How much does takeoff software cost? (UK, 2026)
Published on 10 July 2026, updated 5 August 2026
In short: published UK prices in 2026 run from about £25 per user per month at the small end to £2,988 per seat per year, plus a £5,000 joining cost, at the enterprise end. The more useful finding is how many vendors publish nothing at all: of the tools a UK estimator is likely to shortlist, six give you a contact form instead of a figure. What you should pay depends far more on the size of your firm than on any tool being better.
What the published prices actually are
Every figure below is taken from the vendor's own public pricing page, or from their listing on the UK government's G-Cloud framework where they sell through it. Checked 4 August 2026. Prices change, so treat this as a starting point and confirm before you buy.
| Tool | Published price | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Kestrel™ | £25 a month, or £200 a year | Per user, plus VAT. One plan, every feature. |
| Kreo | £25, £50 or £125 | Per user per month, billed annually, by tier. |
| Bluebeam Revu | £264 to £588 | Per user per year across four tiers, tax-inclusive. |
| HBXL EstimatorXpress | From £899 | The page does not state whether this is annual or one-off. |
| Esti-mate | From £1,515 | Purchase price plus an annual licence fee, excluding VAT. |
| Causeway Estimating | £2,400 | Per named user per year, excluding VAT (G-Cloud). |
| Access ConQuest | £2,988 plus £5,000 | Per seat per year, plus an initial licence cost (G-Cloud). |
STACK, PlanSwift and Cubit publish prices in US or Australian dollars only, so they are left out rather than converted at a rate that would be out of date by the time you read this.
The ones that will not tell you
Six tools an estimator might reasonably shortlist publish no price at all: Countfire, Chalkstring, Masterbill, RIB CostX, Buildsoft Cubit's UK arm, and PlanSwift's UK licence. Countfire is the clearest example, where the /pricing address redirects to a contact form. This is a normal enterprise sales model rather than anything underhand, but it has a practical consequence for a small firm: you cannot compare, you cannot budget, and you have to take a sales call to find out whether the tool is even in your range. If your buying process is "work out what this costs on a Sunday evening", a tool without a public price has effectively excluded you.
How takeoff software is usually priced
Most tools use one of a few models. A monthly or annual subscription per user is the norm. Larger platforms lean towards annual commitments and per-seat licensing, often with a "request a quote" process rather than a published price. A few sell a one-off licence, and many now bundle or charge separately for AI features. For a like-for-like look at what these tools actually do, rather than what they charge, see our best construction takeoff software in the UK roundup.
The costs that do not show on the price page
- Per-seat multipliers. A "low" monthly price is per user, so a small team multiplies it quickly.
- Annual lock-in. Some contracts tie you in for a year whether the tool suits you or not.
- Paid add-ons. The feature you actually need can sit behind a higher tier.
- Training time. Software that takes days to learn is a real cost, even when the licence looks cheap.
- AI charges. Bundled AI can carry a markup; a bring-your-own-key model lets you pay the provider directly at cost.
What a small practice should expect to pay
If you are a solo estimator, a small QS practice or a sub-contractor measuring your own work, you should not need an enterprise contract. Look for a clear published price, a genuine free trial you can run on a real drawing, and no long lock-in. The right tool for a small firm is one whose cost is obvious before you speak to anyone.
What Kestrel™ costs
Kestrel is priced for smaller practices: £25 per month plus VAT, or £200 per year plus VAT, with a 14-day free trial. One plan includes every feature, for one user on one machine, with optional bring-your-own-key AI, which means you pay the AI provider directly for what you use instead of a marked-up bundle. We built it as a working UK estimating firm and use it on live jobs: it is a Windows desktop tool that measures off the PDF and exports an NRM2 Bill of Quantities to Excel. See pricing or download Kestrel to try it.