PermitIntel vs Shovels
Looking for a Shovels alternative? Here is an honest comparison.
Shovels is wider: 50 states, uniform schema, one API. PermitIntel is deeper where it covers: license-board verification anchored to state records, 26M+ Florida permits resolved to real DBPR license numbers, and a published tier system so you know the exact quality of every state before you buy. Neither is the universal winner. The right choice depends on whether you need breadth or you need evidence.
PermitIntel numbers (as of August 28, 2026)
Counts reflect records PermitIntel has ingested and are not represented as a complete record of all permits issued in any jurisdiction.
How PermitIntel and Shovels compare
Shovels information below is framed as Shovels describes it publicly. We do not have access to their internal data and do not fabricate their numbers. Check their docs for the current state of their product.
| Dimension | PermitIntel | Shovels |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage model | 50 states. Published tier per state: License-Verified, Contractor-Linked, or Permits. You know exactly what you are getting before you buy. | Shovels describes 50-state coverage with a uniform API schema across states. |
| Contractor identity | FL: every contractor run through DBPR license registry. Returns canonical license number. More license boards coming. | Shovels describes its contractor matching as using name clustering and deduplication across permit records. |
| Evidence and auditability | Every contractor claim cites the underlying permit. License status comes from the live DBPR registry, not a snapshot. | Shovels does not, as of this writing, publish per-claim permit source links in API responses. |
| Coverage transparency | Tier badge, permit count, jurisdiction count, and contractor resolution stats published per state. Live coverage API at /api/v1/coverage. | Shovels does not, as of this writing, publish a per-state breakdown of contractor data quality. |
| Roof intelligence | Roof age and material for Florida properties, derived from permit and property data, graded per jurisdiction. Public grade table. | Not available, as of this writing. |
| Pricing transparency | Published plans at /pricing. Free 14-day trial, full Florida access, no card. | Shovels offers a free tier with rate limits. Enterprise pricing requires contact. |
Where PermitIntel wins
Depth. Verification. Published grades. If any of these matter to your use case, the difference is not marginal.
License-board records, not name strings
Florida contractor identity is anchored to DBPR. You get a license number, not a deduplicated string. That license number is the same one your compliance team checks, your insurer relies on, and your marketplace displays. Name clustering across permit data cannot give you that.
Workers-comp and lead-safe in one call
Contractor Intelligence returns active license status, workers-comp coverage signal, and EPA lead-safe certification in one response, refreshed daily from DBPR. No secondary lookup required. The Verification API can check any contractor you already have on file.
Roof intelligence nobody else has
Roof age and material for Florida properties, derived from permit history and property data, graded per jurisdiction. The grade table is public. Insurers and MGAs use it for underwriting. Shovels does not offer this layer, as of this writing.
Coverage tiers published, not promised
Every state in PermitIntel has a public tier: Tier 1 (License-Verified), Tier 2 (Contractor-Linked), or Tier 3 (Permits). You see exactly what the data is before you integrate it. No implied uniform quality across 50 states.
Florida depth the aggregators skip
26M+ Florida permits across at least 245 jurisdictions, from the Miami metros down to the rural counties national platforms leave thin. History goes back a decade or more in the major metros.
Every claim has a source
Permit-level provenance is part of the data model. When a contractor shows up in Contractor Intelligence, the permits that earned that ranking are accessible. You can audit the signal, not just consume it.
When Shovels is the better fit
This section matters. Teams that have been burned by coverage claims appreciate when a vendor tells them honestly where they should look elsewhere.
You need all 50 states today
PermitIntel has 50 states with ingested data. Tier 1 is Florida only right now. If your product requires national coverage with a uniform schema across every state, Shovels has a head start on breadth.
You do not need contractor verification
If your use case is pulling permit activity by address or geography, and contractor identity verification is not part of the workflow, you may not need the Tier 1 stack. Shovels may be simpler to integrate for that use case at scale.
You are building a national market-analysis product
Research tools and analytics products that need broad national permit trends, rather than verified contractor profiles, benefit from Shovels' uniform schema across states. The tradeoff is that contractor quality varies by state and is not graded publicly.
You already integrate Shovels and it works
Switching costs are real. If Shovels is working for your core use case, the question to ask is whether the Florida Tier 1 stack adds enough value to justify adding a second API. It might, specifically for contractor verification, roof intelligence, or monitoring. It might not, if you are pulling basic permit records.
Frequently asked questions
Is PermitIntel a good Shovels alternative?
For teams that need license-board verification and contractor identity anchored to real state records, yes. PermitIntel matches Florida permits to DBPR license numbers and returns workers-comp and lead-safe status in the same call. Over 14M+ Florida permits are currently resolved to a licensed contractor. Shovels describes its contractor matching as using name clustering across permit data. If breadth across all 50 states matters more than that depth, Shovels may be the better fit.
What does license-verified mean?
Every permit with a contractor name is run through the Florida DBPR registry. A match returns a canonical license number, verified contact details, workers-comp coverage status, and EPA lead-safe certification. The result is anchored to the state record, not a fuzzy string. PermitIntel calls this Tier 1: License-Verified. Other states follow as license-board integrations come online.
How is PermitIntel coverage transparency different?
PermitIntel publishes a per-state tier system (License-Verified, Contractor-Linked, Permits) and a live coverage API at /api/v1/coverage. Every state page shows permit count, jurisdiction count, and what contractor resolution is available for that state. Shovels does not, as of this writing, publish a comparable per-state breakdown of what contractor data quality looks like by state.
Does Shovels have Florida permit data?
Shovels describes coverage across all 50 states. The depth of Florida contractor resolution it offers is not publicly detailed by state. PermitIntel holds 26M+ Florida permits across at least 245 jurisdictions, with 14M+ matched to a DBPR license. That is the benchmark we publish and stand behind.
When should I choose Shovels instead?
If you need national coverage across all 50 states with a uniform schema today, Shovels is likely a better fit. PermitIntel is deeper where it covers: Florida is the only Tier 1 state right now, with more states being added. If your use case requires multi-state data at scale and you are not yet doing license-board verification, Shovels has a head start on breadth.
Does PermitIntel have roof intelligence data?
Yes, for Florida. Roof age and material are derived from permit history and property data, graded A/B/C by fill rate per jurisdiction. The grade table is public and live at /api/v1/roof/coverage. This is not available in Shovels, as of this writing.
Try the Florida Tier 1 stack free for 14 days
Full Florida access: Permits API, Contractor Intelligence, Verification, Roof Intelligence. No card required. See the depth before you decide.