Is this quote fair?
Send us the contractor quote and we send back every line named in plain English, the parts priced against public supplier catalogues, and the labor set beside a regional range, within 24 hours. You get three questions to ask and a script for the callback. It is a benchmark, and we never tell you a contractor is ripping you off.
On one blower-motor quote posted to r/hvacadvice in May 2026, the part was billed at $1,600 and listed at $1,000 at a public supplier, so about $2,000 of the $3,600 total was labor. The owner worked that out from 175 comments, days later.
Window quotes in the same sweep ran $3,000 to $3,500 a window; a Bay Area solar proposal was $22,114 net on a plan that turned out to be a prepaid lease. A contractor usually wants your answer inside 24 to 72 hours. The typical range for your job and ZIP is free, by email, today.
Figures from public threads in the 2026-08-21 research sweep, linked below.
Specific quote types
Each answer shows the fields that make two proposals comparable and links the official source behind the checklist.
Who this is for
Your furnace quit, or the roof is leaking, or the panel needs replacing, or a salesperson has left a solar proposal on the table, and now you are holding a quote with a total you cannot check. The contractor wants an answer inside a day or two. The line items, if there are any, use part numbers and trade words you have never seen, and you cannot tell how much of the total is the equipment and how much is the labor.
People in that spot post the quote to r/hvacadvice, r/solar, r/Roofing or r/HomeImprovement and wait for strangers. The threads run to 170 comments, and buried in them are the two or three replies that actually decode the quote. One owner with a solar proposal got exactly that from the thread: the price per watt was within range, the "Propel" plan was a prepaid lease where you do not own the system for the first five years, and the installer should have pulled interval data from the utility before sizing. That is the page we write for you, without the wait and without the noise.
Home inspectors, realtors, and insurance adjusters also use it when a client asks "is this reasonable?" and they want a neutral benchmark to hand over rather than an opinion.
From the record
What people in this moment say, quoted from public threads. No names, no testimonials.
"Is this quote reasonable? … Carrier replacement motor is $1600 and $1000 on Supplyhouse. So they were 'only' hitting me up for $2000 in labor."
r/hvacadvice, May 2026, 175 comments. thread
"Quoted $3,000 to $3,500 per window replacement. Is this about right?"
r/HomeImprovement, July 2026, 170 comments. thread
"Bay Area quote review — 6.9kW + 10kWh battery, $22,114 net … Looking for a sanity check on a solar+battery quote before I sign."
r/solar, August 2026, 55 comments. thread
What you get
A 2 to 4 page PDF, by email, within 24 hours of the order. It contains:
- Every line item on the quote named in plain English, with what the part is and what it does.
- Parts priced against public supplier catalogues, with the catalogue and the date of the lookup beside each one.
- Labor hours set beside a regional range, with the source of the range stated. Where no usable source exists for your area, the decode says so instead of guessing.
- For solar and battery proposals, the dollars per watt and per kWh against a benchmark, a production sanity check, and the ownership structure decoded (purchase, loan, lease, prepaid PPA), with the escalator and transfer terms in plain words.
- Red flags, three questions to ask the contractor, and a short script for the callback.
Each of the first fifty decodes is read and signed by a named reviewer with trade knowledge before it goes out.
How it works
- You leave your email and the job. Tell us the job, your ZIP, and the quote total in the box above. We reply with the typical range for that job in your area, for free, and ask for a photo or PDF of the quote if you want it decoded.
- We decode it. We read every line, look the parts up in public catalogues, set the labor beside a regional range, and for solar run the production and ownership checks. The PDF arrives within 24 hours of your order.
- You make the call. You ask the contractor the three questions, or get a second quote, or sign. We do not contact the contractor, negotiate, or re-bid on your behalf.
Prices
Prices are in US dollars. The refund condition is the same across the paid tiers and is printed beside each one.
Typical range by job and ZIP
Type the job, your ZIP, and the quote total. We email a typical price range for that job in your area, with the sources.
Free.
Single-quote decode
One quote decoded line by line, parts and labor benchmarked, red flags, three questions, and a callback script.
Refund if we cannot identify the parts or the scope on your quote.
Three-quote comparison
Up to three quotes for the same job decoded and laid side by side, so the differences in scope, equipment, and labor sit on one page.
Refund if we cannot identify the parts or the scope on any of the quotes.
Solar or battery proposal review
Dollars per watt and per kWh against a benchmark, a production sanity check, the ownership structure (purchase, loan, lease, prepaid PPA), escalators, transfer terms, and the questions to ask before signing.
Refund if we cannot determine the system size, the price, or the ownership structure from your proposal.
Why it costs what it costs
The free version of this already exists. r/hvacadvice will answer "is this quote reasonable?" in a few hours, inside a thread of 90 to 175 comments, and the useful replies in that thread are a decode. HomeAdvisor and Angi publish cost guides for free, and they are generic by design because they do not see your quote. EnergySage gives free solar comparisons and is paid by the installers in its marketplace. In the research sweep behind this page, no paid quote-review product surfaced in any thread, so there is no incumbent price to undercut.
$9 is the cost of having one person with trade knowledge read your quote, look the parts up, and write the page. $29 buys the same work three times over plus the side-by-side layout. $79 for solar reflects the extra work: a production model, a benchmark per watt and per kWh, and reading the financing contract, which is where the five-year prepaid leases and the escalators live.
What this is not
- A benchmark, not a verdict. We compare your quote to public parts prices and regional labor ranges. We do not say whether a contractor is honest, licensed, or good at the work.
- Not legal advice. Not engineering or contracting advice. We do not inspect your home or your equipment, and we do not size systems.
- Ranges are ranges. Your region, access, permits, and the condition of your system can put a fair price outside them.
- You ask the questions and you sign or do not sign. We do not contact contractors for you.
- Refund if we cannot identify the parts or the scope on your quote.
Questions people ask
Can you tell me whether the contractor is ripping me off?
No, and we will not say it even when the numbers look high. What we will show is the part's public catalogue price, the labor the quote implies once the part is subtracted, and how that compares to a regional range. A quote can be above range for reasons we cannot see from the paper, like a hard attic, a permit, or an emergency call-out. You see the gap and you ask about it.
My quote is just a total. There are no line items. Can you still decode it?
Partly. With the job and the equipment model we can give you the range and a list of what a line-itemed quote should contain, and the first question to ask is for that breakdown. If we cannot identify the parts or the scope from what you send, the decode is refunded; that is the stated condition.
Every tech who comes out tells me something different. One says 3-ton, one says 4-ton. Can you settle it?
We cannot size your system, because sizing needs a load calculation on the house and we only see the quotes. What we can do is show you what each quote assumes, put the equipment prices side by side, and give you the questions that make each contractor explain their sizing. That is the $29 three-quote comparison.
Do you read solar leases and PPAs, or only purchase quotes?
Both. The ownership structure is usually the most important line on a solar proposal and the least readable, so the $79 review names it plainly (purchase, loan, lease, prepaid PPA), pulls out the escalator and what happens when you sell the house, and checks the price per watt and the production estimate.
Do you need the contractor's name?
No. You can black it out. We benchmark the quote, not the company, and the decode never names a contractor.
Send the job and your ZIP
The typical range is free. If you want the quote decoded, reply to our email with a photo or PDF.
Why free: we are sampling demand for this service. The range is real, a person writes it, and we reply by email.