6 Best Takeoff Software for Contractors in 2026 (Compared)

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On a clean sample drawing, almost every takeoff tool looks fast. Real paving bids are messier: a parking lot with nothing to measure from but a satellite view, a scanned site plan with no scale bar, or a revised plan set that lands two days before bids are due.

That's where these tools start to separate, and where one missed quantity can turn into a lost bid or a job that runs at a loss. If you're still building your workflow, our construction takeoff process guide covers the 7 steps.

This guide compares takeoff tools for contractors using the same two paving jobs: a 96,000-square-foot commercial mill-and-overlay measured from aerial imagery, and a municipal plan set with curb, gutter, sidewalk, and two asphalt depths.

Here's where each tool wins, what it costs, how you get a quote, and which one matches the way your shop bids. Commercial asphalt and concrete contractors can read each section with their own bids in mind, and other trades can jump to the picks built for them. If you mostly bid concrete, our concrete estimating software roundup goes deeper.

6 Best Takeoff Software for Contractors: TL;DR

Tool	Strengths	Best for	Starting price
1. OneCrew	Paving workflow, bid to invoice	Commercial pavers	Seat-based, demo
2. STACK	Cloud takeoff, assemblies, estimating on Pro	Mixed-trade contractors	Free; paid from $299/user/mo (billed annually)
3. Bluebeam Revu	Markup depth, precise measurement	Plan-heavy estimators	$260/user/yr
4. PlanSwift	Drag-and-drop assemblies	Desktop estimators	From $2,000/yr for the first seat
5. HCSS HeavyBid	Pay items, high bid volume	Public works bidders	Quote only
6. Togal.AI	AI element detection	Building plan sets	$299/user/mo (billed yearly)

How We Compared These Takeoff Tools

We judged all six tools on the same two scopes, looking at how far each gets you toward a number you'd send a customer without flinching.

Job one is a parking lot bid measured from aerial imagery: 96,000 square feet of two-inch mill and overlay, a full restripe, and the ADA stalls a lot that size requires. Overlay depth sets the tons of mix and mill depth sets the asphalt milling quantities, so a tool that can't carry both falls short.
Job two is a plan set bid: 40 pages of municipal drawings with curb and gutter, sidewalk, two asphalt sections at different depths, and a revision that moved a catch basin 12 feet. We looked at how each tool turns those sheets into a usable material takeoff.

We left out quick quoting apps like Joist, which build a clean estimate from quantities you enter but don't do plan or aerial takeoffs.

Five criteria shaped where each tool fits:

Measuring and quantities: how well each tool locks onto scale, holds it across sheets, and converts geometry into tons, hours, and counts
Usability: whether an estimator can learn it in an afternoon or needs a week of training
Integrations: how cleanly quantities move into estimating and accounting
Pricing: what each vendor publishes, and whether you can see a number before a sales call
Use cases: how each tool handles paving realities like tonnage conversion, mill depth, and striping counts

Integrations carry extra weight here. On jobs like these, the slowest stretch usually comes after measuring, when quantities have to be priced or retyped into another system, and every retype is another chance for a wrong number to reach the bid or the crew. That friction adds up across the industry.

In a 2023 Deloitte Access Economics survey of about 1,275 construction professionals across 12 countries, commissioned by Autodesk, managers and executives said they spent an average of 11.5 hours a week researching and analyzing data. Preconstruction staff, the people who handle takeoffs and estimates, averaged even more, at 13.4 hours a week.

1. OneCrew: Best for Commercial Asphalt and Concrete Paving Contractors

What it does: OneCrew runs a paving job from the first measurement to getting paid. A single takeoff becomes the estimate, the signed proposal, the crew schedule, the invoice, and the estimated-versus-actual job cost report, all without the numbers leaving the platform.

Best for: Commercial asphalt and concrete contractors bidding project work, from single-crew shops to multi-location operations.

Measuring happens right on the map. Draw on monthly satellite imagery, or highlight an area and let Instant Takeoffs (powered by TruTec) detect the paving surfaces and markings inside it in under a minute, skipping buildings, grass, and landscaping. When a GC or municipality sends drawings instead, the PDF takeoff add-on measures the plan sheets.

From there, OneCrew does the paving math. Areas and depths turn into tonnage, truck counts, and crew hours, and every estimate starts at your target margin. Once the customer signs, the job lands in the scheduling queue, and job costing later compares what you estimated against what your foreman reported for labor, materials, and trucking.

Key features

Site mapping with Instant Takeoffs: draw, cut, and patch areas on the map, with live segment and total lengths as you go
PDF plan takeoff: marks up and measures drawing sets
Configurable estimating: templated cost rates for materials, trucking, and labor, plus a vendor picker that compares supplier distances and prices
Customer portal: customers review, ask about, and sign proposals from any device, then find their invoices in the same place, with no app or account needed
Crew and phase assignment: splits multi-phase jobs across crews and weeks, and flags anyone who's double-booked
QuickBooks Online sync: runs both directions for invoices and payments, so your books match the job

Pros and cons

Pros:

Quantities carry through to proposals, schedules, and invoices without retyping
Paving-specific calculations reflect how the trade prices work
Independently owned, with no competitor behind it

Cons:

No accounting module, so QuickBooks or an ERP stays in the stack
Plan-set takeoff is an extra fee on top of the core platform
Built for project work, so service trades like HVAC and plumbing fit poorly

What users say

Easy to use with excellent customer support: One reviewer said OneCrew fit into their existing workflow without forcing process changes. They also praised its ease of use, how it keeps them organized, and its support team. (Matt M., G2, February 10, 2026)

Powerful all-in-one platform with room for map customization: Another reviewer appreciated having estimating, proposals, mapping, and scheduling in one platform, highlighting up-to-date satellite imagery and a responsive support team.

They noted that additional color options for map line work would improve visibility. (Verified User in Construction, G2, February 2, 2026)

Pricing

OneCrew uses seat-based pricing, and the team walks through numbers during a demo. You can book a free demo to run your own plans through it.

Bottom line

For commercial paving contractors, OneCrew solves the problem the takeoff-only tools create: quantities that stop at the edge of a spreadsheet. Estimators who only want a measuring tool will find it more platform than they asked for.

2. STACK: Best for Takeoff and Estimating in One Browser Tab

What it does: STACK measures plans in the browser, and on the Pro plan it prices those quantities through your own item and assembly library.

Best for: Contractors bidding more than one trade, and estimating teams working from different offices.

Everyone bidding the job works from one shared project list instead of passing files around. Takeoffs cover nine measurement types, including area, linear, count, and volume, and a single sheet can carry more than one scale when a site plan mixes in enlarged details.

For paving, STACK's asphalt Quick Start assembly takes stone, binder, and wearing course depths on an area takeoff and returns tons for each layer, plus paving labor by the square foot. On the Pro plan, those tons price out in an estimate and proposal without leaving STACK.

When a revised municipal set arrives, the overlay shows each version in its own color, so a moved catch basin stands out without a sheet-by-sheet comparison. Getting that scope to the crew stays on you, so keep your jobsite checklist close.