What roofing shops need from estimating software
Every roofing estimate starts with the same handful of numbers: total squares, pitch for each facet, lengths of ridge, hip, valley, eave and rake, and a waste factor that depends on how cut-up the roof is. A simple gable might take 10% waste. A hip roof with dormers and two valleys can need far more. Those lengths drive the accessories that make or break your margin: starter strip on the eaves and rakes, ridge cap, drip edge, ice and water shield in the valleys and along the eaves where code calls for it, and ridge vent.
Then come the line items that differ house to house. How many layers are you tearing off? How many sheets of decking will you replace, and do you price them per sheet so the homeowner isn't surprised? Is there a chimney to flash, a skylight to reset, a pipe boot on every vent? A good estimating tool lets you build those as reusable items so the second-year salesman prices them the same way you do.
Retail and insurance jobs pull in different directions. Retail buyers want a clear proposal with two or three shingle options, a warranty explanation and a way to sign and put down a deposit on the spot. Insurance work needs measurements the adjuster will accept, often an Xactimate-compatible file, and a record of every supplement: the drip edge they missed, the steep-pitch charge, the second layer. Photos tie both together. A pile of unlabeled pictures on a salesman's phone helps nobody when the adjuster pushes back.
Look for:
- Measurement reports you can order inside the tool, or a clean import from the provider you already use.
- Reusable line items and templates by roof type and shingle line.
- Good-better-best proposals with e-signature and a deposit payment.
- For insurance work, supplement tracking and ESX or Xactimate compatibility.
How the picks compare
Roofr wins for most residential crews because it covers the whole retail path, from measurement to signed proposal to payment, with published prices and no per-user charges. That last point matters more in roofing than in most trades: a crew with three salespeople, an office manager and a production lead would pay for five seats elsewhere.
AccuLynx and JobNimbus are the two full roofing systems. AccuLynx leans toward production and insurance work, with supplement and commission tracking on Elite. JobNimbus leans toward sales, with boards that make a pipeline of 60 open inspections easy to read. Both are quote only, and both rely on measurement reports you pay for, either through an integration or by uploading them. Ask each one to price a typical month for your crew: users, reports and add-ons together.
EagleView and CompanyCam are supporting players. EagleView gives you the report many adjusters already trust, plus wall and window measurements if you also sell siding. CompanyCam gives you the photo record that wins supplements and settles "you damaged my gutter" calls. Neither builds the estimate, so they sit alongside Roofr, AccuLynx or JobNimbus rather than replacing them.
Joist is the outlier: cheap, simple and fine for a one-man shop that measures every roof himself and gets work through referrals. You'll outgrow it once you add a salesperson.
If you also bid siding, gutters or general remodeling jobs, our roundup of estimating software for contractors covers tools built for broader construction work.
What to look for before you sign
- Price a real month, not the plan. Add up subscription, measurement reports, ESX files and add-ons for a typical 20-roof month. On Roofr that's easy to do from the pricing page; on AccuLynx and JobNimbus, make the rep do it in writing.
- Check the waste factor controls. You want to set waste per job, not accept a global default. Cut-up roofs eat profit.
- Build your three most common roofs as templates. During the trial, build a simple gable, a hip roof and a tear-off with two layers. If it takes more than an hour to get your line items in, your salespeople won't keep them current.
- Test the proposal on a phone. Homeowners sign on their phones. Send yourself a proposal and try to choose an option, sign and pay a deposit.
- For insurance work, ask about supplements. How do you record what you requested, what was approved and when? AccuLynx Elite tracks this directly; elsewhere you may be using notes and tags.
- Confirm who owns the photos and reports. If you leave, can you export job photos and measurement reports? Ask before you have three years of claims history in the system.
- Watch per-user charges. CompanyCam adds $29/mo per user beyond the plan. Roofr has none. Sales-heavy shops feel the difference.
What it costs
Prices are as of October 2026. "Billed annually" prices are the monthly equivalent.
| Shop size |
Roofr |
Joist |
CompanyCam |
AccuLynx / JobNimbus |
| Solo roofer, 5 to 8 roofs a month |
$0 (Starter) + $19 per report |
$14.17/mo (Pro, annual) |
$63/mo (Core, annual) |
Quote only |
| 5-person crew, about 20 reports a month |
$209/mo (Essentials, annual) + about $260 in reports at $13 |
Not built for teams |
$177/mo (Crew $119 + 2 users at $29) |
Quote only; third-party estimates put JobNimbus Essentials near $225/mo |
| 15-person company, about 50 reports a month |
$299/mo (Scale, annual) + about $650 in reports at $13 |
Not built for teams |
$467/mo (Crew $119 + 12 users at $29) |
Quote only |
Two things jump out. First, measurement reports are often a bigger monthly cost than the software. A 15-person company ordering 50 reports spends about $650 a month on reports at Roofr's $13 rate. Second, Roofr's Measure+ plan at $109/mo pays for itself against the free Starter plan once you order about 18 reports a month, because each report drops from $19 to $13.
Card processing is extra everywhere. Roofr Payments doesn't publish its rates, so ask before you start taking deposits through it.
