Top AI Development Companies for AI Quoting and Estimation

Slow quoting leaks nearly 5 percent of annual revenue for mid-sized manufacturers and contractors. A company doing $50 million in sales leaves roughly $2.5 million on the table because RFQs sit in queue while estimators manually count symbols, cross-reference spreadsheets, and retype data into systems that do not talk to each other.

RL Electric, an electrical contractor using AI estimating software, cut takeoffs that previously took 20 hours down to 1 to 2 hours. That freed the team to pursue more bids each week without adding headcount.

The companies on this list were selected because they develop AI systems specifically for quoting and estimation workflows, not because they added an estimating landing page to their generic software practice. Each entry covers what they actually build, who they are genuinely suited for, and where their limits are.

1. Octopus Builds

Estimators do not quit because the work is hard. They quit because they spend six hours manually counting holes in a STEP file, cross-referencing material prices from a spreadsheet last updated in March, and retyping BOM data into an ERP that charges you to upload a CSV. A junior estimator on Reddit put it plainly: "Dealing with lack of call outs, poor details, things missing, etc. This creates huge headaches. It's frustrating beyond belief."

Octopus Builds is the Ellenox services arm for AI systems and software delivery. The firm designs and deploys AI quoting and estimation systems specifically for the workflows that break estimators: reading CAD files and PDFs, extracting features and quantities, compiling BOMs, pulling historical costs, and generating customer-ready proposals. Where most AI shops train models on clean datasets and hand over code, Octopus Builds trains agents on your messy production data, handles the integration edge cases, and hardens the system for the security and compliance requirements that matter once you are live.

What they build:

• AI document intake agents that read incoming project emails, classify RFQs, submittals, and change orders, and log them directly into your project management platform without the manual download, classify, and upload cycle
• CAD and PDF intelligence agents that extract, validate, and structure quantity data from 2D drawings and 3D models, replacing manual tag searches and error-prone Excel indexes
• Cost assembly engines that pull material costs from supplier APIs or your ERP, apply your routing rules, and draft a first-pass cost breakdown for estimator review
• Historical quote retrieval systems that index years of bid data and make it queryable, so junior estimators can find comparable jobs in seconds instead of relying on senior memory
• Proposal generation workflows that turn scope items and cost data into customer-ready documents with exclusions, terms, and follow-up sequences

Delivery model:

Best for: contractors, manufacturers, and trades who have outgrown off-the-shelf platforms or who need AI quoting automation that connects to systems their competitors cannot replicate. If your current workflow requires an estimator to manually move data between three platforms every morning, Octopus Builds is the reset.

2. Quotr.ai

Quotr.ai is an AI-powered construction estimation and procurement platform built by FLOZ Inc and backed by Berkeley SkyDeck. The company has raised $3.5 million in Seed funding as of late 2025.

The platform combines three functions that usually sit in separate tools: AI takeoff from PDF and image plans, cost estimating with location-based pricing, and factory-direct material sourcing from 220+ vetted overseas factories.

The AI takeoff engine counts symbols, measures lengths, and calculates areas across full plan sets. On clean vector PDFs with standard symbology, accuracy reaches 95 to 99 percent. On low-resolution scans, accuracy drops to roughly 80 to 88 percent, which is why the platform includes per-item confidence scores and human review of flagged items before any bid goes out.

The Quotr AI Agent allows estimators to ask plans questions in plain language: symbol counts, room dimensions, spec answers. The agent reads the drawings directly and cites answers back to the specific sheet.

Pricing starts at $299.90 per month for a Solo seat, $499.90 for a Team plan with 2 to 6 seats, and custom Enterprise pricing for 7+ users. A done-for-you Estimation Service is also available at $0.25 per square foot under 50,000 square feet and $0.10 per square foot over.

Best for: subcontractors, developers, and general contractors who want a unified takeoff-to-procurement platform with AI assistance and factory-direct material sourcing.

3. Beam AI

Beam AI is an AI takeoff and estimating platform that automates quantity extraction from construction drawings. The company reports 1,200+ business customers across the US and Canada.

The platform supports all trades including HVAC, electrical, plumbing, concrete, steel, and earthwork. Users upload PDF plans, confirm the scope of work for their trade, and the AI extracts material quantities. Every takeoff is reviewed by a human QA team before delivery. Turnaround is typically 24 to 72 hours for fully QA-checked takeoffs, or instant for HVAC, plumbing, and steel budgeting.

Documented customer results include Bommarito Construction bidding 350 projects in 6 months and increasing revenue by $500,000 to $1 million, with 6+ hours saved per project. Another customer reported saving 16 hours per week on takeoffs.

The platform also includes bid management features that automatically capture ITBs from email inboxes and track bid statuses, due dates, and RFIs in one organized view.

Pricing is annual license-based and varies by trade. The company does not publish exact figures but operates on a per-trade annual model.

Best for: subcontractors and general contractors in high-volume bidding environments who need accurate takeoffs with human QA review and integrated bid management.

4. Kreo

Kreo is a UK-based cloud platform for AI takeoff and estimating. The company has 51 to 250 employees and serves clients including Google, John Lewis, Willmott Dixon, and PC Construction.

The platform's core AI tools include Auto Measure for rooms, walls, doors, and windows; One-Click Area for instant polygon detection; Auto Count for symbol matching across all drawing pages; and AI Suggest for predictive measurement.

Kreo's differentiator is Caddie, an autonomous AI agent that reads drawings, runs measurements, and delivers exact quantities. Caddie includes a Self-Serve Skill Builder for no-code playbook creation and learns from user feedback across sessions.

The platform also supports BIM model takeoff alongside 2D PDF and CAD processing, and includes drawing comparison tools that highlight changes across addenda.

Pricing starts at $35 per month for the Lite plan, $70 for Plus, and $175 per month for Pro with AI features, all billed annually. A 7-day free trial is available on the Pro plan.

Best for: quantity surveyors, cost estimators, and contractors who want AI-assisted takeoff with strong manual control, BIM support, and a low entry price point.

5. Markovate

Markovate is a San Francisco-based AI and software development company with 50+ engineers and data scientists. The firm has delivered 300+ solutions since 2015 across healthcare, software, retail, travel, and fitness.

For manufacturing specifically, Markovate helps companies design and develop custom AI-powered quoting and estimation solutions that analyze project inputs, interpret data, and generate accurate cost projections.

The company's services include AI proof of concept, AI solution development, AI consulting, and software application development. They work with growing startups and organizations seeking to increase revenue, improve operational efficiency, or reduce costs through custom technology.

Pricing ranges from $25 to $49 per hour. The firm is a good fit for mid-sized manufacturers that need a dedicated development partner rather than an off-the-shelf product.

Best for: manufacturing companies that need custom AI quoting and estimation systems built around proprietary cost logic, specific ERP integrations, or non-standard part families.

6. Togal.AI

Togal.AI is an AI takeoff platform specializing in architectural floor plan analysis. The platform detects rooms, walls, doors, and windows automatically from PDF drawings.

The company's core strength is high-speed footprint detection and area measurement for architectural, flooring, and interior finish contractors. Togal.AI auto-detects and measures rooms, wall finishes, and openings, then exports quantities for estimating.

Pricing starts at $199 per user per month for the Essential plan and $299 for Growth. The platform does not include native estimating, proposal generation, or procurement. Quantities typically export to Excel or integrate with external estimating platforms like Destini and Ediphi.

Best for: architectural, flooring, and interior contractors who need fast, automated area and linear measurements from floor plans and are comfortable exporting quantities to a separate estimating system.

7. Deep Purple

Deep Purple is an Ireland-based custom AI software development company with 14+ years of delivery experience. The firm builds bespoke AI systems for established businesses across Ireland, the UK, and Europe.

The company explicitly lists quoting as a target use case: "Quoting takes days when it should take hours. Years of ERP data sit unused. Staff retype information between systems. Critical workflow knowledge lives in one person's head. If any of that sounds familiar, bespoke AI software is usually the answer."

Deep Purple's typical projects run from €25,000 for small builds up to €250,000 for large multi-system builds, with most landing in the €40,000 to €100,000 range. Discovery engagements are typically 80% grant-funded through Enterprise Ireland's Digital Discovery programme, with an out-of-pocket client cost of €1,000.

The firm also builds and runs its own agent product, Reactable AI, which gives them direct experience with production AI deployment rather than just consulting.

Best for: European manufacturers and contractors that need custom AI quoting systems and can leverage grant funding for discovery and development.

8. Matellio

Matellio is a software engineering company with 20+ years of experience and 500+ projects delivered. The firm offers full-cycle AI estimating software development including requirements analysis, data collection, machine learning model development, feature engineering, and deployment.

Matellio's AI development capabilities span machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, and computer vision. For estimating software specifically, they follow a structured process: understanding project manager requirements, collecting and preparing historical project data, developing ML models for cost prediction, and engineering features that improve model accuracy.

The company serves enterprises across healthcare, fintech, retail, logistics, and manufacturing. AI software development costs range from $10,000 for simple chatbots to $1,000,000+ for complex multi-component systems.

Best for: large enterprises that need full-cycle AI estimating software development with extensive data engineering, ML model training, and integration with legacy systems.

Start with the workflow that costs you the most money, not with the company that has the most impressive client list. The right partner has solved a problem structurally similar to yours.

Ask these questions before signing:

• Can they point to a production system running for a firm your size and trade? Demos are not evidence.
• Do they understand your drawing formats, your cost database structure, and your approval chain? Generic AI shops will struggle with estimation-specific data models.
• What happens when the AI miscounts a symbol or misreads a tolerance? You need either robust confidence scoring or a developer who understands the cost of a wrong quantity.
• Will the system integrate with your existing ERP, CRM, and accounting platforms? If they suggest replacing your entire stack, the budget just tripled.
• Do they include human-in-the-loop controls? Full automation is risky when a missed line item can cost you the margin on an entire job.