Try it right now. The panorama below is a real 360° photo taken on an inspection, embedded exactly the way it appears in a delivered InspectorData report. Drag it.
A single equirectangular photo, 4096×2048. The same file your client can pan inside their report.
What actually changed
Until now, a 360° camera produced a photo that looked broken in an inspection report — a stretched, warped strip with bent walls and a smeared floor. Useful to nobody. Inspectors who owned a $500 camera left it in the truck.
As of today, InspectorData recognizes a panoramic photo automatically and turns it into something your client can explore:
- Upload it like any other photo. There is no 360 button to hunt for and no setting to switch on.
- It is detected by its shape. An equirectangular image is exactly twice as wide as it is tall. Ordinary photos never are, so nothing gets misidentified.
- Your client drags to look around inside the web report you already deliver.
- Full resolution is preserved — up to 6000 pixels wide, so zooming into a far corner still resolves detail.
- No extra cost. Not an add-on, not a premium tier.
A note on the “only software” claim. HomeGauge’s website currently states that “HomeGauge 5 is the only software that supports 360° images in home inspection reports” (homegauge.com/360, verified August 2, 2026). That is no longer accurate. InspectorData supports 360° photos, and so do Spectora, Home Inspector Pro, Property Inspect and zInspector. Spectora and HomeGauge are now part of the same company. We mention this only because inspectors are actively told the choice is narrower than it is.
Which 360 camera should an inspector buy?
Any camera that exports a standard equirectangular JPG works with InspectorData — we support the format, not a brand. That said, the two families inspectors actually use behave very differently, and the difference is workflow, not image quality.
| Camera | Still resolution | Export step | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ricoh Theta X | 11008×5504 (~60MP) | None — finished JPG straight off the camera | Fewest steps. Copy and upload. |
| Ricoh Theta Z1 | 6720×3360 (~23MP) | None — JPG in camera | Dark basements, attics, blown-out windows. Best low light. |
| Insta360 X5 | 11904×5952 (72MP) | Export from app as Equirectangular | Best image quality; replaceable lenses survive crawlspaces. |
| Insta360 X4 | 11904×5952 (72MP) | Export from app as Equirectangular | Same stills as the X5 at a lower street price. |
| Insta360 X3 | 11968×5984 (72MP) | Export from app as Equirectangular | Budget entry. Noisier in low light. |
Prices move constantly on these models, so we have deliberately left them out — check the manufacturer or a major retailer for today’s figure.
The one gotcha worth knowing before you buy
Insta360 cameras do not save a normal JPG. They write a proprietary .insp file, and you export it through the phone app. On export you must choose “Equirectangular.” Pick a different projection and you get a dual-fisheye image that no inspection platform — ours or anyone else’s — will recognize as a sphere.
Ricoh Theta cameras sidestep this entirely: they stitch inside the camera and hand you a finished equirectangular JPG. If you want the shortest possible workflow, that is the reason to choose one.
Where 360 photos actually earn their keep
Not every photo should be a 360. The rooms where a single sphere replaces six flat photos:
- Attics and crawlspaces — where clients have no idea what they are looking at, and will never go themselves.
- Mechanical rooms — furnace, water heater, panel and their clearances, in one frame.
- Roof and exterior context — showing where a defect sits relative to the whole elevation.
- Empty rooms at a walkthrough — a defensible record of condition on the day you were there.
- Anything you might get called back about — a sphere captures what a framed photo deliberately excludes.
The honest limitation, which no software can fix: 360 photos are interactive in the web version of a report only. A PDF cannot run the code that spins a panorama — that is a property of the PDF format, not of any inspection platform. In InspectorData your PDF shows the same photo flat with a 360° label, so nothing is lost, it simply does not spin. Anyone who tells you their PDF spins a sphere is mistaken.
Do you still need Matterport?
For most inspection work, no. Matterport builds a navigable 3D model of an entire property, and is priced for that: a Pro3 camera runs into the thousands, with monthly hosting on top. It is an excellent product for listing agents selling a whole home.
An inspector usually needs something narrower — immersive context attached to a specific finding. “Here is the water stain, and here is the entire attic it sits in.” A single 360 photo inside the report you already deliver does that job, with a camera that costs a fraction of the price and no second platform to log into.
How to add a 360 photo to your report
- Shoot the room with your 360 camera on a monopod or tripod.
- If you shoot Insta360, export from the app and choose Equirectangular. If you shoot Ricoh Theta, skip this step.
- Upload the photo to your report exactly like any other photo.
- Look for the 360° VIEW badge on the thumbnail — that means it was recognized.
- Deliver the report. Your client clicks the photo and drags to look around.
Try it on your next inspection
360° photo support is live for every InspectorData account right now, included at no additional cost. Start a free trial and put a sphere in your next report.
Start Your Free Trial See All FeaturesFrequently asked questions
Can home inspection software do 360 photos?
Yes. InspectorData supports them as of August 2026 at no extra cost, and several other platforms do too, including Spectora, HomeGauge 5, Home Inspector Pro and Property Inspect. In InspectorData the photo is detected automatically and your client drags to look around it inside the delivered report.
Is HomeGauge the only software with 360 images?
No. HomeGauge’s site makes that claim, but it is out of date — InspectorData, Spectora, Home Inspector Pro, Property Inspect and zInspector all support 360 images. Spectora and HomeGauge are now the same company.
What size do 360 photos need to be?
Equirectangular, meaning exactly twice as wide as tall (2:1), and at least 2048 pixels wide. A real 360 camera clears this easily — 11008×5504 and 4096×2048 are both typical. A standard camera photo is never an exact 2:1 frame, which is why ordinary photos are never mistaken for panoramas.
Do 360 photos work in a PDF inspection report?
No, and no platform can make them. A PDF cannot run the code needed to spin a panorama. Your web report is interactive; your PDF shows the photo flat with a 360° label.
Can I take 360 photos with my phone?
Not reliably. Phone panorama modes produce a curved strip, not a true sphere. You need a dedicated 360 camera such as an Insta360 X4 or X5, or a Ricoh Theta X or Z1.
Why is my 360 photo not showing as a 360?
Almost always the export projection. Insta360 cameras save a proprietary .insp file, and on export you must choose Equirectangular — a dual-fisheye or cropped export breaks the exact 2:1 ratio and no platform will recognize it. Ricoh Theta cameras avoid this because they write the finished JPG in-camera.
Does this cost extra?
No. It is included on every InspectorData plan, for every tenant, with nothing to enable.