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Construction · head to head

Billd vs On-Screen Takeoff

Billd logo

Billd

Construction

Material financing and pay application advances for commercial subcontractors

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
On-Screen Takeoff logo

On-Screen Takeoff

Construction

Digital quantity takeoff from drawings, now subscription only and bundled rather than sold alone

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Billd the contractor carries the fee rather than the supplier, so unless the cost is bid into the job or offset by a negotiated supplier cash discount, financed material is simply more expensive material.; On-Screen Takeoff perpetual licensing is no longer offered on current releases, so long-standing users who paid once now face a recurring annual cost they never budgeted, and staying on an old version means no support for newer PDF formats
  • They diverge on capability: Billd covers Material financing, On-Screen Takeoff covers Drawing takeoff.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Billd and On-Screen Takeoff actually diverge.

Attributes where Billd and On-Screen Takeoff differ
AttributeBilldOn-Screen Takeoff
PlatformsWebWindows

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Construction).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Billd

  • Material financing
  • Pay App Advance
  • Same-day supplier funding
  • Supplier network terms
  • Credit line for materials
  • Online account portal

Only in On-Screen Takeoff

  • Drawing takeoff
  • Revision overlay
  • Condition libraries
  • Automatic scaling
  • Bid zones and phases
  • Quick Bid handoff
  • Excel export

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Billd

  • An electrical subcontractor that has won a job larger than its cash position can carry through the first three material buysnot On-Screen Takeoff
  • A concrete contractor whose general contractor pays at 75 days while the supplier expects 30not On-Screen Takeoff
  • A growing mechanical firm that wants to negotiate a supplier cash discount by paying immediately, funded by Billdnot On-Screen Takeoff
  • A subcontractor with a signed pay application sitting unpaid that needs payroll covered before the cheque landsnot On-Screen Takeoff

On-Screen Takeoff

  • A drywall contractor measuring wall area and openings across a 300 sheet set where manual takeoff would take a weeknot Billd
  • An estimator who receives a late addendum and needs to know which rooms changed rather than re-measuring the whole floornot Billd
  • A flooring subcontractor maintaining reusable conditions with waste factors so quantities and material orders stay consistent between estimatorsnot Billd
  • A trade contractor that wants takeoff quantities split by phase so progress billing matches the way work is actually releasednot Billd

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Billd

  • The contractor carries the fee rather than the supplier, so unless the cost is bid into the job or offset by a negotiated supplier cash discount, financed material is simply more expensive material.
  • No rate card is published, so the effective annualised cost is only visible after underwriting and cannot be compared against a bank line or a card facility before you apply.
  • A 120 day term assumes the general contractor pays roughly on time; if the GC drags past that, the subcontractor owes Billd on schedule regardless of whether it has been paid.
  • This is credit, not construction software, so it adds a debt obligation and a covenant relationship to a business that a surety and a bonding agent will look at when setting bonding capacity.
  • Coverage is US commercial construction, so contractors outside that market or working residential get little from it, and eligibility depends on project type and the creditworthiness of the paying party.

On-Screen Takeoff

  • Perpetual licensing is no longer offered on current releases, so long-standing users who paid once now face a recurring annual cost they never budgeted, and staying on an old version means no support for newer PDF formats
  • ConstructConnect does not publish a price, and the product is increasingly sold inside a bundle with lead data and estimating, so buyers who want takeoff alone often find the quote priced around a package they do not need
  • It is Windows desktop only, with no macOS version and no meaningful browser or tablet workflow, which rules it out for firms standardised on Apple hardware
  • The interface has changed little in years and estimators coming from browser-based tools find the condition setup and layer management slow to learn, so onboarding a new estimator takes longer than the software cost would suggest
  • ConstructConnect sells lead data, takeoff and estimating as a portfolio and has consolidated several acquired products, so a buyer committing to On-Screen Takeoff should ask directly where it sits against the newer cloud takeoff products in the same portfolio

Pricing, plan by plan

Billd

On request
  • Material Financing$undefined/year
    • Supplier paid upfront
    • Repayment up to 120 days
    • Fee set per draw after underwriting
  • Pay App Advance$undefined/year
    • Advance against billed and uncollected work
    • Purchase fee deducted from the advance
    • Terms set per contractor

On-Screen Takeoff

On request
  • On-Screen Takeoff$undefined/year
    • Annual subscription per seat on version 4 and later
    • Sold increasingly as part of a ConstructConnect takeoff and estimating bundle
    • Perpetual licensing not offered on current releases

Which should you pick?

Choose Billd if

  • You need material financing.
  • You also want pay app advance.
Billd review

Choose On-Screen Takeoff if

  • You need drawing takeoff.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want revision overlay.
On-Screen Takeoff review

Questions people ask

Is Billd or On-Screen Takeoff better?
Neither clearly leads. Billd starts at On request and On-Screen Takeoff at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Billd or On-Screen Takeoff?
Billd starts at On request and On-Screen Takeoff at On request.
Does Billd or On-Screen Takeoff run on more platforms?
Billd runs on Web. On-Screen Takeoff runs on Windows.
What is Billd best used for?
Billd is most often used for an electrical subcontractor that has won a job larger than its cash position can carry through the first three material buys, a concrete contractor whose general contractor pays at 75 days while the supplier expects 30, a growing mechanical firm that wants to negotiate a supplier cash discount by paying immediately, funded by billd, a subcontractor with a signed pay application sitting unpaid that needs payroll covered before the cheque lands. Of those, an electrical subcontractor that has won a job larger than its cash position can carry through the first three material buys and a concrete contractor whose general contractor pays at 75 days while the supplier expects 30 are not what On-Screen Takeoff is typically brought in for.
What can Billd do that On-Screen Takeoff cannot?
Billd covers Material financing, Pay App Advance, Same-day supplier funding, Supplier network terms. On-Screen Takeoff covers Drawing takeoff, Revision overlay, Condition libraries, Automatic scaling.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Billd: Who pays Billd's fee, the contractor or the supplier?

The contractor. The supplier is paid upfront in full and carries no credit risk.

On-Screen Takeoff: Can I still buy a perpetual licence?

No. Current releases are annual subscription. Older perpetual licences continue to run but do not receive updates.

Billd: Does Billd publish rates?

No. Cost depends on term, product and underwriting outcome and is disclosed in the offer.

On-Screen Takeoff: Is it sold separately from Quick Bid?

It can be, but ConstructConnect increasingly quotes it as part of a takeoff and estimating package. Ask explicitly for standalone pricing if that is what you want.

Billd: What happens if my general contractor pays late?

You still owe Billd on the agreed schedule. The 120 day term is designed to cover a normal pay cycle, not a dispute.

On-Screen Takeoff: Does it run on a Mac?

Not natively. It is a Windows application and Mac users run it under virtualisation, which is unsupported in practice for large drawing sets.

Billd: Does using Billd affect bonding capacity?

It is a debt facility, so a surety will consider it. Discuss it with your bonding agent before drawing heavily.

On-Screen Takeoff: Will it read a scanned drawing?

Yes, but measurement accuracy on a scanned raster set depends entirely on the scan quality and on setting scale from a verified dimension.

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