On-Screen Takeoff

Great estimating tool

Comments: Easy to record and keep takeoff and pass to other colleagues, if needed.

Pros:

Ease of use and the ability to record and track every takeoff.

Cons:

The software is a little pricy compared to competitors such as Bluebeam, but worth the extra.

Used to be the bomb!

Comments: I used it regularly for more than 2 years and the company considered me a 'power user. Unfortunately, when I changed companies, I could not justify the pricing for the result it produced compared to other programs available now.

Pros:

I't fairly easy to learn and integrate. It's visual and it's fairly robust. If you also pay for QuickBids, it integrates well with that. The tech help service is outstanding.

Cons:

It's limited on what it can do. It must convert a PDF file, with it's rich underset of information, to a TIF file, which is just an overlay. The reports are basic at best and there is no help with modifying those at all.

Outdated

Pros:

OnScreen Takeoff Typical Groups works well - I don't know any other software that has this function. Very helpful for apartment takeoffs.

Cons:

Software has become outdated. OnCenter is very slow to respond to problems with their software. Several problems discussed with their technical department are known, but they state that in their opinion these issues, some of which can actually result in incorrect bids, are not critical enough to warrant repair. I suggest being extremely careful when using OnScreen and QuickBid interactively. Note that Windows 10 has more issues that older versions of Windows - Oncenter is not keeping up. DON'T GET A NEW COMUTER! OnCenter is not keeping up with innovation that other software companies. Adding notes is cumbersome - in OnScreen they get in the way of doing takeoffs. In QuickBid they easily become buried in the bid and get missed. Adding drawing numbers and names function in OnScreen Takeoff does not work well. Revising drawings to TIFF is outdated. Programs do not work well interactively and also bog down on large bids.

The best estimating software in the industry

Comments: I use on-screen takeoff daily as an estimator. Overall, it is feature heavy and a great step forward from classic estimating.

Pros:

The scaling feature allows you to easily get a proper scale with just one measurement on the prints.

Cons:

Sometimes the databases can crash, losing hours of work. Another feature I wish it had was preconstructed conditions so you wouldn't have to build them.

On Screen Takeoff

Comments: It is a good software for simple takeoffs. Counting widgets, or measuring lines, and areas. Other than that, not much use.

Pros:

Easy to do simple measurements and counts. The various levels and labels are nice, also being able to change colors makes it easy to differentiate between items.

Cons:

It adds an extra stem to the takeoff process. You have to upload pdf's into the program, and then organize them before you can work on them. In lieu of just opening a pdf, and measuring items instantly.

Works well Easy to use

Comments: Allows drawing takeoffs to be completed very quickly.

Pros:

Captures take off data which is easily inserted into excel for you to use in a standard spreadsheet.

Cons:

It is not truly backwards compatible. Newer takeoff data will not work in an older version of the software.

A standard in the Construction industry

Comments: Overall good experience. Construction companies typically have to use different pieces of software that do similar things when working with joint ventures and contractors, but OST is one of the most used pieces of estimating software. From an administrative side, the licensing system is a little clunky if you are hosting your own license server. This is not uncommon though.

Pros:

Many useful features, Quick and accurate general estimating tools, Good support.

Cons:

It takes some "use time" to get a hang of all the features and functions OST comes with.

LOVE IT!

Pros:

I use this product everyday, it is the simply the best when doing take off's on something that does not have a scale. The custom scale aspect is the best part and time saver! It saves time from me having to walk jobs, I simply put it in On-Screen and do that take off. It gives me the correct square footage and cost of what the job will. Very user friendly!

Cons:

None, once you learn it, it is probably the easiest tool to use in your arsenal!

Onscreen Takeoff for estimating

Comments: We have used Onscreen in the past for doing Heavy Civil construction takeoffs, linear footages, areas, and counts. Its easy to organize various groups. Changing line styles and colors makes the organization process easier as well. Overall it is a great tool to use for estimating. Many functions are 1 push button to start and change, which saves time throughout the process.

Pros:

The best part of this software is the user friendly features for what it is designed for. Doing various takeoffs.

Cons:

The process for importing and exporting files can be a bit tedious in comparison to other takeoff programs.

On-screen takeoff is fairly simple to use and allows you to create a takeoff quickly.

Comments: Fairly simple takeoffs and easy to present the data.

Pros:

Simple to set a scale and create a takeoff. The ease of use make the learning curve easy to overcome. The printable reports make presenting the data simple and professional.

Cons:

On-screen, while simple, can sometimes be limited in capability. The tools are there to educate yourself in the software but it still takes time to learn all of the capabilities.

It may have it's weaknesses, but overall it's great!

Comments: I began using On-Screen On-Center Take-off is Feb. 2016. Overall the program is great. Its fairly simple to import and manage drawings, create conditions, and quantify areas. I am sure there are many features which I fail to use to their potential, but learning to make the system work of me and the types of take-offs I perform was quick. There is very little learning curve, and if you have any questions their Customer Support Tools are incredible. I enter a question and typically receive a call from a person within hours. They are very knowledgeable and helpful. The program has its weaknesses. One huge weakness is it's tolerance. When using the measure tool the tolerance is to the nearest inch. There is no way to adjust this, which can mean rejection of material and a lot of jobsite labor in our particular field (Stone). Also, exporting to excel could be clearer, but overall it's pretty helpful.

Pros:

Ability to create various types of conditions, in various types of materials, in various areas, and being able to calculate various types of information from one condition (sq. of one side & top & total lf, Average tile count & overall sf, etc.). Ability to import various file types, PDF, AutoCAD, etc. Ability to export to Excel. Ability to label conditions & include conditions legends, creating a helpful Take-off maps for bids.

Cons:

Inability to tighten tolerances. Inability to label linear conditions. Inability to increase the size of the font on condition labels. Excel Export could be much cleaner. Inabiliy to create non-grid tile layouts.

Using OST we are able to perform take offs much quicker than using a ruler or than digitize(ing).

Comments: Can probably do triple the amount of estimating than before.

Pros:

Ease of use and how easy it is to review work. Being able to assign different take offs to different area's makes breaking out bids for alternates very easy.

Cons:

I would like to be able to "crop" or cut all take offs to assign them into an area. For example, if the portion of a building becomes an alternate after the takeoff was performed. I would like to slice each take off to break out each area. Right now you can select multiple takeoffs and reassign but if you select say a wall that was one take off but you want it to be cut in half you have to delete it and redo the takeoff.

Best takeoff software on the market today

Comments: Before buying I compared this, E-Takeoff, Planswift, and Bluebeam takeoffs. This was hands down the best option.

Pros:

Easy and intuitive to use. Some examples are- same copy paste functions as every other windows program, bulk copy (multiple takeoffs), fast plan loading, and a user interface that flows nicely.

Cons:

Somewhat complicated to learn, the overall process makes sense, but you need to follow the steps to the letter.

Poor customer service.

Comments: I have been an On-Screen Takeoff user since 2008. The program is well designed, but the company has made the program non-macintosh user-friendly. I used the program in a Virtual Environment without issue for 8 years, and then OST stopped allowing the program to be utilized in a virtual environment (Parallels Desktop). They now require you to have a Windows Machine running License Manager (at all times) to utilize their product. Simply unacceptable. They have no regard for their Customer.

Pros:

The product is well designed and easy to use (except for the what is necessary to run the program on a virtual environment).

Cons:

Cannot run the program in a Virtual Environment.

Essential Construction Takeoff tool

Comments: Overall, we are using OST as our primary estimating takeoff solution. Our team has enjoyed its use.

Pros:

This software is extremely intuitive, easy to use, and accurate. I have used various takeoff tools and this product has always been the best.

Cons:

I wish the software came preloaded with takeoff items rather than having to create them or buy a database of items.

The On-Center Suite is very easy to use and versatile.

Comments: Fast and accurate take-offs and estimates.

Pros:

The take-off and estimating software is much simpler to use and faster than other software I have used. This allows me to bid more jobs while maintaining a high level of accuracy.

Cons:

The shortfall of this software in my opinion is that it doesn't have a native accounting companion. Other software suites offer an accounting component built-in which is a great way to tie your whole company together. The export functions are not quite good enough to accomplish that.

Our full office functions on OST and we enjoy it thoroughly!

Comments: easy take offs

Pros:

We like most that it is pretty user-friendly and easy to train on. The Customer Support has been amazing every time we've called.

Cons:

Conversions can at times be slow and renaming pages is very difficult compared to other products we have used.

OST Fair Product

Comments: Overall the program is good and is sufficient for what we need to do. However, it would be more beneficial to us once we are able to operate the software off a cloud based platform.

Pros:

I like that the baseline version of the software is fairly simple to use and is a good basic takeoff software. It's nice that you can share licenses among users for those whom may not be in it consistently.

Cons:

The software is not cloud based. We are limited on usage on our server due to the level in which the software is capable of connecting to our primary takeoff software. They say they will be cloud based soon.

On-Screen Takeoff for Estimators

Comments: I use it almost everyday of the week for all my 2D takeoff. Roadwork's paving, kerbing (curbing), stormwater, sewer and water reticulation takeoffs just to name a few. Very easy to use once you set up some basic library items. It also has the capability of downloading directly into my Estimating Software.

Pros:

Ease of use - lengths, areas - or both at the same time.

Cons:

Needs a better custom scale box - the one it has is "clunky".

my experience is that this helps me do a more accurate takeoff

Comments: It takes the place of me having to have an estimator. The support is very helpful.

Pros:

the flexability of being able to copy pages and do different things that helps me be able to look at different pricing

Cons:

When taking off walls I build my assemblies in notes. I would like to see this to be able to go into quick bid and my assembly be there.

OST new feature to change page names, needs a lot of work just takes forever about 10 minutes to change name in 35 pages and after is finish is not even right.

Comments: thinking of possible move to Planswift

Pros:

i been using it for ten years OST Takeoff and Quick bid it seems to work fine but i just require substantial time to synchronize both products

Cons:

to expensive and you have to use quick bid to complement the product, data does not work seamlessly with Masterbuilders 100

OST is very helpful!!

Pros:

I honestly could not be as productive working as a metal framing & GWB subcontractor without this software! The ease of use and saving capabilities is very helpful in projects we bid & manage.

Cons:

Not very many cons at all, possibly just leaning to use it takes a bit of time.

Great for Construction Contractors!

Comments: I have used OST for residential and commercial construction projects. It has been a great tool for general estimating. However, whenever I had projects which are very specialized, this software did not help much. for example mechanical/electrical station construction. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for something to start in estimating and costing.

Pros:

The ease of use for this software is one of the important features that it has. You do not need to have all the technical knowledge regarding estimating for using this. It has been great software for all kinds of estimates. I can manage my drawings, create multiple layers, and group the quantities within few clicks to get perfect quantities. It is very fast, does not require much of a space on hard drive and works perfectly!

Cons:

This software does not support Building Information Modelling (BIM). You can only get the quantities from this software. It does not identify CAD files and does not have a smart algorithm to identify the elements. You have to click, drag and set everything up manually. It does not do automated quantity recognition.

On Screen Review

Comments: I use On Screen every day performing concrete estimating. On Screen allows me to move swiftly through my take offs saving valuable time.

Pros:

That you can dump directly into a spreadsheet

Cons:

needs to be a little easier to simply write words or notes on the drawings.

Alex's Review

Comments: My experience has been good with On-Screen Takeoff. This program has made my job much easier and more accurate. Everyone with On Center has been very kind in helping me gain the knowledge to use the program to the best of my abilities.

Pros:

The software made estimating much easier do to portability. Everything is very easy to navigate on the software after going through the recommended training.

Cons:

I would like to see the program implement a better system to count angles of duct such as 45 and 90 degree angles. As of right now i have been using a circle and putting it into the middle of these angles. I'd like to see the program improve by coloring the entire piece of the duct.