Bidwright

Overview

Bidwright is an open-source construction estimating workspace for handling a bid from intake and takeoff through pricing, review, and quote delivery. Its scope includes digital takeoff, bid management, and labor and material costs, with an estimator library for organizing resources such as ratebooks, assemblies, labor units, and datasets.

It offers both manual estimating and AI-assisted workflows: an estimator can ask AI to review an estimate or have an agent draft line items for human review. AI is optional rather than a requirement for manual work.

For a broader look at this category, see Painting and construction estimating software.

Key features

Takeoff and documents

PDF takeoff supports count, linear, area, and region annotations. For 3D models, Bidwright extracts element quantities and supports filtered bills of materials and revision differences. The workspace lists viewers for PDF, DOCX, XLSX, DWG/DXF, MSG/EML, Bluebeam markups, RTF, and ZIP files.

Estimating resources and AI

The estimator library covers resources, ratebooks, assemblies, labor units, cost intelligence, estimator playbooks, knowledge, and datasets. AI connections use the user's own provider keys for Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter, or Gemini; local options through LM Studio and Ollama are also described. AI usage is billed directly by the provider, not through Bidwright.

Manual workflows can run without outbound AI calls. The site says Docker deployments can operate offline or air-gapped after setup. The desktop app stores data locally and does not require a cloud account; Bidwright says it cannot see organization AI keys.

Pricing

Bidwright is free, with two listed options at 0.00 USD per free:

• Desktop app: 0.00 USD per free. Single-user for macOS, Windows, and Linux; AI is disabled until you add your own key.
• Docker self-host: 0.00 USD per free. AGPL-3.0, multi-user server, and self-managed infrastructure.

The Hosted option is coming soon, with a waitlist open. Its price is not listed; pricing is to be published before general availability.

The pricing FAQ says that embedding Bidwright in another SaaS under AGPL requires offering source to users. It directs anyone seeking a different arrangement to ask about a commercial license.

Platforms

Bidwright lists API, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, web, and Windows platforms, and describes its overall platform as hybrid. The desktop app is intended for a single user, while Docker self-hosting provides a multi-user server. Hosted service is not yet generally available.

Who it's for

The desktop app is positioned for one estimator, an owner-operator, or someone evaluating the software. Docker is aimed at a small team or a power user comfortable managing infrastructure. It may suit estimators who want to keep manual work independent of AI, or who prefer connecting their own AI provider or local model options.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Free desktop and Docker self-host options are listed.
• PDF and 3D model takeoff cover several annotation and quantity workflows.
• Manual estimating does not depend on outbound AI calls.
• Users can choose provider-key or local-model AI integrations.
• The desktop app stores data locally and does not require a cloud account.

Cons

• Desktop AI requires users to supply their own key, and provider usage is billed separately by that provider.
• Docker self-hosting requires self-managed infrastructure; support is through GitHub Issues.
• Hosted service, pricing, SSO, audit logs, and data residency are not available yet; the latter capabilities are planned.
• Using the software in another SaaS under AGPL comes with a source-offering requirement unless a commercial arrangement is made.

Alternatives

Other construction and estimating options include OpenConstructionERP, Trimble Viewpoint Vista, Trimble Quadri, CostX, Buildxact, HCSS, QuoteSoft, and eTakeoff.

Verdict

Bidwright is a free, open-source estimating workspace with a wide takeoff and document scope, estimator resources, and optional AI workflows. Its fit depends on the working setup: the desktop app keeps data local for an individual, while Docker supports multi-user use but puts infrastructure management on the user. Hosted availability and pricing remain unresolved, so teams seeking a ready hosted deployment should account for that limitation.