What is Electrical Takeoff Software?

A cloud-based, manual electrical takeoff editor. Upload a PDF plan, mark up your counts by symbol (outlets, switches, fixtures, panels), apply material and labor rates, and export a branded estimate to Excel or PDF.

You get a 30-day free trial with no credit card required. You can complete a full takeoff and export it during the trial. After that it is $49/month.

What file formats do you support?

PDF plans (the industry standard) for upload. You can export finished takeoffs to Excel and to a branded PDF estimate.

Today it is a fast manual takeoff editor that you fully control. AI-assisted symbol detection is on the roadmap and will be included at no extra cost when it ships.

Do I need to install any software?

No. It is 100% cloud-based and runs in any web browser on your office computer, tablet, or phone. Nothing to install.

How much does it cost?

It is $49/month after a 30-day free trial — transparent pricing with no "contact sales" required, and far less than traditional desktop estimating suites that run into the thousands per year.

Yes. Your uploaded files are stored securely and are only accessible by you, protected with encryption and access controls.

Best Electrical Estimating Software in 2026

We compared the leading electrical takeoff and estimating tools by real pricing, AI capability, and workflow speed. No demos required, no “contact sales” traps — just the trade-offs as we read them.

⚡ AI vs manual💰 Real prices🏗️ Sized for your shop

Start free — no credit card

30-day free trial. No credit card. Cancel anytime.

How we compared the tools

Most “best of” lists are paid placements or feature dumps that read like every other listicle. We picked four criteria that actually matter when you’re bidding electrical work and ranked the leading tools against them:

•Posted price. If pricing is hidden behind a sales call, that’s a flag — and we’ll say so.
•Time per sheet. AI takeoff in seconds vs. manual digitisation in hours is the most consequential difference in 2026.
•Workflow fit. Cloud or desktop, electrical-specific or multi-trade, one estimator or a team — these change the right answer.
•Total cost of ownership. Subscription is only one part — implementation time, training, and integration costs add up.

At-a-glance comparison

Same four criteria, six tools. Pricing reflects publicly posted rates as of 2026; quoted-only tools are flagged.

Tool	Price	Speed per sheet	Model	Best for
Electrical Takeoff Software (this site)	$49 / month (30-day free trial, no credit card)	Under 30 seconds per sheet	Cloud, AI-first, no QA wait	Small to mid-sized contractors who want fast, accurate takeoffs without paying enterprise prices.
Beam AI	Credit-based, ~$25–$45 per sheet	Instant AI; QA-verified version 24–72h	Cloud, AI + human verification	Larger contractors with high sheet volume and budget for credit-based pricing.
STACK	$2,599–$3,999 / year per user (~$217–$333 / month)	Manual takeoff with assist tools	Cloud, multi-trade	Mid-to-large GCs and trade contractors already paying for an enterprise stack.
Groundplan	€69 / month (~$900 / year)	Manual takeoff with smart drawing aids	Cloud, single-trade focus	Cost-conscious teams that want a clean cloud takeoff tool and are comfortable with a manual workflow.
PlanSwift	$2,000 / year per seat	Manual digitisation	Desktop, Windows-only	Estimators who already have a PlanSwift workflow and don’t need cloud access.
McCormick	Quoted; typically a multi-thousand-dollar annual licence	Manual, item-by-item	Desktop / hosted, electrical-specific	Established electrical shops that already build estimates around a deep item database.

The tools, one by one

Electrical Takeoff Software (this site)

Instant AI takeoff with transparent pricing — built for small and mid-sized electrical contractors.

What we like

✓Instant AI symbol detection — no 24–72 hour human-QA delay
✓30-day free trial, no credit card required
✓Transparent monthly pricing posted on the site
✓Cloud-native; works from any browser, no installs
✓Focused workflow (Upload → Regions → Catalog → Instances → Summary)

Where it falls short

!Estimating modules (full pricing libraries, NECA labor units) are on the roadmap

Beam AI

AI takeoff with optional human QA review.

What we like

✓Strong AI accuracy when paired with QA review
✓Symbol-aware detection across complex electrical drawings
✓Cloud-based

Where it falls short

!Wait of 24–72 hours for the QA-verified version
!Credit pricing scales fast — high-volume teams report $12k–$180k/year
!Pricing not always posted; usually requires a sales conversation

STACK

Cloud takeoff and estimating across multiple trades.

What we like

✓Mature cloud product with broad trade coverage
✓Strong reporting and team collaboration features
✓Decent integration ecosystem

Where it falls short

!Not electrical-specific — generic takeoff feel
!2.9–4.4× more expensive than focused alternatives
!Manual takeoff workflow; no built-in AI symbol detection

Groundplan

European cloud takeoff with electrical-friendly tooling.

What we like

✓Genuinely affordable for what it offers
✓Cleaner UI than legacy desktop tools
✓Cloud, so no installs or licence keys to chase

Where it falls short

!No AI symbol detection
!Smaller US support footprint
!Some advanced estimating features are paywalled higher tiers

PlanSwift

Long-running desktop takeoff tool.

What we like

✓Established product with deep customisation
✓Lots of training material online
✓One-time-feel licence (annual seat) familiar to old-school estimators

Where it falls short

!Desktop-only — no cloud, no mobile, hard to share
!Manual; no AI symbol detection
!Setup and updates require IT involvement

McCormick

All-in-one electrical estimating with a 55,000+ item catalogue.

What we like

✓Deepest electrical pricing and labour-unit catalogue on this list
✓Mature integrations with accounting and project management
✓Strong support reputation among large electrical contractors

Where it falls short

!Steep learning curve and feature overload
!Pricing not posted — sales-led process
!Not AI-driven; takeoff is still manual

Which one is best for you?

Three honest archetypes. Pick the one that sounds most like your shop.

Solo / small contractor

One to five estimators, residential and light commercial work, sensitive to monthly cost.

Our pick: Electrical Takeoff Software (this site) for AI speed at a posted price, or Groundplan if you want a manual cloud workflow today.

Mid-sized contractor

5–25 estimators, mixed commercial and industrial bids, multi-trade coordination.

Our pick: STACK if you’re already in a multi-trade stack, or Beam AI if your bid volume justifies the credit pricing.

Established electrical shop

Long-running team, deep item catalogues, integrations into accounting and PM.

Our pick: McCormick for the catalogue depth, or PlanSwift if you’re tied to a Windows-desktop estimating culture.

What a complete electrical takeoff actually contains

Whichever tool you pick, the deliverable should answer the same questions. If a product can’t produce these, it’s not a takeoff — it’s a counting tool.

Per-symbol counts

Outlets, switches, fixtures, fire alarm devices, data drops — counted by symbol and grouped by drawing/floor.

Material costs

Unit price × quantity per item, with totals you can override when your supplier quote changes.

Labour units & cost

NECA-style labour hours per item and a labour rate you can edit, rolling up to a labour cost line.

Exportable summary

Excel and PDF outputs that match how your shop already presents bids, plus a CSV for integration into anything else.

Want a faster, fairer alternative?

Join the waitlist to get early access to AI takeoff with posted prices and no QA wait.

Start your 30-day free trial

$49/mo after trial — no credit card to start, cancel anytime.

Start free — no credit card

30-day free trial. No credit card. Cancel anytime.

✓Full takeoff editor + AI symbol detection
✓Branded PDF + Excel export
✓Cloud-based — no install, work from anywhere

Need the takeoff feature itself? Visit the homepage

Estimating-focused workflow? See the estimating page

Bidding-focused workflow? See the bidding page