Property tax appeal comparison · 2026
Home Tax Shield vs AppealMyTax
Home Tax Shield takes a $30 annual fee plus 30% of your savings, every year. We charge $49 flat, one time, and you keep 100%.
What 5 years of protests costs you
Drag to your annual tax savings. Contingency firms charge a cut of your savings every single year. We charge a flat fee and you keep all of it.
Assumes you protest every year for 5 years: our $49 Property Assessment Audit each year, Ownwell at a contingency fee starting at 25% of savings per year (ownwell.com pricing example, retrieved June 2026), and O'Connor at 50% of current year savings per their published residential terms (poconnor.com, retrieved June 2026). Ownwell's rate varies by region, so we use their own 25% example as the conservative case.
Them
Home Tax Shield
$30 per property per year plus 30% of your tax savings each year, licensed local pros handle the protest
About $377 in year one
Home Tax Shield charges a $30 annual fee per property plus a 30 percent success fee on your tax savings. Their terms renew the $30 automatically on January 1 each year, and the success fee is billed around October or November, when your lowered bill arrives (hometaxshield.com pricing, FAQ and terms of service, retrieved August 2026). On a $1,155 first-year reduction, that is $30 plus about $347, around $377, and the 30 percent applies again every year they win. AppealMyTax is $49 flat, one time, and you keep 100 percent.
Coverage
Texas only (Home Tax Shield). 7 states with real parcel data (Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas), about 22.8M properties (us).
Us
AppealMyTax
Flat-fee packet, no contingency, no recurring cut.
$49 flat
One time. You keep 100% of your savings every year. Ownwell keeps 25-35%, O'Connor keeps half. See your exact overpayment free first, no signup.
Coverage
Real per-parcel assessment data in 7 states, about 22.8M properties: Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas. Deepest in Florida (all 67 counties) and Texas (HCAD iFile-ready), plus a full statutory appeal guide for Georgia.
Feature by feature
An honest side by side. Both get you a real protest, the difference is what it costs and what you see along the way.
Price
Us:$49 flat, one time
Home Tax Shield:$30 per property per year + 30% of savings every year (hometaxshield.com, retrieved August 2026)
Your savings
Us:You keep 100% of your savings, every year
Home Tax Shield:30% goes to them each November, for as long as you stay enrolled
Risk
Us:Free check first: see your overpayment and real comps before paying a cent
Home Tax Shield:$30 annual fee is charged win or lose, and renews every January; success fee only if they win
Who files
Us:You file online in about 10 minutes with an iFile-ready packet
Home Tax Shield:Their licensed local pros handle the protest for you
Contract
Us:No enrollment, buy a packet only in years you choose to protest
Home Tax Shield:Auto-renews each protest season until you cancel
Real-world cost comparison
Houston homeowner in Harris County, $50K overassessment, $1,155/yr savings
Annual savings on appeal
$1,155
Home Tax Shield cost
About $377 in year one ($30 annual fee + 30% of $1,155), both repeating
About $778/yr in year one after their cut, and the 30% repeats every year
AppealMyTax cost
$49 one-time
$1,106/yr after the one-time $49, and you keep 100% every year after
Multi-year math
Over five years at flat savings, Home Tax Shield's 30 percent plus its $30 annual fee collect roughly $1,883 of your money. Our $49 one-time packet captures the same class of reduction, and because you re-run the free check each season, you only ever pay in the years you actually protest.
Home Tax Shield: pros & cons
Strengths
- ✓ Licensed, local Texas tax professionals negotiate with the county for you
- ✓ Low upfront risk: if they win nothing, you are out only the $30 annual fee
- ✓ Hands-off: they file and handle the protest each year automatically
Limitations
- ✗ 30% of your savings goes to them every single year the service wins
- ✗ The $30 per-property fee is charged whether or not they save you anything
- ✗ Auto-renews each season, so the fee compounds for as long as you stay enrolled
- ✗ You see results after the fact rather than the evidence up front
Why AppealMyTax wins
- ★ Flat $49, one time, and you keep 100% of the savings. Home Tax Shield takes 30% every year, plus a $30 annual fee per property
- ★ See your exact overpayment and your actual comps free in 30 seconds, no signup, before you pay anything
- ★ Every comp is a real, checkable parcel from your county's own appraisal roll
- ★ No enrollment, no auto-renewal, no November bill. You buy a packet only in the years you choose to protest
Where Home Tax Shield genuinely wins
Home Tax Shield puts licensed, local Texas tax professionals on your case and handles the whole protest for you, year after year, with only the $30 annual fee at risk if they win nothing. If you want a fully hands-off service and accept sharing 30 percent of your savings annually for it, that is a legitimate choice.
Our case is for the homeowner who can spend 10 minutes filing online: the same class of comparable evidence, $49 flat, you see the case free before paying, and you keep every dollar of the savings.
Home Tax Shield vs AppealMyTax: common questions
How much does Home Tax Shield cost?
Home Tax Shield charges a $30 annual fee per property, which their terms renew automatically on January 1 each year, plus a 30 percent success fee on the tax savings they win, billed around October or November when your lowered bill arrives (hometaxshield.com pricing, FAQ and terms of service, retrieved August 2026). On a typical $1,155 first-year Harris County reduction, that is about $377 in year one, and the 30 percent applies again every year the service wins.
Is Home Tax Shield worth it? An honest take.
If you want licensed local professionals handling everything and you are comfortable paying $30 a year plus 30 percent of your savings each year, it is a legitimate service with low upfront risk. The math question is simple: 30 percent of your savings every year versus $49 once. On a $1,155 reduction you keep about $328 more with a flat packet in year one, and the gap repeats annually.
Is AppealMyTax cheaper than Home Tax Shield?
Yes, in any year your savings exceed about $65. AppealMyTax is $49 flat and you keep 100 percent of the reduction. Home Tax Shield collects a $30 annual fee per property plus 30 percent of savings annually. The bigger your reduction, the more the percentage model costs you.
Can I protest my Texas property taxes myself instead of using Home Tax Shield?
Yes. Texas law lets any homeowner file their own protest, and most counties take filings online in about 10 minutes. The packet gives you the same class of evidence a firm brings: a comparable table from your county's own appraisal roll and an unequal-appraisal argument under Tax Code Section 41.43(b)(3). You keep the filing record and every dollar of the savings.
What happens if neither service wins a reduction?
With Home Tax Shield you are out the $30 annual fee but no success fee, and that $30 renews each January whether or not they win. With AppealMyTax you see your exact over-assessment and your actual comps free, before you pay, so you only buy the $49 packet when the public record shows a real case. And if any comp in your packet is not a real, verifiable parcel, we refund you in full.
Try it free
Search your address. Get your specific overassessment estimate in 30 seconds. No credit card.
Check my address · FreeThe free check is genuinely free: no signup, no email. The complete $49 Property Assessment Audit includes filing-ready evidence when supported, or a valuation report when it is not.
Would you rather someone just handled it?
Our packet is for people who want to file it themselves and keep every dollar. If you would rather hand the whole thing off, these firms work on contingency: they take a cut of what they save you, and nothing if they lose. We are not affiliated with any of them.
- Visit Ownwell →OwnwellTX, CA, WA, GA, FL, IL, NY, CO, PA25% of your savings in TX, IL and NY, 35% in CA and FL. Nothing if they don't win.
- Visit Abode Money →Abode MoneyTX, FL$99 per year flat. No percentage of your savings.
- Visit Texas Protax →Texas ProtaxTX40% of residential savings, $50 minimum per parcel. Austin and Central Texas, San Antonio and Greater Houston.
- Visit Five Stone Tax →Five Stone TaxTX40% of your savings, or a service fee, whichever is greater.
- Visit O'Connor & Associates →O'Connor & AssociatesTXRoughly 50% of the first year's savings, no upfront fee.
We earn nothing from these links. They are here because a flat-fee packet is the wrong answer for someone who wants the work done for them. How we make money