Pipeline Suite vs. PlanSwift, by ConstructConnect

Pipeline Suite is a very niche product, but for anyone who has ever dealt with the construction bidding process, you can understand the need for it. With Pipeline Suite, it is so easy to request bids, share documents and plans, and coordinate schedules for submittals. We are able to prequalify sub contractors and vendors at a faster pace as well with the product

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

• Sharing documents and plans with project stakeholders is a piece of cake.
• The product makes tracking the status of bids so much easier.

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

• The onboarding process was difficult for us just because we had some pretty disorganized databases.
• The product is pricey for small to medium sized firms.

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

I have found that the customer support team has an understanding of the construction bidding process. They have been able to see issues through our eyes, so to speak, not just through the eyes of a software company. They have always been very timely in their responses and seem to go above and beyond to solve issues

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

I don't have a lot of personal experience with SmartBid, but from what I hear from other colleagues, Pipeline Suite makes it easier for subcontractors to access documents/plans and to respond to bids. The interface and design of Pipeline Suite is more modern and the user experience is a major upgrade from SmartBid

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

• We have been able to respond to more bids using Pipeline Suite.
• Our proposals are more accurate and organized, which has made our projects come under budget more often.

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