Here's the honest short answer: if you're choosing between ESXPress, CapOut, and Zeroclaims, you're really comparing how much a tool will hold up when an adjuster questions it — and that's the part most comparison posts skip. We can only vouch for our own product's documented capabilities. For CapOut and Zeroclaims, we can verify they advertise PDF-to-Xactimate (or similar) conversion, but we can't verify their code accuracy, their pricing, or their reviews — and we're not going to invent those for you.
So instead of a fake scorecard with numbers we don't have, this is both a real look at what we document for ESXPress and a fair checklist you can run on any of the three — including us.
Why this comparison has to be honest
Most "tool vs tool" posts are written by one of the vendors, and they quietly fill in the competitors' boxes with numbers they pulled from a login page or a guess. That's exactly how you end up buying a converter on a feature list that was never true. The only claims we can stand behind are our own, and the only competitor claims we can make here are the ones that are publicly verifiable: CapOut and Zeroclaims both advertise PDF-to-Xactimate (or similar) conversion. Everything else — their accuracy, their prices, how their output actually imports — we can't verify, so we won't state it.
What we can do is show you exactly how to test any converter in about five minutes. Run these checks on every option you're considering.
What to look for in any PDF-to-Xactimate converter
| Checkpoint | What to look for in ANY tool | What we document for ESXPress |
|---|---|---|
| SEL code mapping | Does it map to real Xactimate codes, or to a guess? | Every line is resolved against the real SEL code dictionary |
| Line-item pricing | Does it price against the current price list, or a stale one? | Priced for import |
| Unresolved items | What happens when a line won't match? Does it invent a code? | Keeps the PDF's own price and flags it UNRESOLVED — never guessed |
| Completeness check | Does it catch line items the carrier left out? | Completeness Advisor — 93 construction, code & supplemental rules, each suggestion code-verified and cited |
| Auto-adding | Can it silently change the total for you? | Suggestion-only — nothing auto-adds; you review and approve |
| Supplement & O&P | Does it flag premium-grade variants and overhead & profit? | Reads descriptions for grade and flags O&P eligibility |
| Vendor affiliation | Who's behind it, and are they affiliated with Verisk? | Independent — not affiliated with or endorsed by Verisk/Xactware |
That table is deliberately weighted toward the column we can actually prove. The middle column applies to every converter you'll evaluate, ours included — and it's the one that should decide your choice.
What we actually document for ESXPress
Rather than a feature teaser, here's what's verifiable in the product:
- Code-verified mapping. Converted line items resolve against the real Xactimate SEL code dictionary — so a line lands on a genuine code, not a close match.
- Currently priced. Line items arrive priced for import, so the totals reflect the price list you'll actually build against.
- An unresolved-line policy you can rely on. When a line won't match a catalog code, ESXPress keeps the PDF's own price and flags the line as unresolved. It never invents a code just to close the gap. That's the single most important behavior in a converter, because invented codes are what get a supplement rejected.
- Suggestion-only completeness review. The Completeness Advisor checks every dashboard conversion against 93 construction, code, and supplemental rules. Every suggestion is code-verified and carries a citation — and nothing is added until you say so.
- O&P support. It reads line descriptions for premium-grade keywords and tells you when a multi-trade scope qualifies for overhead and profit.
For the full mechanics, our feature breakdown walks through each piece. If you want to check any code yourself, the Xactimate code lookup is open.
What about CapOut and Zeroclaims specifically?
Here's where we stop and tell you the truth: we can't rank them. We know they advertise PDF-to-Xactimate (or similar) conversion at all — their own messaging says so. Where we can't verify their code accuracy, their pricing, their completeness checking, or how their output imports, we're not going to guess a number in an attempt to sound thorough. Run the five-minute test on them the same way you'd run it on us — convert a real carrier scope, then check whether every line lands on a real code or whether any got quietly substituted.
The bottom line: the tool that wins is the one whose output survives an adjuster — real codes, current pricing, no invented line items. Any vendor—including us—should be happy to be judged on that.
How to make the call in five minutes
- Grab a real scope. Use a recent carrier estimate, not a clean sample.
- Convert it. Run the same PDF through each tool you're considering.
- Look for UNRESOLVED lines. Did the tool keep the PDF price and flag them, or did it invent codes to fill the gaps?
- Check the totals. Do they match the PDF's pricing, or did they shift?
- Import it. Does it open cleanly in your licensed copy of Xactimate?
Want to start there? Start free — 5 conversions a month, no card — and convert a real scope in about two minutes. Prefer the side-by-side product view? The ESXPress comparison hub has full pages for CapOut, ClaimsFlow, and Xactimate too.
Xactimate is a registered trademark of Verisk Analytics, Inc. ESXPress is not affiliated with or endorsed by Verisk/Xactware.
Related: ESXPress vs EstimateHub.