Disclosure: We built RafterCore. We've tried to make this as honest as possible — including where ServiceTitan does better. Read it and decide for yourself.
The Fundamental Difference
ServiceTitan was built for high-frequency service businesses: plumbing, HVAC, electrical. Businesses where technicians run 4–8 calls per day, each one a recurring customer relationship, with dispatching as the central workflow.
Roofing is different. Jobs take days or weeks, not hours. The insurance claim is the central workflow, not dispatch. Storm events create massive demand spikes. Supplement letters, holdback collection, and carrier-specific knowledge are core competencies. Client relationships are episodic — every 15–20 years for a replacement.
ServiceTitan's architecture optimizes for the plumbing/HVAC model. RafterCore was designed from scratch for roofing, specifically for the insurance restoration side where most of the money is made and lost.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | RafterCore | ServiceTitan |
|---|---|---|
| Roofing-specific design | ✓ Built exclusively | Generic home services |
| Insurance claims pipeline | ✓ 9-stage native | ✗ Workaround only |
| AI supplement letters (IRC + Xactimate) | ✓ 30 seconds | ✗ Not available |
| Storm lead scoring | ✓ All 50 states | ✗ Not available |
| Carrier intelligence | ✓ 10 carriers | ✗ Not available |
| Predictive claim filing AI | ✓ | ✗ |
| Supply chain forecaster | ✓ | ✗ |
| Homeowner portal (20 features) | ✓ Included | Add-on cost |
| AI Roof Intel scans | ✓ Unlimited | Add-on $$$ |
| Reporting depth | Good | ✓ Industry-leading |
| Integration breadth | Growing | ✓ Extensive |
| Mobile access | ✓ Any device, any browser | ✓ Excellent |
| Starting price | $149/mo | $245+/tech/mo |
| Free trial | ✓ 7 days, no card | ✗ Demo required |
The ROI Comparison
ServiceTitan's value prop: operational efficiency — better dispatch, reporting, scheduling. ROI comes from doing more jobs with the same team.
RafterCore's value prop: insurance revenue optimization — better supplements, faster holdback collection, more storm leads. ROI is direct and measurable.
If you get 65% supplement approval and RafterCore gets you to 85%, on 80 insurance jobs/year at $2,200 average supplement: that's $35,200/year in additional revenue. The subscription costs $1,788/year. It pays for itself 20 times over from this one improvement.
Who Should Choose ServiceTitan
- You're doing $5M+ and need enterprise-level dispatch and reporting
- You have dedicated admin staff for implementation
- You run multiple home service lines, not just roofing
- Primary revenue is retail service calls, not insurance restoration
Who Should Choose RafterCore
- Primary revenue comes from insurance restoration work
- You want AI tools that directly improve supplement approval rates
- You want storm lead intelligence built into client management
- You want a homeowner portal without building one
- You're doing $500K–$5M and want to grow without adding overhead
- You want to pay $149/month instead of $400+/month
ServiceTitan doesn't offer a free trial. They require a demo and a sales call. RafterCore is $0 for 7 days, no credit card required — most contractors are running their first Roof Intel scan within 30 minutes of signing up.