Choosing estimating software is one of the highest-leverage decisions a roofing contractor makes — the right tool saves hours per week and helps close more jobs; the wrong one becomes an expensive piece of shelf-ware nobody on the team actually uses. Here's an honest look at the current landscape, organized by what each type of tool is actually built to do well.
We're starting with our own tool, which we'd rather say out loud than bury at position seven and hope you don't notice. Read that first section with the appropriate suspicion — then hold every other entry on this page, and every other roundup you read, to the same standard: what is this thing actually built to do, and where does it stop?
| Tool | Starting price | Best for | Where it stops |
|---|---|---|---|
| McQueen Roofing | $0 homeowner / $0–$49/mo contractor | Fast, professional shingle re-roof estimates without CRM bloat or a drone subscription | Not a CRM; shingle re-roofs only for now; address-only estimates are assumed, not measured |
| The Edge | Quote-only (reportedly ~$2,599/user/mo) | Large or commercial operations with dedicated estimators | Real overkill for a small residential crew |
| Xactimate | Quote-only (reportedly ~$200–225/user/mo) | Insurance and storm-restoration work | More complexity than value for retail (non-insurance) re-roofing |
| AccuLynx | Quote-only (reportedly ~$250/mo+) | Roofing crews wanting an all-in-one CRM and estimator | Pricey for small crews; real learning curve on advanced features |
| JobNimbus | Quote-only (reportedly $225–550/mo+) | General contractors wanting an easy, mobile-first CRM | Not roofing-specific out of the box; advanced features need add-ons |
| Roofr | $0–$349/mo (pay-per-report from $19 on the free plan) | Fast, simple, automated instant quotes | Limited CRM and scheduling |
| Hover | From $9/project, or $99/mo on Pro | Precise 3D measurement and customer-facing visuals | Needs good photo or drone capture; pricier on complex jobs |
| Stack | $249–299/user/mo, billed annually | Multi-trade takeoff at scale, not roofing-only | Roofing features less native than a dedicated tool; steep for a beginner |
| QuoteIQ | $29.99–$699/mo, reportedly | Mobile-first AI estimating across a wide price range | Newest entrant on this list — shorter track record than the established players |
Pricing above is as we found it in September 2026 — several of these vendors don't publish pricing at all, so "quote-only" figures are third-party reporting, not a number we confirmed on the vendor's own site. Confirm directly before budgeting against any of them.
The AI Cost-Reasoning Tool: McQueen Roofing
Disclosure: we build McQueen Roofing. It's listed first because it's ours, not because a jury deliberated. Everything below is checkable, including the parts where we tell you to use something else.
McQueen Roofing sits in the gap described further down this page: most of the “AI” in this category is aimed at measuring a roof, and ours is aimed at reasoning about the estimate. You give it what you have — manual measurements, an aerial report you already paid for, or just an address — and it runs the calculation a professional estimator would run: footprint, pitch multiplier, waste factor, then current material and labor pricing broken into real line items. Field shingles, ridge and starter, underlayment, ice and water shield, drip edge, flashing, ventilation, labor. It also audits a finished estimate — yours or the one a contractor handed your customer — and flags the line items that are missing, which is the failure mode that turns into a change order three weeks into the job.
Homeowner estimates are $0. Contractor plans start at $0 and go to $49/month at launch — unlimited estimates, proposals under your own branding, and the estimate audit — and current pricing is on the homepage. No drone, no aerial subscription, no multi-week onboarding.
Where it stops, plainly: it is not a CRM and isn't trying to become one, so if you need scheduling, pipeline and invoicing in one system, two of the platforms below do that and we don't. It's built and tuned for asphalt shingle re-roofs first — metal, flat and EPDM, and repair-specific estimating are on the roadmap, not in your hands today. And an address-only estimate starts from an assumed roof footprint rather than a measured one; it's a fast, defensible starting number, not a survey. If you need certified measurements for a commercial tapered insulation job, you want The Edge, and we'll say so.
The Enterprise Incumbent: The Edge
Estimating Edge has been serving roofing contractors since the 1980s and remains the dominant player among large and commercial roofing operations — reportedly used by the majority of the largest roofing contractors in the country. Its strength is depth: trade-specific assemblies for low-slope and commercial systems, tapered insulation layout tools, standing seam cut lists, and deep integration with accounting and job-management software. The tradeoff is that this depth comes with real weight — it's built for teams with dedicated estimators and training time, and it can feel like overkill for a small residential crew that just needs a fast, professional quote. Pricing isn't published; third-party reporting puts it well into enterprise territory — in the neighborhood of $2,500 or more per user, per month — so budget for a sales conversation, not a self-serve signup.
The Insurance Standard: Xactimate
Xactimate is the estimating software insurance adjusters use to process claims, and many roofers who do storm or insurance work adopt it specifically so their line items match what an adjuster expects to see, which speeds up the claims and supplement process. It's less commonly recommended for contractors whose business is primarily retail (non-insurance) re-roofing, where its claims-specific structure and cost add more complexity than value. Verisk, its publisher, doesn't post pricing either; independent reporting puts a single-user license in the ballpark of $200–225 a month billed annually — worth confirming directly, since Verisk updates pricing periodically.
The All-in-One CRM + Estimating Platforms
Tools like AccuLynx and JobNimbus combine estimating with a full customer relationship management pipeline — scheduling, follow-up, proposals, and invoicing in one system. AccuLynx is roofing-specific, with built-in aerial measurement integrations and detailed material and labor libraries, though it can be pricey for small crews and has a real learning curve on its more advanced features; its own site is quote-only, though a newer Essential tier has reportedly appeared around $250/month. JobNimbus has an easier, more general interface with strong mobile access and integrations, but isn't roofing-specific out of the box and some advanced features require add-ons; it's also quote-only, with third-party estimates typically landing between $225 and $550 a month before per-seat add-ons.
The Fast Measurement Tools
Roofr and Hover both lean heavily on speed and measurement accuracy rather than full workflow management. Roofr focuses on quick automated roof measurements and simple, fast quotes — free to start with pay-per-report pricing from $19, and paid tiers running $109 to $349 a month — but has limited CRM and scheduling capability. Hover uses smartphone or drone photos to build accurate 3D roof models — genuinely useful for precise measurement and for showing customers a compelling visual — but it prices per project rather than a flat fee (roughly $9 to $139 depending on complexity, or $99/month on the Pro plan for discounted per-project rates), and it depends on quality photo or drone capture to begin with.
The General Construction Takeoff Tool: Stack
Stack Estimating is a strong, cloud-based takeoff tool used across multiple construction trades, not just roofing. It handles complex roofs well and supports real collaboration across a team, but its roofing-specific features are less native than a dedicated roofing tool, and it can be a steep tool for a beginner to pick up. It's priced per user, per year — $249 to $299 a month depending on tier, billed annually — a real commitment for a tool that isn't roofing-native.
The Newer AI-First Entrant: QuoteIQ
QuoteIQ markets itself explicitly as an AI estimator, with mobile-first roof and pitch mapping and tiered pricing reportedly running from around $29.99 up to $699 a month depending on plan level. It's one of the more direct signals that the market is shifting toward AI-assisted estimating rather than pure measurement or pure CRM tools — worth watching, and worth comparing directly against whatever you choose.
What's Actually Missing From This Market
Looking across all of these tools, a pattern shows up: most of the “AI” in roofing estimating software today is really about measurement — using photogrammetry or computer vision to measure a roof faster and more accurately. Very little of it is about using AI to actually reason through the cost and scope of a job from limited or rough information, or to generate a complete, professional, ready-to-send proposal in the process. Fewer still check a finished estimate for the line items contractors most commonly forget — starter shingles, pipe jacks, permits, contingency for hidden decking damage — the small omissions that turn into expensive change orders or callbacks down the line.
What “AI-Powered” Actually Means in This Category
It's worth being specific about a term that gets used loosely across this entire category. In most roofing software today, “AI” refers to computer vision and photogrammetry applied to measurement — analyzing aerial or drone imagery to calculate roof area, pitch, and complexity automatically. That's a genuinely useful application of the technology, but it's a narrower use case than the term suggests. It measures the roof; it doesn't necessarily reason about the estimate. A smaller number of tools use AI more broadly — to interpret incomplete or rough inputs, generate a full itemized cost breakdown, write proposal language, or check a finished estimate for common omissions. When you're evaluating a tool that markets itself as “AI-powered,” it's worth asking directly which of these two categories it actually falls into, since the answer changes what problem the software is solving for you.
How to Actually Evaluate a Tool Before Committing
Most of these platforms offer some form of trial or demo — use it on a real, recent job you already quoted manually, and compare the output directly rather than testing on a hypothetical example. Pay attention to three things specifically: how long it takes to go from raw measurements to a finished, sendable proposal; whether the line items match what you'd normally include, or whether you'd need to manually add items it missed; and how the output actually looks to a homeowner, since a technically accurate estimate that looks unprofessional can still cost you the job.
Price Ranges to Expect
Pricing across this category varies widely by what you're actually buying. Entry-level, estimating-only tools can start well under $50 a month, while full CRM-plus-estimating platforms aimed at growing teams often run into the low hundreds per month, and enterprise-grade commercial estimating software can run considerably higher once you factor in training and onboarding. As a rule, the more of your business a tool tries to manage — scheduling, invoicing, accounting integration, team seats — the more it tends to cost, so it's worth being honest with yourself about how much of that you actually need on day one versus what you're paying for in case you grow into it later.
Choosing the Right Fit
If you're a large commercial operation with dedicated estimators, The Edge remains the deepest, most established option. If your business is primarily insurance and storm work, Xactimate's alignment with adjuster workflows is hard to beat. If you're a growing residential crew that needs a full CRM alongside estimating, AccuLynx or JobNimbus are worth evaluating directly. But if what you actually need is a fast, accurate, professional line-item estimate — without the CRM bloat, the drone subscription, or the multi-week onboarding — that's the gap tools built around AI-driven cost reasoning are built to fill, and it's the one we built McQueen Roofing for. Run it against a job you already quoted by hand. If the number and the line items don't hold up next to your own, you've lost ten minutes and learned something useful about the rest of this list.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is roofing estimating software the same as takeoff software?
No — they answer different questions. Takeoff software measures a roof: ridge, hip, valley, rake and eave lengths, facet count, the raw quantities you'd order materials against. Estimating software takes measurements you already have (from a takeoff, an aerial report, or a manual walk of the roof) and turns them into a priced, itemized proposal — material and labor costs, waste factor, line items a homeowner can actually read. Some tools, like The Edge, do both in one package. If quantities are what you need, see our roofing takeoff software page instead — this page is about pricing the job, not measuring it.
What's the difference between roofing estimating software and a CRM?
Estimating software's one job is turning measurements into an accurate, priced proposal. A CRM (customer relationship management) tool manages everything around that: lead tracking, scheduling, follow-up emails, invoicing, and reporting across your whole pipeline. AccuLynx and JobNimbus bundle both; McQueen Roofing deliberately doesn't — if you need scheduling and invoicing in the same system, look at one of the all-in-one platforms above instead.
Do I need aerial or drone measurement to use estimating software?
No. Most estimating tools accept manual measurements, an aerial report you already paid for elsewhere, or in some cases just an address. What changes is accuracy and speed: a measured roof gives you a precise number; an address-only estimate is a fast, defensible starting point built on an assumed footprint, not a survey — useful for a quick number, not a substitute for a real takeoff on a complex roof.
Is there free roofing estimating software?
A few tools have a real free tier rather than just a trial. McQueen Roofing's homeowner estimate is $0, and Roofr's Starter plan is free with pay-per-report pricing after that. Most of the CRM-plus-estimating platforms (AccuLynx, JobNimbus, The Edge) don't publish a free tier at all — expect a sales conversation before you see a price.
What's the difference between residential and commercial roofing estimating software?
Commercial roofing — low-slope, flat, and tapered-insulation systems especially — needs assemblies and takeoff tools that most residential- focused software simply doesn't have. That's why The Edge dominates commercial work despite its cost and learning curve: depth for complex systems is the whole product. Residential-focused tools like McQueen Roofing, Roofr, and Hover are built around the far more common case — a standard shingle re-roof — and are faster and cheaper because they don't carry that extra depth.
Does roofing estimating software work for siding too?
Some does, most doesn't natively. General construction takeoff tools like Stack aren't trade-specific, so they can handle siding, roofing, or other exteriors in the same system — at the cost of roofing-specific features being less native than a dedicated roofing tool. Purpose-built roofing estimators are usually roofing-only; check a specific tool's scope before assuming it covers siding.
How accurate is an address-only AI roof estimate compared to a manual takeoff?
An address-only estimate assumes a roof footprint rather than measuring one, so it's meant as a fast, defensible starting number — not a replacement for a measured takeoff. For a straightforward gable or hip roof it's often close; for a complex roof with a lot of facets, dormers, or unusual pitch, the gap between assumed and measured grows, which is exactly when a real takeoff (manual, aerial, or drone-based) is worth the extra time.
What should a finished roofing estimate actually include?
At minimum: field shingles, ridge and starter, underlayment, ice and water shield, drip edge, flashing, ventilation, and labor — the line items contractors most commonly forget are starter shingles, pipe jacks, permits, and a contingency for hidden decking damage found during tear-off. A tool that only prices the shingles and skips the rest isn't giving you a usable number; if you already have an estimate, run it through McQueen Roofing's audit and it will flag missing line items directly.