Hover alternative for roofers who only need measurements
Hover builds a 3D model from a phone scan at the house and bills per project. If a bid only needs measurements, tracing the roof yourself from satellite imagery is free, no trip.
Disclosure RoofStruct makes a competing product. Vendor details come from each vendor's own pages and are dated in the text.
If roof measurements are all you need for everyday bids, the Hover alternative is to measure the roof yourself from satellite imagery or your own drone or phone photo, from the office, before anyone drives out. Hover is built around a guided smartphone scan taken at the property, turned into a 3D model of the whole house, with roof measurements as one output next to siding, windows, gutters, estimates and design tools (Hover home page, Oct 2026). Exterior contractors who visit every lead get a lot out of that. A roofer who wants squares, pitch and line lengths for a quote pays for a trip and a project they may not need.
How we compared. We compared these tools from each vendor's own published pages, checked October 2026. We did not run side-by-side accuracy tests. RoofStruct makes one of these tools.
Where the measurement starts
Hover's measurement starts at the house. Someone walks the property with a phone and follows the guided scan, or uploads a blueprint PDF, and Hover processes that into a 3D model with pitch-adjusted roof squares, ridges, hips, valleys, eaves and rakes measured line by line (Hover roof measurements page, Oct 2026). Hover says the capture takes a few minutes and that measurements are typically available shortly afterward, with processing times that vary. Its pricing page lists a typical turnaround of 12 hours on the pay-as-you-go Starter plan and 4 hours on the annual Pro and Business plans, with a paid expedited option on top (Hover pricing page, Oct 2026).
RoofStruct's measurement starts at the address. You open the roof on satellite imagery, or upload your own drone or phone photo, trace the facets, set the pitch and label each edge. The PDF is ready when you stop tracing, in minutes, and nobody has to be in the driveway. Our guide to measuring a roof without climbing it walks through the trace.
The difference shows up in when you can bid. From the office you can price a lead the day it comes in and decide whether it is worth the drive. With a scan you measure once you are at the property, which suits crews that inspect every job anyway and want the measurement out of that visit.
What "measurements only" costs on each
Hover bills per project. On Starter your first 3 projects are free with no card, and after that each roof-only or full-exterior project is priced by complexity, counted in roof facets: simple up to 4 facets, average 5 to 8, complex 9 and up. The annual Pro and Business memberships lower the per-project price, and Pro adds estimates with your logo, estimate templates, CRM and pricing integrations and direct ordering (Hover pricing page, Oct 2026). Exports on Starter are PDF and ESX; the longer list of XLS, XML, JSON, SKP, DWG and DXF starts on Pro. The dated prices are in our roundup of roof measurement software by pricing model.
RoofStruct's Free plan covers free, unlimited self-serve measuring and PDF reports, no card: every roof you trace yourself, the full PDF with RoofStruct branding, the Cost & Takeoff worksheet and water-flow analysis. There is no project count to watch when you bid fifteen roofs to win four. Pro costs $69 a month, or $624 a year ($52 a month), and adds branded Good / Better / Best estimates with e-signature, the Material Order Builder with Smart Waste, CSV, XLSX, JSON and DXF exports, your logo and colours, and up to 5 team members.
When you would rather not trace, a done-for-you report is a paid order. A technician measures the roof and a second technician checks it, usually delivered within 4 hours (turnaround can vary with volume and complexity), for $14 on a residential roof ($10 on Pro), with a correct-or-refund guarantee within 30 days (how done-for-you reports work).
What you give up without Hover
- No phone-scan capture. RoofStruct does not scan with a phone and does not import plan sets. You trace on imagery or on a photo you upload. A roof hidden under heavy tree cover is a job for a site visit or a drone photo; that is a limit of overhead imagery in general, not of one tool.
- No whole-exterior model. Hover measures siding, windows, gutters and interiors from the same scan, and sells design tools on top (Hover home page, Oct 2026). RoofStruct measures the roof.
- No model in the builder. The RoofStruct builder shows the traced roof plan, and estimates you send show the aerial photo of the roof. A hand-built 3D model is a free bonus on selected delivered report orders, never part of the price.
- No CRM or supplier integrations. Hover lists integrations with Xactimate, ServiceTitan, Salesforce, AccuLynx, JobNimbus and others (Hover home page, Oct 2026). RoofStruct keeps customers, estimates and orders inside its own customer hub.
- No homeowner scan. Hover lets you invite a homeowner to scan the house themselves. RoofStruct's answer for a lead you cannot visit is the imagery.
When Hover is the right call
Keep Hover, or pick it, when:
- Your crew is at the property anyway, on every lead, and the measurement should come out of that visit.
- You sell siding, windows or gutters with the roof and want one model of the exterior.
- Jobs arrive as blueprints. Hover lists blueprint roof and blueprint exterior as their own project types (Hover pricing page, Oct 2026).
- Your insurance workflow runs through Hover. It lists sending measurements to Verisk, Xactimate and Cotality on every plan, and adjuster workflows where the homeowner does the scan.
- You want to show the homeowner the 3D model Hover builds of their own house in the sales call.
Hover and RoofStruct side by side
| What you get | Hover | RoofStruct |
|---|---|---|
| Where the measurement starts | Guided phone scan at the property, or a blueprint upload | Satellite imagery or your own drone or phone photo, from the office |
| Trip to the property | Needed for a scan; blueprints upload | Not needed to measure |
| What comes back | The model Hover builds of the house, with roof lines measured | Traced roof plan with pitch per facet and edge lengths by type |
| Free start | First 3 projects free on Starter, no card | Unlimited self-serve measuring and PDFs, no card |
| How you pay after that | Per project by facet count; annual plans lower it | Free plan, or a Pro subscription; reports and sketches per order |
| Turnaround | Typical 12 h on Starter, 4 h on Pro, per Hover; paid expedite | Yours when you stop tracing; technician reports usually within about 4 hours |
| Exports | PDF and ESX on Starter; XLS, XML, JSON, SKP, DWG, DXF on Pro | PDF on Free; CSV, XLSX, JSON, DXF on Pro |
| ESX for Xactimate | ESX export listed on every plan | Paid ESX sketch order, geometry only |
| Estimates | On the Pro membership, with logo and templates | Good / Better / Best with e-signature on Pro |
| Beyond the roof | Siding, windows, gutters, interiors, design | Roof only |
Prices and terms from each vendor's own pages, checked Oct 2026; they change often.
When a claim or an ESX file shows up
Retail jobs turn into claims. Hover lists ESX export on every plan, including pay-as-you-go Starter (Hover pricing page, Oct 2026). RoofStruct self-serve projects do not export ESX. Instead you order a technician-drawn ESX sketch: $29 for a residential roof ($24 on Pro), usually delivered within about 4 hours, geometry only, with no line items or prices (what an ESX sketch includes). You open it with your own Xactimate® licence and price it from your own list. ESX sketches are not offered in France, and RoofStruct is not affiliated with Verisk, the maker of Xactimate®. If you are unsure whether a job needs one, read what an ESX file is and when a PDF is enough.
Running measurements-only without a scan
- Pull the address up on satellite imagery. If the image is old, blurry or under trees, upload a drone or phone photo instead and set the scale.
- Trace the facets and label the edges. The builder counts "Edges labeled X of Y" until every edge has a type. Overlapping facets are flagged as "counted twice"; a facet with no pitch is flagged as "counted flat".
- Set the pitch per facet. Read it from the imagery where you can, and check a doubtful slope from the street with the free pitch finder or on site when you do go.
- Export the PDF and decide whether to drive. Squares, edge lengths by type and the waste you chose are on the sheet. Price the lead, and only visit the jobs that earn it.
- Order a report or an ESX sketch on the jobs that need one. Everything else stays free.
If you bid a lot of roofs you will not win, run the per-report vs flat-plan worksheet on your own close rate before you commit to any per-project tool. Measure your next roof from the office: open a free account.
FAQ
Is RoofStruct as accurate as Hover?
We have not run a side-by-side test, so we cannot say. Hover describes its accuracy on its own pages; we are not quoting those claims here. What a self-serve trace gives you is the roof you drew, with the builder flagging unlabeled edges, overlaps and flat facets before you quote.
Can I measure a roof without visiting the property?
Yes, from satellite imagery, with known limits: old imagery, tree cover and pitch you cannot read from above. Our comparison of satellite, aerial and drone measurements says when each source wins. When the overhead picture is doubtful, a drone or phone photo upload or a site visit settles it.
Do I need a Hover membership to get an ESX file?
Not according to Hover's pricing page: ESX export is listed on the pay-as-you-go Starter plan as well as the annual plans (Oct 2026). On RoofStruct, ESX is a paid sketch order drawn by a technician, geometry only, on either plan.
Can I use Hover and RoofStruct together?
Yes, if your work splits that way. Measure retail bids from the office on satellite imagery, and keep Hover for the exterior jobs, blueprint jobs or insurance workflows that run through it.
Sources
Checked Oct 2026:
- Hover pricing page: plans, per-project pricing by facet count, the first 3 free projects, exports per plan, typical turnaround and the expedited option.
- Hover roof measurements page: the guided smartphone scan, blueprint PDF uploads and what the roof measurements include.
- Hover home page: products, audiences and the integrations list.
- RoofStruct's report and sketch order terms: technician reports, ESX sketches and the correct-or-refund guarantee.