One missed take-off line can add six figures to a bid. In a latest Procore survey, 48 p.c of building leaders known as AI essentially the most crucial tech for future challenge supply.
We put six AI-powered estimating platforms – led by enterprise veteran InEight Estimate – via a multidisciplinary check to see which of them nail the numbers quick and which nonetheless guess. The stakes: ship a fast bid with out giving up accuracy. Right here’s what we discovered.
How we examined and scored every platform
We fed each instrument the identical demanding challenge pack: greater than 200 plan sheets, multi-discipline specs, a small Revit mannequin, and a stack of addenda that normally sends junior estimators sprinting for espresso.
First, our crew constructed a ground-truth estimate by hand. Senior amount surveyors triple-checked each line, locking in the true counts for concrete, metal, MEP, and finishes. That baseline grew to become the yardstick for accuracy.
Subsequent, we ran the six platforms in isolation. No customized plug-ins and no vendor hand-holding. We merely uploaded the information, adjusted fundamental settings, and pressed Go. We timed the workflow from first file import to ultimate cost-sheet export, noting each level the place people needed to step in.
Lastly, we graded every product utilizing 5 weighted standards that mirror a preconstruction supervisor’s every day actuality:
- Accuracy on complicated tasks – 40 p.c
- Automation and AI horsepower – 20 p.c
- Ease of use and studying curve – 15 p.c
- Integrations and information stream – 15 p.c
- Price for worth – 10 p.c
Every class rolls as much as a 100-point scale. A single-page scorecard now reveals who leads on precision, who wins on velocity, and the place hidden prices lurk.
In brief, we mimicked the stress cooker of an actual bid deadline, as a result of that’s the place AI earns its hold. The following part breaks down how every platform carried out.
The scorecard at a look
Image a tidy grid that separates hype from exhausting numbers.
Throughout the highest sit our 5 standards. Down the facet, the six contenders. One fast scan reveals three insights:
First, InEight Estimate leads the Accuracy column with a 1.8 p.c complete error, which explains why large-scale homeowners belief its “defensible bids”.
Second, Togal.AI tops the Time-Saved metric, clocking a 12-minute full-plan take-off that lower handbook hours by 90 p.c. The daring inexperienced cell indicators pure velocity.
Third, newcomer Beam AI matches Togal’s turnaround whenever you rely human hours, but nonetheless information the bottom miss fee after InEight.
STACK, Procore Estimating, and Kreo occupy the center floor. Every wins no less than one sub-criterion: STACK for the best studying curve, Procore for integrations, Kreo for BIM protection.
The takeaway? You possibly can spot a front-runner earlier than the espresso cools, then discover the detailed critiques that observe.
1. InEight Estimate: Enterprise precision you possibly can take to the financial institution
In the event you construct highways, information facilities, or any challenge that carries a seven-figure contingency, InEight Estimate appears like house. The platform emerged inside Kiewit throughout the Nineteen Eighties, and each nook of the interface indicators heavy-civil self-discipline.
In our stress check, InEight missed the ground-truth portions by just one.8 p.c. Hunter Contracting experiences three a long time of comparable efficiency, counting on InEight to win infrastructure work with out padding bids for security.
Buyer tales cite as a lot as a 50 p.c discount in estimating hours when groups faucet InEight’s Bid Wizard and reusable templates learn more. Its AI benchmarking engine is the distinction maker.
Feed it your historic price library and it flags outliers, corresponding to a concrete productiveness fee that’s too optimistic or an MEP allowance that feels skinny. As an alternative of guessing, you alter with confidence.
Collaboration is equally refined. A number of estimators can alter the identical estimate directly, then push the accepted numbers straight into schedule and price range modules. No exports, no re-keying, no late-night spreadsheet merges.
The trade-off is the training curve. New customers want coaching, and small contractors might balk on the enterprise price ticket. But when a challenge carries tons of of line gadgets and accountability reaches the boardroom, the upfront funding buys peace of thoughts: a bid you possibly can defend in any boardroom or courtroom.
2. Togal.AI: One-click take-off at document velocity
Open a ground plan, faucet the Togal button, and watch the traces spotlight like a circuit board. Rooms, partitions, and doorways all obtain prompt counts whilst you sip espresso.
In our check set, Togal accomplished a full architectural take-off in twelve minutes. Guide effort was restricted to about 5 clicks to tidy an odd closet. The imaginative and prescient engine experiences 97 p.c accuracy when detecting areas, a determine echoed in early funding protection.
That point financial savings converts immediately into revenue. Estimators utilizing Togal usually bid thrice extra work every month as a result of they’re now not tied to a mouse. Export the quantified sheet to Excel, Sage, or Procore Estimating, and you’re pricing earlier than lunch.
Togal excels on clear 2D drawings; hand-sketched website plans and heavy-civil cross-sections nonetheless want handbook tracing. As a result of it focuses strictly on portions, prices have to be added in a separate instrument.
In case your backlog will depend on fast multi-story house bids, Togal’s prompt take-off delivers a sensible edge.
3. Procore Estimating: The connective tissue from bid to close-out.
If your organization already works inside Procore, including its Estimating module appears like unlocking a bonus stage. You pull drawings straight from the plan room, run semi-automated take-offs, and push the numbers into Mission Financials with two clicks. No CSV purgatory.
Throughout testing, Procore wanted extra handbook clicks than Togal or STACK. We traced a couple of wall runs and educated the auto-count instrument on fixture symbols. Even so, the estimate landed inside 4 p.c of floor fact, and it flowed into budgets and dedication schedules instantly.
That tight integration is Procore’s power. Sub bids stage inside the identical display the place you monitor RFIs. Later, change orders tie again to the unique line merchandise, so finance doesn’t chase stray spreadsheets at month-end.
The primary disadvantage is price. Procore sells by annual license tied to challenge quantity, so small retailers might hesitate. And customers looking for full computer-vision automation might want to anticipate upcoming roadmap releases.
Select Procore Estimating when workflow continuity issues greater than shaving each minute off your take-off. It retains information constant from day one, a self-discipline that pays dividends lengthy after the bid is gained.
4. STACK: Cloud take-off that appears like using a motorcycle.
Some estimating apps require weeks of onboarding. STACK feels extra like opening a brand new Gmail tab, the place you add plans, set scale, and begin measuring.
Velocity comes from good assists relatively than full automation. Prepare Auto-Rely on a light-fixture image as soon as and it captures each matching icon throughout the set.
Educate Ground-Plan AI that Degree 3 mirrors Degree 2 and it copies the measurements onto every twin sheet. In our trial, that lower a two-hour drywall take-off to 40 minutes, nonetheless hands-on however fast sufficient so as to add an additional bid to the week.
Accuracy stayed inside three p.c of baseline after we constructed a couple of assemblies for studs, screws, and joint compound. STACK’s coloration overlays spotlight missed scope, so that you appropriate errors earlier than they snowball into bid-day panic.
The platform’s key power is accessibility. It runs in any browser, shops each markup within the cloud, and provides a free tier that pulls small trades earlier than they improve to paid seats. In case your crew nonetheless stitches Bluebeam exports to Excel price sheets, STACK offers a delicate path to a single, searchable supply of fact.
Limitations? It is not going to learn a BIM mannequin like Kreo, nor will it auto-classify each factor like Togal. For 1000’s of subcontractors chasing quick-turn industrial work, although, STACK hits the candy spot between energy and ease, with no steep curves and no sticker shock—simply quicker, cleaner numbers.
5. Kreo: BIM-savvy AI that goals to run the entire take-off for you.
Kreo arrives with a transparent promise: drop in a PDF or Revit file and let its agent create a invoice of portions whilst you sort out e-mail. For design-build companies pushing digital supply, that imaginative and prescient is a powerful draw.
In apply, the engine took us 95 p.c of the way in which. Kreo recognized rooms, finishes, doorways, and wall varieties and not using a single handbook tag. A number of plumbing symbols induced hiccups, however fixes have been point-and-click, and the AI realized instantly.
Kreo really shines in BIM workflows. Import the mannequin, map price codes as soon as, and every design revision produces an up to date estimate inside minutes. That suggestions loop turns worth engineering from a guess to a data-driven dialogue with the architect.
There are caveats. Setup calls for endurance: load price libraries, outline mapping guidelines, and construct belief in an opaque algorithm earlier than deadlines loom. As a result of Kreo is newer to North America, assist hours might lag behind late-night bid scrambles.
Groups that make investments early see compounding returns. Each challenge trains the mannequin additional, shaving hours off the following. In case your roadmap contains 5D workflows and model-based supply, Kreo positions you forward of the market.
Conclusion
The takeaway? You possibly can spot a front-runner earlier than the espresso cools, then discover the detailed critiques that observe.
