On-Screen Takeoff vs PlanSwift

Likelihood to Recommend

I think most of the reasoning was just provided on the previous pros and cons questions. On-Screen Takeoff (OST) is well suited for doing either quick takeoffs or getting into an elaborate, detailed takeoff. All though the viewing tools are quick and easy, I would still very much prefer using BlueBeam for looking through an overall set of drawings. With all of the hyperlink and bookmark functions of BlueBeam, OST doesn't compare and I rarely use OST unless I'm actually doing a takeoff.

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Verified User

Professional in Other

Construction Company, 1001-5000 employees

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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.

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Ketaki Shiralkar

Estimator/ Assistant Project Engineer

Midwest Constructors, LLCConstruction, 51-200 employees

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Feature Rating Comparison

On-Screen Takeoff

PlanSwift

Plan distribution & viewing

Plan markups & sharing

Issue tracking & punchlists

Photo documentation

Jobsite reports

Document sharing

RFI tools

Collaboration & approvals

As-built drawings

Mobile app

Submittal design and management

On-Screen Takeoff

PlanSwift

Takeoff tools

Job costing

Cost databases

Cost calculator

Bid creation

Pros

The biggest thing for me is that it is so easy to use, which allows it to be used widely throughout our organization without a lot of intense training.
Another great thing is that it does not matter how big or little the scope of the take off may be, it works just as well for a whole 12 story building take off as it does for a stretch of sidewalk.

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christian Maxwell

Project Engineer

Okland ConstructionConstruction, 501-1000 employees

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PlanSwift drawing uploads are fast and easy. It recognizes the pages and titles with very little error.
Drawing can be viewed offline including older versions for comparison. You can select which drawings you want to download to save room on your device.

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Verified User

Project Manager in Corporate

Electrical & Electronic Manufacturing Company, 51-200 employees

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Cons

It would be nice if you could select an object that occurs on multiple sheets, copy, and paste it into change orders or alternates.
If you could search for where a certain condition is being used (which sheet) and go directly to that page or pages, that would be cool.

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Kyle Montague

Senior Estimator

Spacecon Specialty Contractors, LLC.Construction, 51-200 employees

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If you go beyond the basic functions (linear foot & square foot takeoffs) it becomes very antiquated and not user-friendly. It's not intuitive whatsoever for users lacking backing computer knowledge.
The technical support is lacking in my opinion. The software feels dead, and the support team is hard to schedule. Also, if you do not pay for support per hour, it is impossible to get help.
Their training videos are limited and hard to follow. This software is unnecessarily hard to be proficient at. There should be more simplistic ways to utilize this software.

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Spencer Jabbia

Project Manager

N&T Construction Co. Inc.Construction, 11-50 employees

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Likelihood to Renew

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

PlanSwift 8.0

Based on 1 answer

Price and not wanting to learn another software

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Verified User

Professional in Sales

Construction Company, 51-200 employees

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Support Rating

On-Screen Takeoff 8.7

Based on 6 answers

The On-Screen Takeoff support staff has helped several coworkers and myself on a wide array of issues. They are typically fast in their response time and willing to help no matter the issue. During one call in particular, I was able to get my issue resolved and even learned a feature of the product that I didn't previously know about. A++ rating!

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Verified User

Employee in Other

Construction Company, 51-200 employees

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PlanSwift 9.0

Based on 2 answers

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

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Verified User

Project Manager in Corporate

Electrical & Electronic Manufacturing Company, 51-200 employees

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Alternatives Considered

Being able to train individuals in a single afternoon on the program and trusting them to get you something usable as soon as possible is quite invaluable. It is also something that I feel is unique to this program. It is just easier.

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Verified User

Employee in Other

Construction Company, 501-1000 employees

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CostX was far too expensive. Vue360 doesn't have the functionality. Bluebeam Revu wasn't very intuitive and was all too hard to get it do what I needed. It was good for document control, but not very good for estimating.

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Andy Neilson

Quantity Surveyor

NZQS LtdConstruction, 1-10 employees

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Return on Investment

The software has more than paid for itself because the company has been able to save lots of money when awarding to subs since it is easy to verify quantities to qualify their bids.
Less of a chance of under-ordering products since the visible audit trail improves accuracy. Also you spend less since you aren't ordering more than you should be.

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Verified User

Project Manager in Other

Architecture & Planning Company, 11-50 employees

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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.

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Blaine Kalk

Senior Estimator

CANA Construction Ltd.Construction, 51-200 employees

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Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Rating Summary

On-Screen Takeoff

PlanSwift

On-Screen Takeoff

PlanSwift

On-Screen Takeoff

PlanSwift