Shovels vs BuildZoom vs PermitGrab: Permit Data Workflows

Q: How much does PermitGrab cost?

PermitGrab Pro is $149/month. It has a 14-day trial ; a card is required to start, and you can cancel before the trial ends. Check each other provider's current pricing and contract terms directly, because those offerings change.

By PermitGrab Research · Source coverage and publishing cadence vary by jurisdiction

154,583

Named contractor profiles

20,856

Profiles with a phone

271,357

Public violation records

11,863,412

Public owner records

Availability varies by market · Browse market coverage →

Short answer: a useful permit-data comparison starts with the work you need to do—not an aggregate coverage number. Check the exact cities, source dates, contact roles, and delivery method your team needs. PermitGrab is designed for public-record research by city and trade; a permit is evidence of a project, not an exclusive homeowner request for bids.

BuildZoom, Shovels, Construction Monitor, and PermitGrab can all be relevant to construction research, but they support different workflows. The product that looks best in a national comparison may be the wrong choice if it does not publish the fields or freshness you need in your service area.

Choose the workflow first

If you need to…	Evaluate…	What to verify
Find help planning or hiring a construction project	A homeowner-facing matching service such as BuildZoom	Current matching process, project fit, and contractor terms
Integrate data into your own application	An API or bulk-data provider such as Shovels	API terms, rate limits, licensing, and the jurisdictions you need
Research activity in specific service markets	PermitGrab	The city source, newest record, available fields, and contact role
Buy a regional report for an established sales process	A regional-report provider such as Construction Monitor	Current market coverage, report format, and delivery schedule

BuildZoom: project matching and contractor research

BuildZoom describes a project-consultation process for people planning construction and a network for professionals seeking project opportunities. That is different from simply searching a city’s recent permit record. If you are a property owner looking to plan and hire a project, evaluate its current matching and professional terms directly. If you are researching public construction activity, start with the underlying jurisdiction and the fields it actually publishes.

Shovels: evaluate the API and data workflow

Teams evaluating Shovels commonly begin with an engineering question: can the product’s current API, data model, and terms support the system they intend to build? That can be the right choice for a technical implementation. It is a different evaluation from a sales or operations team that needs to inspect activity in a handful of markets without building its own data pipeline.

Construction Monitor and other report providers

Regional reports can be useful when their coverage and delivery format match an established sales process. Before purchasing, ask for the current jurisdictions, the public source behind the report, the source date, and the precise contact fields included. Those details matter more than a generic claim about permits or leads.

PermitGrab: public-record research by market

PermitGrab helps contractors, suppliers, researchers, and other B2B teams inspect recent public building-permit activity by city and trade. Each market page is intended to show its public source, newest published record, and which contractor, owner, contact, project-value, or violation fields are actually available.

That distinction is important. A source may identify a contractor of record, an applicant, an owner, a generic permit contact, or no named party at all. A phone may be source-published, publicly verified, or absent. Estimated project value is not a price quote or a purchase order. We treat those as market- and record-specific facts rather than platform-wide promises.

How to compare permit-data products responsibly

List the cities and trades you actually need. A national total is not proof of useful coverage in your service area.
Check the newest source record. A live-looking page is not enough; look for the underlying source and record date.
Check contact roles. Do not treat an applicant, owner, or permit runner as the contractor of record without source support.
Check field availability. Confirm whether the source really provides the address, project type, value, contractor, owner, phone, or violation field you need.
Match the delivery method to the workflow. API, report, matching service, and market-research interface solve different problems.

See the source and available fields before you decide.

Browse a market page to review current public-record coverage, then decide whether the workflow fits your team.

Browse market coverage →

Frequently asked questions

Which is best — BuildZoom, Shovels, Construction Monitor, ATTOM, or PermitGrab?

The best fit depends on your workflow. Compare the actual markets, source dates, fields, delivery method, and current terms you need. PermitGrab is built for researching public permit records by city and trade; other products may suit a homeowner-matching, API, regional-report, or enterprise-data workflow.

Why is BuildZoom different from PermitGrab?

BuildZoom describes a project-consultation and contractor-matching workflow for property owners. PermitGrab is a public-record research product: it organizes the records a city publishes and discloses the source, newest record, and available fields by market. A permit record is not a homeowner request for bids.

How does PermitGrab compare to Shovels?

If your team needs an API or bulk data contract, confirm the provider's current technical and licensing terms. PermitGrab is designed for market-by-market public-record research in the browser, with source and field availability shown before a trial. Neither workflow proves that every city or permit includes the same contacts.

Is Construction Monitor better for suppliers?

Supplier teams should compare their actual markets, project fields, delivery format, and contact-role requirements. On PermitGrab, inspect the city page first: municipal sources can publish a contractor of record, an applicant, an owner, a generic contact, or none of those fields.

How much does PermitGrab cost?

PermitGrab Pro is $149/month. It has a 14-day trial; a card is required to start, and you can cancel before the trial ends. Check each other provider's current pricing and contract terms directly, because those offerings change.

Which has the freshest data?

There is no useful blanket answer: freshness depends on the jurisdiction and the source. PermitGrab shows the newest published record and source information on each city page. Verify the relevant provider's current coverage and publication schedule for every market you care about.

Best fit for a roofer, HVAC company, or solar installer?

Start with the service cities and trades you actually work. On PermitGrab, review the source date and field availability for those markets, then use permit records as project and territory intelligence. A permit can mean a project is underway; it is not an exclusive or guaranteed homeowner lead.

What is the best Shovels alternative for contractors and sales teams?

The best alternative is the one that publishes the markets, fields, and workflow your team needs. PermitGrab is a fit when you want to inspect public-record permit activity by city and trade without treating every record as the same kind of lead. Check the city pages before deciding.

How much does Shovels permit data cost vs PermitGrab?

PermitGrab publishes a $149/month Pro price and a 14-day trial. Shovels and other providers may change their plans, pricing, usage limits, or contract terms, so verify those details directly before comparing cost.

Explore Platform Comparison Public Records

Explore available permit, contractor, owner, and violation fields by market. Public-source coverage and refresh schedules are shown city by city.

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