Roofing estimating software that gets the squares right

Roofing estimating software measures a roof in squares (100 square feet of roof surface), corrects plan area for pitch, adds linear runs for ridges, hips, valleys, eaves and rakes, and turns those quantities into shingles or membrane, underlayment, flashing, accessories and labor. Many residential roofers start from an aerial measurement report and price it in a roofing CRM, while commercial roofers take off low-slope roofs from the plan set. Published prices run from per-report fees around $13 to $90¹³² up to subscriptions of a few hundred dollars a month¹³.

By Agustín Policano, founder of AmpCount, which makes electrical takeoff software. Facts about other products and statistics link to their source, checked November 3, 2026.

What a roofing takeoff measures

Item	Unit	What to watch
Roof area by facet	SQ (100 SF)	Measure true surface area, not the footprint. A plan view understates sloped area, so apply the pitch factor or use a report that already did.
Pitch by facet	rise/12	Pitch drives the area correction, the labor adder for steep slopes and whether low-slope membrane is required on part of the roof.
Ridges and hips	LF	Each carries ridge cap and, often, ridge vent. Hips and ridges are counted separately because vent usually runs only on ridges.
Valleys	LF	Valley liner or ice and water membrane runs the full length. Open and closed valleys use different materials and labor.
Eaves and rakes	LF	Eaves get starter strip, drip edge and often ice barrier; rakes get drip edge and starter on some systems. Keep them separate.
Flashing (step, counter, apron, chimney)	LF / EA	Wall-to-roof lines are easy to miss on a report. Chimneys and skylights are usually priced as each with a kit.
Penetrations	EA	Pipe boots, exhaust vents, turbines and curbs. Commercial roofs add drains, scuppers and equipment curbs.
Tear-off layers and decking	SQ / sheets	Number of existing layers sets disposal weight and labor. Deck replacement is usually carried as an allowance per sheet.
Low-slope system (commercial)	SQ / SF	Membrane, cover board, insulation by thickness, tapered insulation, edge metal and coping in LF.

How a roofing estimate is built

Get the measurements: order an aerial report, scan the roof with a phone app, or take off the roof plan if the job is new construction or commercial.
Check the report against photos or the plan: missing facets, a porch roof that was not measured, wrong pitch on a dormer.
Convert facet areas to squares and add a waste factor that matches the roof shape. Hip roofs and cut-up roofs waste more shingles than simple gables.
Run the linear items: ridge cap and vent, hip cap, valley liner, starter, drip edge, step and counter flashing.
Count penetrations and specialty items: pipe boots, vents, skylights, chimney flashing kits, crickets.
Add tear-off, disposal, deck repair allowance, permits and access (steep or high roofs need more labor and safety equipment).
Price materials from your supplier list, apply labor per square with pitch and story adders, and present options (good, better, best) if you sell residential.

What to look for in roofing software

Measurements you can trust or check

Either a measurement report with pitch and edge lengths, or a takeoff tool that reads the roof plan. Whatever the source, you need to see facets and edges drawn, not just a total.

Waste and material calculation

The tool should turn squares and linear feet into bundles, rolls, pieces of ridge cap and coils of flashing using your waste factors, not a fixed default.

Your price list and labor rates

Supplier pricing and labor per square with pitch and height adders. Some roofing tools connect to distributors for live pricing and ordering.

Proposals and options

Residential roofing is sold, so good, better, best options and a signable proposal matter. Commercial roofers need a clean scope and exclusions list instead.

Software roofing estimators use

Tool	What it does for roofing	Price
Roofr Roofr	Roofing CRM with measurement reports (squares, pitch, edges), material calculations with waste factor on paid plans, proposals and supplier ordering.¹	Starter $0/mo (reports $19 each); Measure+ $109/mo; Essentials $249/mo; Scale $349/mo (monthly billing)
Eagleview Eagleview	Aerial roof measurement reports for residential and commercial roofs, plus wall and gutter reports.²	Premium report from $32.75 (small residential) to $89.50 (commercial) at list tier
RoofSnap RoofSnap	Ordered or draw-it-yourself roof measurements, estimates and material orders with your pricing, contracts and payments.³	Pay as you go from $13 per order; subscription from $105/mo per user (from $52/mo per user on annual plans for 10+ users)
AccuLynx AccuLynx	All-in-one roofing business software (CRM, production, finance). Pricing is given through a request form.⁴	Quote only
Hover Hover	Phone-scan 3D models with measurements for roof, siding, gutters and windows; estimates and material lists on paid plans.⁵	Pay per project ($59 to $139 per exterior scan on Starter); Pro $999/yr; Business $2,999/yr
STACK STACK Construction Technologies	Plan takeoff and estimating for commercial roofs, with an AI aerial image takeoff add-on that includes pitch.⁶	Free plan (1 project/month); Premium $299 and Pro $349 per user/month, billed annually

As described on each vendor's own pages, checked November 3, 2026. Prices change; check with the vendor.

For tools that cover every trade on one plan set, see the construction takeoff software and construction estimating software guides.

How much do roof measurement reports cost?

Report pricing is per roof, and the published numbers are close together. Roofr lists $19 per report on its no-cost Starter plan and $13 on paid plans¹. RoofSnap lists $13 for a Half Snap and $35 to $55 for a full report on pay as you go, lower for subscribers³. Eagleview's Premium report starts at $32.75 for a small residential roof at its list tier and $89.50 for commercial².

The real cost difference is volume and turnaround. A roofer ordering a handful of reports a month pays list price; a company running dozens a week usually lands on a subscription that lowers the per-report fee. Hover prices by structure complexity instead (up to 4 facets, 5 to 8, or 9 and more)⁵, which suits contractors who also sell siding and windows from the same scan.

Rooftop units, disconnects and conduit on a commercial roof

On a commercial roof the electrical scope lives on the mechanical and electrical roof plans: feeders to each rooftop unit, the unit disconnects, a service receptacle, exhaust fans and sometimes a PV array. NEC 440.14 requires the air-conditioning disconnect to be within sight from, and readily accessible from, the unit, and the 2023 edition adds that it must meet the working space rules of 110.26(A)⁷. Since the 2020 edition, 210.63(A) also calls for a 125-volt, 15- or 20-amp receptacle within 25 feet of HVAC equipment, on the same level and not fed from the load side of the unit disconnect, and 210.8(E) requires GFCI protection for it⁸.

The line that gets lost between the two bids is the penetrations. Every conduit that crosses the membrane needs a pitch pocket, a curb or a manufacturer boot, and conduit run across the roof needs supports the membrane manufacturer will accept. Ask the electrical contractor for the count of roof penetrations and the support method before you price flashing, and write in your proposal which of you carries them.

The units, curbs and nameplate data come from the HVAC estimate, so a late change in unit size moves the electrical circuit, the curb and your flashing at once. On the electrical side, long runs to the far corner of a big roof are where a voltage drop check can push the wire up a size, and the disconnects and receptacles are counted along with the rest of the job in commercial electrical estimating software.

Where roofing takeoffs go wrong

Pricing the footprint instead of the sloped surface. On steep roofs the gap between plan area and real area is large.
One waste factor for every roof. A simple gable and a cut-up hip roof do not waste the same amount of material.
Missing wall flashing where a roof dies into siding or a second story, because aerial reports show edges but not every wall-to-roof line clearly.
Forgetting a detached garage, porch roof or low-slope section that needs a different system.
Not counting existing layers. Two or three layers change disposal cost and labor, and sometimes the deck condition.
On commercial jobs, measuring membrane area but skipping tapered insulation, crickets and edge metal, which carry a large share of the cost.

Trades that bid the same job

A roofing bid rarely stands alone. The trades next to it on the schedule read the same drawings and often share scope lines, so it pays to know how they take off too: siding estimating software, solar estimating software, insulation estimating software and sheet metal estimating software.

Where AmpCount fits

AmpCount only counts electrical devices and fixtures on commercial plan sets, so it does not measure roofs, pitch or flashing. The overlap is on commercial reroofs and new buildings where the electrical contractor bids rooftop work: AmpCount counts the disconnects, receptacles and fixtures shown on the electrical roof plan, while the roofer's own tool handles the roof.

How electrical takeoff software counts a plan set

Questions

What is a square in roofing?

A square is 100 square feet of roof surface. Shingles, underlayment and labor are all priced per square, so a 2,400 square foot roof surface is 24 squares before waste.

Do I need an aerial report or can I measure from the plans?

For reroofs on existing homes most roofers use an aerial or phone-scan report because there are no plans. For new construction and commercial work the roof plan and details are the source, and a plan takeoff tool is the better fit.

Is there free roofing estimating software?

Roofr publishes a Starter plan at $0 per month where you pay $19 per measurement report¹, and Hover's Starter plan gives your first three projects at no charge⁵. Both are those vendors' own plans; check the limits on each pricing page.

What waste factor should I use?

It depends on roof shape, product and your crews. Simple gables waste less than roofs with many hips, valleys and dormers. Track your actual waste on finished jobs and set the factor in your software from that, rather than using one number for every roof.

Does roofing software handle commercial low-slope roofs?

Residential roofing CRMs focus on steep-slope shingle work. For membrane roofs with tapered insulation, crickets and edge metal, many estimators use a plan takeoff tool such as STACK or PlanSwift and price from their own assemblies.

Guides and tools for any trade

Sources

Product names are trademarks of their owners. AmpCount is not affiliated with any vendor on this page.