Shovels alternatives include PermitStack, BuildZoom, and Scout Data. Shovels.ai is a premium provider starting at $599/month as of late 2026, offering AI-assisted permit queries and broad coverage. Alternatives generally compete by offering a lower entry price, different data delivery formats, or fully resolved contact records.
When evaluating permit data providers, the main split is between infrastructure platforms that sell API access to raw municipal data and lead providers that sell completed contact profiles.
Disclosure: Scout Data is our product; treat that entry as a maker’s pitch and the rest as our honest read.
1. PermitStack
PermitStack is the most direct infrastructure competitor. As of 2026, their paid plans start at $29/month, making them significantly cheaper than Shovels' $599/month starting point. PermitStack offers nightly data refreshes and webhooks on their $79/month Developer tier. They are the strongest alternative if you have the engineering capacity to consume a REST API and want a low-cost, self-serve entry point. You can read more about their platform in our PermitStack pricing guide.
2. BuildZoom
BuildZoom provides robust historical permit data, largely used to power their contractor matching marketplace. For enterprise data access, they do not publish pricing and require a custom quote. While Shovels focuses on developer experience and AI tooling, BuildZoom's strength lies in contractor scoring and deep historical records. It is a good choice if you are evaluating contractors rather than just looking for homeowner leads.
Scout Data
If your goal is to call homeowners who recently pulled a permit or have an aging roof, buying raw permit data from an API is only the first step. You still need to skip trace those addresses to find phone numbers. Scout Data solves this by providing fully resolved, dialer-ready records. For data buyers, it is one monthly rate quoted after the free test batch. We absorb the match-rate risk so you do not have to buy separate data and skip tracing subscriptions.
You can explore the broader category in our building permit data providers overview.
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.
Frequently asked questions
Does Shovels have a free plan?
Yes. As of 2026, Shovels offers a Free tier that includes 500 credits per month and access to their AI assistant, Charlie. However, their first paid tier jumps to 99/month.
How does Shovels pricing work?
Shovels uses a credit-based system where 1 credit equals 1 cleaned, normalized record retrieved via API or exported. The Basic plan provides 25,000 credits for 99/month.