On-Screen Takeoff® Reviews & Insights

Score7.3 out of 10

39 Reviews and Ratings

Community insights

TrustRadius Insights for On-Screen Takeoff are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.

Pros

Speed: Many users have noted that the software significantly increases the speed of the estimating process. Several reviewers have mentioned that it allows them to break down projects into manageable pieces, resulting in more efficient workflows.

Ease of Use: The ease of use of the software has been praised by numerous users. They appreciate that it enables widespread adoption throughout their organizations without the need for extensive training. This user-friendly nature has made it easy for both experienced and novice estimators to quickly learn and navigate the software.

Versatility: The versatility of the software is frequently highlighted by users. It has proven effective for a wide range of projects, from large-scale building takeoffs to smaller tasks like sidewalks. This adaptability makes it a valuable tool for estimators working on various types and sizes of construction projects.

Reviews

15 Reviews

On-Screen takeoff has been a standard for us and is an excellent fit.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

May 12, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

This has been our standard Takeoff software for over 15 years. It is a key part of our estimating workflow.

Pros

Easy to use
Excellent technical support
Flexible licensing

Cons

I would like to see an option for fully cloud-based. With most workers working from home, this is becoming critical.

Likelihood to Recommend

On-Screen Takeoff is a tried and true system. We currently create a database for each project, but the system does support a single database for multiple projects. We are a medium-sized business, so this suits us well. However, I'm not sure how well it scales to larger orgs.

Verified User

C-Level Executive in Information Technology (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

15 years of experience

Watch yourself work

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

February 25, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We utilize On-Screen Takeoff from start to finish on all projects.

Pros

Increases the speed of the estimating process
Allows us to break down the project into manageable pieces

Cons

It would be nice if you could select an object that occurs on multiple sheets, copy, and paste it into change orders or alternates.
If you could search for where a certain condition is being used (which sheet) and go directly to that page or pages, that would be cool.

Likelihood to Recommend

I would recommend On-Screen Takeoff to any contractor that is not using it for estimating purposes. It helps the process in so many ways.
I guess if it was something straightforward, it might not be the most cost-effective solution. For what we do, it is indispensable.

Kyle Montague

Senior Estimator in Sales at Spacecon Specialty Contractors, LLC. (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

20 years of experience

On-Screen Takeoff - Is a great product for reading prints and preparing quotes

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

February 15, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use it to read prints and prepare quotes for clients.

Pros

Read Prints
On Screen Measuring to verify plans

Cons

Switching between different sheets of the plan set

Likelihood to Recommend

It is an excellent product for reading plans to prepare bids and validate field information.

Howar Vogin

Director of Sales and Marketing in Sales at Broten Garage Door Sales (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

4 years of experience

On-Screen Takeoff is the standard to beat

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

January 23, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use it to gather quantities from construction drawings to help compile a comprehensive estimate that includes current market pricing and quantities based off of those gathered.

Pros

It speeds up the bidding process of construction projects.
It simplifies our job as estimators and allows us to accurately compile large amounts of content as well as allowing us to navigate drawings easier.

Cons

Only one individual is allowed into a project at a given time.
As file sizes get larger the project will begin to slow down.

Likelihood to Recommend

Being able to quantify every detail of a construction project via the contract documents and drawings and compiling it all in one place to be used in an estimate or distributed to subcontractors is something you can't really put a value on.

Verified User

Employee (501-1000 employees)

Vetted Review

6 years of experience

Takeoff Super Software

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

January 21, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We largely use On-Screen Takeoff in our estimating department to put together our estimates for bid proposals, but we also have a number of others who use this software within the company. Our self performed concrete department uses it for their estimates and for planning their order quantities. We also have a number of project managers and project engineers that will use the software every now and then for verifying a proposed quantity or amount from a trade partner. Overall it is most heavily used in our estimating department but it has provided a lot of benefits throughout our organization.

Pros

The biggest thing for me is that it is so easy to use, which allows it to be used widely throughout our organization without a lot of intense training.
Another great thing is that it does not matter how big or little the scope of the take off may be, it works just as well for a whole 12 story building take off as it does for a stretch of sidewalk.

Cons

I think it would be great if it could work on a file from a shared central location rather than from the local computer's files.
I would also like to see some more options for how I can export data to excel or other files for analysis and reporting.

Likelihood to Recommend

On-Screen Takeoff is well suited for the large majority of tasks that involve gathering quantities and amounts from plans and drawings. It is so versatile and flexible that it does not matter the project type or scale the software is going to make your takeoff production rates much higher than with most other software. I have found that there are a few cases that may not justify getting a license for the software since the scope and accuracy of the take offs required are so minimal and relaxed that another simple or free software may be a more economical choice.

christian Maxwell

Project Engineer at Okland Construction (501-1000 employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

On-Screen Takeoff saves time and provides quality output

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

January 14, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our use of On-Screen Takeoff allows us to accurately and effectively put together estimates and cross check subcontractor values. With On-Screen Takeoff our pre-construction process can fill in holes that would otherwise be guesses. Not only can we dial in the quantity values, but we can then communicate these values to our subcontractors as needed. The ability to combine multiple takeoff functions into a single takeoff condition also speeds up the process enabling us to meet accelerated timeframes.

Pros

Quantity Takeoff
Organization
Visual representation of project

Cons

User interface is dated
The functionality is intuitive to a point, but advanced features required digging and training.

Likelihood to Recommend

Estimating and pre-construction where quantities are required are the focus of On-Screen Takeoff. There is a fantastic color coding and legend available to embed in the sheets, enabling clear communication of scope and values to both owners and subcontractors. I feel the clarity provided in these takeoff sheets cannot be as well provided by other software.

Verified User

Employee in Sales (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

8 years of experience

On-Screen Takeoff: Great for Conceptual Estimates!

Rating: 7 out of 10

Incentivized

February 7, 2019

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use On-Screen Takeoff to gather quantities of material. Mostly everyone who is involved in the day-to-day process of putting together bids & creating RFIs uses it. It is very beneficial for conceptual estimating as well. The software does a phenomenal job of keeping everything organized from the space you are analyzing and different trades of work—keeping the quantities in an itemized printable list making it easy for anyone to comprehend.

Pros

Organization
Creating visuals for separation of spaces
User-friendliness

Cons

The software is a little out of date
Display of drawings could be improved tremendously
It would be nice if the software knew different steel shape weights to do a complete steel tonnage takeoff

Likelihood to Recommend

On-Screen Takeoff is great for less detailed drawings and conceptual estimate exercises. It can get hard to read markups on the drawings when there are a lot of different finishes, however. It is not that great for getting quantities for structural steel or structural concrete because there are not any weights in this software for different materials. It is very bad for collaboration among a project team of several members for the simple fact that the Takeoff file can only be saved to your computer. There is no live option for On-Screen which leaves room for mistakes and not looking at the most updated quantities.

Verified User

Employee (1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

Utilize On-Screen Takeoff so you can takeoff more time!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

February 4, 2019

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We as general contractors use On-Screen Takeoff to gather quantities from drawings produced by architects. We can apply these quantities with unit costs in order to estimate a budget for the project. We are also able to compare these quantities with subcontractors to ensure that the budget is accurate.

Pros

Gathering quantities i.e. areas, counts, linear, etc.
Grouping these quantities as desired
Getting the quantities gathered in a timely fashion

Cons

How documents are uploaded to the program. On-Screen Takeoff will locate the files from whatever path you originally save it to. Therefore, if you move the location of the document, OST will not be able to open your project until the path is redirected.
Taking off curved shapes.
If you could apply a unit cost to a quantity, it would eliminate the need to export takeoff to Excel.
It would be nice to be able to apply a different scale to the same page i.e. if there are two different details on a drawing at two different scales, I have to duplicate the sheet and make sure I make each sheet scale to the specific detail on the sheet.

Likelihood to Recommend

Well suited to takeoff quantities needed from construction documents. Many short cuts and easy to learn program. It is even effective in creating visuals for communication, i.e. can label things, color code, have the takeoff numbers on the sheet in a legend, etc. It is less appropriate to try to format the outputs in a spread sheet - will need to export to excel. It is not the best tool for constructability reviews.

Verified User

Employee in Professional Services (1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

OST Is For Me

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

December 18, 2018

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Estimators and project managers use On-Screen Takeoff to get accurate counts to either order products that we directly purchase ourselves or to verify quantities that subcontractors provide us for ordering products or qualifying their bids. In instances where sub pricing is substantially different from bid to bid, doing takeoffs in-house is a great way to help level the sub's proposals.

Pros

User-friendly and easy to learn. You can sit down and figure out how to do simple takeoffs and counts with minimal training.
It is very accurate and it is great that you can do several calculations for each condition you make.
The colors and shapes provide a great visible audit trail.
The layering feature helps from keeping the screen too busy if you are doing several conditions on one page.
The worksheet tab keeps tallies of all the takeoffs from each page nicely.

Cons

The backout mode feature can be a pain sometimes if you are trying to get real close to the edge of the takeoff you made and are trying to delete from.
If you create a project then move the file, you are screwed.

Likelihood to Recommend

Well suited if you order a lot of product for your projects because the visible audit trail makes counting easier. If you are a subcontractor and you set up assemblies to the conditions you will know exact quantities of materials for whatever condition you are measuring.

In a way it is almost too good because having too accurate of counts for bidding purposes can make your bid too high and you won't win the work!

Verified User

Project Manager (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

6 years of experience

Powerful and Efficient

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

December 11, 2018

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

On-Screen Takeoff is the preeminent takeoff software. On-Screen Takeoff has incredible capabilities for cross calculations, complex divisions of quantities and back calculations from 2D plans. With On-Screen Takeoff's database abilities, we are able to save ourselves dozens of man-hours every bid by having our conditions pre-organized, pre-created, and with automatic layers built in. To take your estimates to the next level, On-Screen Takeoff is a must.

Pros

Takeoff
Calculating by area
Calculating by bid package

Cons

Using more than one of their sectioning tools at once. For instance, you must use a typical areas and zones to get areas within areas
Tutorials - On-Screen Takeoff has an amazing depth of features but their tutorial videos barely scrape the surface

Likelihood to Recommend

On-Screen Takeoff shines for any situation where you want higher consistency and accuracy from your estimates. Between their features such as zones, areas, typical groups, style sets and databases, On-Screen Takeoff allows your estimating team to fly. If you're willing to put in the upfront time to educate and build your workflows, On-Screen Takeoff gives companies the ability to assemble estimates and perform hand-offs seamlessly.

Aaron Graves

Estimator in Professional Services at Power Construction (201-500 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

Loading Reviews List....

Takeoff Super Software

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

January 21, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

The biggest thing for me is that it is so easy to use, which allows it to be used widely throughout our organization without a lot of intense training.
Another great thing is that it does not matter how big or little the scope of the take off may be, it works just as well for a whole 12 story building take off as it does for a stretch of sidewalk.

Cons

I think it would be great if it could work on a file from a shared central location rather than from the local computer's files.
I would also like to see some more options for how I can export data to excel or other files for analysis and reporting.

Likelihood to Recommend

christian Maxwell

Project Engineer at Okland Construction (501-1000 employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience