PermitFocus
Comparison

PermitFocus vs BuildZoom

BuildZoom sells the data. PermitFocus gives you the decision. BuildZoom runs one of the deepest building-permit databases in the country and licenses it as an enterprise feed. PermitFocus turns permit data into ready-to-use answers — scored markets, builder targeting, drive-time analysis — self-serve, instant, with pricing you can read off the page.

Feature
PermitFocus
BuildZoom
What you're buying
✓ A decision tool — scored markets, builder targets, location analysis, ready to act on
A raw enterprise data feed you license and build your own analysis on top of
Built for
✓ Trade & supply operators (LBM, roofing, HVAC, plumbing, concrete, paint, flooring)
Data teams, suppliers, and manufacturers licensing national permit data
Buying motion
Self-serve — sign up online and start in minutes, no sales call
Sales-led enterprise data licensing (buildzoomdata.com)
Typical pricing
$499 – $1,499 / mo, published on the site
Custom enterprise data-licensing contracts (not publicly listed)
Trial
✓ 7-day free trial, card required, cancel anytime
Sales-led, no self-serve trial
US coverage
All 50 states, 3,022 counties scored
National — ~80% of housing stock across top-50 metros
Per-permit history depth
Available in select counties, new counties added quarterly. Full Census BPS aggregates everywhere.
Deeper — 350M+ permits over 25+ years; the strongest raw per-permit history in this comparison
Contractor licensure data
FL DBPR licensee match for builder names where available
Broad — licensure on ~95% of US contracting businesses
Market scoring (which county to chase)
✓ Every county scored on a transparent 6-factor blend
No — raw data only; scoring is yours to build
Trade-tilted scoring
✓ Roofing, HVAC, plumbing, concrete, paint, flooring each get tilted weights
No — generic permit records, no trade lens
Drive-time catchment analysis
✓ Drop pins, run isochrones, compare candidate sites side-by-side
No — data feed, not a location tool
Cross-builder heatmap
✓ Counties colored by distinct-builder count, ready to read
All the underlying data is there — you build the visualization
CRM-lite (notes, calls, follow-ups)
✓ Built in
No — bring your own systems
Weekly watchlist email digest
✓ Configurable, free on all paid plans
No — data delivery, not curated alerts
Public sample report
✓ Live county report, no login required
No — sales-led data licensing
Setup time
Under 2 minutes — sign up, pick trade, pick states, done
Data contract, schema mapping, then build your own pipeline
Score methodology
Transparent — 6-factor blend (permit volume, trajectory, consistency, migration, employment, corridor tier). Drivers shown on every county page.
N/A — sells raw data, not a scored product
API access
Enterprise tier
Yes — that's the core product (data feed / API)
Data sources
US Census BPS, county ArcGIS feeds, FL DBPR licensee, BEA migration, BLS employment
25+ years of aggregated municipal building-permit and contractor-license records
Best for
A trade or supply operator who wants a ready-to-use decision tool — scored markets, builder targeting, location analysis — without an enterprise data contract
A data team that wants raw national permit feeds to build its own models, dashboards, and products

BuildZoom's data depth is real

BuildZoom has spent 25+ years assembling 350M+ permits and contractor licensure on ~95% of US contracting businesses. On raw per-permit history, their feed is genuinely deeper than ours today. If you have a data team and want to build your own models, BuildZoom is a serious source — and we'll say so plainly.

But raw data isn't a decision

A feed of 350M permits doesn't tell you which county to expand into, which builders to call first, or where to put your next branch. PermitFocus does — scored markets, a cross-builder heatmap, and a drive-time location analyzer you'd otherwise have to build yourself on top of someone else's data.

No contract, no sales call

See exactly what you get in the live sample report right now — no email gate, no enterprise contract. Start a trial and have scored markets in front of you in under two minutes.

See your own markets in 2 minutes.

7-day free trial. Card required, cancel anytime.

Start free trial See sample report

Comparison reflects publicly available product features as of June 2026. BuildZoom is a trademark of its respective owner; this page is independent and not affiliated with BuildZoom. Where features overlap meaningfully, both are noted as available; where one platform offers something the other doesn't, that's noted too — including where BuildZoom's raw data is deeper than ours. We update this page as both products evolve.