Contractors
Verify that the estimate you received matches the scope you priced. Spot dropped items and substitutions before you supplement or negotiate.
Xactimate estimate comparison
Turn two Xactimate estimates into one clear comparison.
A Xactimate estimate comparison aligns two PDF estimates for the same loss and shows every line where the scope, quantity, or pricing differs. Estology automates the side-by-side review and gives you a defensible, arithmetic-verified report. Symbility estimates work exactly the same way: two Xactimate prints, two Symbility prints, or one of each.
What it is
A line-by-line review of two estimates for the same loss.
Xactimate estimates can look similar on the surface but carry meaningful differences in the line items. A comparison reads both estimates, aligns matching rooms and activities, and surfaces every place the numbers diverge.
What you compare
Two estimate PDFs for the same property loss: Xactimate, Symbility, or one of each. Common pairings include a contractor estimate and a carrier estimate, a supplement and the original, or two versions of the same estimate. Multi-coverage carrier documents are supported.
What you get
A signed report that lists every discrepancy, attributes it to a category, and reconciles the sub-totals to the top-line gap. If the numbers do not reconcile, the comparison fails and you are not charged.
Platforms
Xactimate and Symbility, compared like for like.
Most comparisons are two Xactimate prints. Symbility estimates run through the same pipeline, and a mixed pair is reconciled before a single line is matched.
Two Xactimate estimates
The classic pairing. Codes, price list, room measurements and the summary block are all read straight off the print.
Two Symbility estimates
Symbility's columnar layout is read with its own grammar. Symbility prints carry no Xactimate codes, so matching leans on activity, description and unit. Everything else behaves identically.
One of each
Symbility folds overhead, profit and tax into every row; Xactimate adds them in the summary. Symbility line totals are restated onto the Xactimate convention first, so a matched line is not flagged as a money dispute over a booking convention. Each estimate still reports the totals its own print discloses.
Every estimate card in your project shows which platform printed the document, so you always know why code-level features differ between two documents on the same claim.
The variance report
Every line item. Every difference. Compared.
The structure behind the numbers
Rooms, dimensions and quantities. Read like a set of plans.
An estimate is a building described in line items. Estology reads it back that way, room by room, so a quantity that moved or a scope that vanished is obvious before anyone argues about the total.
Matched, same quantityQuantity or unit differsPresent on one estimate onlyMeasured surface totals
What goes wrong
The differences that matter are often in the details.
Xactimate and Symbility estimates are both dense. Manual comparison is slow, and it is easy to miss a substituted activity or a changed unit price. Here are the discrepancies a comparison should catch.
Dropped scope
A line item or activity appears in one estimate but is missing from the other. Across many rooms, small drops add up.
Line-item substitutions
The same activity is priced with a different code, material, or unit. The totals look close, but the scope is not the same.
Quantity drift
Rooms and measurements differ between estimates. A few square feet or linear feet repeated across rooms can move the total.
Price drift
The same line item uses a different unit price in each estimate. This can happen when price lists are dated differently or selected by region.
O&P and tax
Overhead-and-profit or tax base calculations may be applied differently. These summary-level differences can shift the bottom line.
Coverage boundaries
In multi-coverage documents, items may be grouped under different coverages with different deductibles. Estology keeps those boundaries intact.
Attribution
Ten ways estimates diverge. Estology names each one.
Every dollar of variance is attributed to exactly one bucket. Sub-totals sum to the top-line gap. Always.
01Line-item substitutions
02Dropped scope items
03Quantity drift
04Unit-price drift
05O&P miscalculation
06Tax base errors
07Depreciation deltas
08Recoverable vs non-recoverable
09Geometry mismatches
10Coverage misallocation
How it works
Compare estimates in minutes, not hours.
Estology handles the document reading so you can focus on the decision. The process is deterministic: the same inputs produce the same comparison, and every total is checked.
01
Upload both PDFs
Drop the two estimates into the run: Xactimate, Symbility, or one of each. Text-based PDFs work best; scans are not supported.
02
Parse and align
Rooms, line items, and coverages are extracted and matched across the two estimates.
03
Compute the delta
Every dollar of variance is attributed to a clear category. The totals are validated against the source PDFs.
04
Review the report
Open the interactive report or export a signed PDF. Every number traces back to the uploaded documents.
The response letter
Turn the variance report into a letter you can send.
A comparison tells you what changed. The response letter is how you say so: a written position, tied to the specific lines and dollars the report found, ready to go back to the other side.
Written from the comparison, not from scratch
The letter is generated from the figures the comparison already computed: the claim, the policy, the room, the line item, the quantity and the dollar gap. Nothing in it is a number the comparison did not produce from the two PDFs.
You choose the side you are defending
Pick which estimate you stand behind and the letter argues that position: justifying the lines the other estimate dropped or reduced, or showing where the other estimate exceeds yours, line by line.
Evidence attached and cited
Attach exhibits (F9 notes, photographs, weather history at the loss address, or a finding from Estimate Review) and the letter cites them as numbered exhibits instead of asserting anything unsupported.
Your voice, your versions
Choose the tone, edit the text, and keep more than one version of the same position. Whichever version you mark current is the one that goes out with the exported PDF or the share link.
Who it is for
A comparison report both sides of the claim can rely on.
Estology does not take sides. It documents where the estimates diverge, so contractors, carriers, and adjusters can settle on the same facts.
Carriers & adjusters
Compare a contractor estimate or supplement to the original. Identify scope inflation, duplicate items, and price drift with line-level evidence.
Public adjusters
Build a defensible, itemized record of differences to support your position. Every number traces back to the source PDFs.
Checklist
What a thorough Xactimate or Symbility comparison should answer.
Whether you compare by hand or use software, these are the questions that turn a disagreement into a resolvable fact.
- Does every room in estimate A appear in estimate B?
- Are activities matched by the same code, description, and unit?
- Do quantities and measurements align?
- Are unit prices identical, or is the difference explainable?
- Is O&P applied consistently?
- Does the tax base match the taxable subtotal?
- Are coverage boundaries preserved?
- Do the bucket totals reconcile to the top-line gap?
Customer reviewsWhat people say after
What people say after
a real comparison.
Unedited feedback from contractors, carriers, adjusters, and estimators who use Estology.
"
"Used Estology on a $47,000 water loss. It found the missing line items and price drift in about ten minutes. The carrier accepted the supplement the same day."
John M.
Restoration Estimator
"
"As a general contractor, I used to spend hours cross-referencing estimates. Now I upload both PDFs and have a defensible line-by-line report before lunch."
Tim G.
General Contractor
"
"I needed to explain why the contractor's estimate was higher than ours. Estology gave me a clear, sourced breakdown that both sides trusted."
Phil R.
Insurance Adjuster
"
"We had three competing estimates on one file. Estology showed exactly where each one differed and why, so the negotiation took one call instead of five."
Dana W.
Claims Manager
"
"My position letter practically wrote itself. Every variance was sourced back to the original estimate pages, so the adjuster had nowhere to push back."
Sarah K.
Public Adjuster
"
"I caught $12,000 in dropped scope the adjuster missed. Without a side-by-side comparison, that would have come out of my pocket."
Mike D.
Estimator
"
"Used Estology on a $47,000 water loss. It found the missing line items and price drift in about ten minutes. The carrier accepted the supplement the same day."
John M.
Restoration Estimator
"
"As a general contractor, I used to spend hours cross-referencing estimates. Now I upload both PDFs and have a defensible line-by-line report before lunch."
Tim G.
General Contractor
"
"I needed to explain why the contractor's estimate was higher than ours. Estology gave me a clear, sourced breakdown that both sides trusted."
Phil R.
Insurance Adjuster
"
"We had three competing estimates on one file. Estology showed exactly where each one differed and why, so the negotiation took one call instead of five."
Dana W.
Claims Manager
"
"My position letter practically wrote itself. Every variance was sourced back to the original estimate pages, so the adjuster had nowhere to push back."
Sarah K.
Public Adjuster
"
"I caught $12,000 in dropped scope the adjuster missed. Without a side-by-side comparison, that would have come out of my pocket."
Mike D.
Estimator
Questions
What people ask about Estimate Compare.
Short, direct answers about what a comparison finds, which files it reads, and what comes out of it.
What does a comparison actually find?+
Line-item substitutions, scope items dropped from one estimate, quantity drift, unit-price drift, O&P miscalculation, tax base errors, depreciation deltas, recoverable versus non-recoverable errors, room and measurement mismatches, and coverage misallocation. Each difference is reported with the source line it came from, so the number can be traced back into the original PDF.
Can I compare an Xactimate estimate against a Symbility one?+
Yes. Symbility line totals are restated onto the Xactimate convention during intake, so a cross-platform comparison reconciles the same way a like-for-like one does, and the report tells you which platform wrote each estimate.
What if the two estimates are not for the same claim?+
Intake corroborates the loss address, claim number, insured name and date of loss across both documents. When they disagree, the comparison is flagged before it runs and you can review the mismatch and override it if the rest of the file corroborates, rather than being handed a silently wrong result.
How long does a comparison take?+
Most comparisons complete in under three minutes. Larger multi-coverage estimates can take up to eight. You can leave the page. The job updates when the report is ready.
Do I get a letter out of it?+
Yes. A response letter is generated from the comparison's own computed figures, citing the claim, the policy and the dollar gap, with the supporting evidence already attached: F9 notes, photographs from the estimate, and weather history at the loss address. Nothing in the letter is a number the comparison did not compute.
Can I share the report?+
Yes. Reports open in-app, export as a PDF, and can be shared by link. The exported PDF is what you put in the file or hand to the other party.
What happens if a PDF cannot be read?+
Estimates have to be text-based PDFs, not scans. If a document cannot be read at all, the project charge is refunded in full. Runs inside a project are never separately charged, so a run that fails simply does not count against the project's included allotment.
Pricing
First project is free to try.
Create an account and start your first project at no cost: one Compare run, one Review and one Budget, kept in the app rather than downloadable. After that, it is $10.00 per project, which includes up to 3 Compare runs (plus Review and Budget) across every job in it, with full exports. No subscription, no minimum.
Learn more
Related guides
Deeper reads on the topics that come up when comparing estimates.