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TarSignal vs Shovels
Shovels is a national permit-data platform built for software and data teams, priced in API credits. TarSignal is built for the contractors and suppliers working 23 permit offices in Charlotte, the Triangle, the Triad, Wilmington, Asheville, Onslow County and Cumberland County: leads with contacts, a daily email and a map, at one flat price.
Choose TarSignal if…
- You're a contractor or supplier who wants North Carolina leads to call, not records to integrate.
- You want a daily email of new permits and a map, without paying per record.
- A flat $199/mo suits you better than a credit balance.
Choose Shovels if…
- You're building software and need permits across the country through an API.
- You need their extra datasets: zoning decisions, properties, residents, employees.
- You want the data in Snowflake, Databricks or BigQuery.
Side by side
| TarSignal | Shovels | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Built forContractors, suppliers and the teams that sell to them | Software and data teams (API, CLI and a web app) |
| Coverage | Coverage23 permit offices in Charlotte, the Triangle, the Triad, Wilmington, Asheville, Onslow County and Cumberland County | National; their coverage dashboard lists jurisdictions |
| Price | PriceFree, or $199/mo flat | Free (500 credits/mo), Basic $599/mo, Pro $999/mo, Enterprise custom; 1 credit = 1 record |
| Free tier | Free tierThree years of permits, older than 30 days, with a login | 500 credits a month, one year of history, up to 10 results a query |
| Daily new-permit email | Daily new-permit emailYes, every morning at 6 AM | Not described on their pricing page |
| API | APIQuery API with a free trial key; bulk CSV and S3 drops | Yes, on every plan |
What we say about Shovels comes from their own website, as of October 14, 2026. Prices and plans change; check their site for the latest.
Different jobs
Shovels describes itself as permit intelligence for construction technology companies: standardized permit, contractor and pre-permit data delivered through an API, a CLI and a web app, priced by the record.
TarSignal is the finished product for the people who act on a permit: the roofer, the HVAC shop, the supplier's rep. The permits arrive by email each morning with the contractor's phone and email where the records have them, and the map and search are there when you want to dig.
If you do need the data
We license North Carolina permit records too: a query API you can try with a free trial key, bulk CSV exports and scheduled S3 drops, priced by quote.
Questions
How much does Shovels cost?
When we checked on October 14, 2026, Shovels listed Free (500 credits a month), Basic at $599/mo (25,000 credits), Pro at $999/mo (50,000 credits) and custom Enterprise plans, with one credit per record retrieved or exported.
Is TarSignal a Shovels alternative?
For North Carolina leads, yes: TarSignal covers 23 permit offices with contacts and daily alerts at a flat price. For a national API, Shovels is built for that and we aren't.
See your area's permits first
Start free: three years of permits from the offices we cover, with the contractor wherever the permit records name one.
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