STACK Reviews

Multitask operation in a single window
Fast to navigate and accurate in results
Easy to understand and use
Takeoffs made easy and speedy

Offline version is not available
Undo command must be available in upcoming versions

Takeoff is very easy to use, Assemblies feature is amazing and saves so much time once it is setup. I appreciate that the system is cloud based, this really makes things run much more smoothly and easily. Integrations with Dropbox and Google Drive are also helpful.

Organization of takeoffs could be improved. There is no undo button which sounds minimal but it can be extremely cumbersome at times. I also dislike that measurements can't be set to round to the nearest whole number - who honestly needs to measure down to a tenth of an inch shown in decimal format? These are really minor things in the overall user experience but annoying nonetheless. Overall I am very happy with Stack over alternative options for takeoff software.

The thing I liked most about using stack is how fast you get to learn how use all the features

The thing I least liked with stack is lack of customer service with in the app

The ease of use. The yearly price. The many takeoff features you can incorporate in your use.

That there is so much more to it than I am aware of

Anyone who can operate a computer can get into the program and start doing takeoffs immediately.

It would really be helpful for there to be a go-back/undo function. I wish there were some more filter options. Most all of these have been listed by our team on the feature requests.

I liked the super awesome sales and teaching staff when they can be reached. the support staff excluding 1 that are available and pretty much only by email do not in any way provide the same level of connection, community, support, or personal touch the others do.

Since all the soft ware companies we reviewed over the last year follow the same pattern of, promise the moon before we buy, show us what it will look like when its finished, but cannot deliver what they promised when they were courting us, because they sell an incomplete project knowing we roped in for a year, it must be ok right? NO! IT'S NOT OK! I had to promise a kidney to get the [SENSITIVE CONTENT] to purchase this product, I showed the perceived time savings, the better product, and etc. Yet when we bought it I was able to show him anything but a prettier product. Do I think we will get there and do I think its a good program? Yes and Yes but it may be as much because I want to believe it is without the actual proof there to definitely say it is. I just hope I can Convince him to let me renew the subscription next year cause it is going to take me all of a year to learn this system well enough to make it pay. Between how much slower i am at turning out these estimates even though they are better, and how many important and promised functions are either not actually functional or they are at not user friendly without 1 on1 help if they are functional etc.

The features as a whole is very helpful day to day to get proposals done. Helps streamline the process of doing different takeoffs a lot easier when looking at the various complexity of architectural drawings.

I believe having some more automated features will make the software better. Pulling information from the drawings that aren't in plain sight or written out by the architect would be helpful when performing takeoffs.

One of the most important features of stack is that is a cloud based software, it is also very intuitive and easy to use. The integration of this software in my business is easy, and this is one of the tools that provides confidence to our decisions.

I think the developers can offer something more to the people or small companies that can not afford the hole software of stack, maybe can have "suites", like other progrmas, that let you work on a specific process.

Easy to use; quick, accurate and allows reporting and building template to increase efficiency

Don't have any negatives; It does everything that I need and customer support is fantastic.

Take off and ability to export to excel for cost generation is exceptional. We currently do not utilize their costing ability because we have customized needs

Sometime speeds due to internet slows process. This may be on our end. Also sometimes program locks up

As a fire protection estimator it is hard to find a program that allows me to do a design build electronically. I could use a Autocad style program to do the base design, but in our world of fast paced turnaround I simply do not have the time to use a program like Autocad. With StackCT I can use the linear drop function to place our sprinkler heads with proper spacing.

The autocount symbol function is good, but there are times when I get only a single count instead of hundreds needed. It has gotten better, but if there was a way to edit the background noise for the selection it would be nearly perfect.

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.

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.

We looked for a very long time for a very simple takeoff program and this is definitely it. We have used this program for the past year and a half to get measurements on masonry and it has not failed us. Our trade does not need super advanced features so this suites us perfectly. If you have a properly scaled PDF then you can hit the ground running for your measurements. Otherwise, determining your own scale is very simple to do and I've even taken pictures of blueprints with my phone to roughly estimate one of our simpler prints in under 10 prints from the camera snapping. Amazing.

Due to this program being available online only sometimes it can be finicky if you have a poor internet connection or if there is some sort of (extremely rare) maintenance.

As stated earlier, we use this for masonry so it does not need advanced features. But as with all estimating, you will still need a basic knowledge of your trade's quirks. If you can't see a wall on an elevation because it is returning into the building then you will need to approximately draw it in under your elevation based off of a foundation plan or floor plan. Not super hard but it just will not do all of the work for you.

I like that I'm able to work with my team on the same server from anywhere I am. The list of projects help us to keep everything together and I like that I can label the projects with my name and what stage they are. the color change to the tab helps me to find the projects I am bidding and ones that I can start on next.

The assemblies are very basic, I know how to code in java and in excel but the language to make the items for takeoffs are different just enough to aggravate me. I wish there were more mark up functions and that I could close folders to only see one folder of plans and also the ability to sort my open tabs. Another it the ability to open documents in different windows and they both sync without me having to tell it to. I have used on-screen take off and do find this program more user friendly but having used Bluebeam for takeoffs and to review documents, I find this program to be lacking. I like that its a separate program that you download and do not need internet to use. the tools that are available are more programable and you can duplicate you plans to use for more then just a takeoff or mark up.

Just Inputting and using program to enter ships and drawings of ships in for each class of ship we are working on. once more jobs are entered would like to end up witha square foot to S data base so in futur we can ask how many sqare foot pf bilge in the AMR on a WMSL Class ship and wbhat did we charge as an average for painting by square foot. Now have Started to measure 2s square footage but have not seen or understand hoe to correlate that to job.
Much less how to enter it and pull it out to make a bid I supose that will come in time. First we are verifying what we have and then there will be more data base building from old and new bids as we go , including machinery and equipment needs to use and the material required. The we should be able ask " the customer want us to paint the forward bulkead in the bosn locke dark ble using xxx paint prepared to SSPC SP10 what will the cost be for bid... hpw much profit can we make and also what is the average marie rate for that.

AS I explained above new at it and have not yet gotten to the point of being a well trained user of it. Howevr it has bothered me when i set in a PDF print use the stated scale and do noy get a known answer ...>>>>>Just Inputting and using program to enter ships and drawings of ships in for each class of ship we are working on. once more jobs are entered would like to end up witha square foot to S data base so in futur we can ask howmany sqare foot pf bilge in the AMR on a WMSL Class ship and wbhat did we charge as an average for painting by square foot. Now have Started to measure 2s square footage but have not seen or understand hoe to correlate that to job.
Much less how to enter it and pull it out to make a bid I supose thst will come in time. First we are verifying what we have and then there will be more data base building from old and new bids as we go , including machinery and equipment needs to use and the material required. The we shold be able ask " the customer want us to paint the fwd bulkead in the bosn locke dark ble using xxx paint prepared to SSPC SP10 what will the cost be for bid... hpw much profit can we make and also what is the average marie rate for that.Workin the marine industry in a land familiar setting.

Foe years I had thought about utilizing a symbol based estimating take off software because we were moving from paper to the digital world. I randomly found this online about 9 months ago. It is everything I would have done. It makes sense because it stores all your basis of the estimate information electronically and you no lounger have to use paper. The cost of Paper alone pays for the service as I estimate in our business model that each contracts salesman was expending roughly $5,000 per year in document printing. The other benefit for us is that because it is electronically stored we no longer have to go through our offices every three months and disposed of all the paper on projects we did not get. Or God knows you deep six a project and the following week you get a call to review the project for contracting and other than your estimate spread sheet you have no visual layout to look at for reference. So you print it out again and then re lay out the devices and bulk materials.

For me it actually does everything I want it to do other than integration into actual building of estimates. I know that we have that capability but this a cost intensive project for each contractor. Obviously this is not a deal breaker though and perhaps in the future you could offer templates that are patterned after specific industries which would lower the cost of developing the complete estimating solution.

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.

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.

OCR regonition makes searching drawings for keywords a breeze. Custom variables within the estimate module simplifies building an estimate.

The Stack team continually publishes important Stack Updates monthly; many of the cons I've seen over the last year have been resolved. With that said the lack of an UNDO function is a continual annoyance (I am told this fix is on the roadmap).

Easy to use. Friendly for any user. Easy to access from anywhere, no software needed in the office computers.

I want to be able to duplicate jobs so I can do a new takeoff when I get new drawings without altering the previous takeoff. I also want to be able to move the order of the drawing tabs and change the order as needed.

The ability to create involved assemblies of products and simply click to add all the right products for each situation is a serious time saver.

The product and pricing lists need to be easier to manage and update. We have pricing updates or new products about every quarter. To update that info is a hassle to do it one at a time or having to work through support to get an export then format all the new data then send it back to import it.

The greatest feature is the ease of use. They kept it simple for the take-off, genius on the auto-save. Of course, the cloud-based feature. No more bringing home the laptop, cables, plans, specs. Quick uploads and tons of memory for those large jobs.

Had issues with Silverlight running on MAC in earlier versions. ( wasn't a huge deal and I believe when Stack took over they fixed the bugs).

I'd like to see options when drawing a linear measurement to have various dashes or hashes for lines would be helpful. For example, on other platforms I could indicate through-wall cf with a red dotted line while below do a solid line indicating another linear measurement such as expansion joint. You would then be able to visually identify to different terminations on the same linear measurement. Just a suggestion.

First and foremost, I enjoy the takeoff speed and accuracy Stack affords our estimating department. Simply by clicking a link on a plan exchange site, or quickly uploading plans, we can begin a highly detailed accurate takeoff in minutes if not seconds. Likewise, we can complete our takeoff much faster than traditional methods saving valuable time to analyze our bids post takeoff.

Like any good cost hawk, I would highlight price as my least favorite aspect of Stack Software; though I will say the product represents good value for the price! I would like to see Stack offer the complete product in one package, without the present tiered pricing.

Stack is, hands down, one of the simplest solutions I've found for doing takeoffs. Depending on the industry, it's possible it may be too simple, however for the purposes of drywall and paint it is perfect. Building assemblies in Stack really streamlines the whole takeoff process, saving a lot of time and headache when it comes down to the little details. It's also super easy to learn due to how uncomplicated Stack's tool and interface are. You can make things much more complicated for more detailed accuracy, but you don't have to.

I'd like a few more options when it comes to proposal generation, but this is still a fairly new feature within Stack. Being able to fine tune the formatting would be helpful.

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.

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

Cloud based and customer service are the best out there. They are forward thinking and always chasing perfection. They may not catch perfection but they kick excellence in the butt.

I wish I had cheaper licenses for my estimating department.