How much should a window cleaner charge per window?
A stranger typing that query wants a number. The honest answer is that a single number is how operators lose money. After using the method below, you can name a visit price from your own times and costs, which used to take a guess plus a flyer you copied from a competitor.
What a per-window flyer cannot see
Ten ground-floor plates on a water-fed pole are not the same job as ten French panes, both sides, on a third story. The flyer prices them the same. The third-story French job is often three to four times the labor. If you also drove 25 minutes and spent ten more getting the hose up, a six-pane ranch at $8 a window is a $48 invoice for most of an hour of paid time plus fuel.
The arithmetic
Split the glass. Count panes by type, not by “windows” on the elevation. A sliding door is not a bathroom hopper.
Time one side. Minutes per pane are per side. Interior plus exterior is two sides. French or divided lights take longer because each light is work.
Add the drive. Travel and setup do not shrink when the pane count does. That is why a minimum job charge exists.
Load the wage. The number on the paycheck is not the cost of an hour. Employer taxes, workers’ compensation, and insurance sit on top.
Price from cost. Direct cost plus overhead, then divide by (1 − the margin you intend to keep). If that is below your minimum, the minimum wins.
Only then divide by panes if you want a per-window figure to quote. It is an output, not an input.
The window cleaning bid calculator is that method with the numbers filled in. Starting minutes are ballpark figures, not a standard. Replace them with times from your own stops.
Residential vs commercial
Residential is usually one visit; the travel block is a large share of the invoice. Commercial is the same visit math times visits per month. A storefront that looks “cheap per window” is often 8 minutes a plate every week — a labor hour hiding inside a $15 pane.