Will you tell us to leave Excel?

No. If the workbook is the right tool, we say so. Custom Excel wins when the pricing logic is yours and the estimators already live in the file.

When is off-the-shelf software the better buy?

When the work is standard, the team is small, and you are happy to adopt the software’s process instead of keeping your own.

When does a web app make sense?

When several people need the same rates at once, you need an audit trail, or the estimate has to connect to purchasing, the workshop or the site.

Comparison

Custom Excel or off-the-shelf estimating software? An honest comparison

The right tool is the one that fits how you price work. Sometimes that is a product you buy. Often it is the spreadsheet you already have, rebuilt properly.

When off-the-shelf software is the right choice

Standard work, a small team, and a willingness to adopt the product’s process. If your quotes look like everyone else’s, a bought system can be the faster start.

When custom Excel wins

Unique pricing logic, a workbook the business already trusts, and estimators who live in Excel. We keep that logic and remove the fragility.

When a web app or hybrid wins

Multi-user estimating, integrations, and an audit trail. Excel can stay where it works. The shared rates and the history live in one place.

Cost over three years

A comparison of licence, implementation and year-three cost will be published here once the figures are confirmed. We will not put numbers on this page until they are.

Region shown on this page: New Zealand and Australia, NZD.

FAQ

Common questions.

Next step

Not sure which way to go?

Send us the spreadsheet. We'll tell you whether to keep it, fix it, or move part of it.

Send us your spreadsheet — free health check Book a discovery call

We typically reply the same business day. Fixed-price quotes after scoping. Your files stay confidential.