8 Best Estimating Software for Contractors in 2026, Compared

Quick comparison

The best estimating software for contractors

#1

STACK

Best for: Contractors who want cloud takeoff and estimating in one place, starting from the plans

★★★★★★★★★★4.5/5 on G2 (95 reviews, checked Nov 2026)

Visit stackct.com

Starting price$299 per user per month (Premium, billed annually; $349 billed monthly)

Free planYes — free plan ($0, 1 active project a month)

STACK is the cloud standard for contractors whose bids start with measuring plans. Upload PDFs, measure quantities in the browser, and push those measurements straight into the estimate. Premium costs $299 per user a month on annual billing and adds unlimited projects and measurements, a prebuilt item and assembly library, plan overlay, symbol search and AI Takeoffs. Pro costs $349 and adds worksheet-style labor and material estimating, the regional BNi cost library and native proposals.

The catch is the per-seat math: three estimators on Premium cost $897 a month, or $10,764 a year. The free plan covers one active project a month, which is enough to run a real bid through it before paying. Pick STACK when takeoff is the bottleneck in your bidding; pick a flat-rate tool when five or more people need to estimate.

What we like

• Fast cloud takeoff: measure quantities in the browser and push them straight into the estimate
• Premium includes AI Takeoffs, STACK IQ, a prebuilt item and assembly library and plan overlay
• Free plan covers one active project a month, so you can test it on a real bid
• Unlimited projects, plan pages and measurements on every paid plan

Watch out for

• Per-seat pricing adds up fast: three estimators on Premium cost $897 a month before add-ons
• Paid plans run on 12-month terms, so there is no month-to-month option
• The estimating depth on Premium is lighter than ProEst or Sage Estimating

#2

Clear Estimates

Best for: Remodelers and small contractors who need a professional bid fast, without an estimating department

★★★★★★★★★★4.5/5 on Capterra (118 reviews, checked Nov 2026)

Visit clearestimates.com

Starting price$79/month (Standard, billed monthly; $59/month billed annually)

Free planNo — 30-day free trial

Clear Estimates knows its customer: the remodeler who needs a professional bid tomorrow, not an estimating department. Pick a template for a kitchen, bath or addition, enter the dimensions, and it calculates labor and material costs from local pricing for your zip code, updated quarterly. Standard costs $79 a month flat, with unlimited estimates, unlimited AI estimates, 400-plus preloaded templates and e-signature built in.

The flat price is the appeal and the limit: one monthly rate covers the whole team, with extra users at $9 a month, but deep customization of the cost database is limited and ground-up commercial work is outside its remodeling focus. The 30-day trial is long enough to run a real bid through it. Pick Clear Estimates when remodeling bids are the business; pick STACK or ProEst when commercial takeoff is.

What we like

• Flat $79 a month with no per-user charge, so the whole team can estimate for one price
• Prebuilt assemblies for kitchens, baths and additions with local labor and material rates for your zip code
• Standard now includes unlimited AI estimates, e-signature and 400+ preloaded templates
• Cost database updates quarterly across 400 US regions

Watch out for

• Remodeling-focused, so ground-up commercial GCs will outgrow it
• Deep customization of the cost database has limits
• No free plan, only a 30-day trial, so you pay from the second month

#3

ProEst

Best for: General contractors running a real estimating department with bid-day workflows

★★★★★★★★★★4.3/5 on G2 (63 reviews, checked Nov 2026)

Visit proest.com

Starting priceCustom quote (sold inside Autodesk Forma for Preconstruction)

Free planNo — demo only

ProEst is built for general contractors running a serious estimating department: cloud-based takeoff, detailed cost breakdowns, a managed cost database and bid-day workflows, with a CRM that tracks who you invited to bid and what they quoted. Estimators collaborate on the same bid from different offices, and historical data stays centralized instead of living in one person's spreadsheet.

Two things changed recently. Autodesk now sells ProEst only inside its Forma for Preconstruction bundle, so there is no standalone price and no free trial — you buy through an Autodesk sales quote, with a demo first. Implementation and database setup also take real work. For GCs bidding competitively at volume, it remains the professional standard; one-person shops should look at Clear Estimates or Buildxact instead.

What we like

• Cloud estimating with integrated takeoff, a managed cost database and bid-day analysis in one platform
• Built-in CRM tracks bid invitations, quotes and open bids alongside the estimate
• Multiple estimators work on the same bid from different offices, with centralized historical data
• Native integrations with QuickBooks and Procore

Watch out for

• No published price: Autodesk sells it only inside the Forma for Preconstruction bundle, quoted by sales
• No free trial, only a demo, so you cannot test it hands-on before the sales call
• Implementation and cost-database setup take real effort before the first bid

#4

Buildxact

Best for: Small residential builders and remodelers who want simple estimating with live dealer pricing

★★★★★★★★★★4.3/5 on G2 (66 reviews, checked Nov 2026)

Visit buildxact.com

Starting price$199/month (Foundation, billed monthly; $169/month billed annually)

Free planYes — free Go plan (5 AI estimate credits)

Buildxact targets the small residential builder: simple digital takeoff, estimating with live supplier price lists, and job management through to invoicing, designed to be learned in days by people who would rather be on site. Foundation costs $199 a month, or $169 on annual billing, with unlimited users — the whole crew estimates for one flat price, and the free Go plan covers AI estimating and proposals with five credits.

The trade-off is depth by design. Real job management and scheduling wait for Pro at $399 a month, and the fuller Blu AI tools are paid add-ons on Foundation. The takeoff tools handle residential plans well without enterprise complexity. Pick Buildxact when you build homes and remodels and want the estimate to become the job; pick STACK when commercial plans dominate your bidding.

What we like

• Flat $199 a month with unlimited users, so the whole crew estimates for one price
• Live dealer and supplier price lists feed the quote, including Home Depot Pro
• Free Go plan includes AI estimating and professional proposals with 5 credits
• Digital takeoffs, quote letters with digital signatures and purchase orders on Foundation

Watch out for

• Real job management and scheduling wait for Pro at $399 a month, so Foundation is estimating-first
• Monthly plans carry a 12-month commitment on annual billing
• Advanced Blu tools are paid add-ons on Foundation ($99-$149 a month each)

#5

Buildern

Best for: Custom home builders and remodelers who want estimating inside one project platform

★★★★★★★★★★4.9/5 on G2 (23 reviews, checked Nov 2026)

Visit buildern.com

Starting price$225/month (Starter, billed annually; $250 billed monthly)

Free planNo — 7-day free trial

Buildern takes the all-in-one approach: estimating, budgeting, scheduling, client communication and financials in one system for builders. The win is continuity — the estimate becomes the budget, then the schedule, then the invoice, without re-entry. Starter costs $225 a month billed annually for two seats, while field workers, subcontractors, vendors and clients are free on every plan.

The entry price is the hurdle: $225 a month is real money for a one-person shop, and the 7-day trial barely covers a proper evaluation. Buildern AI is also a $50-per-seat monthly add-on rather than part of the entry plan. Pick Buildern when you want one login for the whole build; pick a specialist like STACK when estimating alone is the job.

What we like

• The estimate becomes the budget, the schedule and the invoice with no re-entry
• Field workers, subcontractors, vendors and clients are free on every plan
• Starter includes takeoff, selections, RFIs, timesheets and QuickBooks or Xero sync
• Transparent published pricing with no contracts and a 7-day trial

Watch out for

• $225 a month is real money for a one-person shop, and the trial lasts only 7 days
• Buildern AI costs $50 per seat a month extra, so AI help is not in the entry price
• A newer platform still building estimating depth next to the specialists

#6

Buildertrend

Best for: Custom home builders who want estimating tied to client selections and a client portal

★★★★★★★★★★4.3/5 on G2 (231 reviews, checked Nov 2026)

Visit buildertrend.com

Starting priceCustom quote (quoted on builder type and annual volume)

Free planNo — demo only

Buildertrend is the all-in-one for home builders and remodelers: estimating and proposals, budgets, schedules, selections, change orders and a client portal in one system. The selections-to-budget flow is the differentiator — when a client picks finishes, the budget updates, and the portal cuts the constant 'where are we on budget' calls.

It is also the replacement for CoConstruct, which Buildertrend acquired in 2021 and no longer sells to new customers. There is no published price and no free trial; Buildertrend quotes on your builder type and annual construction volume, and reviewers warn about renewal increases, so get those terms in writing. Pick Buildertrend when client selections drive your jobs; pick Buildern when you want published pricing.

What we like

• Estimating connects to selections, budgets, change orders and the client portal in one system
• Unlimited users and projects, so the whole team and every client work in one place
• The client portal cuts the 'where are we on budget' calls during the build
• The replacement for CoConstruct, which Buildertrend no longer sells to new customers

Watch out for

• No published price: Buildertrend quotes on builder type and annual construction volume
• No free trial, only a demo, so you evaluate on a sales call
• Renewal increases are a common reviewer complaint, so get the renewal terms in writing

#7

Sage Estimating

Best for: Large commercial contractors already standardized on Sage accounting

★★★★★★★★★★4.1/5 on G2 (18 reviews, checked Nov 2026)

Visit sage.com

Starting priceCustom quote (quoted per users and modules)

Free planNo — demo only

Sage Estimating is the heavyweight for contractors already in the Sage world: deep database-driven estimating with assemblies, crews and productivity factors, plus AI-assisted takeoff that pulls 2D and 3D quantities with one click. It integrates with Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate for the full job-cost loop, so estimate data flows straight into accounting.

Everything about it is enterprise: custom pricing with no published starting price, implementation effort, and an interface with history. Small contractors should not be here. But for Sage shops bidding complex commercial work with database discipline, it is the natural fit — and reviewers rate its support 8.8 out of 10 on G2, the highest support score in this list.

What we like

• Deep database-driven estimating with assemblies, crews and productivity factors
• Trade-specific cost databases and historical project data feed faster, more accurate bids
• Estimate data flows straight into Sage 300 Construction and Sage 100 Contractor job costing
• AI-assisted takeoff pulls 2D and 3D quantities with one click

Watch out for

• Quote-only enterprise pricing with no published starting price at all
• Desktop-first interface that shows its age next to the cloud tools
• Implementation is a project in itself, with training and database setup before real bids

#8

PlanSwift

Best for: Estimators who measure from plans all day and want the fastest takeoff in the business

★★★★★★★★★★4.2/5 on G2 (38 reviews, checked Nov 2026)

Visit planswift.com

Starting price$2,000 per user per year (Essential, annual license; Core $3,000)

Free planNo — 14-day free trial

PlanSwift is the takeoff specialist: point, click and drag measurements off digital plans with a speed estimators love, plus trade-specific plugins and assemblies for drywall, painting, concrete, roofing and electrical work. Essential costs $2,000 per user per year, with Core at $3,000 adding the full AI Takeoff BOOST suite. Many contractors use it purely for quantity takeoff and export to their estimating system.

The licensing model appeals to buyers tired of subscriptions: one annual per-seat license, no monthly billing to manage. The trade-offs are real, though — Windows only, estimating beyond takeoff is lighter than the dedicated suites, and plugins cost extra. Pick PlanSwift when measuring plans is the job you do all day; pair it with an estimating suite when pricing is too.

What we like

• Point, click and drag takeoff from digital plans at a speed estimators love
• Trade-specific plugins and assemblies for drywall, painting, concrete, roofing and more
• Annual per-seat license with no monthly subscription to manage
• Huge template and plugin ecosystem built over nearly two decades

Watch out for

• Estimating beyond takeoff is lighter than the dedicated suites, so complex bidders pair it with a second tool
• Windows only, so Mac estimators need Boot Camp or Parallels
• Trade plugins cost extra, and the AI Takeoff BOOST suite needs Core at $3,000 a year

The best estimating software for contractors turns a stack of plans into a bid you can defend: quantities measured once, priced from your real costs, and packaged into a proposal a client can sign. A bid that is 10 percent too high loses the job; a bid that is 10 percent too low wins it and loses money for three months. The eight tools below cover the real options, from takeoff specialists to all-in-one builder platforms, and every price was checked on the vendor's own pricing page on November 7, 2026.

How to choose the best estimating software for contractors

• Start from your bottleneck. If measuring plans eats your week, buy takeoff first (STACK or PlanSwift). If pricing eats your week, buy a cost database (ProEst, Sage Estimating) or a template library (Clear Estimates).
• Check the billing model before the feature list. STACK and PlanSwift charge per estimator; Clear Estimates and Buildxact charge one flat monthly rate. A three-person team pays $897 a month on STACK Premium and $79 on Clear Estimates Standard.
• Ask what the cost data is worth. Prebuilt assemblies and local labor and material rates save hours per bid — but only if they cover your trade and your zip code. Run one real bid in the trial and compare the numbers with your last job.
• Check the proposal output. The bid document is what the client sees, so judge its professionalism, e-signature and branding before you judge the takeoff tools.
• Check the accounting link. Buildern, Buildxact and ProEst sync with QuickBooks or Xero, and Sage Estimating feeds Sage job costing — the estimate should become the budget, not a second spreadsheet.

Estimating is one system in your stack, not the whole stack. If the business also needs to be found online, our guide to marketing software for contractors covers the visibility side. And before you publish new pages for the services you sell, run your titles through the free SERP snippet preview tool — it shows exactly how the title and description will look in Google.

Whatever you shortlist, try it with a real bid before you pay. The free plans and trials in this list are long enough to run one genuine job through the tool — your plans, your rates, your client — and that bid tells you more than any review can. Check two things in the trial: that the takeoff matches your hand-measured quantities, and that the proposal looks like something you would send. Every tool here that offers a trial gives you at least a week, so there is no reason to buy before you have bid with it.

Estimating software for contractors pricing: what you will actually pay

Take a three-person estimating team bidding residential and light commercial work. Over a year, Clear Estimates Standard costs $948 ($708 on annual billing), Buildxact Foundation costs $2,388 ($2,030 on annual billing), Buildern Starter costs $3,672 ($225 a month for two seats plus $81 for the third), PlanSwift Essential costs $6,000 ($2,000 per user per year), and STACK Premium costs $10,764 ($299 per user a month on annual billing). ProEst, Buildertrend and Sage Estimating publish no price, so they need a quote before they can be compared at all.

The same three estimators cost $708 a year at the cheap end and $10,764 at the dear end — a $10,056 gap that comes from per-seat pricing, not from features. Flat-rate tools win on team cost; per-seat tools win on depth, and the right answer depends on how many people estimate and how complex the bids are. Three costs sit outside every number above. First, the add-ons: STACK aerial takeoff, Buildxact Blu tools at $99–$149 a month each, and Buildern AI at $50 per seat a month. Second, implementation and training on the quote-only tools, which can run into thousands of dollars. Third, the second business: every tool here prices per company, so a second crew or a second brand pays again.

Annual billing cuts the bill on the tools that publish it: Clear Estimates drops from $948 to $708 a year, Buildxact Foundation from $2,388 to $2,030, and Buildern Starter from $3,000 to $2,700 a year for two seats. PlanSwift publishes annual terms only, so the annual figure is the whole story; STACK also offers monthly billing at $349 per user. One more cost to check before you commit: the per-seat tools charge for every estimator, including part-timers and trainees, so count heads honestly. Once the bid is won, the money side matters too — see our guide to the best invoicing software for small business.

Know the difference: takeoff, estimating and bidding

These are three jobs that get sold as one. Takeoff is measuring quantities from plans — how many square feet of drywall, how many linear feet of trim. Estimating is pricing those quantities with labor, materials, markup and overhead. Bidding is packaging the priced estimate into a proposal that wins the work. The mistake is buying takeoff when your problem is pricing, or a full suite when you just need faster measurements. Map your current process: where do bids actually slow down or go wrong? Buy the tool that fixes that step first. Many contractors end up with two tools — a takeoff specialist and an estimating system — and that is fine.

The second confusion is the billing model. Per-seat tools (STACK, PlanSwift) charge for every estimator, so the bill grows with the team. Flat-rate tools (Clear Estimates, Buildxact) charge one monthly rate however many people estimate. Neither is better in general — per-seat tools usually go deeper, flat-rate tools usually cost less for teams — but you must compare them on the same team size, or the comparison is meaningless.

A third distinction is worth knowing: an all-in-one builder platform (Buildern, Buildertrend) is not an estimating specialist. The estimate is one feature inside a system that also schedules, bills and talks to clients. That continuity is worth real money when selections and change orders drive your jobs — and it is wasted money when all you need is faster bids.

Quick comparison: tool type by need

Mistakes to avoid

• Comparing a per-seat price with a flat price. STACK at $299 a user and Clear Estimates at $79 flat are not $220 apart for a team — for three estimators they are $897 and $79 a month. Always price the tool at your headcount.
• Buying takeoff when your problem is pricing. If measurements are already fast and the numbers are wrong, a takeoff tool changes nothing. Fix the cost database first, with ProEst, Sage Estimating or Clear Estimates.
• Skipping the trial bid. A demo uses the vendor's plans and rates. Run one of your own jobs through the trial and compare the takeoff and the price with your last real bid before you pay.
• Forgetting the add-ons. The headline price rarely includes everything: STACK aerial takeoff, Buildxact Blu tools, Buildern AI and PlanSwift plugins all cost extra, and they sit on the workflow you actually wanted.
• Buying the suite when you need one job done. An all-in-one platform is the wrong buy if you only need faster bids — you pay for scheduling, billing and portals you will never open.

How we chose

We checked each vendor's own pricing page on November 7, 2026 and recorded the starting price exactly as shown, including the annual-billing figure where the page lists one, and we ranked the tools by fit for the most common buyer — a contractor who bids from plans every week — not by brand size. STACK's $299 Premium figure comes from its own pricing page, confirmed by an October 8, 2026 read of the same page; PlanSwift's $2,000 Essential figure is the vendor-published annual license as reported by two independent October 2026 reads of its pricing page, since the page itself would not load for a direct check today. Ratings come from G2, except Clear Estimates, where we use Capterra because its G2 listing holds a single review. CoConstruct, which appears in other lists of this topic, is left out because Buildertrend no longer sells it to new customers; Buildertrend, its owner and replacement, takes its place. No vendor paid for a place in this list, and none of the links here are affiliate links.

What to do next

Start with the free plan or trial of your top pick and run one real bid through it. Check that the takeoff matches your hand-measured quantities and the proposal looks like something you would send before you commit to a year. If the bids are sorted but new customers are not finding you, our local SEO service handles the visibility side — or compare providers in our guide to marketing software for contractors. Once your tools are in place, find out what's holding your rankings back.

Sources we checked (17)

• STACK pricing — stackct.com/takeoff-and-estimate-pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
• Clear Estimates pricing — clearestimates.com/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
• ProEst pricing — proest.com/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
• Buildxact pricing — buildxact.com/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
• Buildern pricing — buildern.com/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
• Buildertrend pricing — buildertrend.com/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
• Sage Estimating — sage.com/en-us/products/sage-estimating (checked November 7, 2026)
• PlanSwift pricing — planswift.com/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
• STACK reviews — g2.com/products/stack-takeoff-estimate/reviews (checked November 7, 2026)
• Clear Estimates reviews — capterra.com/p/24826/Clear-Estimates (checked November 7, 2026)
• ProEst reviews — g2.com/products/proest/reviews (checked November 7, 2026)
• Buildxact reviews — g2.com/products/buildxact/reviews (checked November 7, 2026)
• Buildern reviews — g2.com/products/buildern/reviews (checked November 7, 2026)
• Buildertrend reviews — g2.com/products/buildertrend/reviews (checked November 7, 2026)
• Sage Estimating reviews — g2.com/products/sage-estimating/reviews (checked November 7, 2026)
• PlanSwift reviews — g2.com/products/planswift/reviews (checked November 7, 2026)
• CoConstruct no longer sold to new customers — projul.com (checked November 7, 2026)