Painting Estimating Software Built for Subbies
ContractorCounter is painting estimating software for painters and painting 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 painters 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 PaintScout if your estimating depends on deep pre-loaded painting databases maintained for you — that depth is real, and we do not pretend to replace it.
01
What a painting estimate is made of here
The quantities come off the drawing, not a spreadsheet. Wall and ceiling areas measured as calibrated polygons per substrate and finish system; Doors, frames, and windows counted per item — each one a unit rate, not a guessed area; Trim — skirting, architrave, handrail — measured as lineal metres by profile; Prep carried as explicit lines where the spec calls it: sealing, patching, high-build on block; Coats and systems recorded per surface, so a two-coat and a three-coat wall never share a rate — 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 childcare repaint: floor plan and finishes schedule, calibrated against a dimensioned room. Wall polygons per room total 830 m² across two systems (low-sheen acrylic; epoxy to wet areas); ceilings add 310 m²; the AI counts 46 doors-and-frames and traces 260 m of skirting — you review the room-by-room marks and accept. The BoQ prices walls per m² by system, ceilings per m², doors per unit, trim per metre, prep as its own lines — a quote the client can read room by room, every number tied to a shape on the plan. 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 "prepare and paint plasterboard walls, two coats low-sheen, per m²" and it proposes one with reasoning — interpretation, labour-and-material basis, your market — anchored to your existing painting rates. Never a bare number — a proposal you accept, revise, or dismiss.
04
Honest about PaintScout, Estimate Rocket, PlanSwift
**PaintScout** — residential repaint sales workflows with production rates and proposals tuned for US painting companies. **Estimate Rocket** — service-business quoting with follow-up automation more than drawing-based takeoff. **PlanSwift** — desktop plan takeoff with painting assemblies for offices already licensed. ContractorCounter wins on the other side of that trade-off: speed to a priced quote, working anywhere, and a price a painters outfit can carry (US$14/month) instead of an enterprise licence.
Common questions
Questions about Painting estimating
Is this full painting estimating software or just takeoff?
Both halves, in one flow: measure and count on the calibrated drawings (the [painting takeoff](/construction-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 painting cost database — your rates are yours.
Do the AI suggestions replace my painting rates?
No. Every AI count, measurement, and rate is a proposal you accept, revise, or dismiss — with the reasoning shown. Your painting rates stay yours; the AI removes the repetitive clicking, not the judgement about what a painting item is worth in your market.
What does painting estimating software cost compared to PaintScout?
US$14/month, or a US$249 one-time one-time license, with a free trial (card required). Specialist painting estimating suites like PaintScout, Estimate Rocket, PlanSwift typically run to thousands per seat per year — worth it for their maintained databases if you use them, hard to justify for a small painting team pricing from its own rates.
Can it separate paint systems and coats?
Yes — measure each system's surfaces separately (colour-coded), and the bill carries a line per system with your rate for that build-up. A two-coat acrylic wall and a three-coat epoxy wall never blend, and the finishes schedule stays auditable against the drawing.
