BidBow: Construction Estimating Software
BidBow helps construction companies and estimators organize detailed bids and manage cost libraries. It is designed for teams transitioning from spreadsheets to a structured digital workflow.
At a glance
- Category
- Construction
- Best for
- Solo estimators, Civil contractors, Self-perform contractors, Small to medium construction teams
- Pricing
- Pricing starts at $180/month for the Starter plan (1 user), with Growth ($495/month for 3 users) and Pro ($750/month for 5 users) tiers available. All plans are billed annually and include a 7-day free trial.
- Key use cases
- Self-Perform Bid Preparation, Vendor Quote Management, Historical Data Reuse, Collaborative Estimating
- Integrations
- Excel import, Excel export, PDF quote import, ERP export
- Official website
- bidbow.com
BidBow is a cloud-based estimating tool for civil and self-perform contractors. It supports building detailed bids by importing items from takeoff tools, bid schedules, or Bills of Quantities (BOQ), and supports both unit price and lump sum estimates.
The software is designed for estimators who manage breakdowns of labor, material, and equipment. It includes tools for capturing indirect costs and modeling different pricing scenarios to help users determine a competitive bid.
For teams, the platform supports multi-user collaboration in real time with role-based permissions. Buyers should note that BidBow is not a takeoff tool; it is designed to complement one, meaning users import measured quantities into the platform.
Buyers should confirm if the AI-powered features, which are currently in preview, align with their specific needs for matching subcontractor and supplier quotes.
Key Features
Centralizes labor, material, and equipment costs, along with repeatable activity groups, to support the creation of new estimates.
Scans project history to find and suggest matches from past estimates to help populate new bid items.
Designed to match subcontractor and supplier quotes from PDF or Excel files to specific estimate items.
Supports nesting of bid items into detailed labor, material, equipment, and subcontractor costs.
Allows users to model and compare multiple pricing strategies side-by-side before finalizing a bid.
Provides functionality to track overhead, supervision, bonding, and equipment standby costs.
Use Cases
Supports the creation of detailed estimates for civil or infrastructure projects where labor and equipment costs are managed internally.
Importing and matching subcontractor and supplier quotes to specific line items in a bid.
Using previous project data and cost libraries to populate new estimates.
Allowing multiple team members to work on the same estimate simultaneously in a cloud environment.
Best For
Integrations
Pricing
Pricing starts at $180/month for the Starter plan (1 user), with Growth ($495/month for 3 users) and Pro ($750/month for 5 users) tiers available. All plans are billed annually and include a 7-day free trial.
FAQ
No, BidBow is designed to complement takeoff tools. You measure quantities in your preferred takeoff software and then import those quantities into BidBow to build the estimate.
Yes, every plan comes with a 7-day free trial that can be canceled directly within the application.
It is designed for civil, infrastructure, commercial, and concrete contractors, particularly those handling self-performed scopes of work.
It features AutoEstimate AI for finding matches in past projects and QuoteMatch AI for matching vendor quotes to estimate items; both are currently in a preview phase.
Source category: Construction
Source subcategory: Construction Estimating
