Last updated May 2025
The cleaner your windows, the lighter and brighter your home. No wonder real estate agents and interior designers recommend squeegeeing your panes once or twice a year. You can handle this task yourself, but if you don’t have the time—or you fear ladders—hiring a pro will get rid of the grime in no time. Here’s how to find clear winners.
Our Ratings Tables show how area consumers rated window washing companies they recently used. Our survey asked them to rate companies as “inferior,” “adequate,” or “superior” on several questions: “doing work properly,” “promptness,” “letting you know cost early,” “neatness,” and “overall quality.” For each company that received at least 10 ratings, our Ratings Tables report the percent of customers who rated it “superior” (as opposed to “adequate” or “inferior”) on each question. We primarily surveyed Consumers’ Checkbook subscribers, but also invited a sample of other area homeowners to participate. Click here for more about our surveys and research methods.
On average, customers rate window washing services higher than housecleaning companies. But this probably has less to do with the quality of the companies than with the relative difficulty of the jobs: It’s easier to do a shining job washing windows than to clean an entire home.
Our Ratings Tables also report counts of complaints we gathered from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) for a recent three-year period and complaint rates relative to the volume of work companies do.
Our undercover shoppers asked the companies listed on our Ratings Tables for their prices to clean the windows on three hypothetical homes. Our Ratings Tables report our price comparison score, which shows how each company’s prices compared to the average prices at all surveyed companies for the same mix of jobs. The price comparison scores are calculated so that a score of $100 is about average, a score of $110 means prices were about 10 percent above average, and a score of $90 about 10 percent below average.
Our research shows it pays to shop around: The highest-priced window cleaners charged prices that were, on average, more than double those of the lowest-priced company. Plus, it’s simple to get price quotes. Make a list of your windows, with estimates of their sizes, and email it to companies to request prices. Know that windows with more panes require more work and cost more to clean. And it’s easier to work on newer windows that pop out or tilt in.
Companies usually clean both the inside and outside of your windows, and vacuum the sills. Some washers just do exteriors, but it’s not a great idea—you’ll still have visible streaks and dirt inside.
Make sure the company you hire to wash windows carries general liability and workers’ compensation insurance. Stick around while the work is being done, inspect it, and voice any complaints before workers depart.
