BidBreak vs. a spreadsheet
Scale ruler and Excel, or a first pass done for you?
For most 1–20 person trade shops, the real alternative to BidBreak isn’t other software. It’s a stack of drawings, a scale ruler, a spreadsheet and a deadline.
| Spreadsheet takeoff | BidBreak | |
|---|---|---|
| Takeoff | You count and measure every item off the drawings by hand. | BidBreak reads the drawing set and builds the line items for your trade. You check and adjust. |
| Material takeoff | Built by hand, if there’s time, and rarely kept up to date. | A material takeoff with quantities and sheet references comes with every estimate, so you have backup when vendor numbers come in. |
| Scope, clarifications & exclusions | Typed from memory or an old bid, so things get missed. | Written for each job from the drawings, ready to edit. |
| RFIs | Questions live in your head or a notepad. | Missing information becomes an RFI list, with due-date reminders. |
| Proposal | Copy numbers from the spreadsheet into a Word template. | A proposal PDF comes out of the same estimate, with fabrication / installation splits if you want them. |
| Cost | Free, but it costs your evenings. | First estimate free. Plans from $59/month, or $20 for a single estimate. |
Do I have to stop using my spreadsheet?
No. Plenty of shops run BidBreak for the first pass and keep their own pricing sheet to check it. Every number in BidBreak can be changed before anything goes out.
Is it accurate enough to send?
You review every line first. That’s the point: BidBreak does the counting so your time goes into checking scope and pricing, not starting from a blank sheet.
Try it on a job you’ve already bid by hand and compare.
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