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Explainer

What is an ESX file? The Xactimate® estimate format, explained

If you write property estimates, the three letters decide whether a roof arrives ready to price or ready to redraw. Here is what the format is, what it carries, and who publishes it as a deliverable.

A glowing file icon with floating document layers above a laptop keyboard.
Illustration: MBK Media Group

The format

ESX is the file format Xactimate® uses for an estimate. Xactimate® is Verisk's property estimating platform, widely used by insurance carriers, adjusters and restoration contractors to price a loss line by line. An ESX file can carry the sketch (the geometry of the structure, including a roof's facets, pitches, ridges, hips, valleys, eaves and rakes), the measurements derived from that sketch, and estimate line items. When an estimator opens an ESX in Xactimate®, the contents land inside the estimate rather than beside it.

That is the whole significance of the format for roof measurement. A roof delivered as a PDF is a document an estimator reads and then reproduces by hand in Xactimate®. A roof delivered as an ESX is imported; the sketch and measurements are already in the estimate. The difference is the redraw, and on a cut-up roof the redraw is real time.

ESX, XML and PDF: three deliverables

Roof measurement providers publish their deliverables in some mix of three formats. ESX for Xactimate®. XML for Symbility®, the other widely used estimating platform. PDF as a human-readable report and, in a claim file, as the exhibit. A desk that writes in Xactimate® wants ESX; a desk on Symbility® wants XML; almost every desk wants a PDF in the file too. Which formats a provider lists, and at what price, is on each provider's own pages.

Estimating-file deliverables as published, as of July 17, 2026
ProviderESX for Xactimate®XML for Symbility®PDFNotes from the published page
Sketch My RoofListed as the base product ($19 standard, $25 complex)Listed as an optionListed ($25 alone; $29 with ESX)Order page and service facts page; Xactimate® Integration page describes ordering inside Xactimate® and XactAnalysis®
RoofrListed as a $10 per report add-on on paid plansNot listed on the pricing page as of the access dateReport deliveredPricing page
EagleViewDescribed as delivered through EagleView One and integrationsNot stated on the pricing page as of the access dateReport deliveredPricing page directs subscription questions to sales
GAF QuickMeasureNot listed among the deliverables as of the access dateNot listed as of the access dateReport with bill of materialsProduct page
RoofScopeReports described as usable in estimating workflows; format specifics on product pagesNot restated hereReport deliveredHome page states 99% accuracy and 12-hours-or-less guarantees
'Not listed' means the format did not appear on the page cited on the access date; it is not a statement that the provider cannot supply it. Ask the provider.

How to check that an ESX is usable

Import it. Open the ESX in your Xactimate® version and confirm the sketch renders, the roof measurements populate, and the facets and pitches match the photographs from the inspection. If the file will not open, the first suspect is the version and import path, which Verisk documents; if the sketch opens but a measurement disagrees with the field, use the provider's revision policy. Sketch My Roof, for example, publishes that reports are reviewed before delivery and revised at no charge; other providers publish their own terms.

Two habits keep an ESX-based workflow honest. Keep the PDF in the file as the exhibit even when the ESX is what you price from. And write down which version of the platform the file was produced for, because a mismatch there looks like a bad report and is not.

Questions readers ask

What program opens an ESX file?
Xactimate®, Verisk's property estimating platform. ESX is its estimate file format; the file carries the sketch, measurements and line items into the estimate.
Is an ESX the same as a PDF roof report?
No. A PDF is a document you read and redraw by hand in Xactimate®; an ESX is imported and puts the sketch and measurements into the estimate directly. Most desks want both: ESX to price from and PDF for the file.
Which roof measurement providers publish ESX delivery?
As of July 17, 2026: Sketch My Roof lists ESX as its base product; Roofr lists ESX as a $10 add-on on paid plans; EagleView describes ESX delivery through EagleView One and integrations. GAF QuickMeasure's page does not list ESX among its deliverables. Check each provider's current page.
What if I use Symbility® instead of Xactimate®?
You want XML, not ESX. Sketch My Roof lists XML as an option; check other providers' pages for Symbility® delivery.

Sources

  1. Xactimate® is Verisk's property estimating platform; ESX is its estimate file format: Verisk Xactimate® product page (as of July 17, 2026)
  2. Standard Roof Report (ESX only) $19; Complex Roof Report (ESX only) $25; Standard Roof Report (ESX + PDF) $29; Standard Roof Report (PDF only) $25; same-day delivery on orders placed before the published cutoff: Sketch My Roof residential order page (as of July 17, 2026)
  3. ESX for Xactimate® and XML for Symbility® as deliverable formats; PDF exhibit; every report reviewed before delivery; revisions at no charge; orders by street address in the United States and Canada: Sketch My Roof service facts page (as of July 17, 2026)
  4. Xactimate® Integration: ordering inside Xactimate® and XactAnalysis® with delivery back into the workflow: Sketch My Roof Xactimate® Integration page (as of July 17, 2026)
  5. Free plan $19 measurement reports delivered in 24 hours or less; paid plans $13 reports with 2 or 6 hour delivery guarantees; ESX files $10 per report on paid plans: Roofr pricing page (as of July 17, 2026)
  6. Published residential per-report pricing by size and tier: Small (20 sq) $32.75 Bronze / $27.50 Silver / $24.25 Gold; Medium (40 sq) $60 / $54.75 / $49; Large (40+ sq) $87 / $81.25 / $75.50; Commercial $89.50 / $84.25 / $79; Platinum and Premium 'call for pricing': EagleView pricing page (as of July 17, 2026)
  7. Single-family $18 per parcel (GAF Master Elite contractors) or $20 per parcel (all other pros); multi-family $54 or $60 per building; delivery listed as 1 hour or less; add-ons $10: GAF QuickMeasure page (as of July 17, 2026)
  8. 99% accuracy guarantee and 12 hours or less turnaround guarantee stated on the company site: RoofScope home page (as of July 17, 2026)

How this was reported: Figures come from the named company's own published pages or filings, and are quoted as they appeared on the date shown. Companies mentioned in a story were not paid for coverage. Every outbound link on this site carries rel=nofollow as a matter of policy. Editorial standards · Report a correction