What is the best water mitigation software for a small restoration company?

It depends on how many water jobs you run and how much of the claim you need the software to carry. Small teams doing mostly routine losses benefit from fast monitoring visits and a login for every tech without per-user fees, which is what Brighthammer is built for. Companies that need contents, scoping, and deeper carrier documentation may be better served by Encircle. Companies replacing their CRM and scheduling may look at Albi.

Is Xactimate water mitigation software?

Xactimate is estimating software. It prices the scope of work, while water mitigation documentation software records the readings, equipment, and drying progress that support that scope. Many restoration companies use both, and some documentation apps export sketches or line items into Xactimate.

Can water mitigation apps read moisture meters automatically?

Some can, either through integrations with specific meter brands or by reading values from a photo of the meter display. Brighthammer autofills temperature, relative humidity, and moisture content from a meter photo on every plan. The technician should still confirm the value before it is saved, and the log should show which meter and setting were used.

Do I need an iPhone with LiDAR for water mitigation software?

Not for moisture readings, equipment tracking, or drying logs, which work on standard phones in most apps. LiDAR matters for instant on-device floor plan scanning, which requires a LiDAR-equipped iPhone or iPad. Some products build floor plans from video on standard iOS and Android phones instead, with a processing wait.

How much does water mitigation software cost?

It depends on the pricing model. Brighthammer runs $99, $249, or $449 per month depending on annual job volume, with unlimited users on every plan. magicplan charges by projects per month with unlimited users. Encircle prices by job volume with floor plans billed separately. Albi and CompanyCam price by user. Add floor plan fees, onboarding costs, and your busiest month's job count before comparing totals.

Can I use CompanyCam for water mitigation jobs?

CompanyCam works well for jobsite photos and team communication, but it doesn't include a dedicated water mitigation workflow. Moisture readings, equipment records, and drying logs would need a separate tool or a paper log. Companies that handle water losses regularly usually need those records in the same job file as the photos.

How long should it take a technician to learn water mitigation software?

There is no standard, and vendor estimates are hard to compare. A more useful measure is whether a tech who has never opened the app can log a monitoring visit on a practice job without help. If they cannot, expect to repeat that training with every new hire.

Back to Field Guides

Software Guide

Best Water Mitigation Software for Restoration Contractors (2026)

Sep 18, 2026Brighthammer Field TeamWater Mitigation

Key Takeaways

Ease of use is decided by the workflow. Ideally, job setup happens once, and monitoring visits repeat until drying goals are met.
Compare software based on reading entry, mapped points, floor plans, offline behavior, equipment confirmation, and login cost.
Run the 20-minute Visit-Three Test in every free trial with your newest tech before you commit.

Best Water Mitigation Software for Restoration Contractors (2026)

The owner picks the software during a demo, on a clean sample job. The technician uses it on the third monitoring visit, kneeling at a toe-kick with a pin meter in one hand and four more points to check before the next call.

That third visit decides whether the software gets used. Setup happens once. Everything after it repeats: back to each mapped point, enter the reading, confirm the dehu is running, note what changed. A three-room loss with 12 mapped points over four visits is 48 readings. Two extra taps each adds up fast.

Every product here calls itself simple. This guide checks that claim where it can be checked: how readings get into the log, how return visits work, what the floor plan requires, what happens with no signal, and what it costs to give every tech a login.

Last reviewed: October 2026

Editorial note: Brighthammer publishes this guide and is one of the products compared. We have hands-on experience with magicplan. Other products are described from each company's published product pages, help center articles, pricing pages, and public app store and review-site feedback as of October 2026. Features and pricing change, so confirm details with each provider.

What to Measure

Where a Technician Spends Time on a Water Job

Water mitigation job stages and what slows technicians down.
Stage	What the technician does	What slows it down
Setup (first visit)	Names rooms, maps material points, records the dry standard and drying goal, places and logs equipment	A required floor plan before anything else can be logged; water class and category buried in long forms
Monitoring (every visit)	Returns to each mapped point, enters readings, records atmospheric conditions, confirms equipment, notes the decision	Re-selecting locations, typing every value, no view of the last reading, waiting on signal
Closeout	Confirms each point against its goal, logs equipment pickup, produces the drying log and report	Rebuilding the log in a spreadsheet; pulling photos from a separate app

Demos tend to show setup and the finished report. The monitoring visit in between rarely gets shown, even though it repeats the most. Ask to see it. What belongs in each visit entry is covered in the drying log guide.

Evaluation Criteria

Six Things That Decide Whether Techs Keep Using It

1. How a reading gets from the meter into the log

Typing is still the default in most apps, and it's where transposed digits and skipped points come from. A few products now offer shortcuts:

magicplan connects with Tramex moisture meters.
Encircle Hydro's Instant Reading Capture pulls temperature and relative humidity from a photo of the meter.
Brighthammer reads temperature, relative humidity, and moisture content from a meter photo and autofills the dry log, on every plan.

Each shortcut has a catch worth checking during a trial. A meter integration only helps if your crew carries that brand. Photo capture needs a legible display, and someone still has to look at the value before saving it. Test both with the meters already in your trucks.

Pay attention to how outdoor conditions get recorded, too. Some apps fill in outside air readings automatically from location or weather data. That saves a step. But conditions reported for the area are not a reading taken outside that building, so check the approach against what your procedure requires.

2. Whether the app remembers the points

On visit three, the tech should be able to open L-2 and see where it is, what material it is, and what it read last visit, then enter today's number. If the app asks for the location again, or the previous reading sits on a different screen, the comparison happens in the tech's head. A stalled point is easier to miss that way.

3. Whether the floor plan has to come first

Some products start from the property layout. magicplan works this way: the technician sketches the space, then pins readings, affected areas, and equipment to it. On a large or complex loss, that spatial record earns its time. On a two-room supply-line job, sketching first adds field time before the first reading is logged.

How the plan gets made matters as much as when:

Floor plan capture methods compared.
Method	When the plan is ready	What it needs
On-device LiDAR scan (Brighthammer, Cotality Mitigate)	On the device right after the scan	A LiDAR-equipped iPhone or iPad
Video capture processed by the vendor (Encircle Floor Plan)	Within 6 hours; Encircle reports about 2 hours on average	iOS or Android devices that meet Encircle's minimum OS; billed per plan
Sketching on the device (magicplan)	Depends on the tech and the layout	A standard phone or tablet; LiDAR or a Bluetooth laser speeds it up

If your crew runs Android phones, instant LiDAR scanning is off the table. Weigh that against a processing wait.

4. What happens with no signal

Basements, crawlspaces, and storm areas with towers down are normal water-job conditions. Offline mode should let a tech log readings, confirm equipment, and take photos the same way as online, then sync without duplicates when the phone reconnects. The only way to know is to switch on airplane mode during a trial and log a full visit.

5. How equipment gets confirmed

The drying log needs to show that each air mover and dehumidifier was present, running, and where it was placed. Count the steps it takes to:

Mark a unit as checked
Move a unit to a new location
Record a unit found unplugged

When nothing changed, confirming a unit should take one step. Typing should be saved for the unit that did change.

6. What it costs to give every tech a login

An app that only the senior tech can open becomes that tech's app, and the newest hire goes back to paper. Pricing in this category follows three models:

Water mitigation software pricing models.
Model	Products
Monthly plans with unlimited users	Brighthammer (tiered by jobs per year); Encircle's subscription also includes unlimited users
Projects per month, unlimited users	magicplan
Priced by user	Albi, CompanyCam

Each model hits a different kind of company. Per-user pricing climbs when seasonal help comes on during storm season. Per-project pricing climbs in a busy month. Price out both your slowest and busiest quarter before comparing.

Comparison

Water Mitigation Software Compared

Water mitigation software compared for restoration contractors.
Software	Built around	Getting readings into the log	Floor plans	Pricing model
Brighthammer	Effortless field documentation for small and midsize teams	Meter-photo capture on every plan; manual entry available	On-device LiDAR scan (iPhone/iPad); readings pinned as a moisture map	Monthly plans from $99, unlimited users, tiered by jobs per year
Encircle (Hydro)	Restoration claims documentation, with Hydro for drying	Manual entry; photo capture of temperature and RH	Video capture, returned within 6 hours	Monthly subscription with unlimited users; floor plans billed per plan
Cotality Mitigate	Technician app for mitigation documentation, built on MICA	Guided capture showing where to take readings; outdoor air auto-completed	Instant LiDAR scan on iOS	Not published
magicplan	Floor-plan-led documentation and scoping	Readings pinned to the sketch; Tramex meter integration	Sketch-first; the core of the product	Projects per month (from 10), unlimited users
Albi (DryBook 2.0)	Full restoration management platform	Visit-based entries for outside, unaffected, affected, and moisture point readings	Albi Capture floor plans within the platform	Per user, with separate field and office seats
CompanyCam	Jobsite photos and communication across trades	No dedicated water mitigation workflow	Photo-based room measurement tools	User-based tiers

Product Notes

Where Each One Fits

Same fields for every product, so you can read one block or scan across all six.

Brighthammer

Publisher's product

Built for: Small and midsize restoration teams that want the water workflow without a claims platform or a business management system.

Water workflow: Room-by-room photos and notes, moisture readings, moisture maps, equipment tracking, dry logs filled from the readings, equipment usage reports, IICRC S500 equipment calculator. Works offline.

Readings: Snap a photo of the meter and temperature, RH, and moisture content autofill. Manual entry is always available. The dry log fills from the readings rather than being rebuilt afterward.

Floor plans: LiDAR scan with the iPhone or iPad the tech already carries. The plan builds as they walk, with dimensions and square footage captured automatically, and lands in the same job file as the photos and readings.

Pricing: Pro $99/month up to 100 jobs a year. Crew $249/month up to 250. Company $449/month up to 500. Unlimited users, unlimited photo storage, and the full product including AI on every plan. No contracts, no onboarding fees, cancel anytime. Above 500 jobs a year, ask. 14-day free trial, no credit card.

Watch for:

Floor plan scanning needs a LiDAR-equipped iPhone or iPad, so Android-only crews cannot capture plans
No contents or packout workflows
No mitigation scoping
No Xactimate or ESX export listed on current plans
Plans cap by jobs per year, so count last year's completed jobs before picking a tier

Choose it if: Most of your jobs are routine water losses, you want every tech documenting the same way without a training week, and you would rather fix the field workflow than buy a platform to sit on top of it.

Skip it if: You need contents, scoping, or Xactimate-ready output on most jobs.

Encircle (Hydro)

Built for: Restoration companies whose files face regular carrier scrutiny and that want mitigation, contents, scoping, and reporting in one platform.

Water workflow: Hydro guides job setup, calculates dew point and vapor pressure, builds moisture maps, and alerts the team when a chamber isn't drying. S500-aligned mitigation checklist.

Readings: Manual entry. Instant Reading Capture reads temperature and relative humidity from a photo of the meter.

Floor plans: Video capture on iOS or Android, returned within 6 hours and about 2 on average. Billed per plan, $29 pay-as-you-go or less on a subscription.

Pricing: By annual job volume. Third-party directories list roughly $250 to $685 per month. Unlimited users, training, and onboarding included.

Watch for:

Sync and download delays, with one reviewer reporting photo inventory missed without clearing the cache.
A report of signed documents not saving in poor service.
Desktop Hydro described as thinner than the mobile app.
Floor plans billed on top of the subscription.
Price is high relative to what a small shop uses.

Choose it if: You regularly handle contents, complex losses, or disputed claims.

Skip it if: You would be buying a claims platform to fix a field documentation habit.

Test first: Log a full visit and capture a signature in airplane mode, then confirm on desktop that everything arrived.

Brighthammer vs. Encircle

Official sources

Encircle HydroEncircle Floor Plans

Cotality Mitigate

Built for: Companies already inside Cotality's restoration products, or on a carrier program that requires it.

Water workflow: Prompts showing techs where to record moisture content readings, plus atmospheric and equipment logging, with background cloud sync.

Readings: Manual entry. Address and outdoor air readings auto-complete.

Floor plans: Instant LiDAR scan on iOS.

Pricing: Not published. Request a quote at your job volume.

Word of Caution: 2.1 out of 5 from 92 ratings on the US App Store as of October 2026, on an app whose own listing says technicians will love using it. Complaints repeat: more steps per reading than the MICA workflow it replaced, hard navigation mid-job, ghost rooms, humidity values swapping fields, photos failing to upload or arriving unlabeled, and work disappearing. A reviewer describes even going back to MICA.

Watch for:

Version 2.0 in March 2026 lists workflow simplification and LiDAR moved into the main app, so the rating partly reflects older builds.
Most users we talk to didn't choose it, so the real question is whether your program will accept documentation produced elsewhere.

Choose it if: A carrier program or your job management system requires it.

Skip it if: You have a free choice.

magicplan

Built for: Teams where the sketch and the estimate carry the job, and estimators who want Xactimate line items out of the field visit.

Water workflow: Moisture readings, affected areas, equipment, photos, and notes pinned to locations on the sketch.

Readings: Manual entry. Integration with Tramex meters.

Floor plans: The core of the product, and the best sketching engine here.

Pricing: New projects per month, starting at 10, with unlimited users. Extra projects $40 each. Unused projects roll over.

Watch for:

Sketch-first means the tech learns the drawing tools before finishing a routine monitoring visit. We tested this ourselves; budget training time accordingly.
Reviewers report furniture interfering with corner detection, and trouble in low light and with arched ceilings, which describes most water losses.
Full LiDAR requires an iOS Pro device; Android crews fall back to manual sketching.
A slow month still pays for its quota, and a storm month adds overages.

Choose it if: Layout and measurements carry most of your scope.

Skip it if: Your typical job is two rooms and a supply line.

Official sources

magicplan Water Mitigation

Albi (DryBook 2.0)

Built for: Companies consolidating CRM, scheduling, payments, and field documentation into one system.

Water workflow: Each DryBook visit records outside, unaffected-area, affected-area, and moisture point readings, with notes and photos.

Readings: Manual entry by visit.

Floor plans: Albi Capture, inside the platform.

Pricing: Per user, with a lower-cost field seat and a higher-priced office seat. Ask about annual terms and onboarding.

Watch for:

This is a platform decision, not an app decision: pricing, migration, configuration, and staff adoption all come with it.
Per-user pricing climbs when seasonal help comes on.

Choose it if: You're replacing several systems at once.

Skip it if: Your CRM and accounting already work and only the field handoff is broken.

Brighthammer vs. Albi

Official sources

DryBook

CompanyCam

Built for: Contractors across multiple trades who need jobsite photos and team communication.

Water workflow: None.

Readings: Not supported as a tracked record.

Floor plans: None.

Pricing: Tiered plans with included users and per-user pricing beyond that.

Watch for:

Readings, equipment, and drying logs live somewhere else, so the tech keeps two records of the same visit.

Choose it if: Water losses are a small share of your work and photos are the main problem.

Skip it if: Most jobs involve drying.

Brighthammer vs. CompanyCam

Also on the Shortlists

Xactimate — Estimating software. It prices the scope; it does not record the drying. Several "best water mitigation software" lists rank it first anyway, which tells you how those lists were assembled.
Xcelerate, DASH, PSA — Job management platforms with drying documentation inside a broader system. Evaluating them looks like the Albi decision, not a field-app decision.

Evaluation

The Visit-Three Test: 20 Minutes in Any Free Trial

Set this up yourself instead of letting the vendor run it. You're trying to see a monitoring visit completed by someone who has never opened the app.

Build a small practice job. Two rooms, six mapped points (L-1 to L-3 in the laundry, H-1 to H-3 in the hall), one dehumidifier, and two air movers. Note how long setup takes, but do not judge the app on it.
Log visit one. Enter a reading at all six points and record atmospheric conditions.
Go offline for visit two. Turn on airplane mode, then log all six points, move one air mover, mark the dehumidifier as checked, write a one-line decision, and if the app offers meter capture, try it with a meter you already own.
Reconnect and check the office view. Open the job on a second device or the web. Look for anything missing, duplicated, or out of order.
Hand visit three to your newest tech. Give no walkthrough. Time all six points, and count how often they ask for help or skip a field.
Export the drying log. Give it to someone who was not there and ask them what changed on visit two.

What to record during the Visit-Three Test.
What to record	Why it matters
Minutes to log visit three	Scale it to your typical job size and visit count
Help requests from the new tech	Training you'll repeat with every hire
Readings typed vs. captured	Time per point and room for entry errors
Anything lost or duplicated after reconnecting	Whether offline mode holds up in a basement
Whether the last reading shows beside the entry field	How easily a stalled point gets noticed
Monthly cost for your full crew, seasonal help included	Per-user and per-project pricing look different at peak

Run the same practice job in every product on your list. The numbers will be rough. A tech who needs help four times on a practice job will need help on a real one too.

Run Your Next Water Job in Brighthammer

Brighthammer keeps daily readings and equipment for each job in one timeline, with readings pinned to the floor plan where they were taken, and the dry log filling from those readings.

The 14-day free trial includes unlimited users and needs no credit card, so your newest tech can run the test alongside you.

Start Free Trial See How It Works in 60 Seconds

Frequently Asked Questions

Brighthammer publishes this guide and is included in the comparison. The comparison is based on publicly available information about each product as of October 2026. Encircle, Cotality, Mitigate, MICA, DASH, magicplan, Albi, DryBook, CompanyCam, Xactimate, and Tramex are trademarks of their respective owners. Brighthammer is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of these companies. Product features, pricing, and availability may change, so confirm current details with each provider before purchasing.