How to Start a Window Cleaning Business (2026 Guide)
You can start a window cleaning business for under $600 and be earning inside two weeks. Real 2026 startup costs, the exact squeegee-and-water-fed-pole kit, LLC and insurance, residential versus storefront routes, per-pane versus flat pricing, and how to build recurring monthly routes you can bill from your phone from day one.
You can walk into a window cleaning business for under $600 and be collecting money inside two weeks. A professional squeegee, an extension pole, a washer sleeve, a bucket, a scraper, and a stack of towels is a working kit, and it costs less than a single month of most contractor software. There is no license exam like electrical, no refrigerant certification like HVAC, no truck full of inventory.
The barrier to entry is a squeegee and the willingness to knock on doors. Here is the part the scaling gurus skip. In 2026 a solo window cleaner in a decent market grosses somewhere between $50,000 and $90,000 working four to five days a week, and takes home $40,000 to $60,000 after expenses and tax..