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BuilderGrid vs. BuildXact
BuildXact is built around the bid. BuilderGrid is built around what happens after the bid wins. Here is how to tell which one fits your week.
Side-by-side comparison
| Dimension | BuildXact | BuilderGrid |
|---|---|---|
| Origin and focus | Australian roots, now active in the US; estimating and takeoff is the core | Built for residential builders running multiple active projects in the US |
| Pricing model | Per-user subscription, tiered by features and seats | Per active project; field staff and office staff included; no per-seat upcharge |
| Best for | Bid-heavy residential and light commercial builders whose week is consumed by estimates | Builders whose week is consumed by draws, lender packaging, and field discipline |
| Takeoff | On-screen takeoff with PDF measurement and shape tools, mature workflow | Not a takeoff product; line items come from the estimate or are imported |
| Estimating | Strong, with supplier price lists and live material pricing integrations | Schedule-of-values driven; estimating is lighter and ties directly into draws |
| Material supplier integrations | A primary differentiator; live catalogs from major suppliers | Vendor list and PO workflow, no live supplier-catalog integration today |
| Draw management | Basic progress claims; lender packages assembled outside the tool | AIA-style draw packages generated from line items, lender-ready PDF, audit trail |
| Lien waivers | Not a focus; templates handled outside the platform | State-specific statutory templates, e-signed, attached to the draw automatically |
| Validation engine | None | Rule engine plus LLM cross-check on duplicates, quantities, missing waivers |
| Field operations | Light; the product centers on the office and the bid | Field-first surfaces with weather pre-fill, three-photo minimum, offline tolerance |
Where BuildXact is the right answer
Builders whose primary friction is winning the bid get genuine value from BuildXact. The takeoff workflow is mature, the supplier integrations save real hours on material pricing, and the estimating database compounds over time. If the bottleneck is "we cannot bid fast enough", BuildXact is the better starting point and we will say so.
Where BuilderGrid is the right answer
Builders whose primary friction is everything that happens after the bid wins. Draw 3 sitting on a desk because the waivers are not signed, the lender package taking a day to assemble, the spreadsheet drifting from the field. BuilderGrid is built around the post-bid lifecycle, and the validation engine and AIA packaging are where the time comes back.
How to decide
Open the last three projects and count the hours spent on bidding versus the hours spent on draws and field reconciliation. If bidding is the larger pile, BuildXact. If draws and reconciliation are the larger pile, BuilderGrid. Some builders run both, with BuildXact for the estimate and BuilderGrid taking over once the project is awarded.
Frequently asked
- Does BuilderGrid include takeoff tools?
- No. BuilderGrid is not a takeoff product and we do not pretend to be one. Builders who need on-screen takeoff with PDF measurement use BuildXact, PlanSwift, or a similar tool, then bring the line items into BuilderGrid for the post-award workflow.
- Can I migrate from BuildXact to BuilderGrid?
- Yes. The schedule of values, vendor list, and project documents export from BuildXact in standard formats and import cleanly. Estimate templates and supplier-pricing histories do not have a one-to-one mapping, since BuilderGrid does not maintain the same supplier catalog model.
- Can I run BuildXact for estimating and BuilderGrid for execution?
- That is a common pattern with bid-heavy builders. BuildXact owns the bid and the takeoff. Once the project is awarded, the schedule of values moves into BuilderGrid and the draw, waiver, and field workflows take over from there. Both products coexist without conflict.
- Why does BuilderGrid not build supplier catalog integrations?
- Because the builders we serve report that supplier-catalog pricing is the second or third pain point, behind draws and lien waivers. Building a competitive supplier-integration network is a multi-year investment, and we have chosen to stay focused on the post-bid lifecycle where the time savings are largest for our target customer.