Field24 vs.
PlanSwift
PlanSwift is a long-established Windows takeoff and estimating program: you open the plans, set a scale, and point and click your way through every wall, area and count, with AI auto-takeoff available as an add-on on its Core tier. Field24 does the measuring for you, prices it locally, and hands you a proposal.
No install. No training. Send a plan set and see your first takeoff in minutes.
At a glance
| Feature |  | PlanSwift | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recognizes items on the plans | Field24: Exact wall lengths from the PDF's vector layer, a wall detector for scanned sheets, openings counted, every row linked to its mark on the drawing.PlanSwift: With the AI add-ons: Auto Count on the Essential tier, Auto Takeoff on the Core tier. Manual point-and-click otherwise. | ||
| Local material and labor pricing | Field24: Home Depot prices for residential work, market rates from private cost databases for commercial work, labor rates adjusted to your ZIP or postal code, your own price book first.PlanSwift: Your own material, labor and waste assemblies. No localized price feed. | ||
| First takeoff in minutes | Field24: Send the plans, answer two questions, review the rows on the sheet.PlanSwift: Hours of tracing for a real set. The vendor says most users are productive within a day. | ||
| No training needed | Field24: It is a conversation. Nothing to install, nothing to configure.PlanSwift: Two hours of training are bundled with every plan. | ||
| Works from your phone | Field24: WhatsApp, web, mobile and email.PlanSwift: Windows only (Mac via Boot Camp). | ||
| Pulls plans from your bid board | Field24: BuildingConnected, Merx and PlanHub invitations listed, opened and downloaded for you; public bid alerts for your area.PlanSwift: Plans are opened from your computer. | ||
| Accepts plans by email | Field24: Every account has a plan-upload address; forward the invitation and the takeoff starts.PlanSwift: Not offered. | ||
| Handles addenda | Field24: Send the addendum in chat; the affected sheets are re-measured, the rows re-priced, and a submitted bid can be revised.PlanSwift: Re-trace the changed sheets by hand; the assemblies recalculate. | ||
| Submits the bid for you | Field24: Drafts, submits and revises the bid on BuildingConnected, behind an Accept prompt you control.PlanSwift: Not offered. | ||
| Priced estimate and signable proposal | Field24: Priced estimate, signable proposal, invoice and change order from the same takeoff.PlanSwift: Estimate reports; proposals are built elsewhere. |
- Does it
- Partly, see note
- Does not
- Not documented by the vendor
Built for self-driving estimating
PlanSwift lives on one Windows machine. Field24 works your bid board, takes plans by email, and submits and revises the bid for you.
One job, invitation to job site. Filled steps are the ones the tool does for you.
- Does it
- Partly, see note
- Does not
- Not documented by the vendor
Field24 reads the plans for you
In PlanSwift the quantities are shapes you traced. Field24 finds them on every sheet and marks each row so you can check it.
Exact lengths from the drawing itself
Wall lengths read straight from the PDF's vector layer, not guessed from pixels.
Walls, doors and windows on scans too
A floor-plan detector finds walls on scanned sheets and counts the openings along them.
Every row shows its work
Tap a row and the sheet opens with that measurement highlighted.
Local pricing, not a national average
PlanSwift prices whatever assemblies you loaded into it. Field24 arrives with prices: Home Depot prices for residential work, market rates from private cost databases for commercial work, labor rates adjusted to your ZIP, with the source on every line, and your own price book on top.
Residential at Home Depot, commercial at market rates
Residential work is priced at Home Depot, in the US or Canada, with the product, pack size and list price on every row. Commercial work is priced at market rates from private cost databases.
Labor rates for your area
Hourly rates by trade are adjusted to your location from the 2026 National Construction Estimator, and your own saved rates always win over the market.
Your price book, your markup
Upload a supplier price list or a past estimate and Field24 prices from your book first. Overhead, profit and contingency are yours to set.
Minutes, not a training course
Install, license, take the training, set the scale, trace. Or text the plans to Field24 and review the takeoff on the sheet a few minutes later. There is no software to install and nothing to learn beyond sending a message.
Send the plans
Text them on WhatsApp, drop them in the web app, or forward the bid email to your Field24 address. PDFs, photos, even a voice note about the scope.
Answer two questions
Your ZIP code and the scope you are bidding. That is the whole setup. No templates to build, no cost book to load first.
Review it on the sheet
The takeoff comes back priced, with every row marked on the drawing. Adjust what you want, then send the proposal for signature.
WITH PlanSwift
You run the process
Two hours of training are bundled with every plan.
WITH
The process runs for you
Most contractors get their first takeoff back within minutes of sending the plans, and learn the tool by using it once. There is nothing to install and nobody to train.
Times depend on the size of the plan set. A typical residential or light commercial set is measured and priced in minutes; large sets take longer.
When PlanSwift is the right call
PlanSwift gives an experienced estimator complete manual control and a mature assembly library, which some trades still prefer. If you would rather not spend your evenings tracing walls, Field24 is the faster path to the same number.
Statements about PlanSwift are based on ConstructConnect's public materials as of September 2026 and may change. PlanSwift is a trademark of its owner, which is not affiliated with Field24.