If you’re looking for construction estimating software in the UK, you’ve probably noticed there’s a lot of it. Some is built for large QS firms, some for housebuilders, some for specialist trades. Very little is built specifically for the small-to-medium UK contractor who just wants to price jobs quickly and accurately.
This guide cuts through the noise and compares the main options available to UK contractors in 2026.
What to Look For in Construction Estimating Software
Before comparing products, it’s worth being clear about what actually matters:
- Speed — how quickly can you produce a quote from a new enquiry?
- Accuracy — does the software use current UK prices, or static databases?
- UK-specific — does it understand UK trade terminology, suppliers, and regional pricing?
- Ease of use — can your team use it without training, on any device?
- Full workflow — does it go beyond the estimate to acceptance, PO, and job management?
- Cost — what does it actually cost per month, per user?
The Main Options in 2026
PricingPro
Best for: UK contractors of all sizes, from sole traders to larger firms. Also the only platform with a white-label option for builders merchants.
PricingPro is purpose-built for the UK market. It generates estimates from a plain English job description or uploaded drawings — whichever you have — using live prices from 100+ UK suppliers including Jewson, Travis Perkins, Selco, Wickes, and Toolstation. Prices are updated multiple times per day.
What sets it apart is the AI’s construction knowledge. It’s trained on tens of thousands of real UK jobs, so it understands what a loft conversion or rear extension actually involves — not just what’s described. It fills in the detail you’d otherwise have to calculate manually.
The full workflow goes from estimate to online client acceptance to purchase order to job sheet — all in one platform.
Pricing: Free plan (1 estimate/month), Standard £79.99/month (100 estimates). Enterprise pricing for merchants and white-label.
Limitations: Relatively new product — fewer third-party integrations than established competitors.
Buildxact
Best for: Residential builders and contractors wanting a comprehensive job management system alongside estimating.
Buildxact is well-established in the UK market and offers estimating alongside project management, scheduling, and client communication tools. Its estimating workflow is template-based — you build up assemblies and rates over time.
The software is solid but the estimating itself is manual: you set up your own rates and use the templates you’ve built. It doesn’t use live UK supplier prices. The learning curve is significant.
Pricing: Starts around £159/month (1 user). Multi-user plans cost more.
Limitations: Expensive for small firms. No live UK material pricing. Requires significant setup before it’s useful.
EstimatorXpress
Best for: Housebuilders, volume builders, and contractors who work primarily from drawings.
EstimatorXpress is a long-established UK product that has been in the market for 20+ years. It’s a desktop application with a web component. Strong at producing detailed estimates from drawings and BOQs. The material database is regularly updated by their team.
The interface is dated compared to modern web apps. It’s designed for more experienced estimators and doesn’t have the AI-driven ease of use that newer platforms offer.
Pricing: Varies by licence type — typically £1,200–£3,000/year.
Limitations: Desktop-first, dated UX. No live supplier price feeds. Not suited to mobile use on site.
Kreo
Best for: Main contractors and QS professionals who work from detailed architectural drawings.
Kreo is an AI-powered takeoff and estimating platform built around BIM and PDF plan analysis. Upload your drawings and Kreo’s AI automatically detects and measures elements — walls, floors, openings — and uses those measurements to build a bill of quantities.
It’s impressive technology but requires detailed architectural drawings to work. It’s aimed at larger firms and QS practices rather than small contractors. No live UK supplier pricing.
Pricing: From around £250/month per user.
Limitations: Requires drawings — can’t work from a plain English description. Expensive. More suited to QS professionals than general contractors.
STACK
Best for: Contractors who work heavily from PDF drawings and want a digital takeoff tool.
STACK is primarily a digital takeoff tool — you upload drawings and measure quantities on screen. It integrates with some estimating workflows but is fundamentally a measurement tool rather than a full estimating platform.
It’s a US product that has expanded into the UK market. No UK-specific pricing data. No live supplier feeds.
Pricing: Around £2,500/year for a full licence.
Limitations: Primarily a takeoff tool, not a full estimating platform. US-centric. No live UK pricing.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | PricingPro | Buildxact | EstimatorXpress | Kreo | STACK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plain English input (no drawings needed) | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Drawing upload / takeoff | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Live UK supplier prices | ✅ | ❌ | Partial | ❌ | ❌ |
| UK-trained AI | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | Partial | ❌ |
| Mobile-friendly | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | Partial | Partial |
| Estimate → PO → job sheet | ✅ | ✅ | Partial | ❌ | ❌ |
| White-label for merchants | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Starting price (per month) | Free / £79.99 | ~£159 | ~£100 | ~£250 | ~£210 |
Our Recommendation
For most UK contractors — especially those doing residential work, extensions, loft conversions, refurbishments, and ground-up builds under £2m — PricingPro is the most accessible and cost-effective option. The combination of plain English input, live UK prices, and full workflow from estimate to purchase order is unique in the market.
If you’re a larger firm with a dedicated QS team and work primarily from architectural drawings, Kreo or EstimatorXpress may suit your workflow better.
If you want full job management alongside estimating and are willing to invest time in setup, Buildxact is worth evaluating.