What is Beam AI, and who is Attentive.ai?

What is Beam AI takeoff?

The short version of the idea behind it: most takeoff software gives an estimator a faster way to measure. Beam AI takes the measuring away. You send drawings and get quantities back, with estimates and bid management available in the same platform.

One source of confusion is worth clearing up early. Beam AI for construction lives at ibeam.ai. A different company at beam.ai builds general-purpose AI agents and has nothing to do with takeoff. If you have seen "Beam AI" quoted with a free tier or a price around $50 a month, that is the other company.

Pricing reviewed 13 November 2026, based on public documentation as of Nov 2026. Beam AI and Attentive.ai are trademarks of their owner; this is an independent explainer published by Pilars, which also makes takeoff software.

Beam AI's three tiers compared

An Enterprise tier is also listed with custom pricing. These are published starting prices; the vendor quotes the final figure.

How does Beam AI work?

On the done-for-you tier, which is the core of the product, the process looks like this from the customer's side.

1. You upload the plan set through the web platform and tell Beam AI which trade and scope you need.
2. Beam AI's software produces the takeoff and a quality-assurance team checks it before it is released.
3. The completed takeoff comes back within the quoted window of 24 to 72 hours.
4. You use the quantities to price the job, either in your own estimating system or with the estimating and bid management features in the platform.

The standard done-for-you licence allows up to two takeoffs in progress at once. If you bid in waves, that limit and the turnaround window together set how far ahead you have to plan.

The Do It Yourself tier is different in kind. There the estimator operates the software directly, without the service queue. It is offered for HVAC, plumbing and steel, not for every trade.

What is Attentive.ai?

Attentive.ai is the company behind Beam AI. As of November 2026 its website lists two offerings: Beam AI, the takeoff product described here, and BIM CoPilot, a managed BIM service. If you see the names used interchangeably in a review or a forum thread, the writer nearly always means the takeoff product. A search for "Attentive AI takeoff" and a search for "Beam AI construction" land on the same thing.

Is Beam AI legit?

Yes. Beam AI is a real commercial product with a named vendor, published pricing tiers and customer reviews on the main software directories. Third-party listings report ratings of about 4.9 out of 5 on G2 and Capterra from roughly 30 reviews. That is a small sample, so read it as a good sign, not as proof. Reviewers mention a learning curve in getting the workflow set up.

The question underneath "is Beam AI legit" is usually a different one: can I trust a takeoff I did not produce? That depends on how you check it. Any takeoff, from a service, from software or from a junior estimator, should be spot-checked against the sheets before it carries a bid. Ask the vendor how quantities are tied back to the drawings, how revisions and addenda are handled, and what happens when you dispute a number. Then run a set you have already taken off by hand and compare.

Who Beam AI suits, and who it does not

Good fit. A subcontractor or general contractor whose estimators are overloaded and who would hire takeoff help if they could find it. A firm with steady, predictable bid volume, so that an annual licence is used all year. A landscape, snow or paving contractor who measures properties from above and does not work from plan sets.

Poor fit. A small shop that bids a handful of jobs a quarter and cannot justify a five-figure annual commitment. An estimator who works to short deadlines and cannot give up one to three days per takeoff. Someone outside HVAC, plumbing and steel who wants to drive the software personally, since the self-serve tier stops at those three trades. Anyone who wants to try the tool on one job before signing anything annual.

For the cost side in more depth, see Beam AI pricing. For a fuller assessment of strengths and weaknesses, see the Beam AI review.

How Beam AI compares, and if you would rather run the takeoff yourself

AI takeoff products fall into three rough groups. Service-first products such as Beam AI do the work for you. Assisted tools such as Togal.ai give the estimator AI detection to run and finish inside a takeoff workspace, at $299 per user per month billed annually; the two are compared at Togal vs Beam AI. The third group is automated software that produces the whole first pass and leaves the review to you.

Pilars, which publishes this page, is in the third group. It reads the plan set and spec book together and returns quantities in minutes across 19 trades. The estimator can open any detection and change it, and the totals update, so nothing has to go back to a service team. The price is $300 per user per month, with each user covering one trade and unlimited takeoffs. That is $3,600 a year, against Beam AI's $8,000 starting price for a self-serve trade licence. In one published test, a duplex receptacle count on a real power plan, Pilars scored 97.5% and Attentive scored 65%; that is a single sheet, and the method is on the benchmark page.

Pilars does not do the takeoff for you and does not measure from aerial imagery. If either of those is what you are after, Beam AI is the better match. The two are set side by side at Pilars vs Attentive.ai.

Questions estimators actually ask