Looking for free construction estimating software? I have some good news and some bad news.

Free Residential Construction Estimating Software Free
Free Contractor Estimating Software Downloads

The Cost To Build calculator helps you calculate the cost to build your new home or garage. Just select the House or Garage Calculator above then enter the required fields. Cost to build will do the rest and provide you with a cost summary. The cost to build calculator is fast, accurate and it's free to use. Make your selection above to begin.

STACK’s construction cost estimating and free construction software will help you optimize your business. Use our software to:. Accurately estimate materials, equipment, and labor. Streamline your bid process to save time. Leverage an extensive library of pre-built, industry-specific database. CREATE FREE ACCOUNT.
Clear Estimates comes with over 60 templates for common jobs like kitchens, bathrooms, garages, additions, and much more. Just select a template and type in the square footage to get a complete estimate in seconds!
PlanSwift is an easy construction takeoff & estimating software program that makes doing takeoffs a snap, just point-and-click! Calculate Square Footage, Just Point-and-Click!
Easy to use residential construction estimating software Clear Estimates is a cloud-based estimating software that enables you to create professional estimates in minutes and remotely access the proposals from anywhere. This easy to use application provides accurate data and powerful templates to create pitch-perfect and insightful estimates.

To get it out of the way I’ll start with the bad news:

Free software is often more of a cost than it is worth, often coming loaded with ads or worse spyware and viruses. Quality construction software is not simple to create so why would anyone give it away free unless they had other motives.

Many times these free software programs don’t even work or provide wrong answers causing you to need to do all the work you tried to avoid simply to make sure your answers are right. Because these programs are not usually user friendly you can spend a lot of time learning them, inputting numbers only to have it not work.

Enough bad news-Time for the Good News

Free Residential Construction Estimating Software Free

There is one construction estimating software program you can get today for free that is high quality and well built. In fact, it is the number on construction takeoff and estimating software in the industry.

So why is it free?

Because the makers of PlanSwift understand the only way to truly see the advantages of construction estimating software is to use it. They can spend all day talking until they are blue in the face and people still would not understand why they need the program. However, let them use it, see how it can reduce the time to complete estimates to 1/10^th what it was taking, see how accurate the results are, and how powerful the assembly based process is and PlanSwift knows you will understand why over 8,000 companies are already using it.

So to get PlanSwift in the hands of as many people who will benefit from it as possible they are letting anyone use its construction estimating software free for 14 days. Do real estimating with it and see how it will help you.

Managing a construction project is a huge endeavor. When broken out into its parts—project management, bid management, reporting, etc—the entire process can seem overwhelming.

While construction management software offers a holistic solution to all of these problems, it can be expensive (for example, from our own estimations, construction bidding software costs an average of $1,468 and a median of $750).

While I can’t recommend choosing seven different software options to solve seven different problems, these free and open source construction management software quick-fixes can patch up your manual construction processes—without you having to spend a dime. They are listed below in alphabetical order.

2-Plan Project Management Software

As I mentioned in “The Top 6 Free and Open Source Project Management Software for Your Small Business,” 2-Plan is a phenomenal free and open-source project management solution. Their 2-Plan Desktop version is particularly good for construction because it is robust enough to handle complicated projects with tightly-aligned deadlines.

2-Plan Desktop syncs with iOS, offers work breakdown and project breakdown structures, forecasting options, and top-down and bottom-up planning, along with free extensions (risk management is likely most interesting to construction professionals).

Free Contractor Estimating Software Downloads

Unfortunately, like the other options listed above, 2-plan is tough to learn—they offer no support except for an extensive, difficult-to-navigate manual.

Have you used 2-Plan before? Leave a review!

Efficient Calendar Free

For construction companies looking for a lightweight scheduling software application that runs on Windows, Android, and iOS, definitely check out Efficient Calendar Free.

The calendar application is essentially a system that combines calendar functionality, task tracking, and project management in one spot. It’s all locally hosted, which is great for construction companies worried about cloud security issues.

The local hosting can be a problem though; Efficient Calendar does not import .ics files. For people hoping to import their iCalendar, look elsewhere!

Estimate

If you’re a large construction firm with a civil or EPC client base, consider downloading Estimate before shelling out the big bucks for construction estimating software.

Estimate is another free and open source construction software solution for estimating. It’s largely an analytical tool; use it to estimate how long your project will take, do cost analysis, and tender evaluation. Take these features to the next level with industry-specific calculators for electrical, tile, concrete, maintenance, and more, all included in the software.

Estimate complete free package even offers the tools to audit your own business, manage your documents, and control your material resources.

Estimator Application

Want to spend no dollars and zero cents on a cost estimating software? Enter Estimator Application.

It’s not a particularly pretty piece of software—it’s really mostly a spreadsheet with pre-filled out equations largely used by contractors—but it’s a handy tool particularly for construction companies looking to estimate larger projects and use that data to produce proposals. The application syncs with Excel and runs on Java so it can be used from anywhere.

The only drawback of Estimator Application is that it is difficult to learn how to use. There is no support, and the tutorial is somewhat clunky to get through.

GenieBelt

GenieBelt is a fully functional construction management system that costs users absolutely nothing. That’s right: unlimited users and unlimited tasks. Users can opt to pay for more file storage (the free version comes with a hard cap on 50 files and only a one month audit trail), but the software is robust enough to handle most small construction business’ needs.

GenieBelt provides a bird’s eye view of all your projects, visual displays for project progress, document management, tasks, space for drawings, and in-app communication features.

More importantly, GenieBelt’s Android and iPhone apps are just as functional as the main app. Users get notifications on site, can report in, and update tasks while out on the field.

For users who want to upgrade to have more files, storage, and a full audit trail, pricing starts at £20 (about $30) per project per month.

Open Workbench

Open Workbench has gone through many iterations; you may have known it as “Project Manager Workben