AI takeoff software FAQ

Takeoff software measures and counts quantities from construction drawings: areas, lengths and items such as doors, fixtures or devices. AI takeoff software does part of that automatically. It detects rooms, walls and symbols on PDF or CAD sheets, and the better tools also read schedules and specifications so they can tell you where the documents disagree.

Most tools run models that find shapes and symbols on a sheet and measure them at the sheet's scale. Some let you draw a box around one symbol and find every other copy of it. Others let you ask in plain English, for example to count all outlets on level 2. Trade-specific tools add models trained on their trade's documents, such as door schedules and hardware sets.

No. Every tool ranked here expects an estimator to review the result, decide which document governs when they disagree, and put a price on it. What changes is the time spent counting and cross-checking before those decisions.

PDF drawing sets are the common input. Several tools also take CAD files and images, and some take the project specification as a separate document. Check the vendor's own documentation for the formats you receive most.

With AI takeoff software you run the takeoff yourself and the AI does part of the work. A done-for-you service (Beam AI sells one) takes your plans and returns a finished takeoff, checked by its own staff, after a turnaround time. You trade control and speed on revisions for less work on your side.

Treat them as the vendor's claim. They are measured on files the vendor chose, usually without saying how a miss is counted. They are not comparable between vendors, and none of the figures we found cites an independent audit.

Where the information is not on the sheet being read: items missing from a schedule but shown on the plan, a spec section that changes what the schedule says, symbols drawn differently by different architects, scale errors on details, and addenda that only partly reissue a set.

Use a job you have already priced and won or lost, so you know the answer. Run it through the tool without vendor help and compare item by item: what it found that you had, what it missed, and what it added that should not be there. Record the time you spent fixing the output, not only the time the AI took.

Published prices among the tools we rank run from $99 per user per month (Exayard Starter) to $299 per user per month (Togal.AI Growth), and Beam AI publishes annual licenses starting at $8,000 per trade. Fresco, Bild AI and Countfire do not publish prices. Each tool's page here links to the vendor's pricing page; check it, since prices change.

Mostly your estimator's time. Kreo offers a 7-day free trial, Countfire a free trial, and Fresco a free takeoff; Exayard is a paid self-serve sign-up, and the others work through a demo. Budget for one past job per tool, run by the person who will use it, plus the time to compare the output with your own takeoff.

Per-user pricing (Kreo, Togal.AI, Exayard) scales with the number of estimators. Per-trade or annual licensing (Beam AI) scales with the work you send. Count your estimators and your bids per month, then ask each vendor for a written quote on those numbers.

Use the same job for every tool, one you already priced by hand, with at least one known problem in it (an item on the plan but not in the schedule, or an addendum). Have the same estimator run each tool without vendor help, then score each on missed items, extra items, time to a bid-ready result and how cleanly the output went into your estimate.

Watch a vendor demo, but do not score it. A vendor's demo file is chosen to work. Score only what your own estimator gets on your own job.

Ask for the vendor's SOC 2 Type 2 report or equivalent, where your files are stored, who can see them, whether they are used to train models, and how you delete them. Our vendor questions page has the full list.