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.
Encircle documents the loss and hands it off. Wave turns what your team says into the priced estimate.
Prices and features for both products on this page are as of October 2026.
Encircle is a field documentation platform for restoration contractors. Photos, videos, notes, moisture readings, drying logs, floor plans, contents inventories. They've been doing it since 2013, and they do it well. Over 2025 and 2026 they added AI features on top, including Scope to Estimate, which sends a mitigation scope to your estimator to review and approve.
Wave is a job app built around the estimate. Tell Wave what happened, by typing, talking or adding photos and PDFs. It creates the job and writes the priced estimate, and your files, notes, drying log and schedule live on the same job.
Different starting points, different outputs.
The core difference
Encircle's workflow was built around a handoff: capture everything in the field, sync it to the office, and have an estimator finish the estimate in a separate tool. Its newer tools make that handoff faster.
Scope to Estimate drafts the estimate for your estimator to finish in a separate tool. Encircle Edge, the ROM tool Encircle acquired in November 2025, produces rough-order-of-magnitude budgets, scope of work documents and T&M contract templates for the front end of a job. Encircle calls Edge a companion tool, not a replacement for the final estimate.
The pattern holds. Encircle speeds up the handoff. The final priced estimate still gets reviewed, finished and sent from another tool.
Wave starts at the other end. It was built on AI from day one so the person on site produces the complete priced estimate without handing off to anyone.
At a glance (October 2026)
| Wave | Encircle | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary product | Job app built around the estimate | Field documentation platform |
| Output | Complete priced line-item estimate, sent as a PDF, QuickBooks draft invoice or share link | Photos, notes, moisture maps, drying logs, contents inventory; with Scope to Estimate, a scope exported to your estimating platform |
| Priced line-item estimate | Yes, written by Wave | Scope to Estimate sends line items and a sketch to your estimating platform for your estimator to review and approve |
| Drying logs | Yes, Basic and up; 5 free on Starter | Yes, in Field Documentation |
| AI origin | Built on AI from day one | AI features added in 2025 and 2026 to a platform founded in 2013 |
| AI output | The priced estimate itself | Scope for your estimating platform, item descriptions from photos, moisture meter photo readings, video summaries, enhanced notes |
| Job types estimated | Water, mold, asbestos, fire, contents, roofing, and repairs and reconstruction | Scope covers water, board-up, tarping, mold, asbestos and fire |
| Hardware | Any phone | Any phone |
| Pricing | $299 (10 estimates), $399 (25) or $599 (50) a month; annual $2,990 / $3,990 / $5,990; self-serve Custom plan for any volume | Field Documentation from $285 a month; Scope to Estimate from $635 a month; priced by jobs per year; add-ons extra; plus a separate estimating tool |
| Contract | Monthly or annual | 12-month term, billed monthly or annually |
| Users | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Ideal user | Restoration contractors and adjusters of any size | Teams with a dedicated desk estimator who want structured field documentation |
How Wave actually works
Open Wave and you land on Home: one command box. Tell it what happened, typed, dictated, or with photos, videos and PDFs. Wave creates the job, starts the estimate and confirms in one line. From then on, Wave's chat sits beside the job, whichever tab you're on.
Wave reads what your team already wrote in the job's notes, so it doesn't ask again. It asks short questions to fill gaps in the scope, and many answers are a single tap. It states its assumptions so you can correct them.
When Wave has what it needs, it builds the estimate. Line items grouped by room, priced for the loss address. Equipment follows drying science. If you tell Wave what is already on site, it bills what you set.
Edit any cell inline, or tell Wave in chat what to change. Your hand edits stick, and undo covers both kinds of change.
When you're ready, one Export dialog handles everything that leaves Wave. It builds the PDF with your letterhead, as an estimate or an invoice, with the drying log and other estimates on the job in the same packet if you want. It sends a draft invoice to QuickBooks. Share links give customers a view-only page and give adjusters a signed-in view where they can comment on individual lines.
About 15 minutes per estimate, written on site by whoever walked the loss. No office handoff.
How Encircle works
Encircle is a mobile-first documentation platform. Technicians capture photos, videos, notes, moisture readings, drying logs and contents inventories from the job site, with e-signatures, custom forms and an offline mode. Floor plans are an add-on, made from a phone video with no special hardware. That documentation syncs to the office.
From there, Encircle offers three paths toward an estimate.
Path 1: Documentation → estimate. The traditional Encircle workflow. Your field team captures the loss in Encircle. Your estimator opens the file, reviews photos and notes, and writes the estimate in a separate tool. The Floor Plan add-on can bring the sketch along.
Path 2: Documentation → Scope to Estimate → estimate. In 2026, Encircle launched Scope, now sold as Scope to Estimate. It turns field documentation into a scope with industry-standards justification for each line, then exports it to your estimating platform in one click. Your estimator reviews and approves it there instead of building it from scratch. It's a real step forward for teams that work that way.
Path 3: Documentation → Encircle Edge. Edge, acquired in November 2025, produces ballpark budgets for early decisions on larger or more complex jobs. As of October 2026 it is sold as its own annual package. It's not a replacement for the final line-item estimate.
In every path, the final estimate that goes to the adjuster is finished in a separate tool. Encircle makes getting there faster.
The workflow thesis
Encircle is a documentation platform that now drafts a scope for your estimator. Even with Scope to Estimate, an estimator still reviews, approves and sends the estimate from another tool.
Wave removes the handoff. The field technician walks the loss, talks to Wave, and walks out with the estimate. One tool. One person. About 15 minutes. The priced estimate is the output.
Why Wave wins
A finished estimate versus a scope to review
Your adjuster doesn't pay you for the scope. They pay you for the estimate. A technician using Encircle Scope walks away with a scope that goes to an estimator to review and approve: a second person, a second tool, another turn in somebody's queue. A technician with Wave walks away with the priced estimate, ready to export as a PDF or share with the adjuster.
Works alongside other estimating software
You can also export an estimate as a file for other estimating software. A Wave account specialist sets this up for your company. Upload an estimate file from other estimating software and Wave reads it.
The job, not just the estimate
On every Wave plan, jobs sit on one board by status, and your team can rename, add and reorder statuses. Files keeps photos, videos and PDFs sorted by room. Notes is the team's log, and Wave reads it before asking you anything. Timeline shows every teammate's day, and you book a visit by dragging a job onto it or asking Wave to book it.
Drying logs in Wave
On Basic and up, Wave creates one drying log per water job, and Starter includes 5 free drying logs. The log is AI-generated from the estimate and local weather, so your team verifies readings daily, either by typing them into the grid or by telling Wave. The log exports in the same PDF as the estimate, or rides along on a share link.
Industry standards and carrier guidelines
On Basic and up, the industry standards are built in. Ask about mold or drying science while you build, and Wave answers with the section its answer rests on. On Pro, upload your carrier's or TPA's guideline PDFs and Wave flags lines against the program you confirm. Wave is not trained on carrier guidelines, and your uploads are never used to improve Wave. On coverage, Wave recommends a reading and names the policy section it rests on. It never decides coverage.
Beyond mitigation
Encircle Scope covers water, board-up, tarping, mold, asbestos and fire. Wave covers water, mold, asbestos and fire too, and also writes repairs and reconstruction, contents and roofing estimates.
The real apples-to-apples cost
Encircle prices by jobs per year. Wave prices by estimates per month. Both include unlimited users. To compare fairly, we matched volumes: Wave Starter covers about 120 estimates a year, Basic about 300 and Pro about 600.
| Yearly volume | Wave, per month | Encircle Field Documentation, per month | Encircle Scope to Estimate, per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| About 120 | Starter, $299 | $285 (up to 200 jobs a year) | $635 |
| About 300 | Basic, $399 | $480 (201 to 400 jobs a year) | $1,070 |
| About 600 | Pro, $599 | $685 (401 to 600 jobs a year) | $1,530 |
Encircle and Wave list prices as of October 2026. Encircle's columns don't include the separate estimating tool its workflow finishes in.
Two caveats. First, a Wave estimate and an Encircle job aren't the same unit. One Wave job can hold more than one estimate, so if most of your jobs need two, size your Wave plan for that. Second, Wave Starter includes 5 free drying logs, and Basic and up builds one for every water job, while Encircle's Field Documentation includes drying logs. For a feature-for-feature match, compare Wave Basic.
At matched volume, Wave Basic and Pro cost less than Encircle Field Documentation alone. At the smallest volume, Encircle Field Documentation is $14 a month less than Wave Starter, but it doesn't produce the priced estimate, so you add a separate estimating tool on top.
Wave Basic adds drying logs and QuickBooks to Starter, and Pro adds carrier guideline checks. Pay annually and get two months free. Writing more than 50 a month? The self-serve Custom plan covers any volume. Jobs and duplicate estimates are free.
No 12-month contract
Encircle plans run on a 12-month term (as of October 2026). Wave is monthly or annual, and an admin can cancel from Billing and keep access to the end of the billing period. Your first 3 estimates include nearly every Pro feature, with no credit card, except Slack notifications, API access and export to other estimating software.
Built for 2026, not documented into it
Encircle has been around since 2013. Most of the platform is 13 years of documentation workflow, and the AI features launched in 2025 and 2026 sit on top of that structure. They speed things up, but the underlying model is still "capture in Encircle, finish somewhere else."
Wave started with the opposite question: if restoration estimates were built today, with AI at the foundation, what would that look like? No separate documentation platform to feed. No estimator to hand off to.
Where Encircle fits
Two honest scenarios.
You have a dedicated desk estimator in your office and you want structured field documentation flowing to them. Encircle is built for that workflow, and Scope to Estimate makes the handoff faster. If that's your setup today and it works, Encircle does what it does.
You need a mature field capture suite: contents inventory with item descriptions from photos, moisture meter readings captured from a photo, video-based floor plans, e-signatures, custom forms and offline mode. That is Encircle's home turf.
One practical note: nothing stops you from using both. Some teams keep Encircle for field capture and use Wave for the priced estimate. With Wave's own drying logs, job files and notes, many teams find they don't need both.
Who should switch
Independent restoration contractors who've been paying for Encircle plus a separate estimating tool and wondering if there's a simpler path.
Small and mid-size operators whose entire team waits on one desk estimator to review and finish every estimate after Encircle documentation syncs.
Teams who like Encircle's field app but want the technician to finish the estimate, not queue a scope for review.
Restoration operators who've looked at their monthly software stack and seen two or three subscriptions where one should do the job.
Anyone who has ever scoped a loss in Encircle, waited for the estimate, and thought "my technician already has the information. Why can't they just write it?"
Try Wave free. 3 estimates included. No credit card required. →
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Encircle produce a priced estimate?
Not on its own. As of October 2026, Scope to Estimate exports line items and a sketch to your estimating platform, where your estimator reviews and approves the estimate. Encircle Edge produces preliminary ROM budgets, not a final line-item estimate.
What is Encircle Scope?
An AI scoping tool Encircle launched in 2026, now sold as Scope to Estimate. It turns field documentation into a scope with industry-standards justification for each line and, as of October 2026, exports it to your estimating platform in one click for your estimator to review and approve.
What is Encircle Edge?
A ROM (rough order of magnitude) estimating tool Encircle acquired in November 2025. It produces preliminary budgets, scope of work documents and T&M contract templates for early decisions on larger jobs. Encircle describes it as a companion tool for the front end of the workflow, not a final estimate.
What does Encircle actually cost?
As of October 2026, Encircle prices by jobs per year. Field Documentation runs $285, $480 or $685 a month for up to 200, 400 or 600 jobs a year, and Scope to Estimate brings those to $635, $1,070 or $1,530. Plans run on a 12-month term, with unlimited users and storage. Floor Plan, AI Item Descriptions and Edge are paid add-ons. Most Encircle users also pay for a separate estimating tool.
Can I use Wave and Encircle together?
Yes. Some teams keep Encircle for field capture and use Wave for the priced estimate. Wave's own drying logs, job files and notes mean many teams won't need both.
Why would I choose Wave over Encircle plus a separate estimating tool?
Because the technician gets the estimate in one tool instead of two. Wave writes the priced estimate on site in about 15 minutes, from any phone. No separate documentation platform to feed, no scope waiting on an estimator's review. Compared at matched volume (as of October 2026), Wave Basic and Pro cost less than Encircle Field Documentation alone, and every Wave plan includes the priced estimate that Encircle leaves to a separate tool.
Wave was built by a restoration operator for everyone who works the loss, on site and at the desk. If you've ever paid for Encircle and a separate estimating tool at the same time and wondered why your technicians can't just produce the estimate themselves, you already know why Wave exists.
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