Electrical Estimating Software Built for Subbies
ContractorCounter is electrical estimating software for electricians and electrical contractors who price their own work: take off quantities from the drawings, let the AI suggest rates you review, and send a priced quote — one browser workspace, on site or in the office.
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Verdict
Choose ContractorCounter if you are electricians pricing your own jobs and you want takeoff, rates, and the quote in one place at US$14/month (or a US$249 one-time one-time license). Stay with a specialist estimating suite like McCormick if your estimating depends on deep pre-loaded electrical databases maintained for you — that depth is real, and we do not pretend to replace it.
01
What an electrical estimate is made of here
The quantities come off the drawing, not a spreadsheet. Power and lighting points counted by symbol (GPOs, single and double; downlights, battens, emergency fittings); Circuit and sub-main cable runs measured as calibrated lengths, with rises and drops added per point; Switchboards and distribution boards counted with their ways and protective devices; Containment — cable tray, conduit, and duct — measured as runs by size; Data, TV, and smoke detection counted per point alongside power — each one measured or counted on the calibrated sheet, each one a line in a live Bill of Quantities that stays tied to the markup that produced it.
02
A worked example
A 14-unit apartment floor: one lighting and one power sheet, calibrated once against the 8,100 mm grid. The AI first pass counts 96 downlights, 118 GPOs, and 14 smoke detectors, and traces 12 sub-main runs at a combined 310 m; you review the marks on the sheet, fix two mis-reads on the balcony fittings, and accept. The BoQ prices per point: downlights at your supply-and-install rate, GPOs split single/double, sub-mains per metre by cable size — a priced, versioned quote for the floor in the same afternoon. Every number traces back to a markup on the sheet, so when the scope changes the estimate follows.
03
AI takes the first pass — you keep the judgement
The AI assistant can count the repetitive items, measure runs, and set the drawing scale, with every result reviewed before it commits. Then the rate side: ask for a rate on "supply and install LED downlight, residential" and it proposes a figure with its reasoning — the item as interpreted, the labour-and-material basis, your market — anchored to the rates already in your bill. Never a bare number — a proposal you accept, revise, or dismiss.
04
Honest about McCormick, TurboBid, Best Bid
**McCormick** — deep assembly databases and vendor pricing integrations for full-time electrical estimators pricing large commercial tenders. **TurboBid** — pre-built residential and service-work assemblies with labour units maintained for the US market. **Best Bid** — dedicated electrical bidding workflows with counted-assembly libraries a specialist office lives in. ContractorCounter wins on the other side of that trade-off: speed to a priced quote, working anywhere, and a price a electricians outfit can carry (US$14/month) instead of an enterprise licence.
Common questions
Questions about Electrical estimating
Is this full electrical estimating software or just takeoff?
Both halves, in one flow: measure and count on the calibrated drawings (the [electrical takeoff](/electrical-takeoff-software) side), then price the resulting Bill of Quantities with your own rates or AI-suggested ones, and issue the quote. What it is not: a pre-loaded electrical cost database — your rates are yours.
Do the AI suggestions replace my electrical rates?
No. Every AI count, measurement, and rate is a proposal you accept, revise, or dismiss — with the reasoning shown. Your electrical rates stay yours; the AI removes the repetitive clicking, not the judgement about what a electrical item is worth in your market.
What does electrical estimating software cost compared to McCormick?
US$14/month, or a US$249 one-time one-time license, with a free trial (card required). Specialist electrical estimating suites like McCormick, TurboBid, Best Bid typically run to thousands per seat per year — worth it for their maintained databases if you use them, hard to justify for a small electrical team pricing from its own rates.
Can it count outlets and fittings automatically?
Yes — the AI counts repeated symbols (GPOs, downlights, detectors) and places a visible marker on every instance, so the count exists as reviewable marks on the drawing rather than a number you have to trust. You accept or correct before anything enters the bill.
