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Best Construction Estimating Software for Small Contractors

✓ Prices and features last checked on vendors' official sites: Oct 14, 2026

By Matt Huff. Matt has 20 years in construction and real estate and has been on the buying side of contractor software. Reviews are based on vendors' published pricing and feature pages unless a page says otherwise. About

Estimating software ranges from simple remodeling estimate builders to full takeoff tools that measure plans. Here are four options with published prices, checked on each vendor's site.

Quick picks: Clear Estimates is the cheapest dedicated remodeling estimator ($59/mo billed annually). STACK covers plan takeoff. Contractor Foreman and JobTread connect estimates to the rest of the job.

At a glance

Tool	Type	Published price	Trial
Clear Estimates	Remodeling estimates	Standard $59/mo annual ($79 monthly); Pro $99/mo annual ($119 monthly)	30 days
STACK	Takeoff and estimating	"Takeoff & Estimate" from $299 per user/month	See vendor
Contractor Foreman	All-in-one with estimates and takeoffs	From $49/mo billed annually	30 days
JobTread	All-in-one with estimating and job costing	$199/mo + internal users	None (30-day money-back on monthly)

Clear Estimates

Clear Estimates is built for remodelers. The Standard plan lists unlimited estimates and customers, built-in e-signature, preloaded templates, payable invoices, quarterly labor and material rate updates, and no contract. Pro adds image and plan uploads, Buildertrend integration, CRM integrations through Zapier, custom filtering and reports, ATTOM property data, and extra users at $9/month. Franchise plans start at $199/mo billed annually and are custom-quoted.

STACK

STACK sells takeoff and estimating separately from project management. Its pricing page lists "Takeoff & Estimate" from $299 per user per month, with quantity, labor, and material takeoff, flexible estimates and proposals, and unlimited plans and projects. "Build & Operate" (field and project management) starts at $49 per user per month, and the full platform starts at $348 per user per month. If your bottleneck is measuring plans, this is the specialist on this list.

Contractor Foreman

Contractor Foreman's estimating tool includes bulk and line-item markups, a stored materials and pricing list, branded cover sheets, and online client approval. Its plan table also lists takeoffs, bid management, and local material pricing on select plans. Basic and Standard don't include local pricing. Plans start at $49/mo billed annually. Full review.

JobTread

JobTread includes estimating along with budgets and job costing for one price: $199/mo plus internal users. Full review.

How to choose

Mostly kitchens, baths, and remodels, priced from a cost database: start with Clear Estimates.
Bidding from plans and you need accurate quantities: STACK.
You want the estimate to flow into scheduling, invoicing, and job costing: Contractor Foreman or JobTread. Compare them in JobTread vs Buildertrend vs Contractor Foreman.

Check current pricing

Each button goes to the vendor's official pricing page.

Clear Estimates pricing → STACK pricing → Contractor Foreman pricing → JobTread pricing →