Shovels vs FieldClients: Shovels alternatives, pricing and who each one is for
Shovels is a national building-permit database with an API; FieldClients is a self-serve feed that reads permits and other public records in your market, matches each one to the account behind the building, and reveals the person to call. Facts as published on shovels.ai on the date above.
Shovels vs FieldClients at a glance
| Comparison criteria | Shovels | FieldClients |
|---|---|---|
| What you buy | Permit, contractor and property database with API credits | A feed of public-record signals by market, each matched to its account; reveals of the verified decision-maker |
| Records | Building permits nationwide, contractor and resident datasets on paid plans | Building permits, code violations, new business licences; registrations and certificates of occupancy where published |
| Coverage | Roughly 2,770 US jurisdictions, about 85% of the population, per Shovels' own figures | United States, by county or metro; coverage by record type on the markets page |
| Pricing | $599 and $999 a month by credits, then custom | Self-serve from $99 a month (1 market, 100 deep reveals). Growth $249, Pro $499. Month to month, no setup fee. |
| Contract | Monthly plans, annual for enterprise | Month to month, no setup fee |
| Who works it | Your analysts and reps, by API or dashboard | Your reps, in the feed: filter to your trade, reveal, call |
| CRM integration | Through the API into Salesforce or HubSpot, built by you | CSV export of every reveal |
| Best for | Manufacturers, distributors, enterprise data teams | Sales teams at service companies selling to property managers, owners and operators |
| UK | No | Yes; self-serve plans are US only |
| Self-serve signup | yes, Free plan at $0 (500 credits a month) | yes, 14-day trial of the feed |
| Entry price | Free $0 (500 credits a month). Basic $599 a month (25,000 credits). Pro $999 a month (50,000 credits). Enterprise custom. | $99/mo |
| What is metered | credits; one credit is one record | deep reveals (100 to 750/mo); feed unlimited |
| Geography unit | not published | county or metro, any size |
| Contact on the record | not published | verified decision-maker email on every reveal; company phone where listed |
| Reason to call | not published | yes, dated, on every reveal |
Shovels facts are quoted from shovels.ai on 5 November 2026. If something here is out of date, email get@fieldclients.com and we will correct it.
Choose Shovels if…
- You have an analyst who will query an API
- You sell building materials or services to contractors nationally
- You want permit history on every US property
Choose FieldClients if…
- You want each record matched to the account behind it
- You sell to the owner or manager behind the building
- You want a flat price per market, month to month
Shovels pricing and what the credits buy
The two published plans, $599 and $999 a month, are sold by credits. Each record the API or the dashboard returns consumes credits, so the monthly fee is a budget for records rather than a flat rate for access, and the plan you need depends on how many permits, contractors and properties you pull. Above the two published tiers, pricing is custom, which is where the enterprise accounts sit. Contractor and resident datasets come with the paid plans; the integration into Salesforce or HubSpot goes through the API and is built on your side.
Shovels publishes its own comparison pages against other permit vendors and a Quarterly Permit Index built from the database. That index is the right use of the data for a manufacturer or distributor sizing a market: which metros are permitting, which trades are moving, where contractor volume is growing. It is a research product, and the credits buy the raw material for that research.
Where Shovels and FieldClients overlap, and where they do not
The overlap is building permits. Both read them, and a permit in a Shovels query and a permit in the FieldClients feed can be the same filing from the same city portal. That is where the overlap ends.
FieldClients adds record types a permit does not carry: code violations and new business licences, plus registrations and certificates of occupancy where the market publishes them. Each record is matched to the business account behind the building: the owner, operator or managing agent. You filter the feed to your trade and browse it without limit. One credit reveals the decision-maker and a dated reason to call. Verified decision-maker email on every reveal. Company phone where listed.
Both are self-serve. The unit is what differs. A Shovels credit buys one record. A FieldClients credit buys one reveal: the person who signs at the account, and why to call this week.
A team that wants both can use Shovels for market sizing and FieldClients for the leads: the index tells you where to sell, the feed tells you whom to call this week.
Questions
How much does Shovels cost?
On shovels.ai on 5 November 2026: Free at $0 with 500 credits a month, Basic at $599 a month with 25,000 credits, Pro at $999 a month with 50,000 credits, and custom Enterprise pricing. One credit is one record. FieldClients: Self-serve from $99 a month. Month to month.
Is Shovels a lead generation service?
No. Shovels sells data: permits, contractors, properties, by API and dashboard. Turning a permit into a lead, the owner or manager behind the building and the person who signs, is work you do on top of it. In FieldClients each record is already matched to its account, and a reveal returns the person who signs.
What are the alternatives to Shovels?
Construction Monitor and PermitStack for permit data by API, BuildZoom's data product, or the city open-data portals directly if you have an engineer. For records matched to the account, with a verified decision-maker on every reveal, FieldClients. The permit lead services page compares seventeen US providers.
Does Shovels cover the UK?
No. Shovels is United States only. FieldClients also works in the United Kingdom, from planning applications, Companies House and public tenders. Its self-serve plans are US only.
Keep comparing
See the accounts behind the permits
Pick a market and browse signals already matched to the account. Reveal the decision-maker on the ones worth a call.
Self-serve from $99 a month · Month to month, no setup fee