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Sage Estimating vs. UDA Construction Suite

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Sage Estimating

    Score9.5 out of 10
    N/AN/AN/A

    UDA Construction Suite

    Score7.6 out of 10
    N/AN/AN/A
    Pricing
    Sage EstimatingUDA Construction Suite
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Sage EstimatingUDA Construction Suite
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Best Alternatives
    Sage EstimatingUDA Construction Suite
    Small Businesses
    PlanSwift, by ConstructConnect
    Score3 out of 10
    CMiC Construction Platform
    Score7.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    PlanSwift, by ConstructConnect
    Score3 out of 10
    Autodesk Build
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    Revit
    Score8.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Sage EstimatingUDA Construction Suite
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.0
    (4 ratings)
    1.0
    (1 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Sage EstimatingUDA Construction Suite
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Sage
    Sage Estimating was initially created for the construction industry and many of its current users use it to estimate buildings, but it has adapted quite well for the oil and gas industry. If the user is willing to invest the time and energy to develop and maintain their database, I can see it working for any industry. It is very easy to adjust and adapt the database as estimating methods and project designs change. As an example, our accounting department sometimes changes the way projects are reporting in our accounting software. Because I can go through our 9000 line item database in a couple of days, I am always ahead of the curve and can report my estimates in the format they require.
    Incentivized
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    UDA Technologies
    If you've never used software before and have low expectations, then you might be able to make it work out.
    Read full review
    Pros
    Sage
    • Same format Spreadsheet
    • Ability to adjust by percentages
    • Ability to separate phases into categories
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    UDA Technologies
    • The beautiful user interface. It looks good.
    • Their videos are professional.
    • They have webinars.
    Read full review
    Cons
    Sage
    • The program has a fairly antiquated user interface such that someone working in it may not feel like they are working with advanced software.
    • Sage Estimating has absolutely no remote access capability outside running it in a Citrix/RDP environment so users have to be using a fat/full client vs. any hopes of access on a mobile device.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    UDA Technologies
    • Their spell checker creates a squiggly line to tell you that you have a misspelled word, but, doesn't allow you to correct it.
    • The spell checker lets you add custom words to a dictionary, but, it can only use one dictionary at a time to check spelling. So the default dictionary gets used, and your custom words still show up as being spelled wrong!
    • You can't select-copy addresses, in order to paste them somewhere else.
    • Using duplexing on my printer doesn't work right. It works for every other software I own, but not in UDA.
    • There is a bug in the WIP date range that doesn't pull accurate data.
    • "Options" in the estimate show only cost, not margin. So if you show your customer that report, you are revealing cost info, not selling price!!
    • You can't import a PDF into bid notes, even though the premise of UDA is to try to make it a single repository for all your information.
    • You can't use the arrow key to browse photos in UDA. You need to close, and click into the next one. No inuitive functionality.
    • The estimating module separates material and labor, in ways that create a very confusing Scope of Work. You need to select the labor item from your database, then separately select the material from your database. You end up with two line items in your Scope of Work for the same thing. Instead of writing, "Supply and Install a new window" you have "Supply a new window" and then "Install a new window." It's hard for my estimator, and confusing for my client.
    • UDA will WREAK HAVOC on your contacts in Outlook.
    • It does a terrible job of managing husband/wife or partner/partner situations. You can't mail merge them properly, or, you get forced into combining their contact into into a single contact-- and then how do you know whether the cell phone is his or hers???
    • There is no good way to credit design fees against the construction contract, if you happen to use that paradigm for your contracts.
    • There is no way to filter contracts by their date created. So, how do you find your newest contacts for entering them into something such as Constant Contact?
    • If you try to use integration of QuickBooks(QB) and UDA, your ITEMS list in QB will either get expanded to hundreds or even THOUSANDS of items... or, your POs in QB will get created in a summary form such that they are virtually meaningless.
    • The "lead funnel" graphic may look cool, but there is not a good way to actually report on the lead status, track the activities and calls that you make, note significant emails that you write, or keep track of when you send out thank-you cards or spiffs/gifts!
    • They might tell you that these things work, but, after spending MONTHS with UDA, I found out that these problems are deal breakers.
    • Within their customer service department, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. They do not use a structure such as Zendesk that so many other great companies use. Even though I was paying for priority support, there were often days going by where I could not get a call or email back to assist me with a support request or provide a tutorial on how to do something. Had I not paid extra for support, this would be acceptable. But when paying for "TotalCare" priority support, there are times when the software had me stuck, and I was stuck for a day at a time waiting for an answer. Sometimes no answer ever arrived.
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Sage
    It is a good product and meets all of our needs
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    UDA Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Sage
    Sage's support of Estimating is adequate though frankly we rarely need it. Outside of more complex operations such as upgrades and installation problems the program itself is so straightforward that we do not usually have any "issues" and questions that are more about usability can easily be answered in online forums. We trust Sage's capability to answer these questions if needed but rarely use it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    UDA Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Sage
    For our needs and after completing a valued score card SAGE has always exceeded our min. requirements
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    UDA Technologies
    QuickBooks has great quality assurance and while they don't provide support, their software is nearly flawless. Co-construct provides great support and solves problems. In comparison, UDA Construction Suite is full of flaws, and their customer service department is disorganized and overworked.
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    Return on Investment
    Sage
    • Manupulation of existing data is very user friendly thanks to "Database Manager".
    • A bit pricey
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    UDA Technologies
    • All my money was wasted. I could not get a refund.
    • All my time was wasted. I spent much time on customer support, and even more time "stuck" where customer support could not be reached.
    • My staff time was wasted, because it was hard for them to implement and then we ultimately abandoned it.
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    ScreenShots