Best Proposal Software for Water Damage Restoration Businesses (2026)
Six proposal platforms ranked for restoration contractors who need signed work authorizations, clear reconstruction proposals, and deposits collected up front, without losing the photo and moisture documentation carriers expect.
QuoteIQ is the best proposal software for water damage restoration businesses in 2026 because its Proposals feature packages scope, photos, and price into one document that homeowners sign from their phone and pay a deposit against, inside a complete fire and water restoration platform from $29.99/month (e-signatures from Beginner at $99.99/month). Encircle is stronger when carrier-ready documentation matters most: drying logs, moisture maps, an AI scope, and Xactimate export, from $285/month. Albi is restoration-specific project management with moisture tracking, but its pricing page dates to November 2025, so we do not quote it. Xcelerate publishes no prices. PandaDoc is a general document tool at $19 to $49 per seat per month billed annually, and Jobber is generalist quoting with no restoration-specific features listed.
TL;DR: Water damage restoration runs on paperwork that has to be signed fast: a work authorization at the loss, an estimate the carrier accepts, and, for private-pay and reconstruction work, a proposal the homeowner approves. QuoteIQ takes Best Overall because Proposals, Options and Package estimates, E-Signatures, Online Payments, photo documentation through the Cam feature, and the Virtual Call Team sit in one subscription, with Consumer Financing on every plan. Encircle wins on moisture maps, drying logs, and Xactimate export. Albi wins on restoration project management. Xcelerate wins on estimate-to-work-order workflow, with pricing by demo only. PandaDoc wins on standalone document templates, and Jobber wins on simple quoting for mixed-trade crews. For standards context, see ANSI/IICRC S500 and the IICRC WRT certification.
The 2026 Winners by Category
Each tool below wins for a specific kind of restoration operation. Skip ahead to the category that matches your business. Prices below were checked against each vendor’s own pages in October 2026.
QuoteIQ
From $29.99/mo, with e-signatures from $99.99/mo (Beginner). Proposals with Standard, Quick, Options, and Package estimates, deposits, photo documentation, and 24/7 AI call answering in one subscription.
Encircle
Field Documentation at $285/mo; Scope to Estimate at $583/mo on its pricing page. Drying logs, moisture maps, an AI IICRC-aligned scope, and one-click Xactimate export.
Albi
Pricing: contact vendor. Room-based capture, DryLog moisture points and equipment records, e-signatures, and Albi Pay for deductibles and deposits.
Xcelerate
Pricing is tailored via demo. Estimates generate scope-specific work orders by trade, with Xactimate and XactAnalysis listed as integrations.
PandaDoc
Free plan, then $19 and $49 per seat per month billed annually. Templates, e-signature, and (on Business) custom quotes and payment collection. Nothing restoration-specific.
Jobber
Core, Connect, Grow, and Plus plans with signature approvals on quotes and optional line items on Grow. A general home service tool with no restoration-specific features listed.
Why Proposal Software Matters for Water Damage Restoration
Water damage is one of the most common property losses. According to the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I), water damage and freezing made up 22.6% of homeowners insurance losses in 2023, the average claim across 2019 to 2023 was $15,400, and the claim frequency averaged 1.50 per 100 house-years. Many of those claims turn into work for a restoration company: an emergency mitigation job first, then often a repair or reconstruction scope that has to be explained, signed, and paid for.
The paperwork starts before the equipment does. The ANSI/IICRC S500 standard (Fifth Edition, 2021) “describes the procedures to be followed and the precautions to be taken when performing water damage restoration” in residential, commercial, and institutional buildings, and the IICRC Water Damage Restoration Technician (WRT) certification has no prerequisites. Technical process has a standard to follow. The customer-facing side, meaning authorizing work, approving scope, and agreeing to price, is left to whatever software the owner picked. The Restoration Industry Association frames its mission as “Educate, Advocate, Elevate,” and a professional signing experience is part of how a restoration company looks the part.
Restoration involves three kinds of customer paperwork. At the loss, the homeowner signs a work authorization so mitigation can start. On insurance-paid jobs, the carrier-facing estimate is commonly built in Xactimate or a restoration-specific platform. And for private-pay mitigation, contents, and reconstruction (drywall, flooring, paint, cabinets), the homeowner needs a clear, signed proposal with options and a deposit. Proposal software mostly owns that third category plus the signature step on the first, which is why this list weighs e-signatures and deposits next to restoration-specific tools. QuoteIQ’s Attach Contracts feature lets you attach your own work authorizations and change orders to an estimate, so the document your attorney or carrier program requires travels with the proposal.
Electronic signatures are enforceable in interstate commerce. Under 15 U.S.C. § 7001, “a signature, contract, or other record relating to such transaction may not be denied legal effect, validity, or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form.” That is a federal rule of general validity, not legal advice for your state or your insurance program, and QuoteIQ’s own e-signatures page recommends consulting a local attorney for contracts that need formal legal compliance.
Assume 25 private-pay and reconstruction proposals a month at a $9,000 average job. If 8% of them stall on a delayed signature and get lost to a competitor who sent paperwork the same day, that is 2 jobs × $9,000 = $18,000/month walking away. Recovering just one of those two jobs is $9,000/month against QuoteIQ Elite at $299.99/month, roughly 30 times the subscription cost. The 25 proposals, $9,000 job value, and 8% stall rate are assumptions for the example, not benchmarks.
The bundled-versus-standalone question matters more in restoration than in most trades. A company that stitches together a documentation app, a separate e-signature tool, a payments processor, and an answering service pays four vendors and re-keys the same customer four times. QuoteIQ’s fire and water restoration software page and its water damage restoration CRM guide lay out the all-in-one case. The six tools below range from one bundled subscription to documentation-only and document-only specialists, and the honest answer is that some crews will run two of them together.
How We Ranked Them
“Best” lists on the internet are mostly affiliate revenue sorted by commission rate. This list is sorted by what wins for water damage restoration contractors specifically. Every competitor price and feature on this page was checked against the vendor’s own pages in October 2026. Where a vendor does not publish pricing, or its published pricing page has not been updated within the last 60 days, we say so instead of printing a number. QuoteIQ publishes this page, so we list honest gaps for QuoteIQ in the same format as every competitor.
The 6 ranking factors
- Proposal and scope presentation. Can you present scope, photos, options, and price in one customer-facing document, or only a bare estimate?
- Signature and authorization capture. E-signatures on proposals and estimates, plus attached work authorizations or change orders, and which plan unlocks them.
- Deposits and payments at approval. Can the homeowner pay a deposit or deductible by card, ACH, or financing at the moment they sign?
- Restoration-specific documentation. Timestamped photos, moisture and drying records, equipment tracking, and Xactimate export for carrier-facing work.
- Speed and after-hours coverage. Water losses do not wait for business hours. Mobile access and call answering at 2 a.m. decide who gets the job.
- Price transparency and total cost. Published pricing, contract terms, per-seat fees, and which features sit behind higher tiers.
Rankings were set in October 2026 and will be refreshed as vendors change pricing. Updated October 2026.
6 Tools at a Glance (2026)
The fast version. Detailed reviews follow below. All pricing was checked in October 2026 against each vendor’s own pricing pages. Where a vendor does not publish current pricing, the table says so rather than guessing.
| Platform | Starting Price | Proposals & Quotes | E-Signature | Restoration-Specific Tools | Free Trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QuoteIQ | $29.99/mo (Essentials); e-signatures from $99.99/mo | Proposals feature with Standard, Quick, Options & Package estimates | Yes, Beginner plan and up | Photo and inspection documentation; no moisture maps or Xactimate listed | 14-day |
| Encircle | $285/mo (Field Documentation); $583/mo (Scope to Estimate)* | Not listed | Yes, e-signatures and custom forms | Drying logs, moisture maps, AI scope, Xactimate export | 2-week trial through an Encircle expert |
| Albi | Contact vendor* | Not listed | Yes, in DryLog | Moisture points, equipment records, room-based capture | Not stated |
| Xcelerate | Not published; tailored via demo | Estimates generate work orders; proposals not listed | Not listed | Built for restoration; Xactimate and XactAnalysis integrations | Demo only |
| PandaDoc | Free; $19 and $49 per seat/mo billed annually | Document templates; custom quotes on Business | Yes, all plans | None listed | 14-day |
| Jobber | Core $29 to $49/mo for 1 user, by billing term* | Quotes; optional line items on Grow | Signature approvals on quotes | None listed | 14-day |
*Encircle’s pricing page lists Scope to Estimate at $583/mo, while its scoping page lists $350, $590, and $845/mo by job volume; confirm with Encircle. Albi’s pricing page was last updated in November 2025, so no figures are printed. Jobber’s page shows three price points per plan without clearly labeling billing terms; confirm at checkout. PandaDoc prices are per seat, billed annually. Xcelerate prices are tailored through a demo.
QuoteIQ — Best Overall Proposal Software for Water Damage Restoration
Best for: Restoration companies that want customer-facing proposals, e-signatures, deposits, and photo documentation in one subscription · Pricing: $29.99/mo to $699.99/moQuoteIQ wins this list because its Proposals feature does the job restoration owners most often do badly: turning a damaged-room scope into a document a homeowner understands and signs. A proposal presents “your company, scope, photos, reviews, documents, and price in one customer-facing document,” and customers can sign it from their phone. Standard, Quick, Options, and Package estimates are on every plan, so a reconstruction proposal can offer builder-grade, mid-grade, and premium finishes side by side instead of one take-it-or-leave-it number.
Around the proposal sits the plumbing restoration companies actually need. Online Payments are on every plan and support partial payments and deposits by card, ACH, Apple Pay, and Google Pay, so you can collect a deposit or deductible at approval, and Consumer Financing (Affirm, Klarna, and Afterpay, up to $30,000, enabled through your Stripe account) is on every plan for large rebuilds. The Cam feature files timestamped photos by customer and job and builds inspection reports as PDFs, and the Virtual Call Team answers calls 24/7 on every plan at 125 IQ Credits per minute of AI call time, which matters when a pipe bursts at 2 a.m. Attach Contracts lets you attach your own work authorizations and change orders to an estimate, and QuoteIQ’s Sign feature lets Pro-and-up plans upload and send standalone documents.
Pricing, per the live pricing page in October 2026: Essentials $29.99 (1 user, 500 IQ Credits), Beginner $99.99 (2 users, 1,500), Pro $199.99 (4 users, 3,000), Elite $299.99 (10 users, 5,000), and Max $699.99 (20 users, 8,000), plus $25 per additional user per month. E-signatures, Attach Contracts, and the Cam feature start on Beginner; the Sign feature’s document creation, the Client Portal, and QuickBooks sync start on Pro. On Essentials, Beginner, and Pro, each estimate with a proposal uses 100 IQ Credits the first time it is attached (editing or resending is free), and Elite and Max include proposals. Annual billing saves two months. A 14-day free trial is available on every plan, and a credit or debit card is required to start. Honest gap: QuoteIQ’s published feature pages do not list moisture mapping, drying logs, equipment tracking, or an Xactimate integration, so carrier-facing estimates and drying records still live in Xactimate or a restoration platform such as Encircle or Albi.
- Proposals on all five plans; customers sign from their phone (e-signatures from Beginner)
- Good / Better / Best Options and Package estimates on every plan for tiered reconstruction scopes
- Deposits and partial payments on every plan by card, ACH, Apple Pay, and Google Pay
- Consumer Financing (Affirm, Klarna, Afterpay) on every plan, up to $30,000 per job
- Timestamped photo documentation and PDF inspection reports in the Cam feature (Beginner and up)
- 24/7 AI call answering through the Virtual Call Team on every plan
- Published pricing from $29.99/mo, a 14-day free trial, and a 4.7 / 5 rating across 4,100+ verified reviews
- No Xactimate integration, moisture mapping, drying logs, or equipment tracking in its published feature pages
- E-signatures, Attach Contracts, and the Cam feature need Beginner ($99.99/mo) or higher; Essentials excludes them
- The Sign feature’s document creation, Client Portal, and QuickBooks sync (one-way, QuoteIQ to QuickBooks) need Pro ($199.99/mo)
- Proposals draw on IQ Credits on Essentials, Beginner, and Pro: 100 per estimate on first attach, so Essentials’ 500 monthly credits cover about five if nothing else uses them
- A general home service platform rather than a restoration-only system, with no IICRC S500 workflow templates listed
If your bottleneck is getting private-pay and reconstruction proposals signed, with a deposit, the same day, QuoteIQ is the right pick. Start on Beginner for e-signatures and photo documentation, or Elite at $299.99/month for proposals without per-estimate credits. The reasons to choose differently: you work inside Xactimate for carrier-paid jobs and want AI scoping and ESX export (Encircle), you need moisture monitoring and equipment records tied to rooms (Albi or Encircle), or you only need document templates and already have a CRM (PandaDoc).
“I love the mobile invoicing and quote customization features.”
Reviewer disclosure: QuoteIQ’s review database contains no reviews tagged to water damage restoration, so the reviews on this page come from other home service trades and are labeled as such.
Encircle — Best for Scope-to-Xactimate Documentation
Best for: Mitigation companies doing carrier-paid work that need drying logs, moisture maps, and an AI scope exported to Xactimate · Pricing: $285/mo and upEncircle is the documentation-first option, and its pricing page lists what restoration crews ask for: photos, videos, 360 captures, and notes; drying logs and moisture maps for water jobs; contents inventories and pack-outs; e-signatures and shareable custom forms; and offline use with real-time sync. Unlimited users and storage, onboarding, and a dedicated account manager come with every plan, and payments are included with “standard processing rates and no added platform fees.” For a mitigation crew whose revenue depends on defensible records, that is a specific, strong feature list.
The step up is Scope to Estimate, which the pricing page describes as “Everything in Field Documentation, plus AI-generated, IICRC-aligned scopes,” with one-click export to Xactimate. Encircle’s scoping page says its AI turns field data into “a complete defensible mitigation scope” and sends the scope and floor plans into Xactimate as a first-draft estimate. For carrier-paid work, that scope-to-Xactimate path is the capability QuoteIQ does not list, and it is the reason Encircle ranks second on a list about proposals.
Pricing needs a careful read. The pricing page (last modified September 17, 2026) shows Field Documentation at $285/month and Scope to Estimate at $583/month, both on a 12-month contract, with a “15% off thru Sep 30” note above Scope to Estimate; the year is not stated and the page does not say whether $583 already includes the discount. The scoping page (last modified October 1, 2026) lists Scope to Estimate at $350, $590, and $845 per month for up to 200, 201 to 400, and 401 to 600 jobs per year, and says Field Documentation is required. Those two pages do not reconcile, so confirm the number with Encircle before budgeting. Neither page lists a customer-facing proposal builder with options, so a restoration company that needs one may want a proposal tool next to it.
- Drying logs and moisture maps for water jobs
- Photos, videos, 360 captures, and notes with offline use and real-time sync
- Contents inventories and pack-outs
- E-signatures and shareable custom forms included in Field Documentation
- Scope to Estimate: AI-generated, IICRC-aligned scope with one-click Xactimate export
- Unlimited users and storage, onboarding, and a dedicated account manager on every plan
- Payments included in every subscription, with standard processing rates and no added platform fees
- Starts at $285/month on a 12-month contract, versus $29.99/month for QuoteIQ’s entry plan
- Scope to Estimate is $583/month on one Encircle page and $350 to $845/month on another
- Proposals and work authorizations are not listed on the pricing page
- Scope to Estimate requires Field Documentation, and job-volume tiers (200, 400, 600+ jobs a year) apply
- Per-tier prices are not shown on the pricing page, so budgeting needs a conversation with sales
If most of your revenue is carrier-paid mitigation and your biggest problem is documentation and scope depth, Encircle is the stronger tool. If your bottleneck is getting private-pay and reconstruction proposals signed and paid, QuoteIQ is the cheaper, faster fix. The two are not mutually exclusive: Xcelerate lists Encircle among its integration partners.
Albi — Best Restoration-Specific Project Management
Best for: Restoration companies that want moisture tracking, equipment records, and payments inside one restoration-specific system · Pricing: contact vendorAlbi (Albiware) is built around the restoration job record. Its Capture page says you can “pin photos, videos, moisture readings, and equipment to the rooms they belong to,” and its DryLog page describes Moisture Points for monitoring moisture levels over time, daily readings presented as charts, and an on-site equipment record with placement and removal dates. The report is pitched as a way to “communicate and justify your mitigation invoice to all relevant parties.” For documentation depth, Albi and Encircle are the two restoration-specific benchmarks on this list.
On the signature and payment side, the DryLog page mentions e-signatures and getting “contracts signed within the app,” and Albi Pay (page modified August 18, 2026) handles card, ACH, mobile check deposit, and digital payment links sent by text or email, including collecting “deductibles and deposits upfront via text or email from the work authorisation stage.” Published rates are 3.2% + $0.30 for cards, 1% capped at $15 for ACH, and 2% for check deposits (stated in the fees FAQ), and payments sync to QuickBooks. None of the Albi pages we reviewed describes a customer-facing proposal builder with options and packages.
Pricing is the open question. Albi’s pricing page exists, but its last-modified date is November 17, 2025, which is outside the 60-day window we hold every number on this page to, so we do not print Albi’s figures. Treat Albi as “contact vendor” and ask for a written quote that includes onboarding. One more item to confirm in a demo: the Capture page lists “Direct Xactimate ESX export” as a feature, while an FAQ on the same page says direct ESX export “is on the Albi Capture roadmap.”
- Photos, videos, moisture readings, and equipment pinned to rooms in Capture
- DryLog Moisture Points, daily readings shown as charts, and an on-site equipment record
- Reports pitched to “justify your mitigation invoice”
- E-signatures and in-app contract signing described on the DryLog page
- Albi Pay: card, ACH, mobile check deposit, and payment links by text or email, with deductibles and deposits collected from the work authorisation stage
- Payments sync automatically to QuickBooks
- No current verifiable pricing: the pricing page was last updated in November 2025
- No customer-facing proposal builder described on the pages reviewed
- Xactimate ESX export appears both as a feature and as “on the roadmap” on the same Capture page
- Plan-level availability of e-signatures is not stated on the pages reviewed
If you want one restoration-specific system for moisture records, equipment tracking, and payments, and you are comfortable getting a custom quote, Albi belongs on your demo list. If your priority is a polished, signed proposal with options and a deposit at a published price, QuoteIQ is quicker to evaluate, because you can start a trial instead of scheduling a call.
Need proposals signed and deposits collected the same day?
QuoteIQ Beginner ($99.99/mo) adds e-signatures, Attach Contracts, and photo documentation, and Elite ($299.99/mo) includes proposals without per-estimate IQ Credits, alongside online payments, the Virtual Call Team, and a 10-user team. 14-day free trial. A credit or debit card is required to start.
Xcelerate — Best Estimate-to-Work-Order Workflow
Best for: Restoration companies that want estimates to flow straight into trade-specific work orders and Xactimate-connected workflows · Pricing: tailored, by demoXcelerate is restoration software at heart. Its site says the platform lets you “manage everything from estimates to invoicing,” and that “estimates automatically generate scope-specific work orders categorized by trade (e.g., drywall, electrical),” with photo-embedded scopes you can email directly. Crews can upload photos, notes, and job updates from the field in real time, financials track invoices, expenses, and payments in one place, and the home page cites SOC 2 Type 2 standards for data security (Xcelerate’s own claim).
The integration partners page is where Xcelerate is strongest for carrier-facing work. It names “Verisk’s Xactimate & XactAnalysis,” QuickBooks, Encircle, CompanyCam, Matterport, DocuSketch, Clean Claims, Microsoft 365, Gmail and Google Calendar, RingCentral, Power BI, TSheets, and Zapier. No e-signature or payment tool appears in that list, and none of the Xcelerate pages we reviewed mention proposals, e-signature, or work authorizations.
Xcelerate does not publish pricing. Its FAQ says “Pricing is tailored based on your company size and volume of estimates” and directs buyers to book a demo or strategy session. Without a published price, a free trial, or a documented e-signature feature, it is hard to compare on a proposals list, which is why it ranks fourth. If you already run Xcelerate for operations, adding a signature and proposal layer on top is a reasonable pattern; if you are choosing from scratch for proposal workflow, it is one of the harder tools on this list to evaluate.
- Estimates automatically generate scope-specific work orders categorized by trade
- Photo-embedded scopes can be emailed directly
- Xactimate and XactAnalysis listed among integration partners, alongside QuickBooks, Encircle, and CompanyCam
- Invoices, expenses, and payments tracked in one place
- Crews upload photos, notes, and job updates from the field in real time
- Cites SOC 2 Type 2 standards for data security (company claim)
- No published pricing; pricing is tailored and starts with a demo
- Proposals, e-signature, and work authorizations are not mentioned on the pages reviewed
- No self-serve free trial listed; evaluation runs through a demo or strategy session
- The pages reviewed carry no publication or last-updated dates
Pick Xcelerate if you want a restoration operations system built around the estimate-to-work-order flow and you are comfortable with a sales-led purchase. For customer-facing proposals and deposits at a published price, add QuoteIQ next to it, or ask Xcelerate in the demo which signature and proposal workflow its customers use.
PandaDoc — Best Standalone Document Templates
Best for: Restoration companies with an existing CRM that want branded, trackable signature documents · Pricing: Free; $19 and $49 per seat per month billed annuallyPandaDoc is not a restoration tool and does not pretend to be. It is a document platform. The Free plan is positioned for “professional eSign” with 5 documents per month, Starter is for “quickly creating and signing forms and agreements” with unlimited document uploads and e-signatures, and Business adds custom quotes and sales agreements, CRM integrations (HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, and Monday), custom branding and a content library, and deal rooms. For a restoration company that already has a job management system and wants cleaner, trackable signature documents, that is a tidy fit.
Pricing, per PandaDoc’s pricing page (modified October 6, 2026): Free is $0, Starter is $19 per seat per month billed annually, Business is $49 per seat per month billed annually, and Enterprise is custom. Collect payments, pricing tables, and the product catalog are on Business and Enterprise only, templates are capped at five on Free and Starter, and a 14-day free trial is offered. A three-person office team on Business is 3 × $49 = $147 per month billed annually, before any CRM or job management system.
The gap is everything restoration-specific. PandaDoc’s pricing page lists no moisture maps, drying logs, equipment tracking, photo documentation, or Xactimate export, and it is a document tool rather than a job management system, so work authorizations, change orders, and proposals live in PandaDoc while scheduling, photos, and invoicing live somewhere else. Documents created through the API and automations also draw on usage credits, with per-document overage starting at $2.
- Free plan at $0 with 5 documents per month for basic e-signature
- Unlimited document uploads and e-signatures on Starter ($19 per seat per month billed annually)
- Business adds custom quotes, pricing tables, and payment collection
- Unlimited templates on Business and Enterprise
- CRM integrations with HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, and Monday on Business
- 14-day free trial
- Nothing restoration-specific is listed: no moisture, drying, equipment, or Xactimate tools
- Priced per seat, so costs rise with every office user
- Payment collection and pricing tables need Business ($49 per seat per month billed annually)
- Templates are capped at five on Free and Starter
- Not a job management system: scheduling, photos, and invoicing live elsewhere
PandaDoc fits a restoration company that already has a CRM and wants branded, trackable signature documents. If you want proposals, deposits, photo documentation, and scheduling in one place, QuoteIQ Elite at $299.99/month covers 10 users, while PandaDoc covers documents only.
Jobber — Best Generalist Quoting for Mixed-Trade Crews
Best for: Small crews that want simple quoting and scheduling and do not need restoration-specific documentation · Pricing: Core $29 to $49/mo for 1 user, by billing termJobber is a mainstream field service tool that some restoration companies pick for quoting and scheduling. Its pricing page lists Core (“Send professional quotes”), Connect (adds “Automate quote and invoice follow-ups”), Grow (adds “Customize quotes with rich visuals and reviews” and “Upsell services with optional line items”), and Plus, and says quotes support signature approvals. The optional line items are the closest thing in Jobber to Options-style tiers on a reconstruction quote.
Jobber’s pricing page (modified September 23, 2026) shows three price points for each plan and user count without clearly labeling which billing term each one belongs to. For one user, Core shows $29 to $49, Connect $99 to $139, and Grow $149 to $199 per month, and Plus starts at five users with $399 to $499 per month. Extra users are $29 per month each. Add-ons include AI Receptionist at $29/month, Pipeline at $49/month, and Marketing Suite at $99/month. The page offers a 14-day trial and says annual billing saves up to 25%, so confirm the exact term and price at checkout.
Jobber lists no restoration-specific features on its pricing page: no moisture or drying records, no equipment tracking, no Xactimate export, and deposits are not stated. It is a general-purpose home service system, so it suits restoration companies whose revenue is mostly smaller repair and reconstruction jobs sold directly to homeowners. QuoteIQ’s Jobber comparison notes that Options estimates are on every QuoteIQ plan, while Jobber’s optional line items start at Grow.
- Plan ladder from Core to Plus with published price points
- Signature approvals on quotes
- Optional line items for upsells on Grow
- Automated quote and invoice follow-ups on Connect
- Add-ons including AI Receptionist ($29/month), Pipeline ($49/month), and Marketing Suite ($99/month)
- 14-day free trial
- No restoration-specific tools listed on the pricing page
- Pricing page does not clearly label which price point applies to which billing term
- Per-user pricing, with extra users at $29 per month each
- Visual quotes and optional line items need Grow or above, and deposits are not stated
Jobber works for small crews who want straightforward quoting and are not doing carrier-paid mitigation. For restoration-specific scoping, pick Encircle or Albi; for proposals with Options estimates on every plan, pick QuoteIQ.
Which Tool Wins for Your Restoration Business?
Three real-world scenarios drawn from how restoration companies actually operate in 2026. Each one ends with an honest recommendation, and not all of them recommend QuoteIQ.
Mitigation-and-rebuild company, 6 technicians, mostly private-pay
A regional company that starts every job with a signed work authorization, then sells reconstruction (drywall, flooring, paint, cabinets) directly to homeowners and small commercial clients. Reconstruction proposals go out as PDFs and wait days for a signature.
The pain: slow signatures on rebuild proposals, manual deposit chasing, and after-hours calls that roll to voicemail. Carrier work is a smaller share, so Xactimate stays a separate tool.
→ Recommendation: QuoteIQ Elite ($299.99/mo, 10 users): Proposals without per-estimate credits, Options estimates for finish tiers, deposits, and the Virtual Call Team.Carrier-program mitigation company, 80% insurance-paid, Xactimate-heavy
A 15-technician mitigation company on carrier and third-party-administrator programs, where the deliverable is a defensible record of moisture readings, equipment days, and photos, and an estimate that goes into Xactimate.
The pain: scoping time per job and documentation gaps that slow payment. Customer-facing proposals are a small share of revenue.
→ Recommendation: Encircle (Field Documentation at $285/mo; Scope to Estimate if the AI scope and Xactimate export pay back, with the price confirmed directly). Documentation depth beats proposal polish here. Add a proposal tool only for the private-pay minority.Two-person startup on a tight budget
A new restoration company with two people, a handful of jobs a month, and no software yet. The owner needs signed work authorizations and a clean way to send a reconstruction price, but cannot justify a large monthly software commitment yet.
The pain: paper forms in the truck, photos on a personal phone, and no record that holds up if a customer disputes a charge.
→ Recommendation: PandaDoc Free ($0, 5 documents per month) to start signing documents now. Move to QuoteIQ Beginner ($99.99/mo, 2 users) when you want proposals, photos, scheduling, and payments in one place.The Real ROI of Proposal Software for Water Damage Restoration
Numbers that matter. These are the calculations a restoration owner should run before picking any tool on this list. The inputs below are illustrative assumptions, not benchmarks, so swap in your own. For scale, Triple-I puts the average water damage and freezing claim at $15,400 across 2019 to 2023.
Close-rate lift: A company sending 30 reconstruction and private-pay proposals a month at an $8,500 average job and closing 40% wins 12 jobs, or $102,000. A three-point lift from faster, cleaner proposals with options (43%) wins 12.9 jobs, or $109,650, a gain of $7,650/month. QuoteIQ Elite at $299.99/month is under 4% of that gain.
Admin time: If chasing signatures and re-keying customer details costs 25 minutes per proposal, 30 proposals is 750 minutes, or 12.5 hours a month. At a $35 per hour loaded office cost, that is $437.50/month. If software removes only half, that is $218.75/month, about 73% of the Elite subscription on its own.
Stack cost: Encircle Field Documentation at $285/month plus PandaDoc Business for three office seats (3 × $49 = $147/month billed annually) is $432/month, before a job management system or an answering service. QuoteIQ Elite is $299.99/month for 10 users. These are not like-for-like, because Encircle covers moisture maps and drying logs that QuoteIQ does not list.
The structure holds even when the inputs change: proposal software pays back through faster signatures, fewer lost jobs, and fewer hours of paperwork, and a bundle pays back faster when you do not need restoration-specific documentation. For crews that do need moisture maps and Xactimate export, the right answer is often Encircle or Albi for the record plus a lighter proposal tool for the customer, and QuoteIQ’s Invoicing, Online Payments, and Job Costing cover the money side either way.
How a Restoration Proposal Gets Signed and Paid in QuoteIQ
The full walk-through-to-deposit workflow inside QuoteIQ using the Proposals feature, from first site visit to signed, paid proposal.
Capture the loss
A technician photographs the affected rooms in the Cam feature. Photos file under the customer and job, each with the date and time it was saved.
Build the scope
Create a Standard, Quick, Options, or Package estimate from your price book. The AI Estimator can draft from a job description and up to five photos.
Attach authorization
Attach your own work authorization, change-order terms, and insurance documents to the estimate with Attach Contracts.
Send for signature
Send the proposal. The homeowner reviews scope, photos, and options, then signs from their phone.
Collect the deposit
The homeowner pays a deposit or deductible online by card, ACH, Apple Pay, or Google Pay, or uses financing on larger jobs.
QuoteIQ Pricing: Proposals on Every Plan, E-Signatures from Beginner
The Proposals feature is on all five plans. E-signatures, Attach Contracts, and the Cam feature start on Beginner. Elite and Max include proposals without per-estimate IQ Credits. 14-day free trial on every plan. A credit or debit card is required to start.
Annual billing saves 2 months on every plan. Extra users are $25 per month. See the full pricing page →
Frequently Asked Questions
For water damage restoration businesses in 2026, QuoteIQ is the best proposal software because its Proposals feature combines scope, photos, and price in one document that homeowners sign from their phone, backed by Options and Package estimates, Online Payments for deposits, and photo documentation in one subscription from $29.99/month, with e-signatures starting on Beginner at $99.99/month. Encircle wins on drying logs, moisture maps, and Xactimate export from $285/month. Albi wins on restoration project management (pricing: contact vendor). Xcelerate wins on estimate-to-work-order workflow with pricing by demo. PandaDoc wins on standalone documents at $19 to $49 per seat per month billed annually, and Jobber wins on generalist quoting. For process context, see ANSI/IICRC S500, and for the platform view see QuoteIQ’s fire and water restoration software page.
Restoration companies get work authorizations and proposals signed electronically by sending the document to the homeowner’s phone and capturing a signature in the app. In QuoteIQ, Attach Contracts lets you attach your own work authorization, change orders, and insurance documents to an estimate (Beginner and up), E-Signatures capture the customer’s signature, and the Sign feature (Pro and up) sends standalone documents. Encircle lists e-signatures and custom forms on its pricing page, Albi’s DryLog page mentions signing contracts in the app, and PandaDoc offers unlimited e-signatures from Starter at $19 per seat per month billed annually. Under 15 U.S.C. § 7001, a signature cannot be denied legal effect solely because it is electronic, but have an attorney review your authorization language. The Client Portal (Pro and up) also lets customers view estimates and approve proposals.
It depends on which job you are trying to win. QuoteIQ is better for customer-facing proposals, e-signatures, deposits, and 24/7 call answering at published prices from $29.99/month, while Encircle and Albi are better for moisture and drying documentation. Encircle’s pricing page lists drying logs, moisture maps, an AI IICRC-aligned scope, and Xactimate export from $285/month, and Albi’s Capture and DryLog pages describe moisture points, daily readings, and equipment records (pricing: contact vendor). QuoteIQ’s published feature pages do not list moisture mapping, drying logs, or Xactimate. Carrier-paid mitigation firms will often want Encircle or Albi; private-pay and rebuild-heavy firms will often want QuoteIQ. See the Proposals feature, the Cam feature, the Virtual Call Team, the pricing page, and the top 8 water damage restoration software guide. Standards reference: IICRC WRT.
Proposal software for a water damage restoration company runs from $0 for a basic document tool to several hundred dollars a month for restoration-specific documentation. QuoteIQ costs $29.99 (Essentials), $99.99 (Beginner), $199.99 (Pro), $299.99 (Elite), and $699.99 (Max) per month, plus $25 per additional user, and annual billing saves two months; see the pricing page. PandaDoc is free, then $19 and $49 per seat per month billed annually. Jobber’s Core plan shows $29 to $49 per month for one user depending on billing term. Encircle starts at $285/month and lists Scope to Estimate at $583/month (its scoping page lists $350 to $845). Albi is contact vendor, and Xcelerate is tailored via demo. For scale, Triple-I reports a $15,400 average water damage claim for 2019 to 2023. Related guides: Proposals, E-Signatures, Invoicing.
Yes, if your software supports payment links or online checkout at approval. QuoteIQ‘s Online Payments are on every plan and support partial payments and deposits by card, ACH, Apple Pay, and Google Pay; processing fees apply and exact rates are not listed on the feature page. Consumer Financing through Affirm, Klarna, and Afterpay (up to $30,000, enabled through your Stripe account) is also on every plan for larger rebuilds. Albi Pay collects “deductibles and deposits upfront via text or email from the work authorisation stage” at 3.2% + $0.30 per card payment. Encircle includes payments in every subscription with no added platform fees, and PandaDoc’s Business plan ($49 per seat per month billed annually) adds payment collection. After the deposit, Invoicing handles the balance, and QuickBooks sync is available on Pro and up. On Pro and up, customers can also pay outstanding invoices from the Client Portal. With the average water damage claim at $15,400, deposits protect cash flow.
A work authorization is the signed permission to start mitigation, an estimate is the priced scope of work, and a proposal is the customer-facing document that presents the scope, photos, options, and price for approval. On a typical job the homeowner signs the authorization at the loss, the carrier-facing estimate is commonly built in Xactimate or a restoration platform, and private-pay or reconstruction work is sold with a proposal. In QuoteIQ, Attach Contracts carries your authorization and change orders, Standard, Quick, Options, and Package estimates build the scope, and the Proposals feature wraps it in one signable document with E-Signatures. Process steps for the technical work are defined in ANSI/IICRC S500, and photos from the Cam feature support the record. Adjusters generally want the estimate and the photo record, while homeowners want the proposal, so keep the three documents separate but linked to the same job.
Proposal software reduces lost jobs by getting a clear, signable document to the homeowner the same day and removing manual steps between approval and payment. With QuoteIQ, customers sign proposals from their phone, Options estimates let them pick a finish tier instead of waiting for a revised quote, Online Payments take the deposit at approval, and the Virtual Call Team answers calls 24/7 so after-hours leads are not lost, at 125 IQ Credits per minute of AI call time. On Pro and up, the Client Portal lets customers view estimates, approve proposals, and pay invoices. As an illustration: 25 proposals a month at $9,000 with 8% stalling on signatures is $18,000/month at risk, against Elite at $299.99/month. Water damage and freezing made up 22.6% of homeowners losses in 2023, so the demand is steady.
Yes, QuoteIQ works for both residential and commercial restoration proposals because estimates, proposals, and payments are not tied to a property type. Its fire and water restoration software page describes timestamped photo documentation and an auto-generated inspection report PDF for commercial clients, Inspection Forms (Beginner and up) build custom checklists with photo attachments, MapMeasure Pro measures properties from satellite imagery, and Job Costing tracks labor and expenses against each job. The ANSI/IICRC S500 standard itself covers residential, commercial, and institutional buildings, and the Restoration Industry Association serves the whole trade. For multi-bid commercial work that demands Xactimate or carrier-program reporting, pair QuoteIQ with a restoration platform. See the water damage restoration CRM guide for the full platform picture.
Stop letting restoration proposals sit unsigned. Start getting them approved and paid the same day.
QuoteIQ bundles Proposals, e-signatures, Options and Package estimates, online payments, photo documentation, and 24/7 AI call answering in one subscription from $29.99/mo, with e-signatures from Beginner at $99.99/mo.
Watch: What is QuoteIQ?
A short walkthrough of how QuoteIQ replaces the stack of disconnected tools most restoration contractors use to run their service business.
Reviewed by Industry Experts
Mike Vidan, Co-Founder
20+ year service business owner and Co-Founder of QuoteIQ. Creator of the Mike Vidan YouTube channel, he has coached thousands of home service contractors on pricing, operations, and growth.
Read full bio →Justin Rogers, Co-Founder
Serial entrepreneur and home service business owner, and creator of the ForeverSelfEmployed YouTube channel. He has built and scaled multiple home service businesses with a focus on systems, pricing discipline, and operations that run without the owner present.
Read full bio →Real Home Service Customer Reviews: 4.7★ across 4,100+ verified reviews
“I love this app. I use this app all the time for quotes, it’s quick and easy. I have gotten more jobs using this app.”
“From quotes to scheduling, QuoteIQ handles it all.”
“It’s truly a game changer for service professionals like myself.”
Reviewer disclosure: these are verified QuoteIQ App Store reviews from home service contractors. QuoteIQ’s review database contains no reviews tagged to water damage restoration, so none are presented as restoration-specific. See more at QuoteIQ reviews.
