PlanSwift

Easy to use but I know it can do even more

Opmerkingen: Great tool. I use it daily for quickly estimating flooring needs on jobs.

Pluspunten:

I like how fast i can create take-off's

Minpunten:

Trying to create full estimates through the software is a very lengthy process. It also doesn't accurately pick up points when I do the "one-click" feature.

Great floorplan markup and estimating tool

Opmerkingen: The customer service team was really helpful when we were trialling out the software and helped us adapt it to our specific needs. No more paper plans! And if a floor plan changes, it is easy to add or subtract items.

Pluspunten:

We used to mark up paper floor plans with pencils and highlighters. We were looking for a way to go digital in this area. We looked at a couple different software options, and Planswift was the winner. We find the UI to be very intuitive. While we mainly just use the software to mark up items on floorplan, there are lots of other features, such as calculating areas and volumes and creating detailed estimates. There are a number of industry-specific plugins available to help you estimate (Siding, Concrete, Framing and Drywall, etc.) You can import any floor plan, even something sketched on a piece of paper! We generally import pdfs, but I believe you can import CAD files or jpgs as well.

Minpunten:

There is a bit of a learning curve to learn the software and get set up. However, once you have it tuned for your business, it easily saves hours of time every week.

Robust Potential, glitchy programming

Opmerkingen: I've been a Planswift user for last 8 years. The program has a lot of bells and whistles with so many custom options. Its a rather incredible concept but some of the tools like hip/valley tool, comparative overlay and auto count don't work properly. My number one issue with plan swift is the code. I complained about how slow the program would get after just a few hours of measurements, especially when using a lot of joint tool and overlays. I would mostly get silence from customer support when making that comment, it seemed odd but I didn't put much thought into it and just kept upgrading hardware on my PC to compensate. Well, now I have a computer that could animate for Pixar yet Planswift still shows me its hourglass mocking the value of my time. I also noticed it would crash more often than I find reasonable and will also crash excel when open even if not using Planswift at the time. When this would happen, excel was unable to recover my progress in that worksheet. VERY frustrating. So, I started to look into composing better spreadsheet design do compensate. I went to an excel guru with estimating background and after just several hours we were both unsure of how we were to make chicken salad out of the fodder. I decided to go shopping, there are tons of in screen programs out there but if you want takeoff with legends to be able to efficiently convey that fancy estimate you spent hours and days putting together to a team on the forld, there are very few that do it well. Most do not have a joist tool or hip/valley intelligence and many other features Planswift has. But most all the others are faster than P.S. and will allow you to work on multiple jobs at same time (P.S. does not). For the light user on a budget, this could be your ticket and I will gladly sell you one of the four P.S. Licenses I am currently sitting on. But if you want to do whole project estimating that is visually auditable with reliable output that won't slow you down and actually speed this boring, low-to-no paying process down then I suggest you search elsewhere. I found my dream software by mixing tei that have most of what Planswift does combined. But mega faster, without crashing or ever hour classing and better reports I do t have to spend hours cleaning up after exporting.

Pluspunten:

Features, easy to learn, lots of customization options

Minpunten:

Glitchy, crashy, ruined my day far too many times with lost/disconnected data & subsequent reduced productivity

Estimating using PlanSwift

Pluspunten:

There were a few things that I enjoyed about this software, the ease of finding all of the tools you need to do a take off was very convenient. Also being able to do a take off then drop in the material you are needing and having the software do an estimate for you is also very convenient.

Minpunten:

A con would be that sometimes when you upload a set of drawings they come in messed up, they will be upside down or aligned wrong. The drawings also tend to be uploaded without their sheet names.

PlanSwift Review

Pluspunten:

Planswift is the pinnacle of takeoff software.

Minpunten:

I would like to see it used on a cloud format so I could access it from anywhere.

Great Product

Opmerkingen: Overall this is a fantastic product and it would be amazing if it could be upgraded to allow more than one aet of plans to be open.

Pluspunten:

I love this software. It is easy to use. Gives great measurements. Allows fairly accurate job costing. And it has a ton of functions that are very useful for so many aspects of construction.

Minpunten:

The only thing that I do not like about this software is that yoy can only have one set of plans open at a time.

Always a Favorite

Pluspunten:

Planswift makes quantity take off much easier and more effective. The ability to create files and folders helps to keep your information sorted and organized.

Minpunten:

I feel that their are many features offered in this program that I am most likely not utilizing. While I realize that there are most likely many tutorial options, it would be nice to have a way to see quickly the types of features available.

PlanSwift Review

Opmerkingen: It makes takeoffs very easy which makes us more productive

Pluspunten:

I love how easy it makes plans to read and how fast takeoffs can be with this.

Minpunten:

I didn't like how my computer will slow down and it bogs down with more takeoff items in it.

Makes Reading Plans Easy

Pluspunten:

My assistant uses this software to take measurements off of blueprints. She loves this software before it she use to take hours getting measurements off of blueprints. Now she can get it done in half of that time and the numbers are more accurate.

Minpunten:

I can't find a problem today this software has saved us alot of time when reading plans. I wished we found this years ago glad to have it today.

PlanSwift save my times

Pluspunten:

* Easy to learn * Easy to teach * Easy to work

Minpunten:

I am using this application for takeoff quantities and this application reduce 50% time to take of my time

Great for Takeoffs

Pluspunten:

It is very easy to create templates for our specific scope as a subcontractor and perform a takeoff. It is very helpful to be able to plot and print a set of plans with the layers of items and a legend. We can create a new set of plans specific to our scope.

Minpunten:

Not a lot to complain about. Sometimes it's a little buggy when signing out and trying to use on another computer. It will say the license is logged in and occupied elsewhere even though it's clearly been signed out on the other device. When performing a takeoff and a VERY large set of plans it seems to get a little laggy with so many items on the page...could also be due to the power of the computer running the software. It's hard to say. Other than that, there are probably many more features it offers that we aren't taking advantage of, but that's up to us to learn more about what it could do for us.

PlanSwift claims to be the number 1 takeoff software. It's true!

Opmerkingen: I've been using this software for over 6 years now (back at version 8.0). I have customized the export to excel and created a fully automatic system where I use PlanSwift for the super fast take off features, then export it into my customized excel worksheet which makes everything instantly calculated the way I want it with instant and automatic reports (material order / P.O., field labor budget for the workers in the field, accounting report, financial evaluation of the bid... etc. ALL others will not allow me to do the same. PlanSwift stands alone in the BEST option.

Pluspunten:

Easy to learn. Dead on accurate. Super easy to navigate. Also... you can learn how to customize PlanSwift to give you the Export into Excel anyway you would like. No limitations. No other software has this feature. PRICE: Seems high but remember... this is a ONE TIME PURCHASE (no annual fees). Saves a TON of money compared to others who charge an up front fee PLUS their annual fee .

Minpunten:

I can't find anything wrong with this software. Everything others lack, PlanSwift has it included. Again... I haven't found another digital takeoff software that even comes close. I would recommend this one and let readers know you can buy with confidence.

Mario's Review

Pluspunten:

When it comes to estimating, I have not used a better software for quantity take-off on plans. You have the option to purchase packages that fit the scope of work of your company, or if you want to save money, you can build the assemblies yourself for free.

Minpunten:

The only thing that needs to be optimized is the time it takes to import PDF plans and convert it to a TIF file when setting up a new job. A 100 page PDF might take up to 30 minutes to import and convert.

EC using Planswift versus others

Opmerkingen: Good, little glitches here and there, appreciate the ability to float the license from terminal to terminal

Pluspunten:

Value of the product and intuitive design for getting started for a beginner, easy to teach

Minpunten:

Autocount is not very accurate It would be good to see some feature that auto-centers your takeoff mark over the object since you can fly through a takeoff if you could rely on the computer to center your marks, somehow integrated with the OCR it should be able to do that

Very In Depth and User Friendly Software

Opmerkingen: You can not beat the detail and functionality of Planswift. It is an excellent program for the price and is very menu driven, but the support and error issues leave a lot to be desired.

Pluspunten:

The tools to build parts and assemblies are extremely detailed and allow for accurate takeoffs! Great customization capabilities and reporting features.

Minpunten:

Takeoff images require a lot of storage. Customer service is not very helpful and kept crashing. Ultimately, we made the decision to switch to STACK which has been a good experience this far...

Review of Product Software

Opmerkingen: The best software available for construction estimating and project management

Pluspunten:

Planswift is easy to use and functional for our roofing business. We like the simplicity of inputting our custom assemblies that integrate with the job costing feature and project management component of the software. We use Planswift every day to ensure our success in estimating and bidding new projects.

Minpunten:

Because the software is so high powered, it takes some training to get up to speed with all the functionality of it but its well worth the time invested to learn it well!

Use of Planswift for marking plans

Pluspunten:

Able to verify points to get correct lengths, snap point to point, define width of wall.

Minpunten:

This software does not work well on the database on Dropbox, lots of errors if 2 people are in it at the same time or if you have multiple instances open at the same time.

Good program but crappy service

Opmerkingen: I have had Planswift for years. Great program, saves time for sure, however, it can be hard to get a hold of them with questions and unless you pay yearly for maintenance for every call in, they will NOT help you. I loaded up a print and the edge is cut off. Unless I pay them more money they will NOT DO A THING. Have had no luck finding a solution online, that is the only reason I called. I would strongly recommend looking around before buying this program.

Pluspunten:

Saves time and therefore money good program easy enough to use pretty accurate, rare to come up with short amounts

Minpunten:

Pay for help, or receive none some aspects can be hard to use takes time to learn to use properly.

Great On-Screen Takeoff Tool

Opmerkingen: We started using this product to save money on plans and expedite the takeoff process. We still use our own excel-based estimating template, but the software allows us to quickly takeoff and add/subtract sections from the estimate with ease and without having to commit to print a full plan set without first being awarded the job. The accuracy is close to what we get for counts with a scale and excel line items.

Pluspunten:

The takeoff interface is much easier to use than On-Screen that I have used. Most commands and different functions can all be performed with the mouse and keyboard in a very streamlined and user-friendly manner. It also always you to use and arc function to measure arc distances. The area and linear takeoff/deduct items are very useful as long as you know what exactly you are looking for.

Minpunten:

It is very easy to make a mistake in your takeoff of the elevations if you don't keep track of the floor plans and returns into the building as well. It requires you to be as thorough as if you were taking it off by hand, but the measuring and recording parts become much easier. You must still learn all wall types and details to no make a mistake. A 3D software would take into account returns into the building and wall backups/details that are sometimes hard to keep track of in 2D.

Effective 2D Takeoff Software

Opmerkingen: I would highly recommend it as a tool to save costs on plan for things like budgets or for companies making their first leap into on-screen takeoffs rather than old school plans and scaling/highlighting.

Pluspunten:

Ease of use for point and click, dimension scaling and calibration, elevation markups, text bubbles and snapshots for RFIs, no annual license fee if you so choose to not receive updates, cheapest entry price of any software

Minpunten:

Estimating software leaves a lot to be desired. The inputs and functions you can use don't always cover your entire needs and leaves us using Excel with our house made matrix to estimate. Sometimes plans with large file sizes crash the software, but could be due to our own RAM constraints (8 GB).

Problems with planswift

Opmerkingen: Over all it is a pretty good program I use it on a daily basis.

Pluspunten:

Easy to use, I like the many features and the overall functionality. The value is pretty good accept for the fact that you can no longer download previous versions.

Minpunten:

Program crashes frequently Gets really slow when using Joist tool Sometimes when I do a measuring tool it skips back to another page. Don't like the way the program jumps around like when you start a takeoff item it will jump to another corner of the plans.

Honest Review

Opmerkingen: Great. Getting quotes out in no time

Pluspunten:

It will allow you to take off plans in a fraction of the time compared to doing it with pen and paper. It can export all of your takeoff to Excel and makes sending quotes a breeze.

Minpunten:

That i did not find out about this software sooner

Good Software

Opmerkingen: Loved it!

Pluspunten:

I like the accessibility and features. With the right coding to design the tools, this software makes the job a lot easier. The joist/rafter tool is great!

Minpunten:

I did not like the time it takes to make the tools. You can buy packages if you want.

Planswift Review

Opmerkingen: This product features an easy to use takeoff program, combined with a not so easy to use estimating program. Out of all the different software programs that I have seen this is the easiest but it still takes some getting used to. There is not a manual or go to guide so you have to rely on youtube if you have a problem. The main company has been bought out by another so now they stopped the plugin feature for now which tailors the programs to your specific needs. It's a great program but I personally would like a few features added to the program to make it easier to use. TIP: Th hardest part for me was the estimating. Look careful to see which method of takeoff you select( LINEAR-straight lines, or AREA- length times width) and then look to how the material or PART is priced. It will say (priced by square feet), or it might say (priced by each), or (priced by linear foot). If it says "priced by square feet" then you must put the "price each" as the price per square foot. If it says "priced each" then it means to put the "price each" as a price for the whole part or the whole board).

Pluspunten:

Takeoff easy to use great for anyone integrated wit excel comes stock with your standard parts or materials that you will use

Minpunten:

If you have different heights on walls you have to make a new line item for each wall that has a different height.

PlanSwift - end user

Opmerkingen: We needed to quickly generate takeoff estimates for new home projects in order to provide bids to our builders. Also need to handle large plan sets when builders change models. The software replaced a manual "paper & pencil" method with handmade customs scales made for each builder - which changed over time. The software allows for much more precise estimates and changes to material types made easily and quickly. Also, able to generate material order sheets for suppliers.

Pluspunten:

A wide array of file formats supported for importing plans from builders and its potential for integrating with other construction management and collaboration tools.

Minpunten:

Software is hard-coded to call Internet Explorer and ignore other browsers, even if the default is set in Windows. Project files are saved by default in the Program Files (x86)\PlanSwift10\subdirectories - poor design choice! It takes some tinkering to redirect the default save locations.