Quotr.ai vs Beam AI: AI Takeoff and Estimating Compared (2026)
Quotr.ai and Beam AI are the same kind of tool: AI construction takeoff products that each give you two ways to work, software your team runs and a done-for-you option when you’d rather hand a bid off. They split the work differently, though. Beam AI is built for fast automated takeoff across many trades. Quotr.ai goes past takeoff into estimating and bidding, returns a priced estimate from its done-for-you desk, and adds an AI assistant that answers questions about your plans.
Here is how the two compare on turnaround, estimating, the AI assistant, trade coverage, and pricing.
Which tool is right for you
Choose Quotr.ai if:
- You want more than quantities. Estimating and bidding are built into the same tool, so a takeoff becomes a priced number without re-keying into another system.
- You want a done-for-you option that returns a priced, decision-ready estimate, not just quantities you still have to price yourself.
- You want an AI assistant you can ask about your plans in plain language, that can run a takeoff for you or guide an estimator through one.
- You want published, predictable pricing and a free trial before you commit.
- You bid across electrical, concrete, drywall, flooring, and HVAC and want one workspace for all of it.
Choose Beam AI if:
- Your priority is the fastest automated takeoff, especially HVAC, mechanical, plumbing, and steel.
- You would rather outsource broad scopes entirely and are happy to get QA’d quantities back in 24 to 72 hours.
- Your estimating and pricing already work downstream, and you mainly need reliable quantities feeding them.
- You want bid-tracking tooling from the same vendor as your takeoff.
Quotr.ai vs Beam AI at a glance
| Decision criteria | Quotr.ai ai | Beam AI |
|---|---|---|
| Core deliverable | Takeoff plus a priced estimate | Takeoff quantities |
| Self-serve software | AI takeoff, estimating, and bidding you run | Automated AI takeoff you run |
| Done-for-you option | Senior cost estimators return a priced estimate (3–4 business days; pro forma 2–3) | AI plus a review team return QA’d quantities (24–72 hours) |
| AI assistant | Ask plan questions in plain language; run a takeoff or guide an estimator through one, cited to the sheet | Confirm with Beam what its product includes |
| Estimating | Built in (your cost data or a database) | Extending into it; today returns quantities to price in your tools |
| Trade coverage | Electrical, concrete, drywall, flooring, HVAC | Broad; HVAC/mechanical live, plumbing and steel rolling out |
| Takeoff | 95–99% on clean vector PDFs (internal benchmarking), confidence-scored | Fast automated takeoff (HVAC/mechanical in ~10 min, per Attentive.ai) |
| Pricing | Lite $79/seat/mo; Plus $299; Enterprise custom; Service per project; 7-day trial | Quote-based (not public) |
| Scale | $1.2B+ estimated through the platform | 1,200+ contractors, 500,000+ takeoffs (Attentive.ai) |
| Best fit | Teams wanting takeoff plus estimating and a priced done-for-you option | Teams wanting fast automated takeoff or fully outsourced quantities |
What each tool does well
Quotr.ai strengths
- Takeoff that flows into a priced estimate and bid in one tool, with no re-keying between systems.
- A done-for-you desk staffed by senior cost estimators that returns a decision-ready priced number, not just quantities.
- An AI assistant that answers plan questions (cited to the sheet) and can run a takeoff or guide an estimator through one.
- Confidence-scored AI takeoff, 95 to 99% on clean vector PDFs in internal benchmarking, with an audit trail back to the drawing.
- Published pricing from $79 per seat and a 7-day free trial.
Beam AI strengths
- Fast automated takeoff, HVAC and mechanical in about 10 minutes by Attentive.ai’s figures.
- A genuine fully-outsourced option, QA’d quantities returned in 24 to 72 hours, when nobody is free to run the takeoff.
- Broad trade coverage, including MEP and steel.
- Bid-tracking tooling alongside takeoff.
- Well-funded and widely adopted: a $30.5M Series B in late 2025 (Insight Partners) and 500,000+ completed takeoffs, by Attentive.ai’s count.
The AI assistant for your plan set
The feature that most sets Quotr.ai apart here is its AI assistant. It works the way people now expect AI to work: you ask it questions.
Open your plan set and ask in plain language, the same way you would ask ChatGPT, and it answers from the actual drawings, cited to the exact sheet. “How many receptacles on level 2?” “What is the ceiling height in the lobby?” “Which sheet has the panel schedule?” You get the answer without scrolling a 60-page set by hand.
It works two ways, depending on what you need:
- Guided. The assistant walks an estimator through the takeoff one step at a time, pointing to what to measure and where to find it. Useful when an experienced estimator wants a faster pass, or when someone newer is getting up to speed on a set.
- Automated. The assistant runs the takeoff itself and returns it with per-item confidence scores, so you review the flagged items instead of counting from scratch. Either way, the estimator stays in control: the assistant does the clicking and the counting, and the person checks the work and applies the judgement that wins the bid.
The done-for-you option service, head to head
Both tools offer a done-for-you path, so that is the cleanest direct comparison.
| Quotr.ai Service | Beam AI (done-for-you) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who does it | Senior in-house cost estimators | AI plus a review team |
| Turnaround | Cost estimate 3–4 business days; pro forma 2–3 | QA’d takeoffs ~24–72 hours |
| What you get back | A priced estimate or pro forma, decision-ready | QA’d quantities, estimate-ready |
| Pricing | Per project, scoped up front | Quote-based |
| If you also run it yourself | Software plus the AI assistant, in-house | Beam’s automated AI takeoff software |
Beam can be faster to a raw quantity set. Quotr.ai Service returns a priced number from a senior estimator, which is a step closer to a submitted bid. Which matters more depends on whether you want quantities back, or a priced number you can act on.
When Beam AI is the better pick
Trade coverage and raw takeoff speed are the clearest reasons to choose Beam. Its instant takeoffs are tuned to HVAC, mechanical, plumbing, and steel, and its wider platform reaches MEP, civil, and utility scopes. If most of your bids run through those trades, Beam is pointed at that work in a way worth taking seriously.
Staffing is the other one. If you have no estimator to put on takeoff at all and want broad scopes fully outsourced, Beam’s done-for-you path returns QA’d quantities in 24 to 72 hours, and its bid-tracking tools sit alongside the takeoff. Quotr.ai’s answer to that same staffing problem is Quotr.ai Service, but Beam’s automated speed on MEP and steel is a real strength, and an honest comparison should say so.
The proof behind Quotr.ai’s numbers
- Takeoff speed: contractors using Quotr.ai cut takeoff time by up to 80%, from roughly 20 hours to one or two on a typical set.
- Accuracy: 95 to 99% on clean vector PDFs in internal benchmarking, measured against estimator-verified manual counts, with per-item confidence scores.
- Scale: over $1.2 billion in cumulative construction value estimated through the platform.
- Bid volume: customers report about 40% more bids per month.
- A named example: RL Electric replaced manual PDF symbol-counting with Quotr.ai’s AI takeoff. (Speed, scale, and bid-volume figures from Quotr.ai’s $4M seed-round announcement; accuracy from internal benchmarking. Confirm current before publishing.)
Try it on your own plans
Upload a plan set and run a real takeoff, estimate, and bid in one session, or hand a bid to Quotr.ai Service and compare what comes back. Start a free trial, explore Quotr.ai Service, or talk to our team.
Quotr.ai vs Beam AI: common questions
What is the difference between Quotr.ai and Beam AI?
Both are AI construction takeoff tools offering automated software you run yourself plus a done-for-you option. Beam AI leads on fast automated takeoff at scale across many trades. Quotr.ai goes wider: estimating and bidding are built in, its done-for-you desk returns a priced estimate rather than just quantities, and its AI assistant can run a takeoff or guide an estimator through one. Quotr.ai publishes its pricing; Beam’s is quote-based.
Does Quotr.ai have a done-for-you option like Beam?
Yes, and it returns more. Quotr.ai Service is staffed by senior in-house cost estimators who deliver a priced, decision-ready cost estimate in 3 to 4 business days or a pro forma in 2 to 3, scoped per project. Beam returns takeoff quantities you still have to price; Quotr.ai Service returns the priced number.
Can I ask Quotr.ai questions about my plans?
Yes. Quotr.ai’s AI assistant reads your plan set, so you can ask in plain language, such as a device count, a room dimension, or which sheet holds a detail, and it answers cited to the exact sheet. It can run the takeoff for you, or guide an estimator through one step by step.
How much do Quotr.ai and Beam AI cost?
Quotr.ai publishes pricing: Lite $79 per seat per month, Plus $299, Enterprise custom, with a 7-day trial; Quotr.ai Service is priced per project. Beam AI’s pricing is quote-based and not public, so you will need to contact them for a number.
How accurate is Quotr.ai’s AI takeoff?
Quotr.ai benchmarks 95 to 99% accuracy on clean vector PDFs internally, with confidence scores flagging which items to review. An estimator checks the low-confidence items before the bid goes out.
Which trades do they cover?
Both are multi-trade. Beam’s automated takeoff has HVAC and mechanical live with plumbing and steel rolling out, and its broader platform reaches MEP, civil, and utility work. Quotr.ai is used across electrical, concrete, drywall, flooring, and HVAC.
About the author
By Xian Li, Cost Estimator at Quotr.ai. Xian estimates real construction projects on the platform day to day, which is the lens this comparison is written through: not which tool has the longest feature list, but which one an estimator can actually bid faster with.
