PropStream charges $0.12 per skip trace record (as publicly advertised on propstream.com at the time of writing), layered on top of the monthly subscription — verify the current rate with the vendor before committing. That is the number a call center or data buyer needs before any other comparison makes sense: not the subscription price alone, and not a vague "add-on," but a specific per-record charge that stacks on every name you run.
Disclosure: Scout Data is our product; treat that entry as a maker's pitch and the rest as our honest read.
How the credit system works
PropStream skip tracing runs through a credits system: you purchase or consume credits, and each trace deducts from your balance. The per-record rate of $0.12 is the publicly advertised price at the standard tier — credit bundles at higher volumes may carry a lower per-unit rate, though the base subscription cost is still owed regardless of trace volume.
Two details matter before you model a budget. First, credits are consumed on submission, not on success: if a record comes back without a phone number, you still spent the credit. Second, the monthly subscription is a fixed cost that sits underneath the per-record charge — a month in which you run no traces still costs the base plan.
Pricing on this page is based on publicly advertised figures at the time of writing — confirm current rates with PropStream, and with our sales team for Scout Data.
The combined cost at different monthly volumes
| Monthly skip trace volume | Per-record trace cost | Subscription floor (approx.) | Combined monthly spend |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 records | $60 | ~$99 | ~$159 |
| 2,000 records | $240 | ~$99 | ~$339 |
| 5,000 records | $600 | ~$99 | ~$699 |
| 20,000 records | $2,400 | ~$99 | ~$2,499 |
These figures use the publicly advertised $0.12 per-record rate and the approximate published subscription price — illustrative only. Verify current rates with PropStream before budgeting, and note that team seats add a further per-user cost not shown here.
When the subscription-plus-per-skip model wins
The combined model makes economic sense when the subscription is paying for itself independently of the skip tracing. PropStream is a capable property research platform — distress signals, equity, comps, list-building filters. If your team uses those tools daily, the $99 monthly floor is not waste: it is already earning before a single trace is run. Traces on top of a subscription that is already justified cost only the per-record increment.
The model also suits selective tracing: pulling a property list from PropStream and tracing only the names that pass a filter, rather than running the entire file. At low selective volume — a few hundred records a month — the per-record charge is small and the subscription carries everything else.
When a flat file beats the combination
The calculation reverses for buyers who want phones but not the research platform. If the subscription is dead weight — your team does not use the property search, comps, or list tools — then the $99 floor is a cost with no return. A bulk provider that delivers a skiptraced homeowner file directly, with no monthly subscription underneath it, eliminates that floor entirely. At call-center volume, the subscription cost is a small fraction of total spend, but it is still money spent on tooling you are not using.
A second case where a flat file wins: match rate and dead-number guarantees. PropStream traces on submission and charges on submission — whether the number comes back, whether it is working, whether it belongs to the current owner are all separate questions from the credit charge. A flat file provider that replaces dead numbers after delivery and matches by owner name to the deed shifts that quality risk off the buyer. The full cost comparison between the two models — including the formula for cost per dialable contact — is in our PropStream pricing guide.
What a call center should actually compare
The sticker price per trace is the wrong unit. The number that hits your P&L is cost per dialable contact: total spend on a run divided by the records that came back with a working, right-party number. At $0.12 per trace with an 80% match rate and a 70% working-number rate, the effective cost per dialable contact is $0.12 ÷ (0.80 × 0.70) = $0.214 per record that your agents can actually call — plus your share of the monthly subscription floor.
Run that same formula against every vendor you are evaluating, using your own tested rates rather than advertised match-rate claims. The skip tracing cost calculator walks the full arithmetic. For a broader comparison of PropStream against other platforms, see PropStream alternatives.
Where Scout Data fits
List Builder is priced per record delivered, with no monthly subscription floor for data-only buyers. Phones are matched by name to the owner of title rather than to the address, scrubbed against the federal do-not-call registry before delivery, and dead numbers are replaced — so match rate and working-number risk are handled before delivery rather than charged on submission. Volume pricing is quoted against your list profile; talk to sales with your monthly record count and target markets for a number you can put directly beside your PropStream math.
Frequently asked questions
How much does PropStream charge per skip trace?
PropStream publicly advertises skip tracing at $0.12 per record as of the time of writing — verify the current figure on propstream.com before budgeting. That per-record fee is charged on every record submitted, not only on records that come back with a working number, so match rate and working-number rate determine the real cost per usable phone.
Is PropStream skip tracing included in the subscription?
No. The base PropStream subscription covers property search, list building, and comps. Skip tracing — appending phone numbers to records — is a separate per-record credit charge on top of the monthly plan. Buying the subscription does not buy skip traces at volume; those are metered and billed separately every time you run them.
At what monthly volume does a flat skip-traced list become cheaper than PropStream?
The answer depends on the flat-file rate you negotiate and whether you value PropStream's research tools independently. If the subscription cost is dead weight — you only want phones, not the list-building and comps — then a bulk provider that skips the monthly floor becomes cheaper even at low volumes. The skip tracing cost calculator lets you plug in both structures and compare on cost per dialable contact rather than sticker price per record.
Does PropStream offer bulk skip tracing discounts?
PropStream has offered credit bundles and volume pricing at higher tiers — confirm current bundle options directly with the vendor, as these structures change. Even with a volume discount on credits, the base subscription is still a fixed monthly cost that the per-record rate does not eliminate.