CoConstruct vs. PlanSwift, by ConstructConnect

Having the ability to completely manage a project from start to finish with one app is super helpful. The time reporting feature (when it works correctly) is a nice added bonus as it allows employees to switch from one task to another on the same project or to another project and task with ease, aiding in the accounting process of the total project. This was helpful for running analytics to see where we were spending too much time on certain tasks, thus allowing us to assess any training needs.

Incentivized

I use PlanSwift for all my projects - it has just cut my time by a major percentage when it comes to quantifying a blueprint. At times there are funky areas, which are just hard to calculate on paper. It also has a great tool for scaling according to the dimensions, so if a drawing is missing a scale, you can always allot a scale by giving directions and then marking the points. I use this tool to check the scale as well - sometimes the drawings say something but the scale if off and you are left with an incorrect take-off. The dimension tool is a good way to check that. We don't use it much for pricing purposes though, we have found other software which are more robust when it comes to estimation, but we can see using PlanSwift for pricing sometime in the future.

Incentivized

• The integration of all aspects needed to run a remodeling company efficiently: project scheduling and management, financial planning and customer service. Since it’s an all-in-one suite and cloud-based, it enables our team to keep track of all our projects in real-time. Communication breakdown is the last thing we want, so being on the same page is not only desirable but makes for the best possible relationship with our clients.
• Product education - We like how CoConstruct helps new users and get them to start using the tool right away. The dashboard resource materials are incredibly useful. We don’t have to spend a lot of time training new hires on the system and onboarding new clients.

Incentivized

• Easy to use and intuitive.
• Accurate data to use for projects, allowing for a central hub for all teams to work from.
• It's a central stop from take off and plan review all the way to plugging numbers into our estimating.
• The ability to link through SharePoint, which always access from any user and location.

Incentivized

• Internal Communication - CoConstruct lacks the ability to tag-team members for internal communication using @mentions or any other means. This has been crippling for us and forced us to use alternative software for communicating among our team members.
• Pipeline Management - CoConstruct's lead-tracking system feels clunky and hard to navigate and doesn't provide a pipeline view that's easy to navigate. We have moved our Pipeline Management outside of CoConstruct to make it easier for our sales team to track leads.
• CRM - CoConstruct doesn't offer anything for customer follow-up after projects are completed. This, in addition to the lack of an effective pipeline system, has led to our decision to use Hubspot as our CRM. Moving projects into CoConstruct for Design and back our after Production.

Incentivized

• Submittals are not user friendly in PlanGrid. In fact, this is the one feature we would like to see improved.
• Billing is based on how many users you have. It would be very nice if they would do it based on revenue or other factors such as other programs do.

Incentivized

It's become the go to program for our takeoffs. We have tried others but this is the simplest.

Incentivized

Plan Swift is a user friendly program that makes takeoffs easy to perform. Not a whole lot of knowledge or skill is required.

Incentivized

Never had an issue

Incentivized

Plan Swift is only as fast as your computer system and internet

Incentivized

The support staff is brilliant; they don't operate on Australian time, so you can't just dial up support when you need it. The response times are quick, and the staff is knowledgeable. They are also well versed in most of the differences between buildings in the US and the building in Australasia. Despite their funny accents and strange use of the English language, we get by just fine!

Incentivized

I have called once needing support. I was asking about the "compare" tool to compare different versions. They told be about their desktop app and I downloaded. They answered quickly, you could understand them, and they took care of my question

Incentivized

just know what use you want to get out of it. In our case it was just to do area take offs.

Incentivized

Products like Procore and PlanGrid are geared towards projects with huge projects teams, multiple stakeholders and dozens of subcontractors. CoConstruct can be used for projects big and small (value) and also with small project teams or large projects teams. For small partial renovation or addition projects CoConstruct is a good more cost effective option.

Incentivized

Bluebeam is amazing and can accomplish any take-off needs, but you will spend much more time creating your conditions and take off items. It is not as user-friendly as PlanSwift. OST (On screen takeoff). This product is by far better than PlanSwift, as it is amazingly easy to use. However, it is much more expensive. Cloud-based takeoff software -- this kind of software is difficult for me to use because of how slow the pages load and navigate. It's hard to beat that from PlanSwift or OST.

Incentivized

Several of our departments can use the take off feature to assist them in their job responsibilities.

Incentivized

• It made time recording much easier and much more reliable
• With its GPS feature, we would be able to track when an employee left a job to help ensure accurate time recording
• Having the ability to give the homeowners their own custom home building app to watch the progress helped to put us ahead of the game in the industry
• Running job cost reports as easily as CoConstruct allows helped to curb some of our administrative fees

Incentivized

• The estimators' productivity is greatly increased, I do takeoffs in less than half the time with more accuracy and detail captured.
• Easy sharing of what was taken off, I'm able to ensure everything is captured.

Incentivized