Wave vs DocuSketch: Workflow vs the Estimate Itself
DocuSketch captures 360 tours and hands the estimate to another platform or its estimators. Wave writes the estimate on site. Pricing, workflow and AI compared, as of October 2026.
DocuSketch is a workflow. Wave is the estimate.
Prices and features for both products on this page are as of October 2026.
DocuSketch is a documentation, scoping and sketching platform that prepares you to write an estimate somewhere else. To close the loop, it built out estimating around the capture: it acquired XTR Consulting, a virtual estimating firm, in 2023, and Ask AiME, software that checks estimates for scope compliance and completeness, in 2024. Wave takes the handoff out. You describe the job, and Wave writes the estimate on site. Then it runs the job around it: notes, files, schedule, drying log and export in one place.
DocuSketch's own marketing spells out their workflow: "01. Capture. 02. Scope. 03. Estimate." Three steps, often three tools and three different people. Wave collapses all three into one conversation on the job. Tell Wave what you see, and the estimate is built while you are still standing in the room.
The core difference
DocuSketch runs a 360 field documentation platform used by more than 30,000 restoration professionals, by its own count. It announced its 360AI engine in March 2026. As of October 2026, the on-site pieces (Instant Sketch, Scope Walkthrough and Instant Estimate) are listed on DocuSketch's What's New page as coming this fall, and its launch materials describe the estimate as a preliminary mitigation estimate.
All of that is real. It is also a platform built to hand the estimate to another platform.
Wave writes the estimate itself. You talk to Wave on site, and the estimate exists before you leave. No sketch credits. No 360 camera. No office estimator. No outsourced estimating service. You can also export an estimate as a file for other estimating software. A Wave account specialist sets this up for your company.
Different products, different mental models. DocuSketch makes the capture-then-handoff workflow faster. Wave removes the handoff. The person on site writes the estimate.
At a glance (October 2026)
| Wave | DocuSketch | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary product | On-site estimating with a job workspace (jobs board, schedule, notes, files, and drying logs on Basic and up, with 5 free on Starter) | 360 documentation, sketching and estimating services |
| Time to a finished estimate | About 15 minutes, on site | Capture on site, then sketch turnaround (overnight or two business days) and estimate turnaround (as little as 24 hours, within two business days for the estimating service) |
| Hardware required | Any phone | DS1 360 camera ($795 Field Camera Kit) or a supported Ricoh Theta |
| Workflow | Describe the job, Wave builds the estimate, export or share | Capture, scope, estimate |
| Estimate producer | Whoever walked the loss, with Wave | Office estimator, DocuSketch's estimating service, or 360AI (rolling out) |
| Pricing model | Flat monthly plan per company with a set number of estimates (10, 25 or 50, or a Custom volume). Unlimited users. Jobs are free | Monthly property packs with 360 tour and sketch credits, plus an estimating service priced by estimate volume |
| Starting price | $299/month | From $379/month (5 properties), plus the estimating service from $500/month |
| AI approach | Builds the estimate from what you say, type or attach (photos, PDFs and estimate files), in English, Spanish or French | 360 capture feeds floor plans, scopes and preliminary estimates into carrier estimating workflows |
| Carrier guidelines | Pro. Upload your carrier or TPA guidelines and Wave flags lines against the program you confirm | Estimating service estimates are checked with Ask AiME |
| Ideal user | Contractors and adjusters who want the estimate written by the person who saw the loss: water, mold, asbestos, fire, contents, roofing, repairs | Large franchises with spatial documentation needs |
How Wave actually works
Open Wave. Home has one box. Tell Wave what happened, by typing, talking or adding photos, videos and PDFs, and it creates the job and starts the estimate. No code trees, no camera to charge.
You describe what you see on site, in your own words, in English, Spanish or French (Wave's chat and voice follow your language; app menus stay in English). Wave asks short questions to fill gaps in the scope and skips anything your team already wrote in the job notes. Tap an answer or type one.
When Wave has what it needs, it builds the estimate: line items grouped by room, with subtotals, priced for the loss address. Equipment follows drying science for the rooms you describe. If you tell Wave what is already on site, it bills what you set. Wave includes the work that goes with the scope you described and states its assumptions, so you can correct anything before you export.
Edit inline, or tell Wave what to change. Your hand edits stick, and undo covers both. Then export a branded PDF (estimate or invoice, with the drying log in the same packet if you want) or a draft invoice in QuickBooks. Or send a share link: customers get a view-only page, and adjusters can comment on individual lines. About 15 minutes per estimate, from the phone in your pocket.
Your technician wrote the estimate. No office handoff. No outsourced team. No sketch credits. No 360 camera.
How DocuSketch works
The technician arrives on site with a 360 camera, usually DocuSketch's DS1. As of October 2026, the Field Camera Kit is $795, and 360AI also works with Ricoh Theta cameras.
The technician captures each room as a 360 tour. DocuSketch says capture takes under 20 seconds per room, and it is quick. The tour then goes up to DocuSketch for a sketch. Sketching is credit-based: one sketch credit covers up to 2,500 square feet, so a larger home uses more than one. Sketches arrive overnight on Express plans or in two business days on Standard plans.
Then comes the actual estimate. The technician has several paths:
- Hand the DocuSketch output to an internal estimator, who writes the estimate in a separate estimating platform
- Subscribe to DocuSketch's estimating service, where certified estimators write it for you. DocuSketch says estimates come back in as little as 24 hours, and within two business days
- Use 360AI, which DocuSketch announced in March 2026 and, as of October 2026, is still rolling out, to produce a preliminary estimate from the captured data
In every path, the technician on site captures documentation, and the estimate comes from somewhere else.
The workflow thesis
This is the heart of the comparison.
DocuSketch is not primarily an estimating tool. It is a documentation, scoping and sketching workflow that feeds an estimating tool. That tells you where your time and money go.
With DocuSketch, the capture is fast, but the estimate comes later. You wait for the sketch. You pay for the camera and for sketch credits by square footage. Then an in-house estimator writes it, DocuSketch's estimating service writes it, or 360AI produces a preliminary version that still needs review. By the time the estimate reaches the adjuster, you have paid several parties and waited through a multi-step pipeline.
With Wave, the person on site finishes the estimate before leaving, in about 15 minutes. You export. You send. No handoff, no sketch credits, no outsourced estimating fees.
One tool. One monthly price. One person. About 15 minutes. One estimate.
Why Wave wins
The person on site is the estimator
DocuSketch's model assumes your field technician captures documentation and someone else writes the estimate. Wave puts the estimate in the field technician's hands. The person walking the loss is the person writing the estimate. Every technician on your team becomes an estimator the moment they can describe what they see.
The estimate is done before you leave
DocuSketch capture is quick room by room, but you still leave the site without an estimate. Sketches arrive overnight or in two business days, and the estimating service adds its own turnaround. With Wave, the estimate is finished on site. Your team starts billing sooner and moves to the next job with the paperwork done.
No hardware dependency
DocuSketch's workflow is built around a 360 camera. That is another piece of equipment to buy, train on, maintain and keep charged, for every tech who captures. (DocuSketch says a smartphone option is coming.) Wave runs in the browser on the phone already in your pocket. A new team member can take the optional guided tour and write their first estimate the same day.
Simpler pricing
DocuSketch pricing is a stack. As of October 2026, property packs run $379 to $1,095 a month, extra sketch credits are sold separately, each additional office location is $129 a month, and the estimating service starts at $500 a month for $50,000 of estimate value, with overages of 1% or less depending on tier. A 20-property Express plan plus the estimating service at $300,000 of volume lists at about $3,045 a month before overages, plus the camera kit.
As of October 2026, Wave is $299 a month on Starter (10 estimates), $399 on Basic (25) and $599 on Pro (50), or $2,990, $3,990 and $5,990 a year (two months free). A self-serve Custom plan covers other volumes. Every plan has unlimited users. Jobs are free, duplicating an estimate is free, and there are no per-square-foot or per-sketch fees.
AI that writes the finished estimate
360AI is a real product and a useful step for DocuSketch's customer base. DocuSketch's launch materials describe its output as a preliminary mitigation estimate. Wave produces the finished estimate directly, and not just for mitigation: water, mold, asbestos, fire, contents, roofing, and repairs and reconstruction, priced for the loss address.
No outsourced team in the middle
DocuSketch's estimating service exists because capture alone does not produce an estimate, and its fee scales with your estimate volume. Wave needs no team behind the scenes: it writes the estimate on site, and the technician reviews and exports.
Carrier guidelines you control
DocuSketch checks its service estimates with Ask AiME. On Wave Pro, you upload your own carrier or TPA guidelines, and Wave flags lines against the program you confirm, before you send. Wave is not trained on carrier guidelines, and your uploads are never used to improve Wave. On Basic and up, ask about drying science or mold while you build, and Wave answers from the industry standards with the section it rests on.
The whole job, not just the estimate
On every Wave plan, jobs sit on one board by stage, Timeline shows every teammate's day, job notes are the team's log (Wave reads them so it does not ask again), and Files keep photos, videos and PDFs sorted by room. On Basic and up, Wave builds the drying log for water jobs from the estimate and local weather, and Starter includes 5 free drying logs. The log is AI-generated, so your team verifies readings daily, by typing them into the grid or telling Wave.
Where DocuSketch wins
Three honest scenarios.
You are a large restoration franchise with formal spatial documentation requirements. 360 imagery is part of your standard claim submission, and the franchise workflow is built around it.
Your carrier relationships or TPA contracts explicitly require 360 capture as part of the evidence package.
You already own the hardware, trained your team on the capture workflow, and built DocuSketch into your claim handling over years. The switching cost is real and the workflow works.
One practical note: nothing stops you from using both. DocuSketch for the 360 tour, Wave for the estimate. If you already have a floor plan, attach the PDF or a photo of it in the job's chat. Wave reads the legible dimensions and asks you to double-check them. The technician finishes the estimate on site instead of waiting for it to come back.
Who should switch
Restoration contractors who added up their DocuSketch packs, sketch credits and estimating service and wondered why the full stack costs more than a vehicle payment.
Small and mid-size operators who do not have a dedicated office estimator and do not want to outsource the estimate.
Teams that like DocuSketch's spatial documentation but are tired of waiting for an estimate to come back.
Growing operations where buying a 360 camera for every field technician is a real line item.
Anyone who has watched an outsourced estimating bill grow right along with their claim volume.
Try Wave free. Your first 3 estimates include nearly every Pro feature. No credit card required. →
Frequently Asked Questions
Is DocuSketch an estimating tool?
Not primarily. DocuSketch is a documentation and sketching platform built around 360 field capture. It offers an estimating service, where certified estimators write your estimates from the documentation you upload. It also announced 360AI in March 2026. As of October 2026, 360AI's on-site sketch, scope and estimate features are listed as coming this fall, and its launch materials describe a preliminary mitigation estimate. In every case, the estimate is finished in another platform.
Does Wave replace the DocuSketch 360 camera?
For the estimate itself, yes. Wave does not need a camera or 360 capture to produce a complete estimate. If a carrier requires 360 tours, capture them with a 360 tool alongside Wave. Your team's photos, videos and PDFs live on the job in Wave, sorted by room, and can be attached to line items and exports. Some teams use both tools together.
Can I use both DocuSketch and Wave together?
Yes. DocuSketch for the 360 tour and spatial documentation, Wave for the estimate, finished on site instead of coming back from an outsourced team.
Is DocuSketch's new 360AI better than Wave?
360AI is a product update for DocuSketch customers. It uses captured 360 data to generate floor plans, scopes and estimates faster than the traditional workflow. The key word in DocuSketch's launch materials is preliminary, and the focus is mitigation. Wave produces the finished estimate directly, across water, mold, asbestos, fire, contents, roofing and repairs. Different approach, different output.
What does DocuSketch actually cost?
As of October 2026, DocuSketch's published entry plan is $379 a month (Standard, 5 properties) or $429 (Express, overnight sketches). The estimating service runs $500 to $1,950 a month by monthly estimate value, with overages of 1% or less. The DS1 Field Camera Kit is $795. Wave is $299 a month on Starter (10 estimates), $399 on Basic (25) or $599 on Pro (50), with a self-serve Custom plan for other volumes. No sketch credits, no hardware, no percentage of your estimate value.
Why does DocuSketch offer an estimating service if they have 360AI?
Because most customers need a finished estimate, and 360AI, as DocuSketch describes it, produces a preliminary mitigation estimate that still needs review. The estimating service has human estimators finish the job, with estimates back in as little as 24 hours and within two business days, per DocuSketch. Wave finishes the estimate on site in about 15 minutes.
Wave was built by a restoration operator for everyone who works the loss, on site and at the desk. If you have ever captured a house and then paid someone else to write the estimate, you already know why Wave exists.
Related Articles
Wave vs Rebuild: Try It Tomorrow, or Book a Demo
Wave and Rebuild both build restoration estimates on site with AI. The real difference is how you buy them, what they need from you to start, and how they price the work.
Wave vs Encircle: Documentation Platform or the Estimate Itself
Encircle documents the loss and can send a scope to your estimator to review. Wave writes the priced estimate. Real monthly costs as of October 2026.
Wave vs Symbility (now Cotality): Estimating Compared in 2026
How Cotality's Claims Workspace, Estimate and Mitigate compare with Wave as of October 2026: published pricing, voice and LiDAR, drying logs, and who each is built for.