Permit data for contractor leads: City Signals Data vs Shovels vs Construction Monitor vs PingPermit
TL;DR: For one of our 5 metros, City Signals Data's weekly file costs $150 a month or $490 a year, less than Shovels' paid plans ($599 and $999 a month) and less than Construction Monitor's Austin metro plan ($500 a month, which covers a wider area than our City of Austin feed). It is also narrower: it is built around which contractor businesses are new or busy, plus expiring home permits and property facts, with no homeowner data. PingPermit is cheaper at $20 a month with a daily feed, and Shovels and Construction Monitor cover far more of the country. Pick us if you work in one of our metros and want a weekly contractor-focused file.
| City Signals Data | Shovels | Construction Monitor | PingPermit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coverage | 5 cities: Austin, Chicago, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Mesa (each city's own permit feed) | 2,820+ jurisdictions, 196M+ permits | Nationwide; 11,695 permits added this week (its homepage counter) | 19 markets, including all 5 of ours |
| Entry price | $150/month or $490/year for one metro; $0.004 per permit row on Apify | Free plan (500 credits a month, 1 year of history); Basic $599/month; Pro $999/month | Shop sells one jurisdiction a month, for example Austin Metro All Permits at $500/month, which lists 40+ cities and counties around Austin; more by sales quote | Lead feed $20/month; $29 one-time address report |
| Delivery | CSV and Excel file every Monday, or self-serve runs on Apify | Web app, API and CLI; warehouse delivery on Enterprise | Weekly editions, search, reports, API and FTP | Daily morning email and web feed |
| Contractor signals | New contractor (no permits in the city in 12 months) and busy contractor flags on each permit | Contractor profiles with licenses, work history and contact details | Top Company Reports on the most active builders | Permits scored into lead tiers by trade |
| Homeowner data | None: no owner names, phones or emails | Residents and homeowners tied to properties, with contacts | Not stated on the pages we checked | Owner named on the permit where the city publishes it |
| Expiring home permits | Yes, in Austin, Cincinnati, New Orleans and Mesa | Not stated on the pages we checked | Not stated on the pages we checked | Address report shows status and whether it was finaled |
Vendor facts are copied from each vendor's own public pages on October 26, 2026: Shovels pricing · Shovels home · Construction Monitor home · Construction Monitor shop · Austin Metro All Permits · PingPermit home · PingPermit pricing. Prices change; check the vendor's page before you buy. "Not stated" means we did not find it on those pages, not that the vendor lacks it.
Where is City Signals Data cheaper?
Against Shovels' paid plans ($599 or $999 a month) and Construction Monitor's Austin Metro All Permits plan ($500 a month), our one-metro file is $150 a month or $490 a year. Self-serve, our Apify tool charges $0.004 per permit row: the 586 Chicago permits naming a contractor business in the week of Oct 19, 2026 to Oct 25, 2026 would cost about $2.34.
Where are we more focused?
Each permit carries a new-contractor flag (no permits in that city in the prior 12 months) and a busy flag, and the file adds home permits that are expiring or expired where the city publishes status, plus property facts in Austin, Chicago and Cincinnati. It is built for selling to contractor businesses, not for reaching homeowners.
When is another vendor the better fit?
Choose Shovels or Construction Monitor if you need many states or an API across the country. Choose PingPermit if you want a daily alert feed at $20 a month, or homeowner names where the city publishes them. We do not supply homeowner contacts.
Where does our data come from?
Official city open-data permit portals for Austin, Chicago, Cincinnati, New Orleans and Mesa, with county assessor, US Census and FEMA sources for property facts. Every row links to its government source.
How were the other vendors checked?
Only from their own public web pages on October 26, 2026, linked under the table. We did not sign up for their products, and a feature we did not find on those pages is marked as not stated rather than missing.
Can I try City Signals Data first?
Yes. There is a free Austin sample CSV, and the Apify tool is pay per row with no subscription.
Where to go next
Full dataset page: weekly building permits and contractor activityFree sample (25 Austin rows, CSV)Contractor Permit Signals on Apify ($0.004 per permit)Order monthly by email ($150)Free weekly counts (Google Sheet)
Questions: hello@citysignalsdata.com. Use is governed by our Terms and Data use rules.