Togal vs PlanSwift.
A year ago this was AI against a mouse. It is not that simple now: PlanSwift ships its own AI tools, costs less per seat than Togal, and still builds the estimate. Togal still wins on platform and on having nothing to install. Here is how the two line up in late 2026.
Togal vs PlanSwift: which is the better buy in 2026?
Togal.AI is browser-based AI takeoff at $299 per user per month billed annually ($3,588 a year), and it produces quantities only. PlanSwift is a Windows desktop takeoff and estimating tool at $2,000 a year (Essential) or $3,000 a year (Core, with full Takeoff BOOST AI) per seat. Togal suits GCs and interior trades on any operating system who price elsewhere; PlanSwift suits Windows shops that rely on assemblies and Excel and want AI added to a tool they already know.
Togal publishes a "Togal vs PlanSwift" page and PlanSwift's owner, ConstructConnect, publishes comparisons of its own. Each is accurate about the other's weak spots and quiet about its own. Reading both, the real differences come down to three things: where the software runs, what it does after measuring, and how much of the AI sits in the price you were quoted.
Pricing reviewed 13 November 2026, based on public documentation as of November 2026. Togal.AI and PlanSwift are trademarks of their owners; this is an independent comparison.
Togal and PlanSwift at a glance
| Togal.AI | PlanSwift | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | AI-assisted takeoff only | Point-and-click takeoff plus estimating with trade assemblies, now with Takeoff BOOST AI tools |
| Who reads the drawings | AI first pass; the estimator reviews | The estimator, with Auto Count and Auto Scale on Essential and Auto Takeoff on Core |
| Platform | Browser, any operating system | 64-bit Windows only. A Mac needs Boot Camp or a Windows virtual machine |
| Pricing model | Per user, billed yearly | Per seat, per year. Discounts for extra seats, volume pricing at 10 or more |
| Public price | $299 per user per month ($3,588 a year). 4 or more users: custom | Essential $2,000 a year. Core $3,000 a year |
| Trial | None listed; demo booking | 14-day free trial, no card |
| Best for | GCs and interior trades, Mac or mixed-device teams, high takeoff volume | Windows estimators who want assemblies, Excel integration and a priced estimate |
PlanSwift has AI now, and that changes the comparison
Most comparisons still describe PlanSwift as purely manual. That was true until this year. ConstructConnect announced Takeoff BOOST in April 2026 and it is now part of both PlanSwift tiers:
- PlanSwift Essential, $2,000 a year for one seat: Auto Count, Auto Scale and Auto Bookmark, plus two hours of one-on-one training.
- PlanSwift Core, $3,000 a year for one seat: everything in Essential plus Auto Takeoff, the full Takeoff BOOST feature set.
So the like-for-like match for Togal is PlanSwift Core, not Essential. Core is $588 a year cheaper per seat than Togal and includes the estimating side. Togal's counter is maturity and scope: AI takeoff is the entire product, takeoffs are unlimited on the one plan, and plan search by image, symbol or typed question is built in. PlanSwift's AI tools are months old inside a product designed around the mouse. Do not assume the two first passes are equal. Run the same sheet through PlanSwift's trial and a Togal demo and time both, clean-up included.
The ten-year PlanSwift shop: is Togal worth the switch?
If your team has been on PlanSwift for a decade, the software is not really what you would be leaving. You would be leaving your assemblies. A PlanSwift assembly turns one traced wall into studs, track, board, mud, screws and labor, with your own costs behind each line. Togal has nothing like that, because Togal does not estimate. Moving means your quantities come out of Togal as an export and your assemblies have to be rebuilt as spreadsheet formulas or moved to another estimating system.
That is a real cost, and for many established Windows shops the better move is the cheap one: upgrade the seats that do the most takeoff to Core, keep the assemblies, and see how much time Auto Takeoff gives back before changing anything else.
Togal earns the switch in three situations:
- You do not use assemblies. Plenty of PlanSwift users measure in PlanSwift and price in Excel. If that is you, nothing is lost.
- Your people are not all on Windows. PlanSwift's own system requirements say it cannot be installed directly on a Mac. A browser tool ends that conversation.
- You are a GC checking quantities, not building estimates. Precon teams that validate sub numbers across a dozen trades want areas and lengths quickly and do not need the estimating layer.
Three seats, one year
| Setup for three estimators | Annual cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| 3 x Togal Growth | $10,764 | Unlimited AI takeoff in the browser, no estimating |
| 3 x PlanSwift Core | $9,000 before multi-seat discounts | Takeoff, assemblies, estimating, full Takeoff BOOST, Windows only |
| 3 x PlanSwift Essential | $6,000 before multi-seat discounts | Same, with Auto Count and Auto Scale but no Auto Takeoff |
| 1 Core + 2 Essential | $7,000 before multi-seat discounts | One seat does the AI first pass, two do review and pricing |
PlanSwift says extra seats are discounted but does not publish by how much, so the PlanSwift rows are ceilings. Togal's fourth seat moves you to a custom Business quote. Either way the software line is small next to the estimator hours behind it, which is the argument for testing speed on your own drawings instead of choosing on price alone.
Best for: the verdict on each
PlanSwift is the better pick for a Windows-based subcontractor, especially in residential and light commercial work, who wants the takeoff to become a priced estimate through assemblies and an Excel link. It is cheaper per seat, it has a 14-day trial you can start without a card, and it now has AI counting in the base tier. Third-party listings report a Capterra rating of 4.3 from roughly 396 reviews, with the usual complaints being the learning curve, glitches and licensing friction.
Togal is the better pick for general contractors and interior trades (the vendor names painting, drywall, framing, flooring, glazing, and doors and hardware) who need many takeoffs, do not need an estimating database, and want every estimator and outside collaborator to open the job in a browser. Third-party listings report a G2 rating of 4.8 from about 60 reviews; the complaints are manual clean-up of AI output and export rework.
If the deciding factor is the Mac, see PlanSwift for Mac. If it is the money, see PlanSwift pricing and Togal AI pricing.
If you would rather not click at all
Both tools assume an estimator sits in the software for the first pass, tracing in PlanSwift or guiding the AI in Togal. Pilars does that pass without anyone at the mouse. Upload the PDF set and the spec book and, in minutes, the software has read them together, pulled the schedules, counted and measured across every sheet, and returned confidence-scored quantities with sheet references. It runs in a browser, so the Windows question does not come up.
A PlanSwift veteran will want to know whether the result can be corrected. It can: any detection is editable. Change a wall type, remove a count, add a device, adjust a boundary, and the totals follow. The first pass is automated and the estimator signs off on it.
Pilars covers 19 trades from one upload, MEP included, where Togal is architectural-first. It is not the cheap option: $300 per user per month, where a user is one estimator on one trade with unlimited takeoffs, billed monthly or annually. A year at that rate is $3,600, against $3,588 for Togal, $3,000 for PlanSwift Core and $2,000 for PlanSwift Essential. A drywall sub with one estimator pays the same $3,600 whether the shop bids 12 sets or 40, and three users come to $10,800. PlanSwift costs less per seat, so the case for Pilars is the estimator hours the automated first pass gives back. Pilars is not an assemblies engine, so a PlanSwift shop would export the quantities into the pricing workbook it already has.
On accuracy there is one public data point: duplex receptacle counts on one real power plan, 97.5% for Pilars against 84% for Togal, in a test Pilars ran and documented on the benchmark page. PlanSwift was not part of that test. More detail is in Pilars vs PlanSwift and Pilars vs Togal.
Questions estimators actually ask
Is Togal.AI better than PlanSwift for a Windows shop that has used PlanSwift for 10 years?
Usually not, if that shop relies on PlanSwift assemblies and Excel integration, because Togal has no estimating layer to replace them. A long-time PlanSwift shop can first try PlanSwift Core at $3,000 per seat per year, which adds Takeoff BOOST AI, and consider Togal if the team only needs quantities or works on Macs.
Is Togal more expensive than PlanSwift?
Yes, per seat. Togal costs $3,588 per user per year, while PlanSwift Essential is $2,000 and PlanSwift Core is $3,000 per seat per year, based on public pricing reviewed in November 2026.
Does PlanSwift have AI takeoff like Togal?
PlanSwift now includes Takeoff BOOST AI tools. PlanSwift Essential has Auto Count, Auto Scale and Auto Bookmark, and PlanSwift Core adds Auto Takeoff, while Togal includes unlimited automated takeoffs on its single public plan.
Can I use Togal or PlanSwift on a Mac?
Togal runs in a browser, so Togal works on a Mac. PlanSwift is 64-bit Windows only, and PlanSwift documentation says a Mac needs Boot Camp or a Windows virtual machine.
What is the difference between Togal and PlanSwift?
Togal is a browser-based AI takeoff tool that produces quantities and stops there. PlanSwift is a Windows desktop program that combines on-screen takeoff with assemblies and estimating, and added AI tools in 2026.
Should a three-person estimating team choose Togal or PlanSwift?
Three Togal seats cost $10,764 a year and three PlanSwift Core seats cost up to $9,000 a year before multi-seat discounts. PlanSwift is the better value for a Windows team that wants estimating included, and Togal is the better fit for a mixed Mac and PC team that prices in its own spreadsheets.
Is there a takeoff option where the software does the first pass by itself?
Pilars reads the plan set and spec book automatically in the browser across 19 trades, and the estimator can edit any detection before signing off on the quantities. Pilars costs $300 per user per month for one trade with unlimited takeoffs, billed monthly or annually, which is about the same as Togal and more than PlanSwift Core at $3,000 per seat per year.