment included."
    largerNote: "More than 6 bedrooms? Call {phone} for a walkthrough price."

An hourly card and a units card:

- id: "handyman"
  label: "Handyman"
  trade: "repairs"
  mode: "hourly"
  hourlyRate: 75 # sample
  callOutFee: 0 # sample; added once per visit
  hours: { min: 2, max: 8, step: 0.5, default: 2 }
  recurring: false
  note: "Parts are billed at cost with receipts."
- id: "window-cleaning"
  label: "Windows"
  trade: "windows"
  mode: "units"
  unit: { one: "pane", other: "panes" } # plural forms for this language
  base: 40 # sample
  perUnit: 6 # sample
  minimum: 90 # sample
  units: { min: 5, max: 80, step: 1, default: 20 }
  recurring: true
  frequencies: ["monthly", "once"]

When a card leaves out a limit, the theme uses these fallbacks: bedrooms 0 to 6 (start 2), bathrooms 1 to 5 (start 1), hours 1 to 8 in steps of 0.5 (start 2), units 1 to 100 (start 1).

Add-ons

addOns:
  - {
      id: "inside-oven",
      label: "Inside the oven",
      description: "Racks, glass, and walls degreased.",
      price: 35,
      services: ["standard-cleaning", "deep-cleaning"],
      task: "inside-oven",
    } # sample
  - {
      id: "sofa",
      label: "Sofa, 3 seats",
      description: "Fabric only, dry in about 6 hours.",
      price: 95,
      services: ["carpet-cleaning"],
    } # sample

How The Estimate Is Calculated

The formula is in src/lib/pricing.ts. The estimator, the booking summary, the plans, and the “from” prices all call it, so two pages never show different prices for the same job.

1. Service line. Work out the line for the card’s mode (the table under Rate Cards). A number outside the card’s limits is moved to the nearest allowed value. The result is rounded to a whole amount.
2. Frequency discount. If the card is recurring and the visitor picked a frequency with a discount, take the percent off the service line, then round to the nearest rounding (5 by default). The difference shows as its own discount line.
3. Add-ons. Add the price of each selected add-on. Add-ons are never discounted.
4. Minimum. If the total so far is below the card’s minimum, the total is raised to the minimum and the ticket shows a “Minimum” line with the difference.
5. Time on site. If the card has a duration, it is worked out the same way and rounded to the nearest half hour. Hourly cards show the hours chosen.

Worked examples with the shipped sample rates:

• Standard clean, 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, every 2 weeks: 70 + 2 × 20 + 1 × 25 = $135. 15% off is 114.75, rounded to the nearest 5 = $115. The ticket shows a ”−$20” discount line and “About 2.5 h”.
• Same visit with “Inside the oven”: $115 + $35 = $150.
• Studio (0 bedrooms), 1 bathroom, weekly: 70 + 25 = $95, 20% off = $75. That is below the $110 minimum, so the total is $110 with a ”+$35” minimum line.
• Handyman, 2 hours: 0 + 2 × 75 = $150.
• Windows, 20 panes, monthly: 40 + 20 × 6 = $160, 10% off = 144, rounded = $145.

“From” prices (services list, booking tiles, area pages, structured data) use the smallest allowed size, one visit, and no add-ons, then apply the minimum. The Standard clean is 70 + 0 × 20 + 1 × 25 = $95, raised to its $110 minimum, so it shows “from $110”. Hourly cards show the hourly rate (“$75 / h”).

Check any change by hand with these steps, then open /pricing/ and compare the ticket.

Where Prices Appear

The page sections in the pricing file:

estimateSection: # defaults: estimate-section.md
  title: "Price your home"
  services: [
      "standard-cleaning",
      "deep-cleaning",
      "move-out-cleaning",
      "office-cleaning",
    ] # rate-card ids in the picker
  service: "standard-cleaning" # preselected
  ledger: true # price breakdown under the intro (collapsed under the ticket on phones)

ratesSection: # a second plans section, rendered with the `hourly` layout (trade rate sheet)
  title: "Repairs, windows, carpets, and outdoor"
  note: "All rates include travel inside our areas."
  trades: [] # empty = every trade with an hourly or per-unit rate card
  options:
    layout: "hourly" # default | hourly | table | savings

• estimateSection.services lists the services in the estimator’s picker, in order. Empty offers all of them. Up to 5 show as chips, 6 or more as a list.
• ledger: true shows the “How this price is built” breakdown next to the estimator.
• The defaults of every section are in src/content/sections/english/ (estimate-section.md, plans-section.md, add-ons-section.md).

Plans

A plan is a rate card at a reference home size. You never type a plan price:

plansSection:
  description: "Prices for a 2-bed, 1-bath home."
  showDiscounts: true # appends the recurring discounts from `frequencies` to the description
  plans:
    - name: "Standard clean"
      rateCard: "standard-cleaning"
      home: { bedrooms: 2, bathrooms: 1 }
      featured: true
      badge: "Booked most" # sample
      features: ["Every room on the standard checklist", "Same crew each visit"]
      button: {
          enable: true,
          label: "Book Standard",
          url: "/book/",
          variant: "fill",
        } # the selection is added as a query string

• rateCard and home set the price. A size outside the card’s limits is moved inside them, and the build prints a [plans] warning.
• customPrice: "Quote" shows text instead of a price.
• The plan button opens the booking form with the plan’s service and size already chosen.
• Layouts: default (plan cards), hourly (trade rate sheet), table, savings (the recurring discounts as tiles). See Section Layouts.

Currency And Number Formats

The currency is set once, for every language, in src/config/config.toml:

[settings.estimator]
  enable          = true
  currency        = "USD" # ISO 4217 code, one currency for every language
  currencyDisplay = "symbol" # symbol ($ / $US) | narrowSymbol ($ in every language) | code (USD)
  bookUrl         = "/book/" # "Book this visit" and the no-JS form go here, with the selection in the query string
  ticketPrefix    = "EST" # Mono code on the ticket, e.g. EST-4K7Q2
  animateTotal    = true # Count between totals; always off with reduced motion

Each language formats the same amount its own way:

Whole amounts show without decimals; other amounts (such as perUnit: 0.09) show two. Write the numbers in the pricing file as plain numbers (75, 0.09), never with a currency sign.

enable = false hides the estimator everywhere. animateTotal = false stops the total from counting up between values.

Keep English And French Identical

Each language has its own pricing file, so the labels can be translated. The numbers must match. The build compares every number in the French file with the English one and prints a warning that names each difference:

[pricing] Numbers in src/content/pricing/french/-index.md differ from src/content/pricing/english/-index.md: rateCards.handyman.hourlyRate

The key reads as block.id.field. Fix the French file until the warning is gone. Translate label, note, largerNote, description, and unit; keep every id the same in both files.

The pricing collection has a schema, so npm run astro-check reports a missing mode or a price written as text. If the file has an error, the build stops with a schema error that names the file and the field.

Prices Typed As Text

A few places show a price as written, not computed. They do not update when you change a rate, so check them after a price change:

• The step previews in src/content/sections/english/steps-section.md, src/content/pages/english/how-it-works.md, and the repair template in src/content/services/english/-index.md (for example value: "$115").
• Fees in questions and policies: questionsSection in the pricing file (the late-cancellation fee), src/content/pages/english/cancellation-policy.md, src/content/faq/english/-index.md.
• Project prices (price.amount in src/content/projects/), gift card amounts (src/content/pages/english/gift-cards.md), and the insurance value in src/content/sections/english/trust-strip.md.

Search your content for the currency sign to find the rest.

The estimate ticket itself (the card with the mono code and the total) is documented in The Job Ticket.

Do It With AI

Set my prices in src/content/pricing/english/-index.md. Currency: [ISO CODE] in
[settings.estimator] in src/config/config.toml. Standard clean: base [X], per bedroom [X], per
bathroom [X], minimum [X]. Deep clean: [...]. Handyman: [X] per hour, [X] hours minimum.
Discounts: weekly [X]%, every 2 weeks [X]%, monthly [X]%. Add-ons: [NAME: PRICE; ...]. Keep every
id and key, remove the `# sample` comment from each value you replace, and copy the same numbers to
src/content/pricing/french/-index.md. Then work out a 2-bed, 1-bath visit every 2 weeks with the
formula in src/lib/pricing.ts and show me the total.

Search my src/content folder (English and French) for prices typed as text, such as "$115" in
step previews, fees in questions and policies, and project prices. List each one with its file,
and update them to match my pricing file.