STACK

Pros

This product is incredibly simple to use, but a very powerful tool. The calendar makes organizing projects by due date easy. You can quickly see what's coming up and space them out when a larger project takes more time. The search function to find past projects is imperative.

Doing takeoffs is much easier now. I can export final dwgs and reports so that my sales rep can go back and see exactly what I quoted and where. All the work is saved so I can back and reference it or change it if plans change.

The lines and symbols are easy to read and quick to set up. You can dimension the plans when needed and add call outs. The cloud tool is useful for items I have a question about. I can even copy and paste a line several times instead of having to draw it out each time.

Being able to add labels to the takeoff is crucial. It makes my quotes much more powerful when I say exactly where I found each product. It also helps if there is a change to the plan later. I can easily remove one section by using the Geometric Report instead of having to dig through all the plans.

The ability to use two screens is awesome! When I find a particular detail and have to match it to the plan, it is much easier to have one screen with the detail and one with the plan.

Cons

Some things are not customizable. I can't change the default dimension color or size. But once you set it, it remembers the changes for that page only.

I can't rearrange the sheets with the tabs on top. I have to open them in the order I need. So if I find a detail on another sheet, I may have to close some tabs and them reopen them in the order I need.

It does integrate with Excel reports, but Excel charges a monthly subscription for that. I am also waiting for the symbol search tool.

Pros

The use of pop-ups when you "Mouse-Over" items is very effective, makes things very intuitive, lessens time-to-learn how to use the system.

Cons

Need to have more than 50 characters when naming take-off items, at least 100 characters.

Pros

Stack has a very simple learning curve. It's basically a point and click software that allows you to perform take-offs quickly and easily, no matter your experience level. The software also enables you to add pre-loaded or customized items and assemblies to your take-offs so you can create estimates as as you go, saving tons of time on each bid. Perhaps most importantly, their customer service is phenomenal. I have never had a problem getting ahold of a representative, and they usually answer my question or solve my issue within minutes of me reaching out.

Cons

Their estimating/proposal templates could be made more customizable rather than restricting you to only detailed labor and material pricing or unit pricing options, but they offer the ability to transfer any of your reports to Xcel where you can do that yourself, so it really isn't a huge issue.

Pros

Stack Estimating allows a very flexible approach to take offs and preparing estimates. I've been using this software for just over a year and had previously used another software with other companies. Stack is fairly streamlined, allows multiple options, and organizes your quantities in a way that is very user friendly and easy to manage.

Cons

I find myself frustrated with creating my take off library before starting a project. There are many options, but it would be nice to be able to set some defaults when creating items. For example, when creating a count item, it automatically generates a 'Medium' check mark with 'Medium' line weight. With every count item, I am changing this to 'Small' and 'Small' because the current default obstructs too much of the plan. They have a library that you can set, but every plan has different items so I can only use the library for so much.

Pros

The ability to log in and pull up all of our project drawings on any computer. The fact that this software is web based is great and makes this platform agnostic. As we are primarily a Mac based office, this is great and does not require virtualization to run windows based software. Stack is also incredibly fast to navigate and bring up projects. Even though our older software was on computer and not web based, it required long waits to open a project and switch between projects. With stack this is almost instantaneous and it allows multiple projects to be open at once in multiple tabs or windows.

Cons

It still lacks some functionality of our previous takeoff software, especially when we first started using it. Much of that functionality has been added since we started using it, and there are a few additional items they currently show as in the pipeline. Once those are released, all of the features we need will be here.