PreConstruct AICompared honestly
Looking for a PlanSwift alternative?
PlanSwift is a Windows program sold by the seat by the year. PreConstruct AI runs in a web browser and is priced by the drawing sets you bid. Here is what each does, what each costs, and where PlanSwift is still the better choice.
Upload a set. No card, and no demo call.
PlanSwift and PreConstruct AI, side by side
What PlanSwift 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.
| PlanSwift | PreConstruct AI | |
|---|---|---|
| How it runs | An installed Windows program. Their system requirements say it cannot be installed directly on a Mac (Boot Camp or a virtual machine running Windows is needed), and activation needs an internet connection. | A web app: you sign in from a browser, with nothing to install or activate. |
| What it costs | Essential: 2,000 US dollars a year for one seat. Core, which adds their Auto Takeoff: 3,000 US dollars a year for one seat. Billed yearly; extra seats cost less each, and 10 or more go to 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 14-day free trial with every feature, 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. |
| Reading the drawings | Point-and-click takeoff, with Auto Count, Auto Scale and Auto Bookmark on both plans, and Auto Takeoff on Core. | Each sheet's text is read: partition legends and schedules become wall types you approve, door and window schedules, ceiling legends, footing schedules. Walls are suggested from CAD line work as a beta you confirm one by one, or you draw them. |
| Counting symbols | Auto Count is on both plans. | It does not count symbols. It reads the text, so counts come from schedules and tags. |
| Revised sets | Not covered on the pages we read. | A revised set is compared sheet by sheet; only changed and added sheets are read and charged, at one bid per 75 sheets, and takeoff rows from a changed sheet are flagged until you check them. |
| Units | Not covered on the pages we read. | Imperial, metric or both, chosen for your company, through the takeoff, estimate, proposal and export. |
| From takeoff to proposal | Takeoff and estimating in one tool. | Takeoff, estimate and a proposal your client reads, priced from your price book, with your markup inside the unit prices. |
Where PlanSwift is the better pick
- You have years of assemblies and estimating habits built in it, and your team knows it well.
- You need symbols counted on the drawings: PlanSwift has Auto Count; we do not count symbols.
- You want to work in a program installed on your own Windows computer.
- You bid many trades beyond interior finishes, concrete and wood framing.
Where PreConstruct AI fits
- You are a drywall, steel stud, ceiling, insulation, paint, concrete or wood framing sub bidding from PDF drawing sets.
- You would rather pay by the sets you bid than by the seat, and add an estimator without buying another licence.
- You want each quantity read from the drawings to show its sheet and its arithmetic, so a number can be defended.
- You bid in metric, or in both, on Canadian jobs.
Bringing your PlanSwift assemblies across
Export your assemblies to Excel with PlanSwift's report, then paste the rows into Settings → Types, or choose the file. Each assembly is shown as the wall type it would become, with what was read (stud, board, insulation, bead, paint) and what was kept as an extra material, and nothing is saved until you tick the ones to keep. Costs are not imported: prices live in your price book, each with a date.
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
- Is there a PlanSwift alternative that runs on a Mac?
- PlanSwift's own system requirements say it cannot be installed directly on a Mac. PreConstruct AI runs in a web browser, so there is nothing to install. We have not yet tested it on a Mac ourselves, so try your first bid free on yours before you decide.
- How much does PlanSwift cost?
- On 27 October 2026 its pricing page showed 2,000 US dollars a year for one seat on Essential and 3,000 US dollars a year for one seat on Core, billed yearly. Check their page for today's price.
- Can I keep my PlanSwift assemblies?
- Yes: export them to Excel with PlanSwift's report and paste them into Settings → Types. Each becomes a wall type you check before it is saved. Prices are not brought across; they go in your price book.
- Does PreConstruct AI do automatic takeoff like PlanSwift's Auto Takeoff?
- It suggests walls from CAD line work as a beta, and you confirm each one or draw them. It reads the drawings' text for wall types, schedules and legends. It does not count symbols.
- 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.