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Construction takeoff & estimating software
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Pros
Cons
PlanSwift
Bluebeam Revu
OnScreen
On-Screen Takeoff
Recommended
Steve C.
owner
Construction, 11-50 employees
Review source
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Steve: Hello, my name's Steve. I'm an owner here, electrical company, and I give Stack a five star review....
Ray V.
Estimator
Construction, 51-200 employees
Review source
Transcript
Ray: Hi, I'm Ray. I am an estimator. I give STACK a rating of five out of five. And for more reviews...
Sunshine M.
Verified reviewer
Building Materials, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 6-12 months
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This product is incredibly simple to use, but a very powerful tool. The calendar makes organizing projects by due date easy. You can quickly see what's coming up and space them out when a larger project takes more time. The search function to find past projects is imperative. Doing takeoffs is much easier now. I can export final dwgs and reports so that my sales rep can go back and see exactly...
Some things are not customizable. I can't change the default dimension color or size. But once you set it, it remembers the changes for that page only. I can't rearrange the sheets with the tabs on top. I have to open them in the order I need. So if I find a detail on another sheet, I may have to close some tabs and them reopen them in the order I need. It does integrate with Excel reports, but Excel charges a monthly subscription for that. I am also waiting for the symbol search tool.
Kyle D.
Restaurants, 51-200 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Its a great tool in our system and we use regularly, with our new addition of ProCore and having these programs linked is huge to make sure we are always working off the most up to date planset without having to do multiple uploads
Anyone who can operate a computer can get into the program and start doing takeoffs immediately.
It would really be helpful for there to be a go-back/undo function. I wish there were some more filter options. Most all of these have been listed by our team on the feature requests.
Greg M.
Construction, 11-50 employees
Used weekly for 2+ years
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Great and easy to use. Has saved us many hours of work
Take off and ability to export to excel for cost generation is exceptional. We currently do not utilize their costing ability because we have customized needs
Sometime speeds due to internet slows process. This may be on our end. Also sometimes program locks up
David M.
Construction, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 6-12 months
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Not any of our problems yet. Not any reason we bought it, has it created a solution for, but I still see how it can and hopefully will over time, and that is why I am still here. Well that and probably because I don't want to admit that maybe we should have waited till they had a finished product with the kinks worked out. while this may cause eye rolls... Put yourselves in our shoes. If a customer...
I liked the super awesome sales and teaching staff when they can be reached. the support staff excluding 1 that are available and pretty much only by email do not in any way provide the same level of connection, community, support, or personal touch the others do.
Since all the soft ware companies we reviewed over the last year follow the same pattern of, promise the moon before we buy, show us what it will look like when its finished, but cannot deliver what they promised when they were courting us, because they sell an incomplete project knowing we roped in for a year, it must be ok right? NO! IT'S NOT OK! I had to promise a kidney to get the [SENSITIVE...
Layne W.
Construction, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 6-12 months
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STACK is a great solution for takeoffs - I previously used On Screen Takeoff which I really enjoyed using, but STACK offers a better user experience in my opinion. I am overall pleased with how the software works.
Takeoff is very easy to use, Assemblies feature is amazing and saves so much time once it is setup. I appreciate that the system is cloud based, this really makes things run much more smoothly and easily. Integrations with Dropbox and Google Drive are also helpful.
Organization of takeoffs could be improved. There is no undo button which sounds minimal but it can be extremely cumbersome at times. I also dislike that measurements can't be set to round to the nearest whole number - who honestly needs to measure down to a tenth of an inch shown in decimal format? These are really minor things in the overall user experience but annoying nonetheless. Overall I am very happy with Stack over alternative options for takeoff software.
karli m.
Construction, 51-200 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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Being able to complete takeoff in a timely, organized manner compared to previous software.
The software is not quite fully developed, it would be nice to have the ability to 'UNDO.'
Jamaal F.
Construction, 11-50 employees
Used daily for less than 6 months
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Overall it is a great product to work with. When you have more technical drawings, sometimes it's hard to get an accurate count of all square and linear footage. Have to dig thru drawings to find which could take an ample amount of time.
The features as a whole is very helpful day to day to get proposals done. Helps streamline the process of doing different takeoffs a lot easier when looking at the various complexity of architectural drawings.
I believe having some more automated features will make the software better. Pulling information from the drawings that aren't in plain sight or written out by the architect would be helpful when performing takeoffs.
Ben B.
Hospital & Health Care, 1-10 employees
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Good value and pretty easy to use I would recommend it
Sometimes hard to use, but takes time to learn it
Brady H.
Construction, 1-10 employees
Used weekly for less than 6 months
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I have a lot going on so the fact all can be pulled up and go back and forth with easy navigation
I guess the layover feature is cool to have if u have different views on multiple sheets they r all open and there to navigate fairly easy
Don't mess up for christ sakes bc unless im doing Something wrong u can't go back if u do back in the washer and start it over
Anna R.
Cosmetics, 1-10 employees
Used monthly for less than 6 months
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This software is so efficent and easy to use. No one has ever had a problem using it!
Their have been some glitches every once in a while, but nothing that got in the way too much!
James B.
Construction, 5,001-10,000 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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I have zero complaints with the program or customer service.
As a fire protection estimator it is hard to find a program that allows me to do a design build electronically. I could use a Autocad style program to do the base design, but in our world of fast paced turnaround I simply do not have the time to use a program like Autocad. With StackCT I can use the linear drop function to place our sprinkler heads with proper spacing.
The autocount symbol function is good, but there are times when I get only a single count instead of hundreds needed. It has gotten better, but if there was a way to edit the background noise for the selection it would be nearly perfect.
Jake V.
Construction, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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Stack was a significant upgrade to our takeoff process. The speed and being able to natively use it on Mac make this software great. The development team continues to add great features, some of which bring feature parity with competitors, but others are unique and now classified as "can't live without" around our office.
The ability to log in and pull up all of our project drawings on any computer. The fact that this software is web based is great and makes this platform agnostic. As we are primarily a Mac based office, this is great and does not require virtualization to run windows based software. Stack is also incredibly fast to navigate and bring up projects. Even though our older software was on computer and not web based, it required long waits to open a project and switch between projects. With stack this is almost instantaneous and it allows multiple projects to be open at once in multiple tabs or windows.
It still lacks some functionality of our previous takeoff software, especially when we first started using it. Much of that functionality has been added since we started using it, and there are a few additional items they currently show as in the pipeline. Once those are released, all of the features we need will be here.
Matt C.
Construction, 1-10 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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For very quick masonry estimates, nothing beats this software. For more advanced/detailed prints, as long as you take your time this will work just fine. I haven't seen a friendlier piece of software at an affordable price that gives you want you need without being headache to setup.
We looked for a very long time for a very simple takeoff program and this is definitely it. We have used this program for the past year and a half to get measurements on masonry and it has not failed us. Our trade does not need super advanced features so this suites us perfectly. If you have a properly scaled PDF then you can hit the ground running for your measurements. Otherwise, determining your own scale is very simple to do and I've even taken pictures of blueprints with my phone to roughly estimate one of our simpler prints in under 10 prints from the camera snapping. Amazing.
Due to this program being available online only sometimes it can be finicky if you have a poor internet connection or if there is some sort of (extremely rare) maintenance. As stated earlier, we use this for masonry so it does not need advanced features. But as with all estimating, you will still need a basic knowledge of your trade's quirks. If you can't see a wall on an elevation because it is returning into the building then you will need to approximately draw it in under your elevation based off of a foundation plan or floor plan. Not super hard but it just will not do all of the work for you.
Hi Matt, Thanks so much for your recent feedback! We are so glad to be able to support the takeoff and estimating needs of Curley Brothers Brick & Masonry and so happy to hear that our software is having a positive impact on your bid process. We look forward to sharing your input with the entire STACK team. Have an awesome day & thank you again!
Ray V.
Construction, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 6-12 months
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Its been wonderful. there have been curveballs when beginning to use it but I've been able to figure out ways to fork around them. I do wish that when looking up help online that it was easier to find. I do not care much to talk to people and having the ability to just search my issue is a must.
I like that I'm able to work with my team on the same server from anywhere I am. The list of projects help us to keep everything together and I like that I can label the projects with my name and what stage they are. the color change to the tab helps me to find the projects I am bidding and ones that I can start on next.
The assemblies are very basic, I know how to code in java and in excel but the language to make the items for takeoffs are different just enough to aggravate me. I wish there were more mark up functions and that I could close folders to only see one folder of plans and also the ability to sort my open tabs. Another it the ability to open documents in different windows and they both sync without me...
Stephen M.
Shipbuilding, 11-50 employees
Used other for less than 6 months
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Honestly a learning experience is the best I grt now,
Just Inputting and using program to enter ships and drawings of ships in for each class of ship we are working on. once more jobs are entered would like to end up witha square foot to S data base so in futur we can ask how many sqare foot pf bilge in the AMR on a WMSL Class ship and wbhat did we charge as an average for painting by square foot. Now have Started to measure 2s square footage but...
AS I explained above new at it and have not yet gotten to the point of being a well trained user of it. Howevr it has bothered me when i set in a PDF print use the stated scale and do noy get a known answer ...>>>>>Just Inputting and using program to enter ships and drawings of ships in for each class of ship we are working on. once more jobs are entered would like to end up witha square foot to...
Hi Stephen, Thanks so much for your recent feedback! We are so glad to be able to support the takeoff and estimating needs of All Star Cleaning & Preservation, Inc. and so happy to hear that our software is having a positive impact on your bid process. We look forward to sharing your input with the entire STACK team. Have an awesome day & thank you again!
David A.
Construction, 51-200 employees
Used daily for 6-12 months
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First it controls the flow of information and the non-flow of paper in the office. This is the biggest plus. Secondly for me I can estimate much quicker once I get set up. Which gives me more time to look into the smaller details and ultimately create a better more accurate proposal.
Foe years I had thought about utilizing a symbol based estimating take off software because we were moving from paper to the digital world. I randomly found this online about 9 months ago. It is everything I would have done. It makes sense because it stores all your basis of the estimate information electronically and you no lounger have to use paper. The cost of Paper alone pays for the service...
For me it actually does everything I want it to do other than integration into actual building of estimates. I know that we have that capability but this a cost intensive project for each contractor. Obviously this is not a deal breaker though and perhaps in the future you could offer templates that are patterned after specific industries which would lower the cost of developing the complete estimating solution.
Peter P.
Construction, 51-200 employees
Used daily for 6-12 months
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We are currently seeing a 15-20% time savings on this new platform. The user interface allows us to onboard new staff much quirker.
OCR regonition makes searching drawings for keywords a breeze. Custom variables within the estimate module simplifies building an estimate.
The Stack team continually publishes important Stack Updates monthly; many of the cons I've seen over the last year have been resolved. With that said the lack of an UNDO function is a continual annoyance (I am told this fix is on the roadmap).
Alejandro H.
Construction, 51-200 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Great but could be better
Easy to use. Friendly for any user. Easy to access from anywhere, no software needed in the office computers.
I want to be able to duplicate jobs so I can do a new takeoff when I get new drawings without altering the previous takeoff. I also want to be able to move the order of the drawing tabs and change the order as needed.
Chris D.
Information Technology and Services, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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The ability to create involved assemblies of products and simply click to add all the right products for each situation is a serious time saver.
The product and pricing lists need to be easier to manage and update. We have pricing updates or new products about every quarter. To update that info is a hassle to do it one at a time or having to work through support to get an export then format all the new data then send it back to import it.
Jeff V.
Construction, 51-200 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Over the last 15 years, I've been with 2 companies prior to my current and, at both, I encouraged the Owner to purchase Stack (Cloud Take-off previously). Most were hesitant due to ongoing subscriptions with other platforms but eventually I was able to get, at minimum, the take off program. I haven't tried the estimating version and would try it if I could ever get the time to sit down and populate all the different assemblies, vendor pricing etc. The other issue is purchasing something untried and untested to our company specifically tailored to how we function. I think an extended trial period for that training and tailoring to our needs might be enough to justify the upgrade.
The greatest feature is the ease of use. They kept it simple for the take-off, genius on the auto-save. Of course, the cloud-based feature. No more bringing home the laptop, cables, plans, specs. Quick uploads and tons of memory for those large jobs.
Had issues with Silverlight running on MAC in earlier versions. ( wasn't a huge deal and I believe when Stack took over they fixed the bugs). I'd like to see options when drawing a linear measurement to have various dashes or hashes for lines would be helpful. For example, on other platforms I could indicate through-wall cf with a red dotted line while below do a solid line indicating another linear measurement such as expansion joint. You would then be able to visually identify to different terminations on the same linear measurement. Just a suggestion.
Nick C.
Construction, 51-200 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Having used Stack for the better part of two years, I can say it has greatly improved our takeoff speed and provided the ability to accomplish several time consuming tasks quickly. Stack features allow me to achieve a great degree of accuracy, and they seem to constantly improve the product with new tools like the snap feature. In the future we look forward to deploying Stack to an even greater extent to win more work, and generate more revenue!
First and foremost, I enjoy the takeoff speed and accuracy Stack affords our estimating department. Simply by clicking a link on a plan exchange site, or quickly uploading plans, we can begin a highly detailed accurate takeoff in minutes if not seconds. Likewise, we can complete our takeoff much faster than traditional methods saving valuable time to analyze our bids post takeoff.
Like any good cost hawk, I would highlight price as my least favorite aspect of Stack Software; though I will say the product represents good value for the price! I would like to see Stack offer the complete product in one package, without the present tiered pricing.
Hi Nick, Thanks so much for your recent feedback! We are so glad to be able to support the takeoff and estimating needs of Samuel Dean Sheet Metal and so happy to hear that our software is having a positive impact on your bid process. We look forward to sharing your input with the entire STACK team. Have an awesome day & thank you again!
Selene D.
Construction, 11-50 employees
Used weekly for 2+ years
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Stack is the customer service I measure all other customer service by. They are friendly, nice and helpful! They are super easy to reach as well from right inside Stack! They don't always have the answers, but if they can find them they will! Their knowledge database in stack is also pretty extensive so it's easy to find most of your easier answers in there yourself.
Stack is, hands down, one of the simplest solutions I've found for doing takeoffs. Depending on the industry, it's possible it may be too simple, however for the purposes of drywall and paint it is perfect. Building assemblies in Stack really streamlines the whole takeoff process, saving a lot of time and headache when it comes down to the little details. It's also super easy to learn due to how uncomplicated Stack's tool and interface are. You can make things much more complicated for more detailed accuracy, but you don't have to.
I'd like a few more options when it comes to proposal generation, but this is still a fairly new feature within Stack. Being able to fine tune the formatting would be helpful.
John P.
Construction, self-employed
Used daily for 2+ years
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I have literally increased my productivity by 1,000% I am doing 10-times more bids and with much greater accurracy, no one questions my take offs.
The use of pop-ups when you "Mouse-Over" items is very effective, makes things very intuitive, lessens time-to-learn how to use the system.
Need to have more than 50 characters when naming take-off items, at least 100 characters.
GREGORY G.
Construction, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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My overall experience has been amazing. This company is great to do business with.
Cloud based and customer service are the best out there. They are forward thinking and always chasing perfection. They may not catch perfection but they kick excellence in the butt.
I wish I had cheaper licenses for my estimating department.
Tyler W.
Construction, 201-500 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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Overall I have been very happy with STACK and its team.
The customer support is top notch with instant and clear replies with real people. The learning curve for creating takeoff's is very user friendly.
The proposal generation is limited on what you can show or customize with the layout.