PreConstruct AICompared honestly
Looking for an On-Screen Takeoff alternative?
On-Screen Takeoff is a long-established Windows program, with Quick Bid for pricing and Takeoff Boost, a browser-based AI add-on. PreConstruct AI runs in a browser from the upload to the proposal, at a price you can read before you start. Here is how they differ.
Upload a set. No card, and no demo call.
On-Screen Takeoff and PreConstruct AI, side by side
What On-Screen Takeoff says about itself was read on its own website on 27 October 2026; the pages are linked below. Prices and plans change, so check theirs before you decide.
| On-Screen Takeoff | PreConstruct AI | |
|---|---|---|
| How it runs | An installed Windows program (Windows 10 Pro or Home recommended), installed by a local Windows administrator, with an internet connection required. Takeoff Boost, the AI add-on, runs in a browser. | A web app: you sign in from a browser, with nothing to install. |
| What it costs | No price on their site: a free trial, a demo, or their sales team. | 250 US dollars a month for 20 bids and 1 seat (the founding price for the first 50 paying companies; 350 after them). Team: 499 for 50 bids and 5 seats; Business: 999 for 120 bids and 15 seats. Priced by the drawings, not the seat. |
| How you start | A free 14-day trial of On-Screen Takeoff, and a free web preview of Takeoff Boost on one plan page, with no credit card. | Your first bid free: one drawing set up to 75 sheets, from the upload to the proposal. No card, and no demo call. |
| Walls and ceilings | Takeoff Boost, their interiors article says, detects ACT grids, gypsum ceilings and drop ceilings on ceiling plans, with tile counts and grid length. Walls are taken off in On-Screen Takeoff. | Partition legends and schedules are read into wall types you approve; walls are suggested from CAD line work as a beta you confirm one by one, or you draw them. Ceiling types come from the ceiling legend, and ceilings are suggested where the ceiling plan tags each one with its type and height. |
| From takeoff to price | Quick Bid, a separate product, for material and labour pricing. | Takeoff, estimate and a proposal your client reads in one place, priced from your price book and your crews' rates. |
| Learning it | Free self-paced videos, instructor-led webinars, and classroom or onsite training. | A sample project to try first, and written help. No calls. |
| Units | Not covered on the pages we read. | Imperial, metric or both, chosen for your company. |
Where On-Screen Takeoff is the better pick
- Your estimators already know it, and you have years of conditions and Quick Bid items in it.
- You want classroom or onsite training, and a large company behind the software.
- You want ceiling grids found on the ceiling plans and their tiles counted automatically.
- You bid many trades beyond interior finishes, concrete and wood framing.
Where PreConstruct AI fits
- You want takeoff, estimate and proposal in one browser app, with nothing to install.
- You want to see the price before you start, and try it on your own set with no card and no call.
- You want each quantity read from the drawings to show its sheet and arithmetic, so a number can be defended.
- You bid in metric, or in both, on Canadian jobs.
Trying it next to On-Screen Takeoff
Take a job you have already bid in On-Screen Takeoff, with its drawings and your final quantities. Run it as your free first bid, then compare the wall types, walls, doors and ceilings line by line. Every quantity read from the drawings shows its sheet, so each difference can be traced to the page it came from.
What PreConstruct AI does not do
- Wall suggestions are a beta: they miss walls and mark things that are not walls, and you check and confirm each one, or draw them.
- It reads the text on the drawings; it does not count symbols.
- It publishes no accuracy figure. Every quantity read from the drawings shows its sheet and its arithmetic, so you can check it yourself. Why we publish none.
- It never sizes a member or suggests a tax rate: sizes come from the drawings and the engineer, and you type the tax rate on every job.
Questions estimators ask
- How much does On-Screen Takeoff cost?
- On 27 October 2026 its website showed no price: it offers a free 14-day trial, a demo and a sales line. PreConstruct AI's prices are on our pricing page.
- Does On-Screen Takeoff run on a Mac?
- Its product page on 27 October 2026 listed Windows only. PreConstruct AI runs in a web browser; we have not yet tested it on a Mac ourselves, so try your first bid free on yours before you decide.
- Does PreConstruct AI do ceilings?
- Yes. Ceiling types can be made from the ceiling legend; grid ceilings buy main tees, cross tees, wall angle, hanger wire and tile, and gypsum ceilings buy channel, board, tape, compound and paint. Ceilings are suggested as a beta where the ceiling plan tags each one with its type and height, for you to check.
- Is the first bid really free?
- Your first bid free: one drawing set up to 75 sheets, from the upload to the proposal. No card, and no demo call.
Try it on the set you are bidding
Your first bid free: one drawing set up to 75 sheets, from the upload to the proposal. No card, and no demo call.