For a solo inspector starting today, Spectora is the safer pick: web and mobile report writing at $109 a month, AI Comment Assist included, and Match in early access. HomeGauge, now owned by Spectora, costs $89 a month after a 30-day trial, runs as a Windows desktop writer, and its pages mention no AI.
HomeGauge announced the deal on 1 April 2025, and Spectora's support article says there is no forced migration or merger: the two platforms keep running separately, and switching from HomeGauge needs a new Spectora subscription. "Early access" means a waitlist and no stated price afterwards, so do not plan a busy season around Match or the scheduling agent.
Two report writers under one owner: what the 2025 deal left alone
HomeGauge's own announcement is dated 1 April 2025 and says nothing would change in the short term for its software, support or services. Spectora's support article, dated 3 March 2026, goes further: no forced migration, no platform merger, pricing for both platforms unchanged, and Spectora will keep developing and releasing features as planned. It says HomeGauge will continue as its own platform and mentions a long-term goal of improving both, but it names plans only for Spectora. HomeGauge is still maintained: its release notes show desktop version 5.6.2 on 2 September 2026, with custom completion stamps, a refresh button in the report preview and a long list of fixes, and nothing about AI. Maintenance is not a roadmap, and that gap is the main reason I call Spectora the safer default. The brands now share a front door: HomeGauge's site lists both a Spectora Report Writer, which is cloud-based and mobile-first, and the HomeGauge Desktop Report Writer.
The prices on HomeGauge's pricing page make the split concrete. HomeGauge Software is $89 a month after a 30-day free trial and includes the Desktop Report Writer with its companion app plus online agreements, scheduling, payments and report storage. Spectora Software on the same page is $109 a month, with no time limit on its trial and two free inspections. Both free offers are for new customers only.
On inspection day: browser and phone, or desktop and companion app
| Point | Spectora Report Writer | HomeGauge Desktop Report Writer |
|---|---|---|
| Where you write | Browser editor and mobile app | Field data in an iOS or Android companion app, then finished and formatted on a desktop |
| Computer | Web-based, so it runs in a browser | Windows. On a Mac only inside a virtual machine such as Parallels, with a Windows licence you buy; HomeGauge supports the writer once it runs, not Parallels itself |
| Offline | Described as mobile-first with offline capabilities; AI Comment Assist needs a connection, while Match inputs can be captured offline and processed later | Companion app collects in the field; a customer quote on HomeGauge's home page says a whole report can be written offline, but the product pages do not list what works |
| Licence | Per user: extra inspectors cost $99 a month or $999 a year | Per inspector, not per computer; you can install on several computers if you are the only inspector |
| Comments | Template editor, plus AI Comment Assist in the mobile app, web editor and template builder (checkbox and multiple-choice comments only) | Your own comment library, Narrative and Grid report styles, Auto-Comment |
| Voice | Match, in early access, pairs spoken observations and photos with approved comments | Voice-to-text relies on third-party dictation; HomeGauge's article recommends Dragon |
| Scheduling, agreements, payments | Built in, with a QuickBooks Online link (not QuickBooks Desktop or Self-Employed) | Listed on its pricing page: online agreements, scheduling and payments, report delivery and storage |
For a solo inspector the practical difference is where the evening goes. HomeGauge's pages describe collecting data in the field and finishing on a desktop, so part of every report is completed at a computer. Spectora describes a mobile-first flow aimed at finishing nearer the property. Neither vendor publishes a time saving for that difference. Spectora does quote "up to 25% time savings per inspection" for Match and says AI Comment Assist is used for one in three new comments, but those are its own figures for its own users.
One Mac detail deserves a warning. HomeGauge's help article says Parallels puts the HomeGauge data folder in the wrong place by default, that the folder must be moved to the Windows C: drive, and that the move takes "some advanced steps", for which it suggests contacting HomeGauge Support. Problems with Parallels itself go to Parallels. A Mac-based inspector who prefers the desktop writer takes on a Windows licence, that set-up and two support desks.
What a solo inspector pays over three years
These are list prices from the two vendors' pages. HomeGauge prints only a monthly price on the page I read, so I have not invented an annual one.
| Option | Year one | Three years | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spectora, billed monthly ($109) | $1,308 | $3,924 | Annual billing saves $218 a year |
| Spectora, billed annually ($1,090) | $1,090 | $3,270 | $90.83 a month |
| HomeGauge, monthly ($89) | $1,068 | $3,204 | No annual price printed on the page |
| Spectora annual plus Advanced, 200 inspections a year at $4 | $1,890 | $5,670 | Advanced adds $800 a year at this volume |
On annual billing Spectora costs $22 a year more than HomeGauge's monthly price, $66 over three years. The big numbers come from add-ons: Advanced at $4 per inspection, and websites, where Spectora's base site is $699 a year plus a $499 setup fee (reduced to $100 when a new customer buys an annual site with the software). Neither pricing page prints card-processing fees, so ask both what a payment costs per inspection. And add the laptop to the sum: a Windows machine for HomeGauge's desktop writer is cheap if you already own one and not if you must buy a Windows licence to run it on a Mac.
Volume changes how much the price gap matters. Software cost per inspection, on annual Spectora and monthly HomeGauge, before any add-ons:
| Inspections a year | Spectora annual ($1,090) | HomeGauge monthly ($1,068 a year) | Spectora with Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | $10.90 | $10.68 | $14.90 |
| 200 | $5.45 | $5.34 | $9.45 |
| 300 | $3.63 | $3.56 | $7.63 |
At 200 inspections a year the two base plans differ by 11 cents an inspection, which is not a deciding factor. Advanced is the line that moves the number, by $4 on every report whether or not you used its features that week.
The cost question is easier next to the AI question: if AI saves you ten minutes on each of 200 inspections, that is 33 hours a year, worth about $1,300 at $40 an hour, against a gap of $22 a year between the base plans and $800 for Advanced. The ten minutes is an assumption, and the measure is your own stopwatch. How to put numbers on software with AI add-ons is in home inspection software cost and break-even with AI add-ons.
Where AI fits in Spectora, tool by tool
| Tool | Status and plan | What it does | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI Comment Assist | Live; included for all users | Turns your key observations into a buyer-friendly comment that you review and approve, in the mobile app, web editor and template builder | "Used for 1 in every 3 new comments" is Spectora's own figure. You own the accuracy of every comment. |
| AI Message Assist | Live; Advanced only | Drafts the subject and body of email templates in Advanced Automations, in a tone you choose, and text templates if you have a Spectora custom phone number | Needs the $4-per-inspection add-on; Spectora's help article warns it can insert the wrong placeholder. |
| Match | Early access, invite-only with a waitlist; free during early access, paid later | You speak observations and take photos; it pairs them with comments already approved in your template or drafts a new one | "Up to 25% time savings" (Labs page) and "20% of time on site" (help article) are vendor figures; no price yet. |
| AI Scheduling Agent | Early access, waitlist | Answers calls you cannot, checks availability, answers service questions, books inspections, hands off to you | "Fewer missed jobs" with no figures; no price after early access. |
| AI connector (MCP) and public API | Live; all companies | Lets tools such as Claude or ChatGPT work with your Spectora data in plain language (ChatGPT now lists connectors as apps); paid plans get 10,000 requests a month, the free plan 500, read only | Check what leaves Spectora and whether your agreement allows it. |
Only Comment Assist and the connector are open to every user today, so those are what to count on. Even Match's own help article, which claims it picks the right comment 90 to 95% of the time, leaves two to four comments to catch on a 40-comment report, so the review step never goes away. The two live tools also differ in risk. Comment Assist writes words that go under your name, so the check is the same as for any assistant: does the comment say what you saw, no more? The limits of AI-written narratives and where liability lands are in can ChatGPT write home inspection report narratives and using AI without taking on extra liability.
A Comment Assist draft, checked before a buyer reads it
In the web editor you click Add on an item, then Generate using AI, type a short prompt, and pick the comment type and a text length of Normal, Short or Long; the mobile app has the same flow under New Comment. You get a title, options and a description to edit, a Regenerate button if the draft is off, and a save-to-template switch that is off by default. It works only on checkbox and multiple-choice comments, and on the phone it needs a connection, so in a crawl space with no signal you note the finding in your own words and generate later. Spectora's help article says the model is not trained on your reports and tells you to double-check everything, because AI can make mistakes.
Take a Defect comment at Short length. The prompt typed on site:
downspout rear left corner discharges at foundation, no extension, soil washed out about 2 in deepAn illustrative draft of the kind it can return:
Title: Downspout Discharging at Foundation
Description: The downspout at the rear left corner discharges directly at the foundation, and soil erosion was observed. Water at the foundation can lead to basement leaks, settlement and costly structural repairs. Recommend extending the downspout to discharge at least 6 feet from the home and having a qualified contractor evaluate the foundation for damage.Four edits before you approve it. "Costly structural repairs" puts a cost on something you did not assess, so cut the sentence to "can contribute to moisture intrusion". "At least 6 feet" is the model's number, not yours; use the distance your own library uses, or none. The foundation evaluation escalates the finding: you saw eroded soil, not foundation damage, so the recommendation is an extension or splash block and monitoring the area. And put back the 2 inches of erosion, which the draft dropped and which is the evidence for the comment. Only then switch on save to template, so the corrected wording rather than the draft joins your library.
Three questions make a quick review of any AI-written comment, whichever tool produced it.
- Does it say only what I observed? Remove any cause, any age, any cost, and any word like "failed" or "defective" that I did not use.
- Does it send the client to the right person? "A qualified contractor" and "a licensed electrician" are different recommendations.
- Would I say this sentence to the buyer's face? If not, rewrite it.
Where AI fits if you stay on HomeGauge
The HomeGauge pages I read mention no AI features, and its voice-to-text article recommends third-party dictation rather than a built-in tool. That does not mean you cannot use AI; it means any AI sits outside the report. The safest use is on your own comment library, offline from client data: polishing the wording of comments you wrote years ago.
Rewrite the home inspection comment below for a home buyer. Plain English, 60 words at most. Say what I observed, why it matters, and that I recommend evaluation by a qualified contractor. Do not diagnose a cause I did not observe, do not state costs, and keep my wording where it is already clear.
Comment: [your own wording, no names or addresses]Given a comment about staining on a ceiling under an upstairs bathroom, a first draft will often say the staining "indicates a leak in the supply line". The inspector saw staining, not a leak and not a supply line. The fix is to restore what was observed: staining on the ceiling below the upstairs bathroom, source not determined, evaluation by a qualified plumber recommended. Read every rewritten comment against that test before it goes into the library, and keep a dated copy of the library from before you started, so you can see and undo what changed.
If you want AI inside the report writer, Spectora is where it exists today, and the move from HomeGauge has a documented path.
Moving a HomeGauge library into Spectora: what the import covers
Spectora's help centre has a template importer for HomeGauge files. In the Template Editor you open the three-dot menu, choose Add Templates, pick Import from another software, and browse to a HomeGauge template file, which the article says is likely in the Documents folder under HomeGauge and Templates; if it is not there, HomeGauge's File menu has Open Data Folder from version 5.5.36. It usually takes about 5 to 10 minutes, and you can navigate away meanwhile. The inspector runs it; the article mentions no fee or turnaround.
- What converts: sentence-builder comments are split into Informational, Limitation and Defect comments, type options are filled in where the importer can detect them, and builders are also broken into concise defect comments.
- What does not: location options are discarded because every Spectora comment has a location selector, and explanation fragments are not placed in comments but listed in a downloadable spreadsheet linked from a "template import notes" comment.
- What Spectora itself warns: its scripts "don't always get it right", so review for errors and special characters, move comments into the right categories, and clean up recommendations.
Budget for the review rather than the import. If you have 600 comments and check 40 an hour, that is 15 hours of work, and that number is my assumption, so time the first 40 and extrapolate. A second article describes scripts for libraries from HomeGauge and Home Inspector Pro, and warns that imported comments will not use Spectora features such as answer formats, location fields, dropdown recommendations and default photos until you edit the template to use them. For building a library that AI can help maintain, see building a comment library with AI.
Write the same report twice: a one-evening trial
- Start both trials. Spectora's has no time limit and two free inspections, though email and text are not included; HomeGauge's is 30 days.
- Pick one past inspection with about 40 comments and 60 photos, and use the same one in both.
- Build the template first: import or recreate 20 of your comments, and time it.
- Write the report on a phone in the first tool, and on a phone plus desktop in the other. Time to a first draft and to a final PDF in each.
- Send a test agreement, sign it as a client, take a test payment, and see what the client and the agent receive.
- Note the friction: taps to attach a photo to a comment, what happens with a poor signal, and how long a revision takes.
Write the times down on one sheet. An invented sheet for an inspector who has a HomeGauge library already shows how to read it:
| Measure | Spectora | HomeGauge |
|---|---|---|
| Template set-up (one-off) | 40 minutes | 0, library already there |
| First draft of the report | 78 minutes | 62 minutes |
| Final PDF sent | 90 minutes | 85 minutes |
| Test payment and agreement | Worked on the first try | Worked on the first try |
Do not read that as Spectora being slower. The inspector knows the old library by heart and has just met the new one, so the first-draft gap is mostly unfamiliarity and the one-off set-up is a cost paid once. Repeat the Spectora run a week later with the imported template tidied, and divide the one-off minutes by the number of reports you write in a year. If the gap has not narrowed by the second try, believe the sheet. The winner is the tool in which you would rather finish a Friday report at 7 pm, and the sheet stops you choosing the one with the nicest demo.
Protect your library whichever way you go
The two products keep your work in different places, and the risk differs. HomeGauge's desktop writer keeps templates, reports and settings in a data folder on your computer, and its cloud options sit under HG Services in the software. Read what each covers before relying on it. According to HomeGauge's help centre, Backup HG User Settings saves templates, forms, logos, contacts and writer settings but not reports, drawings, references or attachments; Send Report To Cloud holds up to 10 reports; and reports uploaded to the HomeGauge website are kept for at least five years. So the full backup is still your job. Copy the whole data folder to an external disk on a schedule, keep a second copy away from the office, and test a restore on a spare machine once. Be wary of a sync service sitting on the live folder: HomeGauge has a troubleshooting article for an installer that will not finish while OneDrive is backing up the Documents folder.
A web product keeps your library with the vendor, so the protection is an export. Ask Spectora for a full export of templates and reports now, and try it before you need it.
Mac, library, AI or roadmap: which inspector each one suits
| If this describes you | Lean towards | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You work on a Mac | Spectora | HomeGauge's desktop writer needs a paid Windows licence inside a virtual machine such as Parallels |
| You have a large, tuned comment library on Windows | HomeGauge, for now | The library is the asset and the base price is lower |
| You want AI help writing comments today | Spectora | AI Comment Assist is live for every user; HomeGauge's pages show none |
| You answer your own texts and have no team | Either; skip Advanced | The extra $4 an inspection buys features a solo inspector may not use |
| You want a stated product roadmap | Spectora | Its support article commits to one; the same article is silent on HomeGauge |
| You finish reports at the property | Spectora | Mobile-first, with offline capabilities described; HomeGauge finishes on a desktop |
Three solo inspectors, three answers
- A newcomer on a Mac with no comment library. Take Spectora: nothing to import, no Windows licence, and AI Comment Assist from day one. Use the trial with a practice report first.
- A twelve-year HomeGauge user with a 900-comment library and a Windows laptop. Stay for now. The price gap is small, the library is the asset, and a Spectora trial plus the importer lets you test the move without committing. Revisit when HomeGauge's roadmap is clearer, because Spectora's support article commits only for Spectora.
- An inspector who keeps missing calls from under crawl spaces. Neither tool fixes that today, since Spectora's scheduling agent is early access. Cover the phone another way and read home inspection AI tools for the office side for the options.
What to ask Spectora and HomeGauge in writing
- HomeGauge: what is the annual price, and are there per-report or payment-processing fees? What is the plan for the Desktop Report Writer over the next two years, and will AI tools be added to it?
- Spectora: what will Match and the scheduling agent cost after early access, and when will an invitation reach my account? Comment Assist's help article says the model is not trained on your reports; how long is the text I send it stored, and where?
- Both: can I export all reports, templates and client records in a usable format if I leave? Who owns the data? What does support cover on a Saturday inspection?
Get the answers by email, with dates. The first two of the Spectora questions are the ones I would not accept a verbal answer to.
Smaller questions before you start a trial
Does a solo inspector need Spectora Advanced?
Probably not at first. Advanced is $4 per inspection with a 30-day trial; the pricing page lists contact tagging and CRM, SMS conversations, task management, custom reporting, PaySplits, time tracking and a three-page website, and AI Message Assist needs it too. If you answer your own texts and have no team to split pay with, start without it. Switch it on for a month later and count what it saves before it becomes a standing cost.
Can I use ChatGPT or Claude with my reports?
Spectora offers an AI connector that lets tools such as Claude or ChatGPT work with your Spectora data, with 10,000 requests a month on paid plans and 500, read-only, on the free plan. HomeGauge's pages mention no such connector. Whichever route you use, check your pre-inspection agreement and the AI vendor's terms before client names, addresses or photos leave your report.
Can I try both without losing a week?
Yes, if you load a real past inspection on day one. Spectora's trial has no time limit and two free inspections, though email and text are not included in it. HomeGauge's trial is 30 days for new customers. Build the same 40-comment report in each, time it, and sign an agreement and take a test payment in both before you decide.
Should I wait for Match or the AI scheduling agent?
No. Spectora labels both early access with a waitlist; its Match help article says Match is invite-only, free for now and will become a paid feature, with no price given. Build your routine around what is live today, which is AI Comment Assist and the connector, and treat Match and the scheduling agent as upside. If missed calls are costing you jobs now, cover them with another tool and revisit when Spectora publishes terms.
Further reads
- AI Home Inspection Software: What It Writes, Who Signs and What It Costs — What AI inspection software writes, who signs and what it costs.
- AI Tools and AI Development: The Complete 2026 Guide — the AI hub, including every tutorial in the AI-for-business series.
Sources: Spectora's pricing and Labs pages and support articles on the HomeGauge acquisition, template import, AI Comment Assist, AI Message Assist, Match and QuickBooks; HomeGauge's home, pricing, software and news pages and support-centre articles on Mac installation, voice-to-text, licensing, backups and the 5.6.2 release notes; all read on 29 October 2026. Vendor performance claims are the vendors' own.