"HVAC estimating software" covers three different jobs, and most HVAC companies need only one or two of them:
- Service and replacement quotes in the customer's home: a repair from a flat-rate price book, or good-better-best options for a new system.
- Load calculations to size the equipment and ducts (Manual J, S and D).
- Bids from drawings for new construction and commercial work: counting equipment, measuring duct runs and pricing labor and material.
A residential service company buying commercial takeoff software, or a mechanical contractor trying to bid a school from a service app, wastes money. This roundup is organized by job. Prices come from each vendor's own page as of November 3, 2026; we compare published information and haven't run each tool on live jobs.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Job | Listed price |
|---|---|---|
| Housecall Pro | Service quotes, flat-rate pricing, proposals | From $59/mo billed annually |
| Profit Rhino | Flat-rate price book and in-home sales | SmartPrice from $39/tech/mo, plus required onboarding |
| CoolCalc | Manual J, S and D load calcs and duct design | $45 per project, or $59/user/mo ($50 billed yearly) |
| Trimble AutoBid Mechanical | Commercial mechanical bids | Not listed |
| Trimble Estimation MEP Pro | MEP takeoff and estimating in the browser | $1,950 per user/year (US) |
| PlanSwift | Takeoff and estimating from plans | $2,000–$3,000 per seat/year |
| STACK | Cloud takeoff and estimating | Free version; paid from $299/user/mo |
| Bluebeam | PDF markup and measurement | $260–$590 per user/year |
For service and replacement quotes
Most residential HVAC estimating happens in the field service software itself: the tech opens a price book, picks the repair or builds a replacement proposal, and the customer signs on the tablet. Our HVAC field service software comparison covers the full platforms; here's what matters for quoting.
Housecall Pro
Housecall Pro publishes its plans:
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | Quoting features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $59/mo | $79/mo | Estimates and invoicing, price book; 1 user |
| Essentials | $149/mo | $189/mo | Adds flat-rate pricing with your profit margins; 5 users |
| MAX | $299/mo | $329/mo | Adds a sales proposal tool with images and side-by-side comparisons, and recurring service plans; 8 users (+$35/mo each) |
For HVAC, Essentials is the first plan with flat-rate pricing, and MAX adds the visual proposals that suit system replacements. There's a 14-day free trial of MAX with no credit card. See our Housecall Pro pricing guide for the full breakdown.
ServiceTitan
ServiceTitan doesn't publish prices; it prices per technician on request. Its packages include a pricebook from Starter, and mobile estimates from Essentials. See our ServiceTitan pricing guide for what each package includes.
Profit Rhino
Profit Rhino sells a digital flat-rate price book with a management platform and a mobile sales tool for presenting options in the home. It says its team has been writing flat-rate pricing for contractors for over 30 years. SmartPrice costs $39, $49 or $59 per tech a month (Starter, Plus and Pro), and Profit Rhino requires success coaching and implementation on top. If you already use field service software, its Integrate option licenses the price book data from $299 a month. An HVAC light commercial content add-on is $69 a month per company. Profit Rhino's site also announces a Housecall Pro price book powered by Profit Rhino, so ask Housecall Pro how that compares with buying Profit Rhino directly.
Best for: HVAC companies that want a ready-made flat-rate price book instead of building one from scratch.
For load calculations and duct design: CoolCalc
Before you quote a replacement, you need to know what size system the house needs. CoolCalc is web-based design software built on ACCA's Manual J (load), Manual S (equipment selection) and Manual D (duct design). You can enter the house by LiDAR scan with its app, by uploading a floor plan, by tracing it on satellite imagery (useful for quick block loads and virtual pre-sale estimates), or by drawing it.
| Option | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | $45 per project | Manual J, S and D, LiDAR scan app, ticketed support |
| Pro | $59 per user a month, or $50 a month billed yearly ($600 a year) | Unlimited Manual J, S and D, LiDAR scan app, unlimited ticketed support |
You can create a project and try the tool before paying; you pay to see the Manual J results.
Best for: residential HVAC contractors who want load calcs and duct sizing in the browser, and companies that need documented Manual J reports.
For bids from drawings: takeoff and estimating
Commercial and new-construction HVAC work is bid from plans: equipment counts, duct and pipe runs, fittings, labor units and material pricing.
Trimble AutoBid Mechanical
Trimble describes AutoBid Mechanical as mechanical estimating software designed for commercial mechanical, piping and plumbing contractors. It supports quick comparisons of installation costs by changing specifications (useful for value engineering), Excel-based reports, built-in industry-standard labor units (including MCAA and PHCC), and a live link to Trimble's MEP pricing services, which Trimble says are included with AutoBid. Prices aren't published; you contact Trimble.
Best for: established mechanical contractors who bid commercial projects every week.
Trimble Estimation MEP
Estimation MEP is Trimble's cloud estimating product for MEP contractors. Estimation MEP Pro costs $1,950 per user a year in the US. It includes AI-powered 2D takeoff from drawings, a managed item library of hundreds of thousands of items, most with list prices from Trade Service and Luckins, industry-standard labor units, assemblies, and vendor quote management. It runs in a browser on Mac or PC.
Best for: smaller mechanical contractors who want trade-specific estimating with a published price.
PlanSwift
PlanSwift is takeoff and estimating software for all trades, sold in annual seats: Essential at $2,000 a year and Core at $3,000 a year, with discounts on extra seats. Both include takeoff plus estimating with pre-built trade assemblies and AI tools (Auto Count, Auto Scale, Auto Bookmark); Core adds Auto Takeoff, completing the Takeoff BOOST suite. It works with PDF, image and CAD plans, and there's a 14-day free trial without a credit card.
STACK
STACK is cloud-based takeoff and estimating. It offers a free version of Takeoff & Estimate; paid Takeoff & Estimate starts at $299 per user a month, and the full platform with field and project management from $348 per user a month.
Bluebeam
Bluebeam isn't an estimating program, but many estimators use it to mark up and measure PDF drawings. Plans are billed annually per user: Basics $260, Core $330, Complete $440 and Max $590 (an introductory price). Core is the first plan Bluebeam describes as including professional-grade measurements.
Best for: measuring duct runs and marking up drawings when you price the job in a spreadsheet or another estimating tool.
How to choose HVAC estimating software
- Residential service and replacements: quote inside your field service software. Housecall Pro Essentials for flat-rate pricing, MAX for replacement proposals; add Profit Rhino if you want a ready-made price book.
- Sizing equipment: add a Manual J tool such as CoolCalc, per project or by subscription.
- Commercial and new-construction bids: Trimble AutoBid Mechanical or Estimation MEP for a mechanical database and labor units; PlanSwift or STACK for general takeoff; Bluebeam for measuring PDFs.
- Check the price book or database. Labor units and material pricing matter more than features: ask where prices come from and how often they update.
For other trades, see our contractor estimating software comparison and estimating software for electricians. To find commercial projects to bid on, see construction bidding software, and for residential leads, our HVAC marketing ideas.
