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A RocketLevel guide for owners and estimators, backed by decades of experience in the trade. About a 7-minute read.
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Do this: make Xactimate your primary estimating system and the one person you certify, then learn whether any of your carriers or programs require Cotality (Symbility) before you ever need it, so a platform requirement never stalls a live file.
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The crew is on site, the loss is scoped, and the estimate is ready to go. Then the carrier's program comes back: they accept the file only in their platform, not the one your estimator writes in. Now you are standing up a second tool under deadline, learning its quirks on a live job, and the receivable is aging before the first check is even authorized. Nobody scoped the work wrong. The estimate got stuck on a platform question that a little homework would have answered weeks earlier.
This is the part of estimating a lot of owners never plan for: the software is not always your choice. On insurance work, the estimate is a shared language between you, the adjuster, and the carrier, and the carrier often picks the language. Knowing which platform each of your carriers expects before you need it keeps a live file moving instead of stalling on a format question.
Xactimate, from Verisk (Xactware). This is the platform the largest share of U.S. property carriers run on, and the one most restoration estimators learn first. It is widely described as the dominant estimating tool in the industry. The volume figures you see quoted come from Verisk's own marketing and trade coverage of it, so treat them as the vendor's claim rather than an audited number. Its native project file is the ESX, and carrier assignments and estimate submission often flow through Verisk's XactAnalysis network. If you only ever learn one platform, this is the one.
Cotality (Symbility). Symbility is the second major estimating platform, owned by the company formerly called CoreLogic. In March 2025, CoreLogic rebranded the whole company to Cotality (company announcement), and the Symbility products were renamed accordingly: Symbility Claims Connect became Cotality Claims Workspace, and Symbility Mobile Claims became Cotality Estimate. The underlying products are the same; only the branding changed. You will still hear field people say "Symbility," and many carriers and adjusters still use the old names day to day, so treat "Symbility" and "Cotality" as the same ecosystem.
A fair read of the market: Xactimate carries the largest carrier adoption, and Cotality/Symbility holds a meaningful, smaller share, stronger with certain regional carriers, specialty lines, and in Canada. Exact market-share percentages are not reliably published, so treat any precise number with caution, including any a vendor quotes you. The practical point: most of your work will be Xactimate, and some carriers will require Cotality, so you want to know which is which for the programs you actually serve.
The two platforms do most of the same jobs. The differences that matter to a restoration shop are these.
Price databases. Both ship regional price lists that reflect local labor, material, and equipment costs, updated regularly. The lists are maintained separately by each vendor, so the same scope can land at slightly different numbers depending on the platform's list. When you and an adjuster are on the same platform and the same list, a disagreement is usually about scope, not rate.
Sketch and scope tools. Xactimate is the deeper, more established desktop-and-cloud tool, with a large library of line items and templates. Cotality/Symbility is generally described as more mobile-first and collaboration-oriented, with adjusters and contractors able to work the same estimate closer to real time. That characterization comes from vendor and trade descriptions rather than a side-by-side test, so treat it as a starting point and demo both before you commit a seat. Neither is "better" in the abstract; they fit different workflows, and the carrier's choice usually settles it for you.
Carrier connectivity. This is the one that decides your platform. Carriers and their programs route assignments and accept submissions through specific networks, Xactimate through XactAnalysis, Cotality through its own claims workspace. A program built on one network generally expects the estimate back in that platform.
Cost and learning curve. Cotality/Symbility is often described as the lower-cost option and simpler to pick up, which is part of why smaller shops and public adjusters reach for it. Neither vendor publishes straightforward list pricing for restoration contractors, and both quote by seat count, module, and term, so get a written quote from each rather than budgeting off a number you read somewhere. Running a second platform is still a real cost: a second subscription, a second certification, and a second set of habits for your estimator to keep sharp. Do not add it for its own sake. Add it when a carrier you want to serve requires it.