BuilderTrend or EstimatorXpress: Which is right for my building firm?
If you’ve been looking around at construction estimating software, chances are you’ve come across BuilderTrend and EstimatorXpress by HBXL. In this article, we explore the main differences between the software products to help you decide which is most suitable for your building firm. The views contained in this article are those of the editorial team at bestestimatingsoftware.co.uk. As with any big decision, we urge you to do your own research of each of the products before making your purchase. Have a good look at the software providers’ websites. Check out review sites to see what other construction companies think of the software. For example, EstimatorXpress has over fifty reviews on Trustpilot whereas BuilderTrend doesn’t currently have any reviews.
The Platform
The first key difference between the two solutions is the platform they use. EstimatorXpress by HBXL is a desktop-based estimating software package for the construction industry. On the other hand, BuilderTrend is cloud-based construction management software. If you need estimating software to calculate building costs and create quotations for your customers, make sure the product you choose is estimating software and not a construction management app.
Estimating Software v Construction Management
EstimatorXpress - as the name suggests - is all about estimating. The focus of BuilderTrend, in contrast, is job management. BuilderTrend has an estimating feature but it’s just one part of the management toolset and it doesn’t seem to have had as much development as HBXL’s EstimatorXpress.
Pre-loaded Job Templates v Estimating from Scratch
In addition, there are some fundamental differences between the way you price up work in the two software offerings. EstimatorXpress is aimed at small to medium-sized builders who want to estimate projects such as extensions, new builds, lofts and renovations. It contains around 200 quote templates which can be used to cost a project from start to finish. For example, select a quote template for a ‘Rendered Flat Roof Single Storey Extension’, enter the overall dimensions of the job and check you’re happy with the default specification.
EstimatorXpress builds the estimate for you, including everything from the foundations to the decoration. It takes the length and the height of the external walls and – netting off the windows and doors - estimates the area of brickwork, blockwork, cavity insulation, rendering, internal plastering, skirting board, paint and so on. Make any changes you need – like swapping the type of insulation – and the estimate updates live to reflect the change. EstimatorXpress automates your estimating, avoiding laborious data inputting for each build phase, whilst remaining flexible. This means you can complete an extension estimate in less than an hour and smaller renovations can be finished in under thirty minutes.
With BuilderTrend, you’ll have to create your estimate templates from scratch, line by line, or by importing data from Excel. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come loaded with hundreds of pre-populated job templates like EstimatorXpress. The estimating feature of BuilderTrend is more of an empty estimating engine – like Excel - in which you can build up your estimate. With EstimatorXpress, you can complete your estimating more quickly because you’re purchasing estimating content – the quote templates.
Live Prices v Self-maintained Prices
With material prices sky high, you can save yourself a lot of time and stress by choosing estimating software which is linked to up-to-date material prices. The price book in EstimatorXpress is updated monthly. Furthermore, specific builders’ merchants are integrated with the software. This means you’re always quoting for building projects using the very latest material prices. With BuilderTrend, you will need to input and maintain your own rates.
UK-based v US-based
The final notable difference between the solutions is that EstimatorXpress has been developed in the UK for the UK market whereas BuilderTrend is a US-based solution designed for the US market. For a UK builder, software meeting UK building regulations, and supported in UK time is no doubt preferable. If you opt for a US-based product, you will encounter dollar signs in your software and American English spelling such as “labor” instead of “labour” in your quotes. Whilst BuilderTrend is a great looking offering, it may not be the estimating software solution you need as a UK building firm.