HomeQuotr vs Shovels.ai
Shovels.ai is a building-permit and contractor intelligence API for proptech, climate, and software teams, with broad national coverage and three delivery surfaces: API, web app, and direct data-warehouse access.
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HomeQuotr and Shovels.ai both source municipal permit data. Shovels ships raw permit and contractor records across 1,800+ jurisdictions from around $599 per month, with broader coverage than HomeQuotr. HomeQuotr ships computed per-city-trade cost distributions with confidence intervals, peril mapping, and a Custom-tier actuarial review letter, productized for insurance and warranty underwriting.
How HomeQuotr and Shovels.ai Compare
Eight dimensions that matter to a buyer. Every claim about Shovels.ai traces to a public source. Every claim about HomeQuotr traces to the published methodology at /methodology.
| Dimension | Shovels.ai | HomeQuotr |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage breadth | 1,800+ jurisdictions reaching roughly 85% of the U.S. population. Broader than HomeQuotr. | Narrower jurisdiction set, productized into computed per-city-trade distributions. HomeQuotr does not win on coverage. |
| Output shape | Raw permit, contractor, and property records. The customer computes any cost distribution themselves. | Computed median, p25 to p95 range, and severity distribution per city and trade, shipped as API fields. |
| Statistical rigor | No published sufficiency gate or confidence intervals on cost as a shipped field. | Sample-size sufficiency gate plus IQR-based 95% confidence intervals on the median at Growth and above. |
| Pricing model | Public pricing referenced from around $599 per month. Lower entry price than HomeQuotr. | Published $799 to $15,000+ per month tier ladder. Higher entry, with computed distributions included from Starter. |
| Cost normalization | Not part of the product surface. | CPI-U, PPI commodities, and OES per-MSA wage normalization at Scale and above. |
| Peril mapping | Not part of the product surface. | Covered-peril mapping and frequency modeling at the Enterprise tier. |
| Actuarial defensibility | No per-customer actuarial reliance layer. | Custom tier ships a per-customer actuarial review letter signed by an FCAS or ACAS-credentialed actuary referencing ASOP 41, 43, and 53. |
| Customer fit | Proptech, climate, and software teams building on raw records. | Insurance and warranty payers buying a computed, defensible cost answer. |
Who Each Is Best For
Shovels.ai Best For
- Proptech and software teams that want raw permit and contractor records to build their own product on.
- Climate and energy teams using green-permit flags and inspection signals across broad geographies.
- Engineering teams that prefer direct data-warehouse access and will do their own aggregation.
- Use cases where jurisdiction breadth matters more than a computed, defensible cost distribution.
HomeQuotr Best For
- Mid-market home warranty operators that want the computed per-city-trade median and range, not raw permits to aggregate themselves.
- Mid-market specialty MGAs in home lines that need confidence intervals and a published methodology version to file rates against.
- Regional P&C carriers that need covered-peril mapping and CPI, PPI, and wage normalization as shipped API fields.
- Solar financing platforms underwriting installation cost and net-of-incentive cost from permits and DSIRE incentive data.
- Buyers who need a Custom-tier actuarial review letter signed by an FCAS or ACAS-credentialed actuary for rate-filing defensibility.
The Detailed Comparison
Pricing
Shovels public pricing is referenced from around $599 per month, below HomeQuotr Starter at $799 per month, and Shovels states it works with a range of budgets. HomeQuotr is not the cheaper raw-data option, and the comparison is not like-for-like. The Shovels price buys raw permit and contractor records. The HomeQuotr Starter price buys the computed per-city-trade median, range, and severity distribution, with confidence intervals from Growth at $2,499 per month, normalization from Scale at $4,999, peril mapping from Enterprise at $7,499, and a Custom tier from $15,000 per month that includes an actuarial review letter. A buyer choosing between them is choosing between raw records to process and a computed answer to consume.
Data Origin
Both products start from the same kind of source: municipal building permits. The difference is what they hand back. Shovels hands back raw permit, contractor, and property records across 1,800+ jurisdictions, which is broader coverage than HomeQuotr, and lets the customer filter and aggregate however they want. That is the right shape for a proptech or climate team building its own product. HomeQuotr hands back a computed result: the per-city-trade median, the p25 to p95 range, a severity distribution, and a sample-size sufficiency gate, with the underlying permits as provenance. The honest framing is that Shovels is the broader raw-data layer and HomeQuotr is the narrower computed layer, and which one fits depends on whether the buyer wants to build the distribution or consume it.
Sales Motion
Both companies sell to technical buyers and both offer self-serve entry. Shovels offers API, web app, and direct data-warehouse access, which suits an engineering team that will integrate raw records. HomeQuotr offers a Stripe checkout at Starter and Growth, a single inside-sales call at Scale, and a contract with a security review and actuarial letter at Enterprise and Custom. The motions are similar at the bottom and diverge at the top, because HomeQuotr adds the reliance layer that a regulated insurance or warranty buyer needs and a proptech buyer does not. Neither motion is heavier than the buyer it is built for.
Underwriting Fit
This is where the two products separate cleanly. Shovels is built for proptech, climate, and software teams, and for those buyers its breadth and raw-record access are the right call. HomeQuotr is built for insurance and warranty payers, and that audience needs the parts Shovels does not productize: a sample-size sufficiency gate, confidence intervals on the median, a published and versioned methodology, covered-peril mapping, and a per-customer actuarial review letter for rate-filing defensibility. A home warranty operator pricing plans, an MGA filing rates, or a regional carrier modeling reserves is buying a defensible computed answer, not a pile of records to aggregate. We do not claim more permits than Shovels. We claim the computed, defensible cost distribution that a payer can underwrite against.
Every HomeQuotr aggregate row stamps the methodology version hq_methodology_v1.0_2026. The full methodology lives at /methodology. This page is written by Kevin Monangai, founder of HomeQuotr.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does HomeQuotr Have More Coverage Than Shovels?
No. Shovels covers 1,800+ jurisdictions reaching roughly 85% of the U.S. population, which is broader than HomeQuotr. If raw jurisdiction breadth is your buying criterion, Shovels is the stronger option. HomeQuotr competes on a different axis: it productizes a narrower set of permits into computed, defensible per-city-trade cost distributions rather than shipping raw records to aggregate yourself.
Is HomeQuotr Cheaper Than Shovels?
No. Shovels public pricing is referenced from around $599 per month, below HomeQuotr Starter at $799 per month. HomeQuotr is not the cheaper raw-data option. The Starter price includes the computed median, range, and severity distribution per city and trade, so the comparison is a computed cost answer versus raw records you process yourself, not a like-for-like price gap.
What Does HomeQuotr Ship That Shovels Does Not?
The computed answer. HomeQuotr ships the per-city-trade median, the p25 to p95 range, and a severity distribution as API fields, plus a sample-size sufficiency gate, IQR-based confidence intervals at Growth and above, CPI, PPI, and wage normalization at Scale, covered-peril mapping at Enterprise, and a Custom-tier actuarial review letter. Shovels ships raw permit and contractor records and leaves the aggregation to you.
When Should I Choose Shovels Instead?
Choose Shovels when you want raw permit and contractor records to build your own product on, when jurisdiction breadth matters more than a computed distribution, or when your team prefers direct data-warehouse access and will do its own aggregation. Proptech, climate, and software teams are exactly who Shovels is built for, and for those jobs it is the right tool.
Why Would an Insurer Choose HomeQuotr Over Shovels?
Because an underwriting reviewer wants a computed, defensible answer, not raw records. HomeQuotr ships confidence intervals, a published methodology version, peril mapping, and a per-customer actuarial review letter for rate-filing defensibility. Shovels is built for proptech and software teams and does not carry an actuarial-reliance layer. If the buyer is an insurance or warranty payer, that layer is the deciding factor.
Is HomeQuotr Data Defensible for Rate Filings?
Yes at the Custom tier. The Custom tier ships with a per-customer actuarial review letter signed by an FCAS or ACAS-credentialed actuary. The letter covers methodology, data lineage, sample-size sufficiency, and ASOP 41, 43, and 53 reservation. The full methodology lives at /methodology with versioned sub-documents so the actuarial reviewer can sign against a stable version key.
Can I Use Both Shovels and HomeQuotr?
Yes. They sit at different layers. Shovels is a broad raw-data layer for permit and contractor intelligence; HomeQuotr is a computed cost-distribution layer for underwriting and pricing. A team could use Shovels for breadth of raw records and HomeQuotr for the defensible per-city-trade cost answer where an actuarial-reliance posture is required.
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Every inquiry routes to Kevin. Response within 1 business day.