AI estimating for commercial subcontractors
AI reads the plans.
You own the number.
Upload a commercial plan set and get a complete, evidence-linked bill of material — every quantity traceable to a sheet, every AI suggestion reviewed by you, every price from a real vendor quote.
Private preview — free while we onboard early plumbing contractors.
Built for the way estimators actually work
Takeoff software counts what you click. Bid Buddy reads the documents first — then puts you in charge of everything that becomes a number.
Reads the whole set
Sheet index, schedules, keyed notes and specifications — every page classified, every schedule row extracted with the sheet it came from.
Finds every symbol
Fixtures and equipment located on the plans with a box you can see — reviewed one by one, never counted behind your back.
Measures, never guesses
Scale read from the printed dimensions and cross-checked against the title block. Pipe runs traced from the vector geometry — deterministic math, not model output.
Evidence-linked BOM
Every line answers "where did that come from?" — click through to the exact sheet, schedule row or traced run behind the quantity.
You own the number
AI never sets a price, a labor hour, a markup or your bid. Vendor quotes become price books; the final number is deterministic arithmetic you approve.
Every trade, one plan set
Plumbing first — HVAC, sheet metal, mechanical and electrical share the same documents with separate takeoffs, pricing and bids.
Upload to bid, five steps
Your review time goes where it matters: the exceptions, not the routine.
Why the human stays in charge
We tested frontier AI models head-to-head on the same real plan set. Their bids spread almost 3× apart — and the most polished output was the furthest off. That experiment is why Bid Buddy is built the way it is:
Pricing
Pilot program One trade per company account. Pilot partners bid unlimited work while we prove the product together — billing starts only when it has earned its keep.
Bid Buddy Plumbing
$2,000 /mo per company
A digital estimating department for your plumbing bids.
- Every estimator on your team
- Unlimited projects & plan pages
- Every page read for plumbing scope
- Evidence-linked takeoff & material list
- Vendor quotes, price & labor libraries
- Guided onboarding with your own data
Bid Buddy HVAC
$2,000 /mo per company
The same estimating department, tuned for mechanical.
- Every estimator on your team
- Unlimited projects & plan pages
- Every page read for HVAC scope
- Equipment schedules & takeoff
- Vendor quotes, price & labor libraries
- Guided onboarding with your own data
Questions estimators ask
What does Bid Buddy do?
Bid Buddy is AI estimating software for commercial subcontractors. You upload a commercial plan set; it reads every sheet, extracts the schedules, locates fixtures and equipment, and builds a bill of material where every quantity links back to the sheet, schedule row or traced pipe run it came from.
Does the AI set my prices or my bid?
No. AI never sets a price, a labor hour, a markup or the final bid. Prices come from your vendor quotes, which become dated price books where the newest quote wins, and totals are deterministic arithmetic.
How accurate is AI takeoff?
Bid Buddy is built so you never take accuracy on faith. By default every AI-proposed line waits for your review with a link to its evidence, and there is no Approve All button; automatic approval of verified, high-confidence lines is a setting you opt into. Scale comes from the scale printed on each sheet, and a pipe length the app has not measured is marked as unmeasured, never estimated.
Why not ask a general AI model to estimate the job?
We tried. Given the same real commercial plumbing plan set, three general-purpose AI models all bid above the number that won the job, and their bids were more than 2.5 times apart. The most detailed workbook was the furthest off. That result is why Bid Buddy keeps pricing and approval with the estimator.
How is Bid Buddy different from takeoff software?
Takeoff software counts what you click. Bid Buddy reads the documents first: it classifies every page, pulls every schedule row with the sheet it came from, and proposes counts and pipe runs for you to check. You still make every call that becomes a number.
Which trades does it support?
Plumbing is live today in a private pilot. HVAC is not open yet. Each company account covers one trade.
What do I upload, and what do I get back?
Upload the plans, specifications and addenda as PDFs; each file is stored once and deduplicated. You get an evidence-linked material list to review line by line, request-for-quote PDFs for your vendors, and a proposal PDF built from the totals you approved.
How much does Bid Buddy cost?
Bid Buddy Plumbing and Bid Buddy HVAC are each $2,000 per month per company, covering every estimator on your team and unlimited projects and plan pages. During the pilot program it is free for early plumbing contractors; billing starts only when it has earned its keep.
Bid your next job with the plans actually read
Set up your company in two minutes. Upload a plan set. See what it finds.