An honest comparison is more useful to you than a flattering one, so here is both halves of it. The row you should read first is on-screen takeoff, where the answer is no.
CostX, Cubit and PlanSwift are serious professional software. Their strength is on-screen and BIM measurement — you load drawings or a model and measure directly off them, at a scale and depth BillMate does not attempt. If your work is drawing-led takeoff on large projects inside a cost consultancy, those tools earn their licence fees and BillMate is not a replacement for them.
BillMate is for the other situation: you have the measure, or you can take it by hand, and what you need is to turn it into a properly structured, properly priced, client-ready Bill of Quantities — with a one-click install instead of a training course, and a one-time price instead of a procurement process or an annual renewal. That is a large part of the profession, and it has been badly served.
| BillMate | CostX | Cubit | PlanSwift | Spreadsheet | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | One-time, published on this site | Quotation | Quotation | Quotation | Already owned |
| Licence model | Buy once, keep it | Per seat, recurring | Per seat, recurring | Per seat, recurring | Part of your office suite |
| Installation | One-click installer — Windows, Mac or Linux | Windows desktop install | Windows desktop install | Windows desktop install | Installed |
| Works on phone & tablet | Yes — full function | No | No | No | Limited |
| Works fully offline | Yes | Varies by licence | Varies by licence | Varies by licence | Yes |
| Time to your first bill | Minutes | Training course | Training course | Training course | Hours of template building |
| On-screen / BIM takeoff from drawings | No — measure by hand or with your own takeoff tool | Yes — its core strength | Yes | Yes | No |
| Dimension-sheet taking-off | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Manual |
| Reusable rate library | Yes — import, apply, capture, uplift | Yes | Yes | Yes | Manual |
| Client-ready BOQ document | Yes — letterheaded PDF & CSV | Yes | Yes | Yes | Build it yourself |
| Method-of-measurement templates | NRM1, NRM2, SMM/ASAQS, CPWD/DSR, MasterFormat | Yes | Yes | Varies | No |
| Interface languages | 6, including right-to-left Arabic | Varies | Varies | Varies | Your office suite's |
| Where your data lives | Only on your device | Vendor-dependent | Vendor-dependent | Vendor-dependent | Your device |
About this table. It compares structural characteristics — how each product is licensed, installed and run — rather than making claims about the depth of features inside competing packages, which differ by edition and region. Competitor pricing is quoted individually and is not published, so no figure is stated here. Verify current terms directly with each vendor before making a decision. CostX is a product of RIB Software; Cubit is a product of Buildsoft; PlanSwift is a product of ConstructConnect. All product names are trademarks of their respective owners, and BillMate is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to any of them.
Six things that are not on the other side of the table at any price.
If your day is spent measuring off drawings on screen, buy CostX, Cubit or PlanSwift instead — BillMate will not do that job and no amount of the rest makes up for it. If you bill one small job a year, your spreadsheet is fine. And if your firm needs several people editing the same live bill at once, BillMate stores projects per device and is not built for that.
Everyone else: the free plan is two projects with the whole rate library, so the cheapest way to settle this is to price a real job in it.