Losing profits to inaccurate estimates?
Manual estimates are slow and riddled with errors, which directly eat into your bottom line and make budgeting a guessing game.
This leads to project budgets that spiral out of control, upsetting clients and damaging your reputation. It’s a constant struggle to stay ahead.
According to DEV-RES, inaccurate material or labor cost underestimations are a primary cause of budget overruns. These miscalculations significantly increase financial risks on every job you take.
But what if you could eliminate these costly errors? The right software helps you create accurate, reliable bids every single time.
Beyond general residential needs, if you’re also looking for specialized tools, my comprehensive analysis of best plumbing estimating software is highly recommended.
In this guide, I’m going to review the best residential construction estimating software available. These tools are designed to streamline your bidding and boost profitability.
You’ll learn how these solutions can help you win more projects, control costs effectively, and stop leaving money on the table.
Let’s get started.
Quick Summary:
| # | Software | Rating | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Buildertrend → | Medium to large builders | |
| 2 | Buildxact → | Small to mid-sized builders | |
| 3 | Contractor Foreman → | Growing residential contractors | |
| 4 | Houzz → | Construction & design pros | |
| 5 | Sage → | Mid to large contractors |
1. Buildertrend
Struggling with manual estimates and unpredictable costs?
Buildertrend offers comprehensive tools for managing leads, projects, materials, and finances to streamline your entire residential construction business.
Their platform tackles the challenges of manual estimates and inaccurate budgeting, helping you gain control and improve cash flow to boost your bottom line.
Unlock total control and infinite potential.
Buildertrend solves your problems by allowing you to capture and manage all leads in one place, easily converting them into jobs to create proposals and more.
You can track estimated versus actual costs in real-time, enabling informed financial decisions for each project and saving thousands of dollars per project.
The software also centralizes communication, allowing instant collaboration with all key parties, providing client updates, and offering a subcontractor portal to keep everyone connected and informed. You can double your projects while saving over 40 hours weekly on tedious manual tasks.
Take control, take back your time.
While focusing on operational efficiency, understanding workshop management software can further streamline your business processes.
Key features:
- Estimates and Budgets: Create accurate project estimates and track actual costs against your budget in real-time to maintain profitability and avoid overruns.
- Lead and Job Management: Capture and manage leads efficiently, converting them into detailed jobs for proposal generation and streamlined project initiation.
- Client and Subcontractor Portals: Centralize communication with real-time updates for clients and a dedicated portal for subcontractors, ensuring everyone stays informed.
Learn more about Buildertrend features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Buildertrend stands out as the best residential construction estimating software for its ability to drive higher profits and streamline operations. Users can save thousands of dollars per project through accurate financial tracking and double the number of projects taken on, saving over 40 hours weekly on manual tasks.
2. Buildxact
Are manual estimates stealing your valuable time? Buildxact empowers you to generate fast, accurate, and professional bids that help you win more jobs. With integrated takeoffs, estimating, and quoting features, you’ll spend less time on paperwork. This means you can focus on building and growing your business. Ready to build smarter?
Buildxact offers a complete job management solution, from initial takeoff to final invoice. Its AI-powered capabilities, like the Takeoff Assistant, quickly measure and scale digital plans, speeding up your bidding process considerably. You can easily create a complete, customizable estimate from scratch using the Estimate Generator. Plus, you get to work with Blu, your digital building assistant. Blu helps double-check your estimates for common mistakes and overlooked items, ensuring accuracy. This tool also includes a seamless material dealer connection, providing live pricing and enabling efficient online collaboration.
While we’re discussing comprehensive solutions, understanding cloud management software is equally important for modern businesses.
Key features:
- AI-powered estimating: Utilize features like Blu: Estimate Generator and Estimate Reviewer to create accurate, customizable estimates and double-check for mistakes.
- Integrated takeoffs and quoting: Automate takeoffs and streamline your quoting process to produce professional bids quickly, increasing your chances of winning projects.
- Comprehensive project management: Manage scheduling, track costs, and connect with material dealers directly, keeping your projects on time and within budget.
Learn more about Buildxact features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Buildxact stands out by offering an all-in-one platform for residential builders to streamline preconstruction, project management, and financial tracking. With features like AI-powered estimating and direct dealer connections, it addresses common pain points, helping users like Joshua Bradley double sales and delivering an average 136% ROI, making it a strong contender for the best residential construction estimating software.
3. Contractor Foreman
Struggling with manual estimates and unpredictable project costs?
Contractor Foreman offers robust financial tools, including estimates and real-time cost databases, directly addressing your budgeting and bid management challenges.
This helps you escape time-consuming manual processes, allowing you to streamline operations and ensure accurate financial tracking for every project. You will gain clarity.
It’s time to take control.
Contractor Foreman simplifies your financial workflow with features like bid management and change orders, helping you maintain profitability and client satisfaction by managing unexpected costs effectively.
The software includes comprehensive project management features such as daily logs, scheduling, and client portals, ensuring seamless coordination across all project phases. These capabilities, combined with integrations like QuickBooks, provide an all-in-one solution for accurate cost control, improved client communication, and streamlined project delivery from estimating to completion, leading to increased win rates.
It truly is an all-in-one solution.
While we’re discussing comprehensive project management, understanding effective construction scheduling is equally important.
Key features:
- Robust financial management: Generate estimates, manage bids, and track real-time costs to ensure precise budgeting and profitability for residential projects.
- Comprehensive project oversight: Utilize tools like daily logs, scheduling, and a client portal for efficient project coordination and communication, from start to finish.
- Seamless integrations: Connect with essential tools like QuickBooks and Google Calendar to streamline data flow and enhance overall operational efficiency.
Learn more about Contractor Foreman features, pricing, & alternatives → https://nerdisa.com/contractorforeman/
Verdict: Contractor Foreman stands out by offering robust financial and project management tools, including estimates and a real-time cost database. This comprehensive approach makes it the best residential construction estimating software for boosting your profitability and ensuring accurate project budgeting.
4. Houzz
Are manual estimates draining your precious time and profits?
Houzz offers integrated takeoffs and estimates, directly tackling your project overruns and miscalculations. You can accurately manage all your project bids and costs.
This platform addresses the core pains of residential construction, ensuring your budgeting is precise and timely.
Boost your project win rates today!
Houzz solves these challenges by providing an all-in-one platform for construction and design professionals. You gain powerful tools for project planning, including 3D floor plans and takeoffs, directly streamlining your estimation process.
Beyond initial estimates, it offers crucial financial management features like proposals, change orders, and invoicing, ensuring transparent cost control. My builder used Houzz Pro to plan timelines, provide detailed estimates, and send daily updates with photos, which made everything so efficient. Plus, its robust project management capabilities, like scheduling and task management, help you keep projects on track, integrating seamlessly for improved profitability.
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Key features:
- Estimates and Takeoffs: Create accurate estimates with integrated takeoff tools, helping you avoid miscalculations and unexpected project overruns.
- Project Management: Manage schedules, tasks, daily logs, and client communications all within one platform for efficient project execution.
- Financial Management: Generate proposals, invoices, track time and expenses, and process online payments to streamline your financial workflows.
Learn more about Houzz features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Houzz offers an all-in-one platform with robust features like 3D floor plans, takeoffs, estimates, and project management. This comprehensive solution directly addresses the common pain points of inaccurate budgeting and time-consuming manual estimates, making it an excellent choice for the best residential construction estimating software.
5. Sage
Is inaccurate estimating costing you profitability and client trust?
You need solutions that provide full visibility across project lifecycles, ensuring accuracy.
Sage helps you make more informed decisions, preventing costly project overruns from the start.
Let’s explore how Sage delivers.
Sage helps you manage every detail of your business, from initial estimates to project completion. It integrates your financials, operations, and service, giving you a complete view.
With Sage, you can take control of your costs and improve project profitability, ensuring bids are accurate. This means you can confidently handle multiple projects without losing track.
You gain powerful financial management, project management, and reporting tools. This enables you to streamline your workflows and increase efficiency, ultimately leading to higher win rates and happier clients through precise cost control.
Boost the bottom line today.
If you’re also optimizing for business insights, my article on ecommerce analytics tools provides valuable strategies for digital growth.
Key features:
- Full project lifecycle visibility: Gain complete insight from estimating through project completion, allowing you to track costs and progress meticulously.
- Integrated business management: Connects financials, operations, and service, eliminating data silos for better decision-making and streamlined workflows.
- Enhanced cost control and profitability: Make more informed decisions to prevent project overruns, ensuring accurate bids and improved financial outcomes.
Learn more about Sage features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Sage offers comprehensive tools specifically designed to streamline your estimating processes, improve accuracy, and boost profitability. Its integrated approach makes it an excellent choice for residential construction professionals seeking the best residential construction estimating software to manage costs and enhance project success.
6. STACK
Are your estimates taking too long?
STACK offers robust quantity takeoff and estimating features to help you quickly calculate material and labor. This capability directly addresses the time-consuming manual estimates you might be struggling with.
By leveraging integrated items, assemblies, and regional pricing, STACK empowers you to prepare accurate, winning bids with confidence. This minimizes project overruns and lost profits from miscalculations.
Boost your bidding speed and accuracy.
STACK’s cloud-based solutions accelerate your workflows throughout the construction project lifecycle. You can evaluate new bid opportunities, search full plan sets, and compare plan versions, streamlining your preconstruction efforts.
The software also provides responsive, intuitive mobile access, enabling you to access plans and documents from anywhere and make markups on the go. You can easily share documents and assign tasks to keep your teams efficient and aligned, bridging the gap between office and field operations. Furthermore, you can manage issues, report progress, and customize workflows to keep projects on track. Demotik, a super-subcontractor, achieved 50-75% better productivity with STACK.
Gain better control over project costs and timelines.
Key features:
- Fast, accurate takeoffs: Utilize AI-powered tools and your expertise for precise material and labor calculations, reducing manual errors and saving time.
- Detailed estimates & proposals: Leverage integrated items, assemblies, and regional pricing data to create comprehensive bids that boost your win rate.
- Streamlined document control & field collaboration: Access plans, share documents, and assign tasks from the office or site, ensuring real-time teamwork and project alignment.
Learn more about STACK features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: STACK offers comprehensive, cloud-based tools that solve the pain points of inaccurate budgeting and time-consuming estimates. Its AI-accelerated takeoffs, regional pricing data, and seamless project management capabilities make it the best residential construction estimating software for boosting profitability and increasing win rates, as shown by Demotik’s 50-75% productivity gains.
7. ArcSite
Struggling with slow, inaccurate construction estimates?
ArcSite helps you sketch job plans that instantly generate estimates, takeoffs, and proposals.
You can effortlessly turn initial drawings into actionable data, enhancing collaboration and communication, ultimately boosting your profitability and client satisfaction. This streamlines your entire pre-project workflow significantly.
Unlock precision and speed in your bidding.
ArcSite is your all-in-one design powerhouse, starting with on-site drawings to capture data, calculate material quantities, and instantly create estimates and job reports. You can also embed and markup photos, ensuring all project data is centralized for integrity and accuracy. The mobile CAD app offers unmatched accuracy for drawings and material quantities. It unifies communication by providing clear, easy-to-understand drawings and annotations, keeping everyone in sync with seamless sharing. This tool revolutionizes your workflow by delivering time-saving precision and error-free measurements, leading to increased client engagement.
It also supports integrations with various project management and CRM tools.
While considering broader construction needs, my analysis on best HVAC estimating software can be incredibly helpful for specialized bids.
Key features:
- On-site Drawings & AR Room Scanner: Sketch exact-to-scale plans and scan job sites directly from your mobile device, reducing time-consuming manual measurements.
- Instant Takeoffs & Proposals: Automatically generate material lists, cost estimates, and detailed sales proposals from your drawings, improving accuracy and win rates.
- Cloud Collaboration & Custom Forms: Easily share drawings, collect consistent data, and customize forms and calculations to match specific project needs and enhance teamwork.
Learn more about ArcSite features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: ArcSite delivers on-site drawing capabilities and instant estimate generation, providing residential construction professionals with accurate real-time cost control. Its ability to create over 11 million drawings, takeoffs, and proposals highlights its effectiveness, making it a strong contender for the best residential construction estimating software.
8. Joist
Struggling with manual estimates and delayed payments?
Joist’s mobile and web app streamlines your estimates, invoices, and payment tracking.
This helps you win more jobs on the spot and avoid project overruns and lost profits.
It’s time to simplify your work.
Joist helps you create detailed, professional estimates quickly, empowering you to close deals faster. It also lets you easily accept online payments, saving you trips to job sites.
You can customize professional invoices with your logo and send them with just a few clicks. Plus, Joist’s QuickBooks Sync feature automates your bookkeeping, integrating jobs and client data directly with your QuickBooks Online account. Additionally, you can offer homeowner financing options to land more jobs and increase upsells, making it easier for clients to say yes.
Get paid faster and simplify your workflow.
Beyond construction, for those interested in related business solutions, my article on event rental software covers essential tools.
Key features:
- Estimates and Invoices: Create and send detailed, professional estimates and customized invoices from anywhere to win more clients.
- Payments and Financing: Easily accept online payments via credit or debit card and offer homeowner financing to close more deals and get paid faster.
- QuickBooks Sync and Client Management: Automate bookkeeping by syncing with QuickBooks Online and manage all client information securely in one place.
Learn more about Joist features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Joist simplifies critical business operations for residential construction professionals. With features like on-the-spot estimates, online payments, and QuickBooks integration, Joist helps you streamline processes, improve profitability, and enhance client satisfaction, making it a strong contender for the best residential construction estimating software.
9. Buildern
Are you struggling with inaccurate estimates?
Buildern’s software can help you generate precise, real-time cost estimates, ensuring your project bids are always accurate.
I found that it streamlines your estimating process, eliminating manual errors and saving you valuable time, so you can avoid unexpected project overruns and lost profits.
It’s time to boost your profitability.
Buildern helps you create detailed estimates quickly, adapting to changing material costs and project scopes with ease.
You can manage multiple project bids efficiently, allowing you to track costs and profitability for each project individually, ensuring you never miss a beat.
This system gives you complete visibility and control over your project finances, from initial bids to final delivery, improving client satisfaction and helping you win more jobs.
You’ll see your win rates increase.
Key features:
- Accurate Cost Estimation: Generate precise, real-time cost estimates that adapt to changing material prices, significantly reducing manual errors and improving bid accuracy.
- Efficient Project Bid Management: Manage multiple project bids and track individual project profitability, ensuring streamlined workflows and better decision-making for your residential builds.
- Integrated Financial Control: Gain complete visibility and control over project finances from start to finish, which helps prevent overruns and boosts your overall project profitability.
Learn more about Buildern features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Buildern is an excellent choice for residential construction professionals aiming to streamline their estimating processes. Its focus on real-time cost control and bid management directly addresses pain points, making it an ideal best residential construction estimating software for increasing accuracy and profitability.
Conclusion
Losing profits to inaccurate estimates?
I know how manual bidding leads to costly project overruns. Choosing the right tool from so many options is a huge challenge for your business.
According to Workyard, the right software reduces bid errors and improves profitability. This automation is key to protecting your margins on every single project, which is why adopting it is so crucial.
So, what’s my top recommendation?
From all the tools I’ve tested, Buildertrend stands out. Its all-in-one platform is built to eliminate guesswork and control your project finances.
What truly impressed me is how it helps you save thousands per project. This is why I consider it the best residential construction estimating software available today.
I highly recommend you book a free demo of Buildertrend to see exactly how its powerful features can transform your business operations.
You’ll finally achieve predictable profitability.
