Unlevered vs RE Cost Seg
RE Cost Seg is a transparent, STR-native provider with tiered pricing: a questionnaire-based Rapid Report and a fully engineered study with a virtual inspection. Unlevered runs one engineered, deterministic method at every price, and you can read a finished study end to end before you buy. Both are built for short-term rentals. Below is how they differ.
What RE Cost Seg is good at
RE Cost Seg publishes clear, tiered pricing and is built for residential and short-term rentals. Its Rapid Report (from $950) comes from an online questionnaire with no site visit; its Fully Engineered study (from $2,320) uses a virtual inspection by video call, is engineer-performed, works with your CPA, and includes a fixed-asset schedule. Turnaround is fast, roughly 5 to 20 business days. If you want transparent, tiered pricing and an STR-native provider, RE Cost Seg is a strong, straightforward choice.
RE Cost Seg vs Unlevered, head to head
Every price shown is a figure the provider publishes; where a firm doesn’t publish pricing, it says so. Marketing and performance claims are left off. This compares what you can verify.
| Criterion | RE Cost Seg | Unlevered |
|---|---|---|
| Method | Rapid Report from an online questionnaire (no site visit); Fully Engineered uses a virtual inspection by video call | Engineered and deterministic: the property is rebuilt from its own source documents, room by room, before anything is estimated |
| Sign-off & audit posture | Engineer-performed; works with your CPA; includes a fixed-asset schedule | Unlevered prepares and signs the engineering study; your CPA is optional and, when involved, remains the sole return preparer |
| Read a real report first? | No ungated public sample; the interactive delivery is gated | Yes, full anonymized studies you can read page by page |
| Turnaround | About 5–20 business days | Engineered, then human-reviewed before delivery |
| Residential / STR price | Rapid Report from $950; Fully Engineered from $2,320 | The Study $2,500; Engineering + Audit Support $5,000; Multi-Unit from $7,500; billed to the owner (published) |
| Property fit | Residential and short-term rentals, with a tiered choice between a fast questionnaire and a fuller engineered study | Residential rentals and short-term rentals, with the full study readable before you buy |
Figures current as of August 2026; check RE Cost Seg’s site for the latest.
Where Unlevered differs
Why you might choose Unlevered over RE Cost Seg. Unlevered doesn’t win on every axis, and the table above says where RE Cost Seg is the better fit.
Item-level component pricing, verified against the property's own evidence
RE Cost Seg's Rapid tier estimates from a questionnaire; its engineered tier adds a video-call inspection. Unlevered prices the deduction component by component from a governed cost catalog, verifies each component against the property's own documents and photos, and matches every component to its room. That item-level, evidence-checked build is designed to capture more defensible short-life 5- and 15-year basis than a questionnaire-driven estimate, because the dollars are engineered per component.
The number your CPA can stand behind, with the work shown
Every component classification carries its citation. The study is engineered from the property's own documents and is fully reproducible: the same inputs produce the same study. Every tier ships with filing-ready schedules that tie back to the study totals: the depreciation schedule, the tax software import files, and the §481(a) catch-up when prior years apply. Engineering + Audit Support adds detailed workpapers and a team that helps answer examination questions. Built to the IRS Cost Segregation Audit Techniques Guide, your CPA can stand behind every number in an audit, and you can read all of it before you buy.
You can read the whole study before you engage
Both are STR-friendly, but RE Cost Seg's delivery is interactive and gated, so you see it after you engage. Unlevered publishes complete anonymized studies end to end, so you can read the basis walk, the room-by-room reclassification and the depreciation schedule before you decide.
Published prices, one engineered method, CPA optional
RE Cost Seg's tiered pricing, $950 rapid and $2,320-plus engineered, is transparent, and for many owners the Rapid Report is the lower-cost path. Unlevered publishes its prices too (The Study $2,500; Engineering + Audit Support $5,000; Multi-Unit from $7,500), and every tier runs the full engineered method. The higher tiers add the 3D model, audit support, and multi-unit mapping. Unlevered signs the engineering study and lets you loop your CPA in or not. When involved, your CPA remains the sole return preparer.
Unlevered’s founder made the case for the deterministic method in Accounting Today: the core calculation must be reproducible from the same inputs, and AI only does peripheral verification.
The case study
The difference shows up in a second look.
A client brought us a $3,000 top-down study they no longer trusted. Reverse-engineering it, we found $120,425 it had buried in the 39-year line: a movable gym and sauna that belong in the 5-year class. Pricing a property component by component often finds deductions a top-down study leaves in the building line. That is what component-level pricing, verification against the property’s own documents, and component-to-room matching buy you. It is why an engineered study is worth more than a template estimate.
Read the full case studySee a full engineered sample study
The best way to compare providers is to read one finished study, page by page. These are real, anonymized Unlevered studies with the basis walk, the room-by-room reclassification with citations, and the full depreciation schedule. They’re free to read; tell us where to send them.
The studies are free to read. We’ll only use your email to follow up about a cost segregation study.
Common questions
- Is RE Cost Seg or Unlevered better for a short-term rental?
- Both are built for short-term rentals. RE Cost Seg gives you a tiered choice: a questionnaire-based Rapid Report from $950 or a fully engineered study from $2,320 with a virtual video inspection, and turnaround is a fast 5–20 business days. Unlevered runs one engineered, deterministic study, prices it component by component against the property's own evidence, and lets you read a full anonymized STR study page by page before you buy. If a lower entry price and speed matter most, RE Cost Seg fits; if reading the finished work first and one engineered method at every price matter most, Unlevered does.
- What's a good RE Cost Seg alternative?
- If you like that RE Cost Seg is STR-native and transparent on price but want to read a complete study before buying and have the provider sign the engineering work, Unlevered is a close alternative: engineered, deterministic, and signed, with full anonymized studies published and component-level pricing verified against the property's own documents and photos. Overline is another engineered residential option; the comparison hub covers all three.
- How does Unlevered compare to RE Cost Seg?
- RE Cost Seg offers tiered, published pricing (Rapid Report from $950; Fully Engineered from $2,320), engineer-performed studies with a fixed-asset schedule, and 5–20 business-day turnaround. Unlevered is engineered and deterministic at every tier, with published prices (The Study $2,500; Engineering + Audit Support $5,000; Multi-Unit from $7,500), prepared and signed by Unlevered with your CPA optional, and you can read a full anonymized study first. RE Cost Seg wins on entry price; Unlevered wins on one engineered method at every price and reading the study before you buy.
Read the work before you choose.
Read a real Unlevered study end to end, or see what your property qualifies for. CPAs and advisors can apply for access.
See what your property qualifies for and read a full sample study.
Refer a client and get filing-ready schedules with every component cited.