A straight comparison of quoting from Excel and Word against dedicated estimating software — the time, the mistakes, the follow-up and the money — written by a builder who did both.
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Beyond the spreadsheet.
What changes when the quote, the contract and the money live in one place.
800+
Quotes created
£4.2M+
In quotes sent
£0
Free plan · no card
Any device
Phone, tablet & desktop
Excel is brilliant at arithmetic and every builder has a template that works. The pricing maths is not the problem — EstiMate's founder ran a construction company on one for years. The problems start the moment the number has to leave the spreadsheet.
Copying totals into Word, saving as PDF, emailing, waiting, forgetting to chase, no record of acceptance, extras agreed by text and never invoiced, receipts in a glovebox, and a year-end where the accountant asks for everything again.
The quote is the job. Acceptance, contract, programme, variations, invoices, receipts and the P&L all read from the same record, so a change in one place is a change everywhere. AI drafts the first version from your own price history.
You don't start from zero. Import your old quotes — PDFs, photos of a quote book, Excel breakdowns, Word documents — and EstiMate rebuilds them as live jobs and learns your prices from them.
Client, site address, project title. Takes 30 seconds.
Breakdowns, optional extras, one-tap online acceptance.
A build contract from the quote, e-signed online.
Programme, site diary, snagging and variations.
Milestones tracked and overdue payments chased.
No contracts. No hidden fees. Cancel monthly subscriptions any time.
£0
Try it on real jobs before you commit.
£15.99/ month
Unlimited quotes and the full app.
£39.99/ month
Everything, plus the full AI suite.
Teams and multi-branch contractors: EstiMate Corp from £249 / month. Compare every plan →
Yes — many users price in Excel and import the breakdown into EstiMate to send, contract and invoice from. Over time the built-in breakdowns and price memory tend to replace it.
If you send more than a couple of quotes a month, the time saved on chasing, invoicing and paperwork alone pays for it — and won quotes that would otherwise have gone cold are the real return. The free plan lets you find out on real jobs.
Import your old quotes and documents in an afternoon; your next quote is built from the same items and prices.
Free for 3 jobs a month; £15.99 a month for unlimited jobs with contracts, invoicing and accounts; £39.99 a month for Pro with the AI suite.
Construction estimating software
Price materials, labour, plant and margin properly.
Quoting software for builders
Professional quotes clients can accept online.
AI construction estimating
Let AI draft the scope — you keep control of the price.
Construction take-off software
From drawings and specs to quantities and a quote.
Job costing software
Estimate versus actual while the job is still running.
Project management software
Contracts, programme, site diary and variations.
Invoicing & getting paid
Invoices, card payments and automatic chasing.
Accounting for builders
P&L, VAT return, CIS and aged debtors from the jobs.
Contracts & e-signatures
A build contract from the quote, signed online.
Variations & extras
Price additional works and get one-tap approval.
Snagging software
Numbered pins on drawings, photos and sign-off.
Site diary app
Daily records, RFIs, quality and progress reports.
RAMS generator
RAMS, COSHH, toolbox talks and permits in minutes.
Construction CRM
Every client, every quote, automatic follow-ups.
Use EstiMate from first enquiry through quotation, project delivery, variations, records and payment tracking.
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