If you have been estimating for a few years, there is a fair chance PlanSwift is already on your Windows machine. PlanSwift has sold takeoff software since 2006, it made the idea simple, and a generation of estimators learned digital takeoff on it. In May 2026 it added Takeoff Boost, a suite of AI tools inside the desktop app, and its own FAQ is careful about what that AI is for: "a head start, not a finished bid".
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. They need an AI first pass across the whole set, 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 it in a browser, and they want to try it before anyone calls.
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. Everything we say about PlanSwift comes from PlanSwift's own website, read on August 19, 2026, and we link the page each time. Where PlanSwift's pages are silent, we say "not described" rather than guessing.
TL;DR: Bildrix vs PlanSwift
| Feature | Bildrix | PlanSwift | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Electrical subs and small GCs, 1 to 15 people, in the US and Canada. | Estimators in any trade who want a mature Windows desktop takeoff. | For a small electrical sub, Bildrix. |
| Starting price | $397 per month billed annually, whole workspace, 5 teammates included. Founding rate $149 per month for the first 100 customers. | $2,000 per license per year, billed annually. | PlanSwift for one seat. Bildrix from 3 seats. |
| Free trial | Yes. 15 AI detection pages, no credit card, plus a free first takeoff. | Yes. 14 days of the full app, no credit card, set up by a specialist. | Both. Bildrix starts tonight in a browser. |
| Electrical takeoff | Devices counted from the legend, AI-suggested wire runs, circuits grouped. | Trace conduit, click devices, price with assemblies. | Bildrix |
| After the takeoff | Priced estimate, e-sign, change orders, invoices, QuickBooks-ready CSV. | Assemblies, reports, proposals, Excel link. No e-sign, change orders or invoicing. | Bildrix |
| Revisions and change orders | Compare two sets, stage the diff as an AIA G701 format change order. | Not described on PlanSwift's pages. | Bildrix |
| Review of the AI's output | Confidence level on every detection, uncertain items flagged, everything editable. | You review everything yourself. No confidence flag described. | Bildrix |
| Trade breadth and assemblies | Architectural and electrical in depth, plumbing fixture counts on demand. | 18+ trade assembly libraries, starter packs, custom formulas. | PlanSwift |
| Overall winner | Small electrical subs and GCs: AI first pass, one thread to invoice. | An estimator who wants a mature desktop tool and manual control. | Bildrix, for the shops this guide is written for. |
Bildrix vs PlanSwift at a glance
Both start with a plan set and an AI that gives you something better than a blank page. Both let you correct what the AI found, price the takeoff with assemblies and export to Excel. The differences are where the software runs, how much of the takeoff the AI does before you touch it, and what happens to the numbers afterwards. The short version of each:
PlanSwift
- A Windows desktop app; its pages say cloud access is not currently available and it cannot be installed directly on a Mac
- Point-and-click, drag-and-drop takeoff; its FAQ says most users are productive within a day
- Takeoff Boost, four AI tools added in May 2026: Auto Takeoff, Auto Count, Auto Scale and Auto Bookmark
- 18+ trade assembly libraries, custom formulas, a live Excel link, reports and proposals
- Takes PDF, DWG, JPG and TIFF plan files
- Priced per license, billed annually, with a 14-day free trial of the full app
Bildrix
- Built for electrical subs and small GCs in the US and Canada who bid from PDF plan sets
- Runs in the browser on a Mac or Windows machine, nothing to install
- 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
- Puts a confidence level on every detection and flags the uncertain ones
- Carries the same quantities into the estimate, the signed proposal, the AIA G701 format change order and the invoice
- One flat published price for the whole workspace, up to 5 teammates included
- Free trial of 15 AI detection pages, no credit card, plus a free first takeoff
- Covers architectural and electrical in depth, plumbing fixture counts on demand, and says what it does not cover yet
Quick verdict
If you only read one table, read this one.
| If you want… | Choose |
|---|---|
| A mature Windows desktop takeoff with assemblies for any trade | PlanSwift |
| Electrical takeoff with AI-suggested wire runs and circuits | Bildrix |
| A takeoff that becomes the estimate, change order and invoice | Bildrix |
| A browser app on a Mac, nothing to install | Bildrix |
| Manual counts and lengths priced by assemblies | Bildrix or PlanSwift |
Feature comparison
A familiar interface gets you through the trial. Features get you through bid week. So this is where 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. PlanSwift taught a generation of estimators to take off on a screen. But PlanSwift was built as a manual desktop takeoff for every trade, with AI added on top, and Bildrix was built to get a small electrical shop from a plan set to a signed bid with the AI going first. Those are different jobs, and it shows. Every PlanSwift statement links to the page it came from.
Takeoff experience
The first thing a takeoff tool has to do is read the plan set and give you something better than a blank sheet. PlanSwift's trial page puts the manual workflow in one line: "if it's colored, it's counted". Takeoff Boost adds four AI tools on top. The homepage describes Auto Takeoff, which gives "a head start, not a blank page", and Auto Count, which finds every instance of a symbol you pick once. PlanSwift's own comparison page adds that Auto Takeoff works a page at a time and Auto Count runs across up to 10 pages. You then review and adjust the output before it becomes your final takeoff.
Bildrix starts from the whole set. Upload a PDF plan set, let Detect All run trade by trade, and then comes 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. 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 | PlanSwift |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Browser, Mac or Windows. Nothing to install. | Windows 10 or 11 Pro desktop. No cloud access. |
| File types | PDF plan sets. Pages detected and named; names and scales editable. | PDF, DWG, JPG, TIFF. Auto Scale across the set. |
| What the AI detects | Rooms, doors, windows, walls, electrical devices, wire runs, circuits, across the set. | Auto Takeoff: areas, lengths and counts, a page at a time. Auto Count: symbols you pick. |
| Counting symbols | Matched against the sheet's legend; symbol search from a cropped symbol. | Pick a symbol once and the AI finds the rest, or click each one. |
| Editing the AI's output | ✅ Every count, boundary and route is editable in the canvas. | ✅ You review and adjust the output yourself. |
| Knowing what to double-check | ✅ Confidence level on every detection. Uncertain items flagged and queued. | ❌ No confidence flag or review queue described. |
Winner: Bildrix
PlanSwift's manual tools are quick in practiced hands, and Auto Count is a convenience on a repetitive set. We call this one for Bildrix because of what the AI hands back. A first pass you have to recheck in full has saved you very little. A first pass across the set that tells you which twenty detections to look at has saved you the evening. PlanSwift says you review and adjust everything. Bildrix tells you where to start.
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.
PlanSwift has an electrical estimating page, and it is clear about what it offers: measure lengths of conduit and wire, "Count wiring devices with ease", calculate materials and costs, and create reports, with wire runs that "snake around corners and drop down walls". That is a manual takeoff priced by assemblies: you trace the conduit, you click the devices, the assembly does the math. An Electrical Starter Pack of templates costs $149 on top. Nothing on these pages describes reading the legend, AI-suggested wire runs, homeruns or circuits.
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. You draw wire runs that snap to devices 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 before you have a price book. 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 | PlanSwift |
|---|---|---|
| Device counts | ✅ Counted against the legend, totals by type and room. | ✅ Clicked by hand, or Auto Count finds a symbol you pick. |
| Legend matching | ✅ Symbols read from the sheet's own legend. | ❌ Not described. You pick the symbol to find. |
| Wire runs | ✅ Drawn with a live footage readout or AI-suggested run by run, editable. | Traced by hand. No AI-suggested runs described. |
| Circuits and homeruns | ✅ Circuits grouped, homeruns suggested and reviewed, separate ledgers. | ❌ Not described. |
| Electrical pricing | ✅ Built-in catalog prices device counts. Your own price book applies too. | ✅ Assemblies for materials and labor. Electrical Starter Pack sold separately. |
| Panel schedules | ✅ Read from the sheet after upload into an editable Panel Editor; devices link to circuits and homeruns group by panel. | ❌ Not described. |
Winner: Bildrix
This one is closer, because PlanSwift does price electrical takeoffs with assemblies. The gap is who does the counting. In PlanSwift the estimator traces every run and clicks every device, then the assembly prices the result. In Bildrix the AI reads the legend, counts, and proposes the runs, and the estimator reviews the flagged minority before the counts drop into a priced division-26 estimate. If your work is concrete or painting, PlanSwift's breadth serves you better.
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 takeoff tools stop at measurement and hand you a spreadsheet.
PlanSwift goes further than most here. Its Bluebeam comparison page describes drag-and-drop material and labor assemblies that "calculate cost and labor hours automatically as you take off", reporting and proposal functions "so you can submit a bid right out of the product", and a live Excel link. The pages do not describe a client signature on that proposal, a change order, an invoice, or accounting export beyond Excel.
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 | PlanSwift |
|---|---|---|
| Priced estimate | ✅ Drafted from the takeoff, per-line provenance, option sets. | ✅ Assemblies calculate cost and labor hours as you take off; custom formulas. |
| Assemblies | ✅ Your price book or AI auto-assign, plus an electrical catalog. | ✅ 18+ trade libraries, drag and drop. |
| Client proposal and e-sign | ✅ Share page, comments, e-sign sealed to the revision. | Proposal functions described. 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. | Live Excel link. QuickBooks not described. |
Winner: Bildrix
PlanSwift gets you to a priced bid, and for a shop that finishes in Excel that may be enough. Bildrix wins because the thread does not stop at the proposal. A device counted on sheet E-201 is the device the client signed for and the device you billed. If you run signatures and accounting elsewhere, PlanSwift's exports will do. 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. Let us be precise about what each product gives you then.
We looked on PlanSwift's homepage, its electrical page, its trial FAQ and both of its own comparison pages. None describes overlaying two sheets or quantifying the difference between two sets. The closest is the STACK comparison page, which says estimators can run multiple alternates within one bid window. Alternates are not revisions, so we write plan comparison as not described.
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 | PlanSwift |
|---|---|---|
| Comparing two sets | ✅ Compare Pages overlays any two sheets. | Not described. |
| Sheet matching | ✅ Revised sheets pair by drawing number automatically. | Not described. |
| What the diff becomes | ✅ A priced change order in AIA G701 format. | Not described. |
| 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. | ✅ Add the pages to the job and take off again. |
Winner: Bildrix
This is the widest gap in the guide, and partly a gap of description: a mature desktop tool may have habits for a bulletin that its pages never mention. Bildrix turns the revision into a priced, signed change order with credits already on it. A list of changed quantities is information. A signed change order is money. For a small sub the distance between those two is a week of chasing and sometimes a credit you forgot to claw back.
Getting started: trial, sign-up and support
This is where the two products differ in a way that tells you who they were built for.
To try PlanSwift, you fill in a form. The trial page offers a "RISK FREE 14-DAY TRIAL" of the full version of PlanSwift Professional with no credit card; the homepage form says a specialist will contact you within 1 business day to set up your trial and send your download link and license key. It installs on Windows 10 or 11 Pro only and "cannot be installed directly onto a Mac". The subscription includes 2 hours of training; the training pages add weekly webinars, 1-on-1 hours you purchase, and two-day classroom sessions.
Bildrix assumes you would rather try it than schedule it. Open a browser, start free 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. Or book a call for a free first takeoff. Live chat is staffed Monday to Friday. The price is on the pricing page. Nobody waits for a license key.
| Feature | Bildrix | PlanSwift |
|---|---|---|
| Free trial | ✅ 15 AI detection pages, no credit card, plus a free first takeoff. | ✅ 14 days of the full app, no credit card, set up by a specialist. |
| Sign-up | ✅ Start in the app today. | Request form, then a download link and license key. |
| Seats | ✅ Up to 5 teammates in one flat price. | Per license; the EULA's single seat license is one user on one device at a time. |
| Platform | ✅ Browser, Mac or Windows. Nothing to install. | Windows 10 or 11 Pro desktop. No cloud access. |
| Onboarding and support | ✅ Live chat Monday to Friday, email, the review call. | ✅ 2 hours of training included, weekly webinars, phone support, classroom training. |
| Your plans and the AI | ✅ Plans never train AI models. | Not described on the product pages we read. |
Winner: Bildrix
PlanSwift's trial is generous and its training is real. This verdict is about how you get in the door. Two weeks of the full app is a good offer if you have a Windows machine and a business day to wait. A small shop bidding on Thursday, on a Mac, does not. A browser tonight beats a license key on Friday.
Pricing comparison
Both publish prices, which is more than most of this category manages. PlanSwift prices per license; Bildrix prices the workspace; both bill annually. Here is each as of August 19, 2026, from PlanSwift's pricing page and ours.
| PlanSwift | Bildrix |
|---|---|
| Professional: $2,000 per license per year, an annual subscription that includes support, software updates and 2 hours of training. $6,000 for three, $10,000 for five. | Pro: $397 per month, billed annually. $4,764 a year for the whole workspace, up to 5 teammates, no per-seat charges. |
| Add-ons: plugins and starter packs are sold separately, not part of the annual subscription; the Electrical Starter Pack is $149. Ten or more licenses: call sales. | Founding rate: $149 per month, billed annually, for the first 100 customers. That is $1,788 for the year. |
| Trial: 14 days of the full version, no credit card, set up by a specialist. | Trial: 15 AI detection pages free, no credit card. First takeoff free with a review call. |
| AI tiers: PlanSwift's Bluebeam page says Auto Takeoff needs Core or Premium maintenance; the pricing page does not name a tier. | Cancellation: cancel renewal any time. The year is charged up front. |
The math depends on seats. One estimator pays less on PlanSwift at list price. From 3 seats, PlanSwift costs more than a full Bildrix workspace. At the founding rate, five people on Bildrix cost less than one PlanSwift license. PlanSwift sells a subscription today, not a one-time license, so both sides bill yearly. Prices change, so check both pages.
PlanSwift advantages
We said at the top that PlanSwift is on a lot of estimating machines for good reasons. Here they are, stated as plainly as the verdicts above. A comparison that cannot name the other side's strengths is not worth reading.
- Maturity and manual control: PlanSwift has sold takeoff software since 2006 and joined ConstructConnect in 2018. Its FAQ says most users are productive within a day and that the AI leaves you the same control you have always had. If you want to place every click yourself, that is the product. Bildrix is newer and says so.
- Trade breadth, assemblies and Excel: the STACK comparison page lists 18+ trade assembly libraries, custom formulas and a live Excel link, and the plugin store sells starter packs for concrete, drywall, flooring, roofing and masonry. Bildrix covers architectural and electrical in depth, plumbing fixture counts on demand, and nothing else yet.
- Desktop, local files, more file types: PlanSwift is installed locally "for high-performance rendering of large, complex plan sets", job files can sit on a shared network drive, and it takes PDF, DWG, JPG and TIFF. Bildrix is a browser app that takes PDF plan sets only.
- Price for one seat and a longer trial: $2,000 a year for one license is less than a Bildrix workspace at list price, the subscription includes 2 hours of training, and the trial is 14 days of the full application. Bildrix's is 15 AI detection pages and a free first takeoff.
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.
- An AI first pass that shows its doubt: Detect All runs across the set, every detection carries a confidence level, and the uncertain ones are flagged for review. PlanSwift's FAQ calls Takeoff Boost "a head start, not a finished bid"; ConstructConnect's On Center site calls the On-Screen Takeoff version "Highly Accurate AI". Neither describes a confidence flag. We publish no accuracy percentage; our research page explains why.
- 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. PlanSwift's electrical page describes tracing conduit, clicking devices and pricing with assemblies.
- 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. The product page lays out the thread.
- A browser, a flat price and a trial you can start tonight: Bildrix runs in a browser on a Mac or Windows machine, one flat workspace price covers 5 teammates, a founding rate runs for the first 100 customers, 15 AI detection pages are free with no card, the first takeoff is free, and your plans never train AI models. PlanSwift's pages describe a per-license price, a Windows install and a trial a specialist sets up.
Which platform should you choose?
It comes down to what you bid, what you bid it on, and who bids it with you:
Choose PlanSwift if you…
- Want a mature Windows desktop tool and full manual control
- Bid several trades with assembly libraries and custom formulas
- Keep your estimate in Excel with a live link
- Work with DWG, JPG or TIFF plans, or keep files on your own network
Choose Bildrix if you…
- Are an electrical sub or small GC in the US or Canada
- Want an AI first pass that flags what to double-check
- Need legend-based device counts, AI-suggested wire runs and circuits
- Want the takeoff to become the estimate, change order and invoice
- Work in a browser, on a Mac or whatever is in the truck
- Want one flat price for 5 teammates and a trial tonight
That is the framework. Pick the one that matches your Tuesday.
Conclusion
Both are real takeoff tools, and both are honest about what they are. PlanSwift is the point-and-click desktop estimator with assemblies for every trade and an AI head start. Bildrix takes a small electrical shop from plan set to signed, invoiced job in a browser and tells you where to look.
For the shops this guide is written for, Bildrix comes out ahead where a bid is decided: AI first pass, electrical depth, the thread to invoice, revisions, getting started. PlanSwift keeps the edge on breadth, manual control, file types and one-seat price.
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 PlanSwift?
For a 1 to 15 person electrical sub or small GC in the US or Canada, yes. Bildrix runs an AI first pass across the set, flags what to double-check, goes deeper on electrical, and carries the quantities through estimate, change order and invoice. An estimator who wants a mature Windows desktop tool with full manual control may prefer PlanSwift.
- What is the biggest difference between Bildrix and PlanSwift?
How much the AI does before you touch the sheet, and what happens after. PlanSwift is a point-and-click desktop takeoff with an AI assist its FAQ calls a head start, not a finished bid. Bildrix detects across the set, flags the uncertain minority, and turns the result into a priced estimate, a signed proposal, an AIA G701 format change order and invoices.
- Which is better for electrical contractors?
Bildrix. It counts devices against the sheet's legend, suggests wire runs you accept, reject or reshape, groups circuits and lands everything in a division-26 estimate. PlanSwift's electrical page describes measuring conduit and counting devices by hand, then pricing with assemblies.
- Which is better for general contractors?
It depends on the GC. A small GC running plan-set jobs gets an AI first pass plus the estimate, change order and invoice thread from Bildrix. A GC estimating many trades with assembly libraries, custom formulas and a Windows desktop tool the team knows will get more from PlanSwift.
- 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 and exporting never count against the cap. Or book a call for a free first takeoff. PlanSwift offers a 14-day trial of the full desktop app, no credit card, set up by a specialist.
- Which is more affordable?
It depends on seats. As of August 19, 2026, PlanSwift Professional is $2,000 per license per year, so five seats are $10,000. Bildrix Pro is $397 per month billed annually, $4,764 a year for the whole workspace, up to 5 teammates; the founding rate for the first 100 customers is $149 per month. One estimator pays less on PlanSwift at list; from 3 seats Bildrix costs less. Prices change; check both pages.
- Does Bildrix handle estimates, change orders and invoices?
Yes, from the same quantities. Estimates carry per-line provenance, the client signs on a share page sealed to the plan revision, change orders are staged in AIA G701 format with credits, and invoices cover deposit, progress, final and retainage with online payment and QuickBooks-ready CSVs. PlanSwift's pages describe assemblies, reports, proposals and Excel, but no e-sign, change orders or invoicing.
- Can I switch from PlanSwift to Bildrix?
Yes. Bildrix works from the PDF plan set in a browser: upload it, let Detect All run, and compare the results with the takeoff you already have. Or bring a set you took off in PlanSwift to the free first takeoff review.