Why window cleaning software has to handle two kinds of work
Window cleaning is two businesses with one ladder: residential jobs, quoted by window count and booked once or twice a year, and commercial storefront routes, cleaned every 2 or 4 weeks on a fixed route and billed monthly. Software that is great at one is often poor at the other, and most window cleaners need both.
| Residential | Storefront route | |
|---|---|---|
| Priced by | Window count, panes, stories, screens, tracks, hard-water stains | A flat price per visit per stop, billed monthly |
| Frequency | 1 to 2 times a year, spring and fall | Every 2 or 4 weeks, year round |
| Booking | Quote first, then a slot | Added to a route, rarely rescheduled |
| Day shape | 2 to 5 jobs, 1 to 3 hours each | 15 to 40 stops, 10 to 20 minutes each |
| Payment | Card or check at the door | Invoice at month end, or charge per visit |
| What the software must do | Quote fast, remind, request a review, recall in 6 months | Order the route, record each stop, handle a closed shop, invoice the month |
A storefront route is the part that makes a window cleaning business worth owning: the same 120 shops every month is predictable income that does not depend on weather or season. The software you choose should be judged first on route work, because that is where a bad tool costs you hours every single week. For how the trade works, from pricing to ladder safety, see how to start a window cleaning business.
What route-based recurring work needs from the software
Route work needs five things: a recurring visit per stop with its own frequency, a day view ordered by drive time, a one-tap “done” or “closed, come back” per stop, a per-stop price that rolls into one monthly invoice per client, and a way to skip a stop without breaking the schedule.
Frequency per stop, not per client
A property management client might own six storefronts on three different frequencies. The software should hold each stop as its own recurring visit (every 2 weeks, every 4 weeks, monthly on the first Tuesday) under one client who gets one bill.
Route order and drive time
Thirty stops a day lives or dies on order. Look for a map view, automatic ordering, and a route the tech can open in a navigation app. Housecall Pro’s window cleaning page lists GPS on a live map and route optimization to reduce drive time; ServiceMonster lists dispatch with routes and directions; Broombook opens the day’s visits as a route in Maps or Waze from the crew app.
The closed-shop problem
Shops close, move or say “not today.” The tech needs to mark a stop skipped with a reason, the client must not be billed for it (or must, if your contract says a locked door is still a visit), and the next occurrence must stay on the route. Test this exact case in any trial: skip one stop in a recurring series and look at the next month’s invoice.
Monthly invoicing with per-visit detail
A client with six stops wants one invoice listing each stop and each date. Jobber can batch visits into one invoice (test the same with Housecall Pro in a trial); Swept bills by location and can show the client a portal on its Scale plan; Broombook charges a card after each visit and emails a receipt, which suits per-visit billing more than a month-end statement.
Proof of visit
For a shop manager who is never there when you come at 7 a.m., a clock-in with location and a photo of the finished glass ends the “did you come?” call. On commercial routes with many stops, Swept’s GPS site verification and photo proof (on its Optimize plan, $150/mo for up to 15 locations) is built for that; for a handful of storefronts, the photo on a checklist in any crew app does the job.
Window cleaning software options compared
Seven tools cover most window cleaners. Two are built for the trade (The Customer Factor, ServiceMonster), three are general field-service platforms (Housecall Pro, Jobber, Workiz), one is commercial-route software (Swept), and one is a residential cleaning tool with window cleaning as an add-on (Broombook). Prices were read on each vendor’s pricing page on October 28, 2026.
| Tool | Published price | Route and residential strengths | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Customer Factor | $44.95/mo, unlimited employees and sub-users, unlimited photo uploads, no contract | Long-running favorite of window and pressure washing owners; one price whatever the crew size | Owner-operators and small crews who want the lowest flat price |
| ServiceMonster | Basic $99.99/mo (1 user), Grow $199.99/mo (5 users, $15 per extra), Premier $279.99/mo (10 users, $25 per extra); cheaper billed annually; annual commitment on every plan | Built for window, carpet and pressure washing; dispatch with routes, marketing and lead tracking on Grow | Companies that do windows plus carpet or pressure washing and want recall marketing |
| Housecall Pro | Basic $79/mo (1 user), Essentials $189/mo (5 users), Max $329/mo (8 users, $35 per extra); lower annually | Estimates by stories, screens and hard-water; recurring residential and storefront rounds; GPS map, route optimization, job photos, checklists, follow-up on open estimates | Growing crews with a mix of residential and storefront work |
| Jobber | Core $49/mo (1 user), Connect $139/mo, Grow $199/mo, Plus $499/mo (5 users); $29/mo per extra user; lower annually | Quotes with online approval, recurring jobs, client hub, batch invoicing | Owners who quote often and want a client portal |
| Workiz | Standard, Pro, Ultimate; price on request | Estimates, automations, AI call answering sold separately, multi-location from Pro | Multi-crew companies that want call handling built in |
| Swept | Optimize $150/mo, Scale $225/mo, each for up to 15 locations; 20% off annual | Per-location checklists, GPS site verification, photo proof, inspections, client portal on Scale | Commercial route operators serving building managers who want inspection reports |
| Broombook | Free for you and 2 cleaners (40 visits a month), Pro $39/mo for up to 10 users, flat | Instant-price booking with add-ons, recurring schedules with skips, card on file charged after the visit, crew app with route, photos and clock-in | House cleaning companies that add window cleaning as a service |
For the wider residential field (ZenMaid, Automaid (Launch27), BookingKoala), see the best cleaning business software; this page stays on tools a window cleaner would actually run a route with.
How to quote residential window cleaning inside the software
Quote residential windows by count and type, with a per-pane or per-window price, a surcharge for second and third stories, and add-ons for screens, tracks, sills, skylights and hard-water removal. Put those line items in the software’s price book so a quote from the driveway takes two minutes and matches the one you gave by phone.
A sample price book (hypothetical numbers)
| Line item | Unit | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Standard window, inside and out | Per window | $8 to $12 |
| Second story or above | Per window surcharge | $2 to $4 |
| Screens washed | Per screen | $3 to $5 |
| Tracks and sills | Per window | $2 to $3 |
| Hard-water removal | Per pane, after inspection | Quoted on site |
| Job minimum | Per visit | $150 to $200 |
Those figures show the structure, not your market; local rates are in the window cleaning business guide. Housecall Pro’s window page describes pricing options for stories, screens and hard-water cleaning sent by email or text for approval in a few clicks, and Jobber’s quotes can be approved online on every plan. Whatever you use, make the client approve the final count on site before you set a ladder: a “you said 24 windows, I count 31” conversation is cheaper before the work.
Send the quote the same day with the free cleaning estimate template if your tool’s quote looks thin, and attach two photos of the dirtiest panes so the price makes sense to someone who has never looked closely at their windows.
Reminders, reviews and the spring and fall recall
Residential window clients forget you for six months, so the software has to remember for you: a reminder before the visit, a review request after, and a recall each spring and fall. Storefront clients need the opposite, fewer messages and a clean monthly statement.
- Before the residential visit: a text with the arrival window, a request to unlock side gates and move items off sills, and a note that interior cleaning needs someone home.
- After: a thank-you with the receipt and a one-tap review link. Broombook sends a Google review request the day after a clean, never twice in three months and never after a failed charge; Housecall Pro lists review management; Jobber does it through its automations.
- Recall: in March and September, a text with a booking link and a small reason to act (“book by the 15th and screens are included”). ServiceMonster sells this as marketing; on other tools it is a campaign or an export to your texting app.
- Storefront routes: no reminders. One invoice per month listing each stop and date, and a quick message when a stop was skipped and why.
Keep weather in the system too. A rained-out residential day means moving four jobs and texting four clients; the tool should send those texts when you drag the jobs, not leave you typing them at 7 a.m.
Where Broombook fits for window cleaning
Broombook fits a house cleaning company that adds window cleaning as a service: clients book a house clean and add interior and exterior windows, the same crew does both, and you want one flat-priced system. It is not built for a storefront route of 120 shops billed monthly, and it does not pretend to be.
What works well for windows as an add-on:
- Window cleaning as a priced add-on on the booking page, with the client getting an exact price before they book.
- Recurring schedules with per-visit skips, so a client on every-4-weeks cleaning can add windows to one visit a season.
- A crew app with the checklist, photos (useful for “the streak was there before”), clock-in and the day’s route in Maps or Waze.
- A card on file charged after the visit into your own Stripe account, or cash, cheque and e-transfer in one tap.
- Free for you and 2 cleaners, or $39/mo on Pro for up to 10 users, with no credit card to start: see pricing and features.
What it lacks for a route business: a per-stop map with automatic ordering across 30 stops, month-end statements that batch many visits per client, and a client portal for a property manager. If windows are the business, The Customer Factor or ServiceMonster will serve you better for less friction, and Swept if your clients are building managers who want inspection reports.
If you want to stay at $0: the prices above are all for paid plans. FieldVibe Solo is free for one user with unlimited jobs and recurring visits (checked November 6, 2026), and Broombook is free with no end date for you plus 2 cleaners; what that plan includes is on our free cleaning business software page.
How to test window cleaning business management software before you pay
Build one real route day and one real residential quote in each trial, run them for a week, and pick the tool where the route took fewer taps. Window cleaning software is judged on the route, because you repeat it every two weeks for years.
- Load 20 real stops on two frequencies under three clients. Time it. If it takes an afternoon for 20, it will take a week for 120.
- Run the route day. Open the day on a phone, follow the order, mark 18 done and 2 skipped with reasons, take one photo per stop.
- Invoice the month. Produce each client’s invoice and check that the two skipped stops were handled the way your contract says.
- Quote a 28-window house with screens and a second story, send it to yourself, approve it, book it, and read every text that went out.
- Move a rained-out day and count how many texts you had to write by hand.
- Price it at next year’s crew. On per-user tools, add the techs you plan to hire. On flat tools, nothing changes.
- Export everything. Clients, stops and job history to CSV, so leaving is possible.
One more check for anyone who also pressure washes or cleans gutters: pick a tool that holds all three price books, so a storefront client who asks about the awning gets a quote from the same app. The pressure washing business guide covers that second trade.