PermitStack starts at $29/month with nightly data refreshes, while Shovels starts at $599/month and offers an integrated AI assistant as of late 2026. While both provide API access to building permit data, PermitStack competes aggressively on price and real-time developer tooling, whereas Shovels focuses on deep historical coverage and natural language query capabilities.
Contractors, lenders, and software companies rely on permit data to track market activity, but choosing between these two depends entirely on your budget and whether you value raw speed over AI-assisted analysis.
Disclosure: Scout Data is our product; treat that entry as a maker’s pitch and the rest as our honest read.
Pricing Comparison
As publicly advertised in late 2026:
| Feature | PermitStack | Shovels |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Paid Plan | $29/month (Indie) | $599/month (Basic) |
| Free Tier | 100 daily requests | 500 monthly credits |
| Update Frequency | Nightly | Biweekly (typically) |
| Webhooks | Yes (on $79/mo+ plans) | No |
Pricing on this page is as publicly advertised at the time of writing — confirm current pricing with each vendor, and with our sales team for Scout Data.
PermitStack: Speed and Price
PermitStack's primary advantage is its accessibility. For $29/month, developers get full historical data access and 1,000 daily requests. Their infrastructure is built around nightly refreshes (ingesting at 03:00 UTC) and they offer webhooks that dispatch within 60 seconds of ingestion on their Developer tier ($79/month). If your application needs to know the moment a new solar or roofing permit is pulled, PermitStack is the more cost-effective choice. Read more in our PermitStack alternatives guide.
Shovels: AI and Depth
Shovels.ai is priced as a premium product. Their $599/month Basic plan gives you 25,000 credits to use across their web platform, API, or CLI. Their standout feature is "Charlie," an in-app AI agent that lets users search complex permit histories using conversational English. While their data refresh cadence is generally biweekly rather than nightly, their coverage across 2,770+ jurisdictions is deep and thoroughly normalized. See our Shovels alternatives guide for more context.
Scout Data Instead of Both
If you are buying permit data solely to build a list of homeowners to call, both PermitStack and Shovels leave you with half a product. You receive the permit signal, but you must then find and pay a separate skip tracing vendor to append phone numbers.
Scout Data provides fully resolved homeowner profiles. For data buyers, it is one monthly rate quoted after the free test batch. We absorb the risk of bad match rates and deliver ready-to-dial records, allowing your team to skip the API integration and go straight to outreach.
Frequently asked questions
Does PermitStack offer webhooks?
Yes, PermitStack offers webhooks that trigger within roughly 60 seconds of data ingestion. However, this feature is only available on their Developer tier (9/month) and above as of 2026.
Why is Shovels so much more expensive than PermitStack?
Shovels bundles access to their proprietary AI search assistant, a web application, and broad API coverage into their plans. They target enterprise users and teams that need analytical tools out of the box, whereas PermitStack is a leaner, developer-focused data pipe.