Boon vs On-Screen Takeoff
On-Screen Takeoff (OST) digitized the old paper-and-ruler takeoff, and Takeoff Boost adds AI-assisted measurement — but you still drive conditions and hand off to Quick Bid to estimate. Boon reads your drawings and specs together, does the takeoff automatically, and returns a bid-ready package back in one Slack message.
Async path: drop a plan set in the email. Gandalf reads it and sends the bid-ready package back — no call required.
OST is a mature desktop digital-takeoff tool in the ConstructConnect ecosystem, with Takeoff Boost for AI-assisted measurement and Quick Bid for estimating. Boon runs the whole preconstruction loop with AI and hands back a bid-ready package.
OST replaces paper takeoff with on-screen conditions, and Takeoff Boost speeds measurement with AI. It’s a desktop tool that pairs with Quick Bid for the estimate — you still set up conditions and assemble the bid.
Boon reads every sheet and every spec section as one document, flags spec ↔ drawing mismatches before they become change orders, and returns a bid-ready package to the same Slack channel — not a quantity file you have to import and finish.
A fair, factual comparison. On-Screen Takeoff facts below are from their site; Boon facts are from our live product pages.
| Capability | On-Screen Takeoff | Boon |
|---|---|---|
| Reads drawings and specs together | ✕ Takeoff / measurement from drawings | ✓ Flags spec ↔ drawing mismatches |
| Returns a bid-ready package | ✕ Pairs with Quick Bid; you assemble the bid | ✓ Bid-ready summary back in Slack |
| Cloud-based, any device | ✕ Desktop application | ✓ Cloud — works anywhere |
| Works in your existing Slack (no new tool) | ✕ ConstructConnect desktop suite | ✓ Lives in Slack — nothing new to learn |
| Publishes per-trade accuracy (F1) | ✕ Not published | ✓ Elec ≥ 0.90 · Mech ≥ 0.74 · Arch ≥ 0.85 |
| Pricing | ✕ Per-seat license (ConstructConnect) | ✓ Pay for only what you use |
On-Screen Takeoff positioning verified from oncenter.com / constructconnect.com (2026-07-30). We only state facts we can source; if we can’t verify a claim, we leave it out.
Four reasons estimators looking for an On-Screen Takeoff alternative land on Boon.
Boon treats drawings and specs as one document, the way an estimator does, and surfaces where they disagree before it becomes a change order. A takeoff off the drawings alone can miss that.
Instead of exporting quantities to import and finish elsewhere, Boon returns a bid-ready summary across trades — the last mile is done.
Drop a plan set in a project channel and the package comes back to the same channel. No new login, no per-seat rollout, no app to train the team on.
Electrical ≥ 0.90, mechanical ≥ 0.74, architectural ≥ 0.85. The Construction Vision Model is one foundation model trained across every trade — ask any vendor for their numbers.
F1 score is the standard accuracy metric for object detection. We publish ours. Ask any vendor for theirs.
| Trade | F1 (current) | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical | ≥ 0.90 | Receptacles, fixtures, panels, devices, conduit runs. |
| Mechanical | ≥ 0.74 | Ductwork, fittings, equipment, piping. |
| Architectural | ≥ 0.85 | Walls, doors, windows, fixtures, finishes. |
Numbers are floors on real customer plan sets, not best-case demo decks. If a vendor won’t publish theirs, that’s the answer.
Book a 20-minute call — we’ll provision your workspace and run your first takeoff on the call. Or email a plan set to plans@getboon.ai and Gandalf returns a bid-ready package back in Slack.