Looking for construction estimating software but don’t want to spend any money? You’re in luck! There are several options for free construction estimating software available. Want to know more about them?

Compare Top Construction Estimating Software Leaders

What This Article Covers:

• Best Free Construction Estimating Software
  • Buildxact
  • Methvin
  • Joist
  • Zoho Invoice
  • Contractor+
• Next Steps

Best Free Construction Estimating Software

We know how difficult selecting the perfect solution is. Worry no more. We’ve got you covered. Check out the best five free estimating software curated by our analysts below!

Compare Top Construction Estimating Software Leaders

Buildxact

Buildxact is a cloud-based solution designed for builders and remodelers, dealers, quantity surveyors, and estimators to help them streamline workflows, increase efficiency and improve profitability. It caters to small- and medium-sized businesses.

Import supplier or manufacturer-provided price lists to produce accurate estimates with Buildxact. Source

Pricing

• Free Trial: It offers a 14-day free trial.
• Dealers: It offers a free plan for dealers wanting to streamline their sales process and build client relationships. The pro and enterprise plan starts at $150/user/month. The Enterprise plan offers advanced functionalities.
• Builders and Remodelers: The entry plan starts at $149/user/month, the pro plan costs $249/month for two users and the team plan costs $399/month for four users.

Top Benefits

• Improve Estimating Accuracy: Built-in formulas and calculations help you reduce errors and discrepancies impacting project timelines and budgets.
• Save Time: You can integrate with construction management tools to streamline workflows. On-screen takeoff tools aid you in measuring quantities from blueprints and plans within minutes.
• Boost Productivity: Multiple estimators can work on the same project, promoting a collaborative work environment to improve productivity.
• Prevent Calculation Errors: Add custom formulas to calculate labor, material and equipment costs to produce error-free quotes. Integrate with construction accounting software, such as QuickBooks for Construction and Xero, to avoid manual data entry mistakes.
• Stay Mobile: Login from Android and iOS devices via web browsers to access data from remote locations.

Primary Features

• Customizable Templates: It offers a range of pre-built templates for residential, commercial and industrial projects to help you eliminate the need to create estimates from scratch.
• Cost Databases: Access material and labor cost databases to produce reliable estimates. You can import point-of-sale price lists from suppliers or upload your own cost data to ensure your estimates are based on up-to-date pricing information.
• Builder Data Insight: Dealers can gain insights into builder growth, identify sales opportunities and determine customer pricing. They can also support builders with supply forecasts, assist with whole-house proposals, and provide information on stock availability and alternative items using builder estimates.
• Quote Management: With CRM tools and project management systems, you can track quote statuses, store customer contact details in a central hub and manage client relationships. Create and send construction requests for quotes (RFQs) to suppliers with just a few clicks.
• Reporting: Generate job cost, profit and loss, purchase order, budget, supplier and manufacturer, sales, and budget reports to evaluate your company’s financial performance.

Limitations (Free Version)

• Unable to create work schedules and templates.
• No integration with external APIs and systems.
• Incapable of managing licensing across stores.

Compare Top Construction Estimating Software Leaders

Methvin

Methvin is a construction management software designed to help contractors, estimators and project managers streamline estimating processes. It caters to all business sizes.

It offers features such as online estimating, customizable formulas, and construction scheduling tools, as well as a tender portal for managing bids and proposals.

Link worksheets to estimates with Methvin. Source

Pricing

• Free Version: It offers a free plan for single users. It allows you to access one application for free.
• Business: Its business pricing option starts at $27/month for five users. You can access five apps from the suite if you choose this plan.
• Enterprise: The enterprise plan costs $179/month with unlimited user access.

Top Benefits

• Streamline Workflows: Import data from spreadsheets or PDFs to reduce manual entry errors. Automatically calculate labor, material and equipment costs to save time.
• Generate Precise Estimates: Takeoff tools enable you to measure and calculate quantities accurately. You can create custom formulas for different projects. Choose from a library of prebuilt templates for different types of projects, saving time and improving consistency.
• Boost Collaboration: Enable team members to share estimates and proposals with clients, stakeholders and suppliers to keep everyone on the same page. Store files in a central location to allow employees to access them in real time from remote locations.
• Make Informed Decisions: Generate and analyze financial and operational reports to develop strategic plans.
• Maximize Profits: Estimating tools enable you to create error-free quotes, reducing the risk of overbidding or underbidding on projects. Monitor job statuses to complete projects on time and within budget.

Primary Features

• Estimating: Generate cost estimates and bids, link worksheets to multiple tasks, set variables, and break tasks into sub-schedules for fast, accurate pricing. Save repetitive calculations in a library and specify inputs, variables and equations to produce detailed estimates.
• Takeoff: Import DWG and DXF files to minimize manual calculation errors. Measure both imperial and metric units for areas, perimeters, length and element counts. Add material and their thicknesses to takeoffs to prevent underestimating or overestimating the materials required.
• Gantt Scheduler: Create schedules, assign tasks and set deadlines for projects. Customize the Gantt chart to view dependencies and identify bottlenecks. Use the critical path scheduling method to prioritize tasks.
• Project Management: Use a kanban board to track project progress. Share project information, collaborate on tasks and communicate with team members in real time.
• Tender Portal: Create and manage tender requests, receive and evaluate bids from suppliers, and track bid and proposal progress. Issue and send construction requests for information (RFIs) within minutes.

Limitations (Free Version)

• Limited number of users.
• Limited integrations.
• No advanced project management and estimating tools access.

Compare Top Construction Estimating Software Leaders

Joist

Joist is a cloud-based software that helps contractors, remodelers, business managers and architects create estimates, handle invoices and manage projects. It provides tools for faster payment processing and client relationship management. It serves small businesses.

Create invoices using mobile devices with Joist. Source

Pricing

• Free Version: It offers a free starter plan.
• Trial: It offers a 7-day free trial for pro and pro elite plans.
• Pro: Its pro option starts at $13/month. If you prefer annual payments, you can access the solution for free for two months.
• Pro Elite: The pro elite plan costs $30/month. Just like the pro plan, you can access the software for free for two months if you opt for annual payments.

Top Benefits

• Save Time: Automate tedious estimating processes to enable staff to focus on other high-impact projects. Create and send estimates from mobile devices or computers, track their statuses, and receive instant notifications when clients approve them.
• Receive Payment Faster: Payment processing modules allow customers to pay via credit card or electronic check.
• Organize Your Financials: Sync data with QuickBooks Online to keep track of your finances and taxes.
• Enhance Teamwork: Share information and updates with team members in real time. Clients can approve estimates and invoices online, reducing the need for paper copies and allowing for faster turnaround times.
• Remain Mobile: Access project data from anywhere in the world via Android and iOS devices.

Primary Features

• Estimate: Copy and add material costs from a material catalog directly to your estimates to ensure that you’re using correct pricing. Duplicate estimate templates to save time. Allow clients to digitally approve quotes. Create professional-looking proposals to close more deals and win new business.
• Invoicing: Add your company logo and job photos to invoices to stand out from other contractors. Payment schedules allow clients to pay as the job progresses. Send invoices to customers with just a few clicks. In-app signature functionality enables clients to sign invoices from remote locations.
• Client Management: Store all client data, like names, addresses and contact information, in one place. Receive notifications when customers view estimates or invoices. Track potential clients to follow up with them and convert them into paying customers.
• Financing: Provide additional funding options to customers to help them cover change orders and work scope modifications.
• Payment Processing: Clients can pay in short-term, interest-free payments at checkout with no additional cost using the pay later option. They can also pay the job deposit online directly from the estimate or invoice.

Limitations (Free Version)

• Inability to sync data with QuickBooks Online.
• Unable to brand estimates and invoices.
• No notifications when customers open and view documents.

Compare Top Construction Estimating Software Leaders

Zoho Invoice

Zoho Invoice is a cloud solution that helps contractors, operation managers and payment specialists optimize invoicing workflows, track billable hours and manage expenses with ease. It serves small businesses.

Zoho Invoice’s dashboard. Source

Pricing

• Free Version: It offers free invoicing software for small businesses.

Top Benefits

• Streamline Processes: Create and manage invoices, estimates and recurring bills with just a few clicks. Automate routine tasks to save time. Convert estimates into invoices with just a single click.
• Ensure Timely Payments: Enable clients to pay using their preferred digital payment method. Set up automatic payment reminders for customers to get paid on time.
• Improve Financial Processes: Track expenses and attach receipts to invoices. Set up a recurring expense profile to track and bill expenses that occur on a consistent basis. Generate sales, expense and tax summary reports to make informed business decisions.
• Gain Multi-Lingual Support: The system supports more than 17 languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and more.
• Access Data Remotely: Create and manage invoices, send estimates, track expenses, and receive payments on the go using Android or iOS devices.

Primary Features

• Invoice Management: Customize your invoices with your company logo, colors and other branding elements. Set up recurring invoices to save time. Produce and send invoices in different currencies to receive payments from clients around the world without worrying about currency conversions.
• Payments: Clients can pay via payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe and WePay. Send automatic payment reminders to customers to avoid payment delays. Automatically add late payment fees to overdue invoices.
• Estimate: Create and maintain item lists to add line items to your estimates quickly. Reuse the same estimate for similar projects to save time. The estimate history section lets you track discounts, note changes and review customer interactions. Enable clients to accept or decline estimates, make payments, and share their comments via the customer portal.
• Expense Management: Integrate with Zoho Expense for mileage tracking and credit card reconciliation. Create categories to organize expenses for easier tracking and reporting. Attach receipts to expenses for record-keeping purposes.
• Project Management: Track the time spent on each task associated with a project and bill clients accordingly. Set a budget for each job and track expenses to make sure you stay within budget. Generate reports to get a clear picture of your project performance.

Limitations

• No Zoho Inventory integration.
• No offline accessibility.
• Limited invoice customization options.

Compare Top Construction Estimating Software Leaders

Contractor+

Contractor+ is a construction management solution designed for general and specialty contractors, service technicians, estimators, and project managers. It helps you achieve estimating accuracy, boost productivity and maximize profits. It serves small companies.

Accept online payments with Contractor+. Source

Pricing

• Free Version: It offers a free option for solopreneurs.
• Pro: The pro annual pricing plan starts at $14/user/month, whereas the monthly plan costs $29/user/month.
• Ultimate: The ultimate annual plan starts at $29/user/month, whereas the monthly plan costs $49/user/month.

Top Benefits

• Optimize Workflows: Automate manual tasks like estimating, invoicing, payment processing, job scheduling and time tracking.
• Increase Productivity: Consolidate all project-related data in one place to reduce time spent searching through files. Send real-time updates to team members to help them stay on top of their work.
• Improve Communication: Workers can share files with other team members through a secure messaging portal. Allow clients to view project progress, ask questions and approve changes via a customer portal.
• Remain Mobile: Track projects from remote locations via an Android and iOS mobile app.
• Make Data-Driven Decisions: Produce custom reports to track the profitability of your company and identify key areas for improvement.

Primary Features

• Estimate: Add line items to estimates to break down project costs into individual components. Add photos to estimates to gain a visual representation of the project and work involved. Attach contracts to quotes and enable clients to sign them for approvals.
• Invoices and Payments: Convert estimates into invoices with just a few clicks. Accept credit and debit card payments and ACH bank transfers directly through the platform.
• Lead Management: Manage and track leads through the sales pipeline, from initial contact to conversion. Automate lead nurturing campaigns, sending follow-up emails or other communications to keep potential clients engaged.
• Client Management: View clients’ billing details, related contracts, estimates, invoices, payments and notes via a dashboard. You can bulk import customer information using your phone contacts to save time.
• Supply Shopping Lists: Generate and share shopping lists for all the necessary items required for project completion to streamline the purchasing process and ensure that the right materials are purchased in the right quantities.

Limitations

• Unable to track expenses.
• Unable to generate shopping lists.
• No integration with third-party applications.

Compare Top Construction Estimating Software Leaders

Next Steps

Whether you’re a small business owner or a large construction firm, these estimating tools can help you save time and increase your accuracy in estimating and bidding on projects. However, free products come with their own limitations like limited user access and functionalities.

Still wondering how to select the best one? Check out our comparison report to gain insights on top software leaders.

Have you tried any of these free construction estimating software before? Which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!