Beam AI vs OpenTakeoff
Beam AI
ibeam.aiOpenTakeoff
opentakeoff.kentucky-ai.comSide by side
| Figure | Beam AI | OpenTakeoff |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $666.67/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 8 | 3 |
| Spec score · Construction Takeoff Software | 8.7 (#10) | 8.6 (#11) |
| Exports | Takeoff results can be exported as PDF, Excel reports or shareable links. | The app exports CSV, Excel and marked PDF files. |
| Support | The pricing page includes a dedicated support team in the listed plans, and enterprise support is offered in person and online. | Users can contact Michael Edlin by email or open a support issue; the policy notes that GitHub issues are public. |
| Supported trades | The product lists HVAC, plumbing, concrete, electrical, steel, civil, utilities, roofing, flooring, painting, masonry, demolition, landscaping, paving and snow work among its supported trades. | Although built for flooring, the maker says the measuring engine is also used for drywall, paint, tile, concrete and electrical work. |
| What it does | Beam AI automates construction and field-service quantity takeoffs from PDF plans, specifications, legends, supporting documents and aerial imagery. | OpenTakeoff measures construction-plan quantities for human estimators in a browser canvas and for AI agents through MCP. |
Plans
Beam AI
- Do It Yourself - Construction plans$8,000 a year
- Do It Yourself – Construction plans$8,000 a year
- Done For You - Aerial images$10,000 a year
- Done For You – Aerial images$10,000 a year
- Done For You - Construction plans$25,000 a year
- Done For You – Construction plans$25,000 a year
- EnterprisePriced on request
- Enterprise planPriced on request
In their own words
OpenTakeoff
OpenTakeoff measures quantities from building plans through a browser canvas for people and an MCP server for AI agents. Its browser app opens PDF, PNG, JPEG and ZIP plan files, processing them locally without an account or plan upload. Measurements include square feet, square yards, linear feet and each, with waste-adjusted order quantities, supporting-material lists and roll-goods cuts. Exports include CSV, Excel, JSON, PDF and DXF. Drawing OCR is supported. The MCP server runs through `npx -y opentakeoff-mcp` and works with Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor and other stdio MCP clients; agent measurements need a person’s approval in the browser canvas. The default workspace keeps plans, measurements, annotations, materials and project settings in browser storage on the device. Optional connections include Google Drive, Microsoft 365, configured AI providers and a scanned-schedule service that can send a selected image to Google Gemini. OpenTakeoff is free, with no account required, and Apache-2.0 licensed. It runs on web, Linux, macOS and Windows, with an API and self-hosting options. One-Click Area is temporarily gated, and the default MCP build does not register room-detection verbs.