Comparison
A PlanSwift alternative for people who also have to get paid
If your perpetual licence became a subscription, the question is no longer just which tool measures best — it is what you get for a recurring bill. BuiltSum measures in the browser and then does the part takeoff software never did: pricing, proposals, monthly billing and job cost.
| Desktop takeoff (PlanSwift, OST) | BuiltSum | |
|---|---|---|
| Install | Windows desktop, per seat | Browser, nothing installed |
| Where the drawing lives | Your machine | Your machine — rendered locally, never uploaded |
| Takeoff depth | Deep: layers, plan compare, OCR, assemblies | Length, area with perimeter, count, on a calibrated PDF |
| Scale handling | Calibrate or preset | Calibrate or preset — calibration recommended |
| Pricing the quantities | Assemblies you build | 139 trade assemblies shipped, plus your own price book |
| Proposal to client | Export and rebuild elsewhere | PDF and an accept-by-name link |
| Progress billing | None | AIA-style pay applications with retainage |
| Job costing | None | Budget vs actual while the job runs |
| Licence model | Subscription (after perpetual) | Flat monthly, unlimited projects, cancel anytime |
Where you should stay on desktop
Large commercial sets with dozens of layered sheets, plan-revision comparison, and assembly-driven takeoff with automatic deductions are things mature desktop packages do and BuiltSum does not. If that is your daily work, the honest answer is that a browser tool is not a replacement yet — measure where you measure, and use BuiltSum for the pricing and billing chain instead.
Try it on a real sheet before deciding anything: open the takeoff tool — free, no account — and read how scale errors happen before you trust any measurement, ours included.
Frequently asked questions
Why are people looking for a PlanSwift alternative?
Mostly licensing. Contractors who bought perpetual desktop licences years ago have been moved toward subscriptions, and a tool that used to be a one-time purchase on a machine you controlled is now a recurring cost with a renewal date. The software still works; the arrangement changed, and that is what sends people looking.
Is browser takeoff as capable as desktop takeoff?
Not yet, and pretending otherwise would waste your evening. Mature desktop packages have years of depth: assembly-driven takeoff, layer control, plan comparison, OCR of dimension strings. BuiltSum measures lengths, areas with perimeters, and counts on a calibrated PDF, and hands the quantities to a priced estimate. For most trade work that is the whole job; for complex commercial takeoff on large sets, it is not.
What does BuiltSum do that a takeoff tool does not?
Everything after the measurement. Takeoff tools stop at quantities; BuiltSum prices them through trade assemblies, produces the proposal, turns the accepted price into a schedule of values, bills it monthly as AIA-style pay applications with retainage, and tracks the actual job cost against the estimate. For a subcontractor, that back half is usually where the evenings actually go.
Do I have to install anything?
No, and nothing is uploaded either. The PDF is opened by your own browser and rendered locally, so a drawing set you are contractually barred from distributing never leaves your machine. There is no seat licence to transfer when a laptop is replaced.
Estimate it once. Bill it every month.
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