Buildxact starts from takeoffs, estimating, and quoting. Planyard starts from budgets and cost control after the contract is signed.
Much of this page is based on what Buildxact users tell us on demo calls: hundreds of supplier bills entered by hand, committed costs that only count once a purchase order is sent, and claims that drift from what clients actually pay.
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Integrates with
Current public ratings from Capterra and the Xero App Store.
| Programme | Rating | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Planyard (Capterra) |
4.6 / 5.0
|
Praised for ease of setup, user friendliness, and time savings. |
| Planyard (Xero App Store) |
4.9 / 5.0
|
Users highly praise Planyard’s seamless Xero integration. |
| Buildxact (Capterra) |
4.6 / 5.0
|
Praised for fast, accurate estimating and takeoffs and responsive support. |
See how Planyard helps businesses like yours succeed - read their stories in our blog.
"Planyard is exactly what I’m after as a business owner: a good-value system that keeps everything in one place, saves me money and makes sure I’m not losing any money on projects. As a businessman, that’s a no-brainer."
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"Planyard was the first tool we found that was truly intuitive. You don’t need a lot of training to understand how it works, and it’s very easy to get information into the system quickly."
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The quotes below are verbatim from recent demo calls with teams moving off Buildxact, shared anonymously.
If you are comparing options, here is the short version to help you decide quickly.
The short answer: switchers put it best: “We just want really good and accurate budget versus actuals.” If you manage subcontractors, monthly progress claims, and retentions, Planyard is the stronger fit. Buildxact is the pick when quoting speed is your bottleneck.
| Aspect | Planyard | Buildxact |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Main contractors and developers managing subcontractors |
Residential builders and renovators doing their own estimating |
| Starting point | Post-contract: budget, POs, cost control |
Pre-contract: takeoffs, estimates, quotes |
| Estimating and takeoffs | Imports budgets from your estimating tool or Excel |
Digital takeoffs, estimate templates, supplier price files, AI assistants |
| Forecasting | Cost to complete and margin forecast update automatically |
Budget vs actual cost tracking. Forecasting depth is lighter |
| Subcontract valuations and retentions | Valuations, retention schedules, and progress claims built in |
POs and invoicing are covered. Valuation and retention workflows are not the focus |
| Accounting fit | Xero, QuickBooks Online, and Sage Accounting | Xero, QuickBooks, and MYOB integrations |
| Pricing | Public per user plans and free trial |
Public plans with unlimited users, from £119 per month (Foundation) to £349 (Master), 15% off billed annually. AI add-ons cost extra. 14 day trial |
| Best for | Firms that need commercial control across many subcontractors | Builders whose bottleneck is quoting fast and accurately |
| Excel replacement | Replaces cost spreadsheets from first PO to final account |
Cost tracking is simple. Margin forecasting usually stays in spreadsheets |
See how they compare on estimating, cost tracking, subcontractor workflows, and integrations.
Winning work needs fast, accurate quotes. Managing work needs live cost control. Few tools do both deeply.
Planyard starts where the contract starts: import the won estimate or budget from Excel or your estimating tool and manage costs from there.
This is Buildxact’s home ground: digital takeoffs from plans, estimate templates, supplier price files, and quote letters, with AI assistants available as paid add-ons.
Once the job is running, you need committed costs, budget vs actual, and an honest cost to complete.
Commitments, invoices, and variations update the forecast automatically, so margin movement is visible without spreadsheet work.
Tracks actual costs and invoices against the estimate so you can see overruns per job. Committed costs only register once a purchase order is sent — long-time users told us they cannot record a cost they know is coming, like concrete still to pour, so the committed figure runs skewed. Forward looking forecasting and CVR style reporting are lighter.
No credit card required. No sales or IT support needed.
Main contractor work runs on subcontract orders, monthly valuations, and retention schedules.
Subcontract orders, progress claims, valuations, and retentions are built in, with an audit trail and automatic budget updates.
Built around a residential workflow: POs to suppliers and trades, client invoicing, and progress payments. Formal valuation and retention workflows are not the focus: commercial users we spoke to found retention caps applied incorrectly once variations were added, so every claim until the cap landed out of step with what the client actually paid.
Your cost tool should feed the ledger cleanly and be live in days, not months.
Connect Xero, QuickBooks Online, or Sage Accounting, import cost codes and budgets, and pilot a live project in the first week. Only approved costs reach the ledger.
Integrates with Xero, QuickBooks, and MYOB, plus supplier price feeds. Onboarding includes training and support, and unlimited users make it easy to add the whole team. Invoice entry is the weak link users mention: bills are keyed in by hand, and one director described the Xero OCR matching route as “harder than just punching in data”.
Planyard has transparent per user plans and a free trial. Buildxact publishes plan pricing with unlimited users, from £119 per month on Foundation to £349 on Master (excluding VAT), with a 15% discount billed annually and AI add-ons priced separately. Buildxact pricing shown is for the UK and varies by region.
Cost estimating
Estimating and budget control
Estimating, cost control and purchase orders management
Full functionality
Where it fits. Buildxact is a strong choice for residential builders and renovators whose biggest bottleneck is pre-construction: takeoffs, estimating, and quoting. Unlimited users on every plan and supplier price integrations are genuine advantages.
Common drawbacks. Cost control after the contract is signed is simpler than a dedicated tool: budget vs actual is covered, but cost to complete forecasting, subcontract valuations, and retention schedules are not its focus. Long-time users also describe manual bill entry at volume, estimating only one person can work on at a time, and support that increasingly routes through AI bots. The useful AI assistants are paid add-ons on top of the plan price.
Buildxact is estimating-first software for residential builders: takeoffs, quotes, and simple cost tracking with unlimited users. Planyard is budget-first cost control for main contractors: commitments, subcontract valuations, retentions, and automatic forecasting, synced to Xero, QuickBooks Online, and Sage. Some teams even use an estimating tool to win the job and Planyard to deliver it profitably. For everyone managing subcontractors, Planyard is where the margin is protected.
Sources and last updated. Ratings and pricing from public vendor pages and Capterra listings. Buildxact prices from its UK pricing page. Last reviewed 13 August 2026.
Buildertrend is the broad all-in-one for residential builders; Planyard is the focused cost-control layer—budgets, forecasting and approvals—alongside your accounting system.
Knowify is job management for US trade contractors on QuickBooks; Planyard adds budget-first cost control, subcontract valuations, and forecasting for main contractors.
We've got your questions covered. If you can't find the answer below, then feel free to contact us via the chat.
Only partly. Buildxact is strongest before the contract: takeoffs, estimating, and quoting for residential builders. Planyard is strongest after the contract: budgets, commitments, subcontract valuations, and forecasting. Some teams use an estimating tool alongside Planyard.
Planyard has transparent per user plans and a free trial. Buildxact publishes plan pricing with unlimited users, from £119 per month on Foundation to £349 on Master excluding VAT, with 15% off billed annually. Its AI assistants are paid add-ons.
Buildxact covers POs, invoicing, and progress payments in a residential workflow. Subcontract valuations and retention schedules are not its focus. Planyard manages both, with automatic budget and forecast updates.
Both integrate with Xero and QuickBooks. Planyard also syncs with Sage Accounting and pushes only approved costs to the ledger. Buildxact additionally integrates with MYOB and supplier price feeds.
Yes. Planyard imports budgets from Excel, so a won estimate can be exported and loaded as the project budget with your cost codes.
The reasons we hear on calls are consistent: supplier bills entered by hand at hundreds per month, committed costs that only register once a purchase order is sent, estimates only one person can edit at a time, and retention calculations that stop matching what the client pays. Planyard automates invoice capture and approvals, lets you record commitments directly, and keeps claims, retentions, and the forecast on one live budget.
No, and most teams do not. The common pattern from switchers: finish the jobs already running in Buildxact and start new projects in Planyard, running the two in parallel until the old ones close out.
Yes. Most teams connect accounting, import a live budget, and trial Planyard on one project first. Buildxact offers a 14 day trial.
No credit card required. No sales or IT support needed.
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