Active Takeoff Software

Very easy to use, affordable for a small business. There are not too many out there. Does the trick.

Fast, accurate take offs. Saved a lot of manual time.

Pros

Easy to track the areas you've taken off. I like the tracking table of all the quantities. I like the custom scale as i often get documents without dimensions thus thus is perfect.

Cons

Printing to PDF is a bit clunky as I use parallels on MAC. Would be nice to be able to export table to XL and be able to input unit cost.... maybe you can. It would be good if you could easily go back and edit some units but it seems too hard, maybe i have not figured it out.

A quality product with the most phenomenal customer service.

Take-off accuracy. SPEED!

Pros

The countless array of colors and hatches gives this product a tremendous amount of flexibility. Couple that with the awesome reports and estimating tools and you have a winner!

Cons

I have yet to find anything I dislike about the software. There have been 1 or 2 times where my scroll was slightly jerky but I attribute that to my computer, not the software.

Product is excellent! Their customer service is incredibly responsive and helpful!

Pros

Easy to use and understand. Has lots and lots of features plus it can really help speed up production if you spend the time to tailor it to your needs with their template system.

Cons

Only real flaw I have found is doing takeoffs on radius's can be challenging. Other than that the product runs smooth and does what you need when you need it!

time-saving and very efficient

easy of estimating on time and efficiently

Pros

by using active take-off myself and my team have saved a large amount of time in doing take offs for small to large projects which means we are able to send out for quoting at a faster rate than usual.

by using active take-off it takes away from miscounting any items on the plans and produces a table of quantities on the top of your plans, so when you're ready you can send it straight away to the client or wholesalers.

Cons

I cannot fault any feature on this programme.

it a great simple & easy programme to use and you can make it suit your needs.

Amazing construction software

Pros

Its an amazing construction software where you can work everything digitally on screen and that too less expensive.

Cons

Though this is less expensive not much features available and suitable for simple work and evaluating after work is slow.

Very simple take offs

I was able to use this as my initial take off which was as easy as a 10 out of 10, easy platform, quick take offs.

Pros

How easy it is to use. I was able to install my blue prints with ease. I got accurate measurements. As always with using a new app i get very tense and with Active Takeoff i had no problem.

It does the job, but with some changes and updates, it could be a lot better. I will continute to use it, mostly based on price.

Pros

Price. Obviously you can spend a lot more on similar products. We only do countertops so it gets detailed enough for us and is all we need to spend to do the job.

Cons

Unable to read the font on the main plan sheet page below the pages. There is no way to search for keywords like adobe. Measurements don't show up on small items even after zooming. The report pages are't that easy to read.

Great tool without a huge learning curve.

This is a great tool and I am glad I found it. I am still learning it so I am sure it will get even better once I have all the moves perfected to my needs. The customer support is great. Very timely and helpful. Start with the free trial and a quick lesson. I tried a few different free trials of other types of takeoff software and Active Takeoff won me over. Good price too!

Pros

Customer Support
Ease of Use
Direct and to the point takeoff and reports without the unnecessary bells and whistles.
I like the Export to Excel feature.

Cons

Can get slow and sticky if the page gets too full of takeoff. To counter that you need to create layers and turn them off and on to keep it running smooth.
Length counter is not continuous around bends and angles. Need to start and stop then start again many times for long lengths.
Can't click to next or previous page. You have to go to the plans page and find the page you want to go to next.

Outstanding customer service support, great value for content!

Help out with the time consumption in comparison to a manual take off.

Pros

Every time that we have needed support the Active Takeoff support team has been there to answer our questions with a live technician. It sure feels good to know that there is still support out there without having to be on hold forever. They are working to make there product even more user friendly; I did not grow up using a computer, am old school, paper, pencil, eraser, calculator and arch. ruler, what it took days to do now takes hours. Thank you Active Takeoff, looking forward to your continual updates.

Cons

There is really nothing bad about this product. They are reprogramming some of the features that can allow us to identify the materials being used, but other than that, it is a great product for the value.

This is a very useful tool to perform a takeoffs, easy to use and have an excellent accuracy.

Pros

- Friendly user interface
- Easy to use
- Keep in order all the information.
- Export options to Excel, PDF, Image files, etc.
- Save time, money and paper.
- Reduce errors.

Cons

- Can't open a file created in other computers.
- Lack of tag options.
- Mark zone option should allow drawing different shapes like the area tool.
- Move items between layers are complicated. This should be more like Autocad when you select multiple objects and you want them in one layer, you just select the items and then the layer.

Bye bye AutoCAD.

Pros

+ Much simpler to use than AutoCAD, for roof takeoffs

+ Allows the use of the right-click button

+ Allows the storing of templates, to save more and more time with every takeoff

Cons

- Can't rotate objects

- No arc option

- Cannot resize the Legend

-Can be a bit annoying when trying to get the lines straight, should incorporate the SHIFT button like Illustrator does.

Great Take Off Software

This is one of my favorite take off software programs that I have used. It really comes in handy to get the bids completed faster.

Pros

Easy to up load plans

Cons

Don't really have any

BEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK

tried out the free trial of this and planswift and vu360. the most user firiendly and reliable one was without a doubt active takeoff. the price was half of other competitors and also the annual charge was half. the support is also friendly and reliable and gets back to you really quick. i bought a license about a year ago and getting ready to buy another one for a new estimator in the company.

Pros

USER FRIENDLY AND COST SAVER

Cons

EXPORTING TO EXCEL SOMETIMES MIXES THINGS OR OMITS THINGS

Great product, great service

Not many companies offer the level of service that these guys do. Active takeoff is easy to use, easy to setup and makes tracking estimates effortless. I have used just about every piece of takeoff software out there and this program is by far the best.

Pros

Super easy to setup, tracks all of my takeoff and sort info exactly how I need it in reports.

Cons

Sharing takeoff files from one machine to the next isn't available yet, but I hear that's in the next update. Other than this...The software is flawless.

Best Value Takeoff Software

I've been an estimator using takeoff software for over 10 years and this is definitely the best value takeoff software out there. It's very easy to learn and will definitely increase your takeoff productivity.

Pros

Ease of use. The multiple page layout view is very useful as well.

Cons

I wish there was a separate linear tool that calculates surface area and volume without having to create an extension.

incredible find!

This software is so easy to use once you have it installed. With OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SUPPORT, they really assist when you need it! They are courteous, knowledgeable and respectful to us laymen users that do not know the in's and out's of programming. I am so thrilled that we selected this software over the others. FANTASTIC VALUE!

Pros

Relatively easy to use - I made my first set of counts with less than one hour of training

Cons

Didn't know about the knowledge base at first.

One of the only takeoff options with the ability to record wire drops

Fairly easy to pick up basic functions. Help file is abysmal. Extensions are there, but aren't explained very well. One of the only takeoff programs I've found that can actually record wire drops and rises throughout the run.

Pros

It has electricians in mind. Can record wire runs and has a better organizational structure than Planswift.

Cons

Doesn't have a very detailed help file. Doesn't integrate with any major products except Excel.

Customer Service is *****

I was in a panic this morning when my active takeoff wouldnt boot up, and I have sooo many bids due. Jiraud responded to my inquiry immediately, and had me up and running asap. TOP NOTCH service. Thanks!

Brilliant Software

Pros

I like the ease of use and small learning curve for this software.

Cons

Have not run into any problems as of yet so nothing.

Very good Software

Pros

It was a very easy software to manipulate, I was able to maneuver around easily and show my co workers.

Cons

Nothing really, Over all I was very pleased, I would say maybe the set up was a bit challenging, but that is not the software's fault and luckly we have great IT!