If you have shopped for AI takeoff software in the last few years, you have run into Kreo. There is a reason for that. Kreo's pages speak to the whole AEC world: quantity surveyors, cost consultants, contractors, 2D and 3D. Its takeoff page claims over 1,000 clients, its homepage leads with an AI agent called Caddie that "reads your drawings, runs the measurements, and delivers exact quantities", and its price list is public in three currencies.
Bildrix was built for a different shop and a different job. Our customer is the owner-estimator at a 1 to 15 person electrical sub or small GC, bidding commercial and TI work from PDF plan sets in the US and Canada. That person does not need every trade in every country. They need device counts they can defend, wire runs they can edit, circuits grouped the way an estimate needs them, and a way to turn all of that into a priced estimate, a signed change order and an invoice without retyping a number. They want one price for the shop, not per seat.
We could just tell you Bildrix is the better choice for that shop and leave it there. Instead we compared the two properly: the takeoff itself, electrical depth, what happens after the takeoff, revisions, getting started, and price. One ground rule. Everything we say about Kreo comes from Kreo's own website, read on August 19, 2026, and we link the page each time. Where Kreo's pages are silent, we say "not described" rather than guessing.
TL;DR: Bildrix vs Kreo
| Feature | Bildrix | Kreo | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Electrical subs and small GCs, 1 to 15 people, bidding plan-set work in the US and Canada. | Quantity surveyors, cost consultants and multi-trade estimating teams, in 2D and BIM. | Depends on the shop. For a small electrical sub, Bildrix. |
| Starting price | $397 per month billed annually for the whole workspace, 5 teammates included. Founding rate $149 per month for the first 100 customers. | $175 per user per month billed annually for Pro, the AI tier; Lite and Plus cost less without AI. | Bildrix, for any AI-using team of three or more. |
| Free trial | Yes. 15 AI detection pages, no card, no clock, plus a free first takeoff. | Yes. A 7-day free trial on Pro. | Both. Bildrix for no card, no clock. |
| Electrical takeoff | Devices counted from the legend, editable wire runs, circuits grouped. | Auto Count, search and Ask AI. No wire runs or circuits described. | Bildrix |
| After the takeoff | Priced estimate, e-sign, change orders, invoices, QuickBooks-ready CSV. | Items database, reports, cost estimates, Excel export. | Bildrix |
| Revisions and change orders | Compare two sets, then stage the diff as an AIA G701 format change order. | Drawing comparison highlights added, removed and modified elements. | Bildrix |
| Review of the AI's output | Confidence level on every detection, uncertain items flagged, everything editable. | Manual review and editing. No confidence flag described. | Bildrix |
| Collaboration | Up to 5 teammates in one workspace; client share page. | Real-time collaboration, unlimited free guest seats, permissions. | Kreo |
| Overall winner | Small electrical subs and GCs who want the whole bid in one thread. | BIM-led or multi-trade estimating teams across countries. | Bildrix, for the shops this guide is written for. |
Bildrix vs Kreo at a glance
Both products start the same way. You upload a plan set, an AI reads the sheets, and you get counts and measurements you did not click out by hand. Both run in the browser, both let you correct what the AI found, and both export to a spreadsheet. The differences start when you ask what the AI is looking for, who it was built for, and what happens to the numbers afterwards. Here is the short version of each.
Kreo
- Takeoff and estimating for quantity surveyors, cost consultants and contractors
- Auto Measure, One-Click Area, Auto Count and the Caddie AI agent on the Pro tier
- Items and assemblies database, reports, Excel in and out
- Real-time collaboration, unlimited free guest seats, enterprise SSO on request
- PDF, CAD and image files; a separate BIM Takeoff product for IFC models
- Per-user prices in USD, GBP and EUR, billed annually; 7-day free trial on Pro
Bildrix
- Built for electrical subs and small GCs in the US and Canada who bid from PDF plan sets
- Counts electrical devices against the sheet's own legend
- Draws wire runs with a live footage readout, or suggests them run by run to accept, reject or reshape
- Groups circuits, devices and wire on separate ledgers
- Puts a confidence level on every detection and flags the uncertain ones for review
- Carries the same quantities into the estimate, signed proposal, AIA G701 format change order and invoice
- Turns a plan revision into a priced change order, reductions included as credits
- One flat published price for the whole workspace, up to 5 teammates included
- Free trial of 15 AI detection pages, no card, no clock, plus a free first takeoff
- Covers architectural and electrical in depth, plumbing fixture counts on demand, and says what it does not cover
Quick verdict
If you only read one table, read this one.
| If you want… | Choose |
|---|---|
| BIM or 3D takeoffs, or many trades across countries | Kreo |
| Electrical takeoff with wire runs and circuits | Bildrix |
| A takeoff that becomes the estimate, change order and invoice | Bildrix |
| One flat price for a small team and a trial with no clock | Bildrix |
| Basic room, door and window counts on clean plans | Bildrix or Kreo |
Feature comparison
A long feature list gets you through the demo. The right features get you through bid week. So we go category by category: the takeoff experience, electrical depth, what happens after the takeoff, revisions, and how you get started. In each category we show what each product does, in a table, and call a winner. Kreo has built a genuinely broad platform, credit where it is due. But Kreo was built to make measuring and estimating faster for cost teams across every trade and several countries, and Bildrix was built to get a small electrical shop from a plan set to a signed bid. Those are different jobs, and it shows. Every Kreo statement links to the page it came from.
Takeoff experience
The first thing an AI takeoff tool has to do is read the plan set and give you something better than a blank sheet. Kreo's answer is the AI tools on its Pro tier. On the homepage, Auto Measure detects rooms, walls, doors, windows and custom areas, One-Click Area measures a space you click inside, and Auto Count "finds and counts every matching object across all pages" from one example. Caddie, the AI agent, answers questions by text or voice. On clean architectural drawings, that is a fast start.
Bildrix starts from the same place, upload a PDF plan set and let Detect All run trade by trade, and then adds the part most tools skip. Every detection carries a confidence level. Uncertain detections are flagged and queued for review, so you verify the flagged minority instead of rechecking the sheet. Every count, boundary and wire route is editable on the drawing; what the AI misses you count or draw in the same takeoff. Messy scans and sparse sheets are labeled as such, not reported as confident zeros. The complete guide walks through the first pass.
Bildrix flags the detections it is not sure about, so you review the flagged minority instead of the whole sheet.
| Feature | Bildrix | Kreo |
|---|---|---|
| What the AI detects | Rooms, doors, windows, walls, electrical devices, wire runs, circuits. | Rooms, walls, doors, windows, custom areas; anything you point Auto Count at. |
| Counting symbols | Matched against the sheet's legend; symbol search from a cropped symbol. | Auto Count from one example across all pages. |
| Measuring areas and lengths | Areas, wall lengths and wire footage, with a live readout while you draw. | Auto Measure and One-Click Area, plus manual polyline and polygon. |
| Editing the AI's output | ✅ Every count, boundary and route is editable in the canvas. | ✅ You review and edit the results with manual tools. |
| Knowing what to double-check | ✅ Confidence level on every detection. Uncertain items flagged and queued. | ❌ No confidence flag or review queue described. |
| Scans and messy sets | Read visually; labeled messy or sparse rather than reported as certain. | Image files accepted. Uncertainty display not described. |
Winner: Bildrix
Both products get you off the blank sheet quickly, and Kreo's Auto Count across a set is a real convenience. We call this one for Bildrix because of what happens next. A first pass you have to recheck in full has saved you very little. A first pass that tells you which twenty detections to look at has saved you the evening. Kreo's agentic-workflow page promises multi-level verification, but that is the done-for-you service, not the tool you sign up for.
Electrical takeoff
This is the category Bildrix was built around, so we will be specific. An electrical estimator needs three things from a takeoff: device counts that match the legend, wire footage per run, and circuits grouped so the estimate can price them. A room count does not bid a TI fit-out.
Kreo has an electrical trade page, and it is candid: manual and AI tools "specifically suited for working with measurements on MEP plans". Auto Count counts what you choose, Search finds and counts text, Ask AI pulls data from the drawings, and an items database prices the measurements. Useful, and general-purpose. Nothing on the page describes wire runs, circuits, legend matching or panel schedules.
Bildrix reads the electrical sheets the way your estimator does. It finds the legend first and counts devices against it, so a recessed can is a recessed can and a GFCI is a GFCI, not a generic symbol. You draw wire runs that snap to devices and elbow orthogonally with a live footage readout, or let the AI suggest switch legs, receptacle chains and homeruns and review them one by one: accept, reject, or drag the route. Circuits are grouped, devices and wire land on separate ledgers, and a built-in price catalog prices the counts. It all flows into a division-26 estimate; the electrical page shows each step.
Wire runs in Bildrix snap to devices and elbow orthogonally, with footage updating as you draw. AI-suggested runs are reviewed one at a time.
| Feature | Bildrix | Kreo |
|---|---|---|
| Device counts | ✅ Counted against the legend, totals by type and room. | ✅ Auto Count from an example, across all pages. |
| Legend matching | ✅ Symbols read from the sheet's own legend. | ❌ Not described. Counting works from an example. |
| Wire runs | ✅ Drawn with a live footage readout or AI-suggested run by run, editable. | ❌ Not described. Polyline measures lengths by hand. |
| Circuits and homeruns | ✅ Circuits grouped, homeruns suggested and reviewed, separate ledgers. | ❌ Not described. |
| Electrical price catalog | ✅ Built-in catalog prices device counts. Your own price book applies too. | ✅ Items and assemblies database with prices, from Plus up. |
| Panel schedules | ✅ Read from the sheet after upload into an editable Panel Editor; devices link to circuits and homeruns group by panel. | ❌ Not described. |
| Built for | Electrical subs and small GCs in the US and Canada. | Eight trades, flooring to masonry. |
Winner: Bildrix
There is no contest here, and that is not a knock on Kreo. Its electrical page is an extension of a tool built to measure every trade: count, search, ask, report. Bildrix's electrical takeoff is the product. If your bids are devices, wire and circuits, the gap shows on the first sheet, and again when the counts drop into a priced division-26 estimate with no spreadsheet in between. If your work is flooring or concrete, Kreo's breadth serves you better; see the Kreo advantages below. We would rather you pick the right tool than the louder one.
From takeoff to estimate, change order and invoice
A takeoff is not the job. The job is a bid the client signs, a change order when the drawings move, and an invoice that gets paid. Most AI takeoff tools stop at measurement and hand you a spreadsheet, and every handoff is a place a number gets retyped wrong.
Kreo goes further than most here. Its items and assemblies database turns measurements into "materials, labor, and equipment costs", its spreadsheet report stays linked to the drawing, and its contractors page lists cost estimates, bills of quantities and "Proposals and Quotes" among the reports. What the pages do not describe is what happens once the client has the number: e-sign sealed to the revision, a change order, an invoice.
Bildrix keeps going. The measured takeoff becomes a priced estimate with provenance on every line: your price book, an AI price, or an AI quantity. The client signs on a share page, sealed with a SHA-256 fingerprint and bound to the plan revision. Payment schedules, deposit and progress invoices, retainage, online payment, and QuickBooks-ready CSVs close the loop.
Every line in a Bildrix estimate shows where its number came from: your price book, an AI price, or an AI quantity.
| Feature | Bildrix | Kreo |
|---|---|---|
| Priced estimate | ✅ Drafted from the takeoff, per-line provenance, option sets. | ✅ Cost estimates as reports. |
| Assemblies | ✅ Your price book or AI auto-assign, plus an electrical catalog. | ✅ No-code items and assemblies database. |
| Client proposal and e-sign | ✅ Share page, comments, e-sign sealed to the revision. | ❌ Proposals as reports. E-sign not described. |
| Change orders | ✅ Revision diff staged as an AIA G701 format change order. | ❌ Not described. |
| Invoices and payments | ✅ Deposit, progress, final, retainage. Online payment. | ❌ Not described. |
| Accounting export | ✅ QuickBooks-ready invoice CSVs. | ❌ Not described. |
| Exports | ✅ Excel, PDF and CSV with sheet references and provenance. | ✅ Excel, CSV and PDF. |
Winner: Bildrix
This is the biggest structural difference between the two products. Kreo gets you to a priced number inside the app; then you switch tools to get it signed and billed. With Bildrix the quantities keep their identity to the invoice, so a device counted on sheet E-201 is the device the client signed for and the device you billed. If you do it all yourself, one thread is the point.
Revisions and plan comparison
Drawings change. An addendum lands two days before the bid, a bulletin lands after award, and the cost of a missed wall is yours. Both products compare drawing sets, so let us be precise about what each gives you afterwards.
Kreo's homepage lists Drawing Comparison, where "added, removed, and modified elements are clearly highlighted", Plan Overlay is on every tier, and the electrical page lists a Compare Pages feature. That is useful, and we say so. Plenty of tools overlay two sheets; Kreo also highlights what moved.
Bildrix treats the revision as the start of a document. Upload the revised set and the sheets pair by drawing number. Compare Pages overlays any two sheets. Then the diff is staged as a change order in AIA G701 format, added scope priced from your estimate and reductions booked as credits, ready for the client to sign against the revision it references. It is sealed like the original proposal.
The revision diff becomes a priced change order in AIA G701 format, with reductions booked as credits.
| Feature | Bildrix | Kreo |
|---|---|---|
| Comparing two sets | ✅ Compare Pages overlays any two sheets. | ✅ Drawing Comparison and Plan Overlay, on every tier. |
| Sheet matching | ✅ Revised sheets pair by drawing number automatically. | Not described. |
| What the diff becomes | ✅ A priced change order in AIA G701 format. | Highlighted changes, carried into your reports. |
| Credits for removed scope | ✅ Reductions book as credits on the change order. | Not described. |
| Document trail | ✅ Signed, sealed and bound to the plan revision. | Not described. |
| Addenda before the bid | ✅ Re-run detection on the new sheets; a processed page re-runs free. | ✅ Compare and re-measure; reports update. |
Winner: Bildrix
Comparison is table stakes now, and Kreo does it better than most. Bildrix wins because of the last step. A list of changed elements is information. A signed change order is money. For a small sub the gap between those two is usually a week of chasing, an argument about which revision was priced, and sometimes a credit you forgot to claw back. Staging the change order straight from the diff, credits on it, saves you more than an overlay.
Getting started: trial, sign-up and support
Both products have a trial and a public price. The difference is the model.
Kreo's pricing page offers "Start 7-Day Free Trial" on Pro, and its FAQ says availability "is shown at checkout based on your account". There is a 7-day money-back guarantee, email and live chat support, and free training sessions; Enterprise, the agentic workflow and SSO go through sales. The help center lists the United States and Canada among the countries it serves.
Bildrix assumes you would rather try it on your own drawings than against a clock. Start free in the app with no credit card and run the AI on 15 pages of your own plan set. Viewing, measuring by hand and exporting never count against that cap, and the trial is counted in pages, not days. Or book a call and we will run your first takeoff free. Live chat is staffed Monday to Friday.
| Feature | Bildrix | Kreo |
|---|---|---|
| Free trial | ✅ 15 AI detection pages, no credit card, no clock. | ✅ 7-day free trial on Pro. |
| Free first takeoff | ✅ Your plan set, our walkthrough, free. | ❌ Not described. |
| Sign-up | ✅ Start in the app today. | ✅ Sign up from the site. |
| Seats | ✅ Up to 5 teammates in one flat price. | Per user. Unlimited free guest viewers. |
| Cancellation | ✅ Annual billing, cancel renewal any time. | Annual. Cancel before renewal; the next period is not charged. |
| Onboarding and support | ✅ Live chat Monday to Friday, email, the review call. | ✅ Email and live chat, free training sessions. |
| Where it's built for | US and Canadian projects. USD, NEC, imperial units. | UK, US, Canada, EU, Australia and more. USD, GBP, EUR. |
| File types | PDF plan sets only. | ✅ PDF, CAD and image files; IFC in BIM Takeoff. |
Winner: Bildrix
Kreo's trial and onboarding are real, so take this verdict for what it is: a verdict about fit for a small shop. Seven days of unlimited access suits a team that can clear a week to evaluate. An owner-estimator bidding on Thursday has this set, tonight. A cap in pages that never expires, no card, and a free first takeoff with a human on the call is built for that person. We will still do the walkthrough; we just will not start a timer.
Pricing comparison
Both products publish prices, which is more than most of this category manages. Kreo prices per user, in USD, GBP or EUR; Bildrix prices the workspace. Both bill annually. Here is each as of August 19, 2026, from Kreo's pricing page and ours.
| Kreo | Bildrix |
|---|---|
| Pro: $175 per user per month, billed annually. $2,100 per user per year; $10,500 for five. The AI tier. | Pro: $397 per month, billed annually. $4,764 a year for the whole workspace, up to 5 teammates, no per-seat charges. |
| Lite $35 and Plus $70 per user per month, billed annually, without the AI tools. Enterprise: custom, with advanced permissions and full API. | Founding rate: $149 per month, billed annually, for the first 100 customers. That is $1,788 for the year. |
| Trial: 7 days free on Pro, with a 7-day money-back guarantee. | Trial: 15 AI detection pages free, no credit card, plus a free first takeoff. |
| Cancellation: cancel before renewal and the next period is not charged. | Cancellation: cancel renewal any time. The year is charged up front. |
The math depends on head count. One Kreo Pro seat costs less per year than a Bildrix workspace at list price; from three seats up, Bildrix costs less, with nothing added per seat up to five. At the founding rate the whole workspace costs less than one Kreo Pro seat. Prices change, so check both pages. The right price is still the price of the tool that does your job.
Kreo advantages
Kreo is a real platform, and its homepage quotes a customer who has "cut the time spent on quantification by over 50%". Here are its strengths, stated as plainly as the verdicts above.
- BIM, 3D and CAD: 3D view of takeoff results, a separate BIM Takeoff product that reads IFC models "without installing Revit or other software", Export to IFC on request, and CAD input. Bildrix takes PDF plan sets only.
- Breadth across trades, standards and countries: eight trade pages from flooring to masonry, an items and assemblies database, cost plans and bills of quantities, NRM and MasterFormat, prices in USD, GBP and EUR, and a supported-countries list from the UK to Australia and the UAE. Bildrix covers architectural and electrical in depth, plumbing fixture counts on demand, US and Canada only.
- Collaboration and enterprise trim: real-time collaboration and unlimited free guest seats on every tier, roles and permissions, enterprise SSO and an API on request, a dedicated success manager and fine-tuned AI models on Enterprise. Bildrix is a workspace for up to 5 teammates, and clients get a share page for the estimate, not a seat on the plan set.
- The agentic service: Kreo's agentic-workflow page advertises expert quality of 94.5 to 98.5 percent and "processing up to 10,000 drawings per minute", as a custom agent its team builds for you. Bildrix does not sell a done-for-you takeoff; our research page explains why we publish no percentage at all.
Bildrix advantages
Bildrix was designed for the part of the job that starts after the counting, and for the shop where the owner is also the estimator. Every advantage below comes from that decision. None of them is a feature for the demo. They are for the night before a bid is due.
- Review-first AI that shows its doubt: every detection carries a confidence level and the uncertain ones are flagged for review, so you verify the flagged minority instead of recounting the sheet. We do not publish an accuracy percentage, and we wrote a research page on why no vendor's number should be taken at face value. Kreo's self-serve pages describe manual review, not a confidence flag.
- Electrical depth built for subs: devices counted from the legend, wire runs drawn or AI-suggested and edited run by run, circuits grouped with devices and wire on separate ledgers, a built-in price catalog, and a division-26 estimate at the end. Nothing on Kreo's electrical page describes wire, circuits or legend matching.
- One thread from plan set to invoice: a priced estimate with per-line provenance, client e-sign sealed to the revision, change orders in AIA G701 format with credits, invoices with online payment, and QuickBooks-ready CSVs. The quantities never leave the system, so they never get retyped wrong. Kreo's thread ends at the report; the product page lays ours out trade by trade.
- A flat price and a trial with no clock: one flat workspace price, 5 teammates included, a founding rate for the first 100 customers, 15 free AI detection pages with no card and no time limit, and a free first takeoff. Kreo charges per user and gives you seven days.
Which platform should you choose?
It comes down to what you bid, with whom, and where. The framework we would use:
Choose Kreo if you…
- Take off from BIM or CAD as often as PDFs
- Estimate many trades, or bill in GBP or EUR
- Run a cost team in one takeoff at once, with SSO or an API
- Want the takeoff done for you by an AI agent
Choose Bildrix if you…
- Are an electrical sub or small GC in the US or Canada
- Need device counts, wire runs and circuits, not just rooms and walls
- Want the takeoff to become the estimate, change order and invoice
- Want the AI to say which numbers to double-check
- Want a trial with no card and no clock
- Want one flat price for the workspace, not a price per seat
That is the framework. Pick the one that matches your Tuesday.
Conclusion
Kreo and Bildrix are both real AI takeoff tools, honest about what they are. Kreo is a broad measuring and estimating platform for cost teams, priced per seat. Bildrix takes a small electrical shop from plan set to signed, invoiced job and tells you where to look.
For the shops this guide is written for, Bildrix comes out ahead where a bid is decided: electrical depth, the review queue, the thread to invoice, revisions, price. Kreo keeps the edge on BIM, breadth, collaboration and enterprise trim.
If that sounds like your shop, try it on your own plans. Start free in the app, no credit card, 15 AI detection pages. Or book a free first takeoff review.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Bildrix better than Kreo?
For a 1 to 15 person electrical sub or small GC in the US or Canada, yes. Bildrix goes deeper on electrical, flags the detections to double-check, carries the quantities through estimate, change order and invoice, and costs less for any team of three or more. A BIM-led or multi-trade team across countries may prefer Kreo.
- What is the biggest difference between Bildrix and Kreo?
What happens after the quantities. Kreo turns measurements into reports and estimates you export. Bildrix turns them into a priced estimate, a signed proposal, an AIA G701 format change order and invoices, with no retyping. The second difference is the review queue: Bildrix flags what it is not sure about; Kreo's pages describe no confidence flag.
- Which is better for electrical contractors?
Bildrix. It counts devices against the sheet's legend, draws or suggests wire runs you can edit, groups circuits, prices the counts from a built-in catalog and lands everything in a division-26 estimate. Kreo's electrical page offers Auto Count, search and Ask AI, and describes no wire runs or circuits.
- Which is better for general contractors?
It depends. A small GC running plan-set jobs gets consistent base quantities plus the estimate, change order and invoice thread from Bildrix. A GC with a precon department, BIM models and estimators in several countries will get more from Kreo.
- Does Bildrix offer a free trial?
Yes. Start in the app with no credit card and run AI detection on 15 pages of your own plan set; viewing, measuring by hand and exporting never count against the cap, and there is no clock. Or book a call for a free first takeoff. Kreo offers a 7-day free trial on Pro.
- Which is more affordable?
Bildrix, for any team of three or more at list price, and for any team at the founding rate. As of August 19, 2026, Kreo Pro, its AI tier, is $175 per user per month billed annually, $10,500 a year for five seats. Bildrix Pro is $397 per month billed annually, $4,764 a year for the whole workspace, up to 5 teammates, and the founding rate for the first 100 customers is $149 per month. Kreo's Lite and Plus cost less but come without the AI tools. Prices change; check both pages.
- Does Bildrix handle estimates, change orders and invoices?
Yes. Estimates carry per-line provenance, the client signs on a share page sealed to the plan revision, change orders are staged from the revision diff in AIA G701 format with credits, and invoices cover deposit, progress, final and retainage with online payment and QuickBooks-ready CSVs. Kreo's pages describe estimates as reports, not e-sign, change orders or invoicing.
- Can I switch from Kreo to Bildrix?
Yes, and you need not export anything from Kreo first. Bildrix works from the PDF plan set: upload it, let Detect All run, and compare with the takeoff you already have. The fair test is one real project: bring a set you took off in Kreo to the free first takeoff review and compare counts, flags and time to a priced estimate.