Pay per project takeoff software, and the other ways to skip the contract.

Is there pay per project takeoff software with no subscription?

Disclosure first: Pilars publishes this page and is one of the products on it. Pilars is a monthly subscription, so if a true per-job price is what you need, the products to look at are the others in the table below.

Pricing reviewed 13 November 2026, based on public documentation as of Nov 2026. Active Takeoff pricing was last checked in September 2026. Klorra AI, ConstructConnect, Active Takeoff, STACK, Togal.AI, Beam AI, Kreo, PlanSwift and Exayard are trademarks of their owners; this is an independent comparison published by Pilars.

Pay as you go takeoff: the five pricing models compared

What "takeoff software, no subscription" can mean

People who search for takeoff software without an annual contract are usually after one of five things, and they are priced very differently.

True pay per project

You pay when there is a job and nothing when there is not. Klorra AI is the clearest published example: $299 per bid, with a full bid returned in about four hours. It is aimed at custom home builders, so a commercial electrical sub is not its customer. Klorra also sells a $329 monthly plan for builders who bid more often.

Takeoff as a service, by quote

ConstructConnect Takeoff-as-a-Service is described as "pay per project, per trade, no annual contract". Somebody else does the takeoff and sends it back. The catch for budgeting is that no price is published, so you cannot compare it to anything until you have a quote. Beam AI also offers done-for-you takeoffs with a 24 to 72 hour turnaround, but as an annual licence from $25,000, which is a commitment and not pay as you go.

One-time licence

Active Takeoff is a Windows desktop tool with a single-user licence listed at $299, bought once. Over five years nothing on this page costs less. What you own is a manual tool, though. You still click every count and trace every wall, so the saving is on software and not on hours. Whether PlanSwift still sells perpetual licences is something we could not confirm from the vendor; its pricing page now shows annual tiers at $2,000 and $3,000.

Free tier

STACK offers a free version of its takeoff and estimating product. A free tier is the lowest-risk way to find out whether you will use takeoff software at all, and for a shop that measures a few sheets a quarter it may be all that is needed. STACK's paid plans are listed "as low as $299 per user per month", and its pricing page does not state the billing term, so ask before you upgrade.

Month-to-month subscription

This is still a subscription, without the twelve-month lock-in. Exayard bills its $99 and $249 per user plans monthly, with AI usage metered by credits, so heavy use can cost more than the seat price. Pilars is $300 per user per month with one trade per user and unlimited takeoffs, and it can be billed monthly or annually.

For contrast, the best-known AI takeoff products are annual commitments. Togal.AI is $299 per user per month billed yearly. Kreo bills annually only. Beam AI sells annual licences from $8,000 per trade for its self-serve tier.

Per bid or flat monthly: a guide by bid volume

The fair way to compare a per-bid price with a flat month is to count your bids. Using the one published per-bid price, $299, against a flat $300 per user per month:

So a per-bid price like $299 passes a $300 flat month from the second bid. Some cautions on reading that table:

• The two prices buy different things. Klorra's $299 returns a priced bid for a custom home. A Pilars user gets quantities for one trade on any number of plan sets. The table compares pricing models, not like-for-like products.
• Quiet months favour per bid. A builder who bids six jobs a year pays $1,794 at $299 a bid. Twelve months of a flat $300 subscription is $3,600. If your volume is that low, pay per project or a free tier is the right call.
• Trades multiply on Pilars. A Pilars user covers one trade. Two trades is two users at $600 a month, three users is $900 a month ($10,800 a year) and five users is $1,500 a month ($18,000 a year). A GC who wants many trades taken off should price it that way.
• Several options here cost less than Pilars. Active Takeoff at $299 once, STACK's free version and Exayard's $99 plan are all cheaper, and PlanSwift at $2,000 to $3,000 a year is cheaper per seat as well. They are tools the estimator drives by hand or pays for by the credit. The Pilars case is that the software does the first pass, not that it costs less.
• The licence is the small number. A manual commercial takeoff runs 40 to 80 hours. Whichever model you choose, the hours it saves or fails to save outweigh the difference in the table.

There is a wider price survey at takeoff software pricing.

Where Pilars sits: flat monthly, not pay per project

To be plain about it, Pilars does not sell takeoffs by the project. The price is $300 per user per month. Each user picks one trade and can run unlimited takeoffs in it, with no cap on projects, plan sets or sheets, and the price does not move with volume. Billing is monthly or annual, so no annual contract is required. Here is what that buys.

• Control when you want it. Pilars runs the takeoff automatically, but nothing is locked. Open any detection and change it: reclassify a wall type, add or remove a device, adjust a boundary or a quantity, and the totals update. The first pass is the software's and the final say is the estimator's.
• Speed. The plan set and spec book are read in minutes. Nobody draws or clicks the first pass, and there is no service queue. Beam AI's done-for-you tier, by comparison, quotes 24 to 72 hours.
• Benchmark-backed counting. In the one test we have published, duplex receptacle counts on one real power plan, Pilars scored 97.5%, Togal 84% and Attentive, the maker of Beam AI, 65%. That is one task on one sheet, not a general accuracy figure.
• 19 trades. Electrical, plumbing, HVAC, fire protection, drywall, concrete and the rest. Togal is architectural-first, and Beam AI's self-serve licence covers HVAC, plumbing and steel only.
• No meter. There are no credits and no per-project fee. An estimator who bids ten jobs in a month pays the same $300 as one who bids two.

There is no permanent free tier. Pilars will run a takeoff on your own drawings before you buy; start at the live demo, and pricing has the details.

Which model fits which shop

Best for: Klorra AI is the pick for custom home builders who bid occasionally. Active Takeoff is the pick if owning a manual tool is the whole goal. Pilars is the pick for a trade estimator bidding two or more jobs a month who wants an automated, editable first pass without an annual contract. Togal.AI is the pick for daily floor-plan takeoff volume across architectural scope, if a yearly term is acceptable.

Questions estimators actually ask