The short version, by what you actually do
- You bid commercial plan-and-spec work off drawingsFastPIPE or McCormick — purpose-built on-screen takeoff that counts and measures off plan sets — the job service tools don't do.
- You want one office suite to run the whole businessHousecall Pro or Jobber — field-service suites with scheduling, dispatch, invoicing, and quoting in one app.
- You price service jobs and want to close them on the spotScopeToSign — the deepest estimating-to-signature tool — a per-trade pricing engine plus a Good/Better/Best proposal.
- You want an all-in-one quoting CRM on a budgetQuoteIQ — quoting, scheduling, and invoicing from a low monthly price.
- You want a mature desktop estimator and work mostly at a shopTurboBid — established desktop estimating with a built-in item database.
There is no single best — there's a best for the job you do. We checked each tool's price and platform against its own live page (dated in the sources below), grouped them by the work they're actually built for, and named a real strength and a real limitation for each. Where a vendor doesn't publish a price, we say so instead of guessing.
We make ScopeToSign. We’ve kept this factual and every competitor detail below is dated and linked to their own live page — corrections welcome.
The tools, one by one
1. ScopeToSign (that's us)
Free · Pro $49/mo or $490/yrEstimating-to-signature software for plumbing and HVAC service contractors.
- Best for:
- Plumbing service contractors who price repair-and-replace work and want to present and sign it — not bid commercial plan sets.
- Real strength:
- A real per-trade price book loads in minute one, and a review engine catches the code add-ons cheap quotes forget (the expansion tank, the pan, the permit). Estimate becomes a Good/Better/Best proposal a homeowner signs on their phone, with a deposit when enabled.
- Where it falls short:
- Two trades only (plumbing and HVAC), and it is deliberately not a suite — no scheduling, no dispatch, no CRM, and no commercial plan-set takeoff. If you need those, one of the tools below fits better.
- Platform:
- Web + mobile (any phone)
2. TurboBid
$135/mo + $350 one-time setupDesktop estimating + takeoff for electrical and plumbing.
- Best for:
- Contractors who want a mature, database-driven desktop estimator and mostly work from a shop computer.
- Real strength:
- Established desktop estimating and takeoff with a large built-in item and assembly database, aimed at electrical and plumbing.
- Platform:
- Windows desktop (Mac needs Parallels)
3. QuoteIQ
From $29.99/mo (Essentials); no free planAll-in-one contractor CRM: quoting, scheduling, invoicing, payments.
- Best for:
- Small shops that want quoting, scheduling, invoicing, and payments in one low-cost app.
- Real strength:
- An all-in-one contractor CRM at an entry price well below the big suites, with a web and mobile app.
- Platform:
- Web + iOS/Android
4. Housecall Pro
Basic $59/mo · Essentials $149/mo · Max $299/mo (annual)Consumer-brand field-service suite: booking, dispatch, payments, quotes.
- Best for:
- Home-service businesses that want a polished, consumer-facing operations suite around the whole job.
- Real strength:
- A broad, well-known field-service suite: booking, dispatch, payments, and quoting with a large app ecosystem.
- Platform:
- Web + iOS/Android
5. Jobber
Core $49/mo · Connect $139/mo · Grow from $199/mo · Plus from $499/moField-service management suite: scheduling, CRM, invoicing, quotes.
- Best for:
- Growing shops that want scheduling, a CRM, invoicing, and quotes managed together.
- Real strength:
- A full field-service management suite with tiered plans that scale from a solo operator to a larger team.
- Platform:
- Web + iOS/Android
6. FastPIPE
$4,995 one-time or $250/mo lease; +$1,250/yr maintenance after year 1Windows-desktop commercial/industrial plumbing & mechanical pipe takeoff and estimating (FastEST, Inc.).
- Best for:
- Mechanical and commercial plumbing contractors who quantify off plan sets for bids.
- Real strength:
- Purpose-built on-screen digitizer takeoff for pipe on PDFs and CAD, with a very large item catalog and Excel export — the commercial takeoff job service tools don't attempt.
- Platform:
- Windows desktop (no web/cloud)
7. McCormick Systems
Published on their site (no fixed figure)Electrical, plumbing & mechanical (MEP) estimating and digital takeoff with auto-count and bid generation.
- Best for:
- MEP contractors who want estimating plus takeoff with auto-count for electrical, plumbing, and mechanical bids.
- Real strength:
- Digital takeoff with auto-count and bid generation across the mechanical trades, positioned as cloud-accessible.
- Platform:
- Cloud-accessible (vendor: work from any device)
Side by side
| Feature | ScopeToSign | TurboBid | QuoteIQ | Housecall Pro | FastPIPE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web + phone, one tool | Yes | Windows desktop | Yes | Yes | Windows desktop |
| Per-trade price book (flat-rate + parametric) | Yes | Estimating + takeoff | Line-item quotes | Quotes | Plan-set takeoff |
| Good/Better/Best proposal + e-sign | Yes | No | Proposals + e-sign | Estimates + e-sign | No |
| Deposit collection | When enabled | No | Payments | Payments | No |
| Commercial plan-set takeoff | — (service work) | From prints | No | No | Yes |
| Published price | Free · Pro $49/mo or $490/yr | $135/mo + $350 setup | From $29.99/mo | Basic $59/mo (annual) | $4,995 one-time or $250/mo |
If your work is commercial plan-and-spec bidding, believe the takeoff tools — that's a genuinely different job, and we'd send you to FastPIPE or McCormick for it. If you want one app to run scheduling and dispatch as well as quotes, a suite like Housecall Pro or Jobber earns its subscription. But if the thing that wins or loses your plumbing jobs is a fast, itemized, code-complete quote your customer can sign, that's exactly what we built ScopeToSign to do — and the calculators and anatomy posts on this site let you check our numbers before you ever sign up.
Common questions
What's the difference between estimating software and takeoff software for plumbing?
Takeoff software (like FastPIPE or McCormick) measures and counts pipe and fittings off plan sets for commercial bids. Estimating software for service work (like ScopeToSign) prices repair-and-replace jobs from a price book without drawings. They serve different jobs; picking the wrong category is the most common mistake.
Do I need a full field-service suite or just estimating?
If you need scheduling, dispatch, and a CRM around every job, a suite like Housecall Pro or Jobber is worth the subscription. If the estimate and the signed proposal are where you win or lose work, a focused estimating-to-signature tool is deeper on that job and cheaper. Many shops run a dedicated estimator alongside a lighter scheduler.
Is there free plumbing estimating software?
ScopeToSign is free to build unlimited estimates and send your first three proposals; most suites offer only a trial. Free tiers usually cap sends or carry a footer — read what the free plan actually includes before committing.
Which is best for a small plumbing shop?
For a small shop focused on service work, the honest answer is a focused estimating-and-proposal tool (ScopeToSign) plus whatever light scheduling you already use — you get depth on quoting without paying for suite features you won't touch. If you want everything in one login, QuoteIQ is the budget all-in-one.
Every price and platform detail above was checked against each vendor’s own live page on the date shown in the sources and will be re-verified before launch — published prices drift. Where a vendor doesn’t publish a figure, we say so instead of guessing. See our editorial policy for how this is kept honest.