Our Packaging Updates Bring More Value To You

HomeGauge Community,

For over 20 years, HomeGauge has invested in the future of the home inspection industry, not only with software and apps but also in our much loved, North Carolina-based customer support teams. We have continued to grow and invest in our products, and both our Support and Web Services teams, even through one of the most severe labor shortages the US has seen in recent memory.

In the last 3 years, we have invested over $10,000,000 into our software and, thanks to our parent company, will continue to invest beyond the revenues we generate.

Over the last 2 decades, we have only raised prices once and yet have been able to support more Inspectors than at any other time in our history, backed by the largest engineering team we have ever had. Thanks to the generous support of American Family Insurance, we were able to delay those price changes during COVID and allow many of you to pause your subscriptions while the market recovered.

Looking forward, we are committed to the continuous development of our products and to our Support and Web teams that so many of you rely on for your business. We know how much it means to our Inspectors to access real people online, over email, and on the phone.

With that in mind, I am writing to let you know that we will be raising our software prices at the start of April. I tasked the team to develop new packages to deliver more value to you alongside this pricing change. We’ve outlined these packages below.

On behalf of everyone at HomeGauge, I thank you for your continued business, and we are looking forward to meeting face to face again very soon.

Paul McIntyre
President, HomeGauge

More Value
Included Benefit

Starting April 4th, HomeGauge ONE subscribers will receive the following all-inclusive benefits:

Web Writer — Now out of Beta

Web Writer with Mobile apps for offline use

Classic Desktop Writer
Classic Desktop Writer – Seasoned pros get the ultimate in customization and configuration
Scheduler

Request and schedule appointment capabilities available for all customers

Payments

Fully integrated payments with some of the best rates available

Agreements
Manage agreements and ensure that you have all the relevant docs signed before releasing the report
Forms

All state-specific and pest forms are now included as part of your subscription (a $200+ value)

Increased report transfer limits (500Mb)

Include as many photos as necessary with our increased storage limits ($30+ per month value)

All For One Price:

$89/month or $890/year for new customers

Included Benefit

We’ve made some big changes for you

N
Over the past 18 months, we have made significant changes to our platform and products to better serve our Inspectors and their customers. Anyone who subscribes to HomeGauge ONE now has access to our brand new platform for writing and completing professional reports onsite.
N
We’ve revamped our entire app and business suite to ensure that we support iOS and Mac devices just as well as their Android and PC cousins.
N
HomeGauge ONE subscribers now have access to our top rated support team directly within the app. Customers of HomeGauge Inspectors also get access to the same great support team when they view their report, reducing calls to their office.
N

We generated over $100,000 for members of our Inspector Partner program, which matches Inspectors with locally based demand for FREE! Learn how to get into this beta.

N

This is just the beginning of many exciting things to come. HomeGauge will continue to be the best value subscription available in the industry. We will be making regular additions to our all-inclusive subscription.

There are no hidden fees and we will not charge per inspection fees.

Example Price Changes

Inspector Jean
  • Single Inspector in Florida who uses 4Point, WDO, and pays for additional storage per month
  • Current subscription cost: $69/month ($828 annually)
  • 4-Point: $150
  • NPMA-33: $199

Current year one cost: $1,177
New year one cost: $890 ($287 savings!)
No per inspection fees and no hidden costs!

Best Home Inspections
  • 5 person inspection company based in Florida
  • Current subscription cost: $69/month x5 ($4140 annually)
  • 4-Point: $150 x 5 ($750)
  • NPMA-33: $199 x 5 ($995)

Current year one cost: $5,885
New year one cost: $4450 ($935 savings!)
No per inspection fees and no hidden costs!

What are the price changes for each use case?

Company owner with a perpetual license for desktop and HG Services
Inspector member of a company using a perpetual license for desktop with HG Services
Any current inspector with a HomeGauge ONE subscription
Admin account with HG Services
Current Price
$39/month
$390/year
$30/month
$300/year
$69/month
$690/year
No additional cost
Price upon next renewal after 4/4/2022
$59/month
$590/year
$50/month
$500/year
$89/month
$890/year
No additional cost

Packaging Updates FAQs

HomeGauge mentions “subscriptions” and “services,” and the price changes impact each separately. What is the difference between subscriptions and services?

Most HomeGauge Inspectors have a HomeGauge ONE subscription, including all new customers. However, some longstanding HomeGauge Inspectors had purchased our legacy perpetual software license which we no longer offer, and as such the subscription model is irrelevant to them. For those perpetual license holders, they have a separate Services plan with us to access certain features, which is almost identical to the HomeGauge ONE subscription we have now, and includes our full business suite within Inspector Dashboard like Payments, Scheduler, Agreements, report delivery, and business reporting.

Both HomeGauge Services and the HomeGauge ONE subscription give inspectors access to our newest web-based report writer, Web Writer, as well as the legacy Desktop Writer.

I am a HomeGauge Services customer, but I do not use most of my services plan, do the increases apply to me?

Yes, the increases do apply (please see the chart at the top of this FAQ). HomeGauge users with services from previous perpetual license purchases already get all the same benefits as the full HomeGauge ONE software subscribers, at a significant discount. We recommend looking at your other tools and seeing if you might save money by using the integrated HomeGauge tools that come with your Services instead.

If I only pay for HomeGauge Services, what will my cost look like, and when?

If you currently pay $39/month or $390/year for Services, your pricing will increase to $59/month or $599/year starting after 4/4/22. If there are additional Inspectors in your company, the price for their Services will increase to $50/month or $500/year from its current price of $30/month or $300/year.

If I already purchased an annual subscription or Services, does my cost automatically increase?

No. We will honor pre-purchased annual subscriptions and services until the date at which they are set to expire.

What if I purchased a Cyber Monday deal? Do you honor the contract I originally paid?

Yes, we will honor that contract until it has expired, at which point you will be subject to the new pricing and packaging.

With a HomeGauge ONE subscription, am I paying for things I will not be using, like the scheduler, credit card processing, or a website?

You will not be forced to pay for a website package or sign up for our payment processing solution with a HomeGauge ONE subscription. However – the all-inclusive nature of a HomeGauge ONE subscription is designed to save you money and add convenience by providing you with the option to have everything you need for your business under one roof. It is your choice to take advantage of all, or only some of its functionality.

As with something like a Netflix subscription, you pay monthly but may not watch every single show they offer, and you might pay for multiple streaming platforms even though they provide similar content. If you are juggling payment processing and a scheduler in different platforms while still using HomeGauge report writers, you can do that, but you may not be able to integrate each of those functions into your HomeGauge dashboard, report functionality, or even your website, and you will likely be paying more for those separate items than if you were using them within your HomeGauge ONE subscription.

We do still integrate with ISN, however, you’ll likely be getting the same features HomeGauge ONE offers within your subscription for an extra cost with ISN.

Do I have to use Web Writer when the new pricing starts?

No, you do not. You have access to BOTH our Web Writer and Desktop Writer. You can still use our Desktop Writer at no additional cost.

Is Desktop Writer going away soon?

No, it is not. You can still use Desktop Writer if that is what you prefer. Our goal is to make Web Writer so good that you will want to switch, but we have no plans to make you switch.

What if I only use the Desktop Writer and the Companion – is there a pricing tier for me?

If you have a perpetual desktop software license from the past and do not use any of the tools included in HomeGauge ONE , including transferring reports and templates from the software to the Companion and back, you are not required to pay for HomeGauge Services. These HomeGauge ONE tools are formally known as HG Services to perpetual license holders from the past.

Will you raise software prices next year?

No. We have only raised software prices twice in 20 years. We have no current plans to increase software prices in 2023, nor do we have plans to introduce per-inspection pricing on our report writing products. If you are an existing HomeGauge Inspector with a HomeGauge ONE subscription, we have provided you with a loyalty discount to finish out the year and make the pricing transition easier, but on 1/1/2023, your pricing will reflect the regular monthly subscription cost of $99/mo.

If you are a HomeGauge perpetual desktop software owner with HG Services, you already have a discount built-in, so this does not apply.

We do not feel our requests for improvements have been granted, why does the price increase without those items fixed?

The majority of our recent and significant investment has been poured into a combination of our software and our teams, especially Support, Engineering, and Product.

The software investment has been invested in the Desktop writer, our Companion apps, the Web Writer, and the new apps. Like any software company we make decisions on where to invest based on what we hear from our customers. In our case we collect that from forums, at conferences, through beta testing programs, and more recently through our official Facebook group, our Community Forum, and the Advisory Council.

Many of our Inspectors have made requests for new features, improvements, and reported bug fixes, and we have tackled an enormous amount of these over that time, in both the Desktop and Web Writer versions. We really appreciate the feedback and use it extensively. There will always be some requests that either fail to get prioritized based on demand, or that cannot be solved because some customers want it one way and some the opposite, or the software we were working with simply could not be made that way.

Requests such as Mac compatibility, and upgraded apps were not requests that were feasible for us to solve in the Desktop version, and so have been solved for / will be solved for in the Web Writer and our new apps.

Our goal with Web Writer is to make it so good you will want to move from Desktop, in your own time, but we are committed to the long-term support of Desktop for those of you happy where you are right now. We also know there are essential features Web Writer will need to have for some of your use cases. It is ideal for new Inspectors for instance, but existing Inspectors do not want to give up, (of course!), their templates, comments, etc. We know that to make you want to switch, these things must be completed.

Additionally, there is a lot of development that goes into maintaining software being used by so many people. A lot of this development is not talked about much, but is critical, and requires time & resources.

The truth is that we try to account for individual requests and reported bugs, but for a variety of reasons, these may not be addressed exactly as the Inspector requested it. We wish we could fix everything and make all of you happy. We really do. We also wish you found this answer to be satisfying: That is, in fact, what we are trying to do with Web Writer.

We meet regularly to determine development priorities and will always try and find the right balance in how we deploy resources for your benefit. There are formal ways to submit any requests, and we have multiple active beta programs many of you are a part of.

I already purchased forms or additional storage for the year, will you rebate me?

Yes! We will issue a statement credit for the 9 months of 2022 on any forms have already purchased.

Any monthly fees for additional transfer storage will discontinue in your May bill.

I don’t use forms, can I keep my existing subscription?

The new packages will kick in on April 4th 2022 for all HomeGauge Inspectors. We will continue to add value to our all-in-one subscriptions through 2022. There’s going to be something for everyone.

Do I have to use Web Writer to get access to Forms and unlimited uploads?

No. We are going to be releasing a revamped forms solution in the coming months for all HomeGauge Inspectors. This new solution will be integrated with the Web Writer but any existing subscriber will have access to all forms via a simple web interface.