The Free Alternative to STACK for Construction Takeoffs
STACK is cloud-based, but charges $2,599 to $3,999 per user per year. Easy Takeoffs gives you cloud takeoffs with the same browser-based convenience for free.
Why Contractors Switch from STACK
If you are searching for a STACK alternative or evaluating STACK competitors, the reason is usually price. STACK charges $2,599 to $3,999 per user per year with annual contracts and no real free tier (their "free account" is a 7-day trial limited to 2 projects). Users on G2, Capterra, and Trustpilot report aggressive price increases at renewal, sometimes 40% to 50% higher than the original quote, with no recourse.
Easy Takeoffs is a free, cloud-based takeoff tool that shares STACK's browser-based architecture but not its pricing model. This page provides a detailed comparison of both platforms so you can evaluate whether the features STACK charges $2,599+ for are worth it, or whether Easy Takeoffs covers what you actually need at no cost.
What Is STACK?
STACK Construction Technologies is a cloud-based takeoff and estimating platform used by contractors and estimators across the construction industry. It offers 2D takeoff tools, AI-powered symbol recognition, estimating worksheets, proposal generation, and team collaboration features. STACK is the most direct cloud competitor to Easy Takeoffs, as both are browser-based tools for measuring construction drawings.
What Is Easy Takeoffs?
Easy Takeoffs is a free, cloud-based takeoff tool with no trial period, no project limits, and no feature restrictions. Unlike STACK's 7-day trial capped at 2 projects, Easy Takeoffs is genuinely free from the moment you sign up. It runs in any browser with the same cloud convenience: upload PDFs, set your scale, measure, and export. You get linear, polyline, area, rectangle, and count tools with auto-scale detection, color-coded groups, and CSV export. No credit card, no annual contract, no onboarding fee.
Why Contractors Switch from STACK
The most common reasons contractors look for a STACK alternative, drawn from verified reviews on G2, Capterra, Trustpilot, and Reddit.
Aggressive price increases at renewal
STACK has a documented pattern of raising prices on existing customers. Contractors report receiving renewal quotes 40% to 50% higher than their original contract, sometimes with minimal notice. Once your team is trained and your projects are inside STACK, switching feels painful, and STACK uses that leverage at renewal time. Users on Trustpilot describe the experience as being "held for ransom."
“Jacked the price up 50% after the first year. Then when we decided to go to another program, Stack locked us out of all our estimates and held it for ransom.”
— Capterra Review
Data lock-in makes switching painful
When you build your takeoff data inside STACK, getting it out in a usable format is limited. Users report difficulty extracting measurement data when they want to switch to another tool or cancel their subscription. Your work lives inside their platform, and that dependency gives STACK pricing leverage. Easy Takeoffs exports to standard CSV and annotated PDF formats that work with any system.
“Tried to export our data when we wanted to switch. Getting anything usable out was a nightmare.”
— Capterra Review
No real free tier
STACK advertises a "free account," but it is a 7-day trial limited to 2 projects with Pro-level features. After 7 days, you lose access unless you subscribe. There is no ongoing free plan that lets you do real work. Easy Takeoffs is free with no trial period, no project limits, and no feature restrictions.
Per-seat pricing adds up fast for teams
At $2,599 to $3,999 per user per year, a small team of 5 estimators costs $13,000 to $20,000 annually just for takeoff and estimating software. For small and mid-size contractors competing on tight margins, that is a significant overhead line item that directly impacts how competitive your bids can be.
Easy Takeoffs vs STACK
A side-by-side look at what each tool offers. We include features where STACK has the advantage, because an honest comparison builds more trust than a cherry-picked one.
No credit card, no installation, completely free.
Free vs $2,599–$3,999/Year
STACK's Standard Takeoff plan costs $2,599 per user per year. The Premium plan with AI features costs $2,999 per user per year. The Pro plan with estimating costs $3,999 per user per year. These are annual contracts with per-seat pricing. A team of 5 on the Pro plan costs $19,995 per year. STACK also charges a one-time onboarding fee on top of the annual license. Easy Takeoffs is free for every user. No seat limits. No annual contracts. No credit card. No onboarding fees. That is up to $19,995 per year your team redirects from software licenses to your business.
Easy Takeoffs
$0/year
- ✓No credit card required
- ✓No trial expiration
- ✓No per-seat fees
- ✓Every feature included
STACK
$2,599–$3,999/year
Per user, per year. Annual contract.
Save up to $3,999 per seat per year. Start your free takeoff →
What STACK Does Better
STACK is the closest competitor to Easy Takeoffs in terms of being cloud-native. It offers AI-powered symbol recognition that can automatically count fixtures and symbols on drawings, which is a genuine time-saver for repetitive counting tasks like electrical outlets or sprinkler heads. Its estimating module lets you build complete cost estimates alongside your takeoffs, with proposal generation and BNi cost libraries. For teams that need AI-assisted counting and integrated cost estimating in a cloud platform, STACK offers capabilities that Easy Takeoffs does not yet have. If your workflow requires those specific features and your budget supports $2,599+ per user per year, STACK delivers them. If you need accurate cloud-based takeoffs and handle estimating separately, Easy Takeoffs gives you the measurement tools for free.
Who Easy Takeoffs Is Built For
Easy Takeoffs is built for contractors and estimators who want the convenience of cloud-based takeoffs without the enterprise price tag. You liked the idea of STACK when you saw the demo, but when the quote came back at $2,599 to $3,999 per seat, you realized the cost does not fit your business. You want to access your takeoffs from any device, share them easily, and never worry about local file management. You do not need bid management, proposal generation, or AI symbol counting bundled into your takeoff tool. You need measurements, and you need them to be free.
How to Switch from STACK
If you are currently using STACK, switching to Easy Takeoffs feels immediately familiar. Both tools are cloud-based with the same core workflow: upload PDFs in your browser, set your scale, draw measurements. The transition is natural because the user experience is similar. Upload your plan PDFs to Easy Takeoffs, calibrate your scale, and start measuring. There is no data migration from STACK, and no takeoff tool supports importing measurement data from another. But you can work through your active projects in Easy Takeoffs going forward while wrapping up existing STACK projects before your subscription renews.
STACK vs Easy Takeoffs FAQ
Yes. Unlike STACK, which charges $2,599 to $3,999 per user per year and limits its "free account" to a 7-day trial with 2 projects, Easy Takeoffs is genuinely free with no time limit, no project cap, and no credit card required. You get every measurement tool from day one: linear, polyline, area, count, scale calibration, groups, labels, annotations, and export. No onboarding fee, no annual contract, no per-seat pricing.
Both are cloud-based takeoff tools that run in your browser. STACK offers AI symbol recognition and built-in estimating at $2,599 to $3,999 per user per year. Easy Takeoffs focuses on core takeoff measurements and offers them for free. For the measurement workflow (linear, area, count, scale, groups, export), both tools are capable. The differences are price ($0 vs $2,599+), AI features (planned vs available), and built-in estimating (planned vs available on Pro plan).
AI-powered symbol recognition is on our product roadmap. Currently, Easy Takeoffs offers a fast manual count tool with 5 distinct symbol shapes that lets you tap to place count markers. For most takeoff workflows, manual counting is efficient. For large-scale repetitive counting tasks (hundreds of identical fixtures), STACK's AI counting is currently an advantage.
With Easy Takeoffs, there is nothing to stop paying for. Your data stays accessible as long as you have an account. You can also export all measurements to PDF and CSV at any time. With STACK, users report being locked out of their data when they cancel or choose not to renew.
Yes. Both Easy Takeoffs and STACK are cloud-based tools that use the same measurement approach: calibrate to a known scale on the drawing, then measure on-screen. The underlying math is identical. STACK's AI counting feature adds speed for repetitive symbol counts, but the measurement accuracy itself is no different between the two tools. Our users measure residential, commercial, and industrial construction projects and submit bids based on those measurements.
Easy Takeoffs exports to CSV (RFC 4180 compliant with UTF-8 BOM for clean Excel opening), which imports into most estimating and spreadsheet tools. Direct integrations with popular estimating platforms are on our roadmap. Many users pair Easy Takeoffs with Excel or Google Sheets for cost calculations today.
The main STACK alternatives include Easy Takeoffs (free, cloud-based), PlanSwift ($1,749/year, Windows desktop with estimating), Bluebeam Revu ($260–$440/year, PDF markup), and Procore ($20,000+/year, enterprise platform). Easy Takeoffs is the only free cloud-based option. If you need cloud takeoffs without STACK's price tag, Easy Takeoffs is the most direct alternative.
Yes, specifically for cloud-based construction takeoffs. Both tools run in the browser and offer the same core workflow: upload PDFs, set scale, measure, export. STACK adds AI symbol counting and built-in estimating at $2,599 to $3,999 per user per year. Easy Takeoffs focuses on the measurement workflow and delivers it for free. For contractors who need accurate cloud takeoffs without AI counting or integrated estimating, Easy Takeoffs is the direct free alternative to STACK.
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Upload your first PDF plan set, set the scale, and pull accurate quantities before lunch. No credit card. No commitment. No per seat fees.