Beta · 10 founding railing shops

Win more railing bids — and stop underquoting them.

Upload the drawing — PDF, a photo of a print, a sketch. Get an editable cut list, material and labor hours back in minutes, then drop in your own rates and set the price. Quote the same day the GC asks, with hours that are counted, not guessed.

Try it free — upload a drawing → Reserve a founding spot
Your first 3 takeoffs are free — no signup, no card. Founding shops come on at $99/mo — unlimited, locked for life, cancel anytime. We’re in beta, and we’re saying so.
railtakeoff.com/app
RailTakeoff: drop a railing drawing, it reads the print and returns an itemized takeoff with review flags, then you add your rates and the quote computes

You know the squeeze on commercial railing work

The bid goes out, and three things quietly cost you money.

The fast shop won it

The GC sent the same prints to three shops. Your number was solid — it just landed two days after someone else’s, and the first solid quote set the anchor.

Everything waits on one estimator

Only one person can really quote. How many jobs you can bid is capped at what they can count by hand — and when they’re out, quoting stops.

The good jobs finished in the red

Hours got a finger-in-the-air guess to hit the deadline. You won the job — then ate the difference on the floor.

You’re right — most AI can’t read a shop drawing. Watch one try.

Same sloped picket guard, same image, two takeoffs. Free ChatGPT read it as metric, guessed the sections, and wouldn’t commit to a picket count. Here’s the difference when a tool is built to read a dimensioned print instead of chat about it. Both outputs are real.

Every line editable. The price is yours.

Drop in your labor rate, material markup and margin — the quote updates as you type. Correct anything it got wrong; that’s the feedback we’re after. RailTakeoff never puts a dollar figure on your work — the number the GC sees is yours.

RailTakeoff: entering your labor rate and margin, and the quote total computing live
Run your own drawing — free →

What RailTakeoff does for your shop

It takes the counting off your estimator’s desk — and leaves the pricing, and the judgement, with you.

Get the quote out while the job’s warm

Drawing to a reviewable takeoff in minutes, so you bid the same day the GC asks — not three days later. The first solid number in their inbox is usually the one that wins.

Bid more jobs without another estimator

The counting and cut-list typing — the part that eats the day — comes off your estimator’s plate. The same person turns around more bids, and quoting doesn’t stop when they’re out.

Stop winning jobs you lose money on

Every member, weld and cut is itemized, so the hours are counted, not guessed. You catch the miss before it’s baked into a price you’re stuck with on the floor.

You keep the pricing — always

It hands you quantities and hours. You drop in your rate, your markup, your margin. It never puts a dollar figure on your work — the number the GC sees is yours, same as today.

It reads the print — and flags what it can’t

Dimensioned PDFs, a phone photo of a print, a marked-up sketch. When a callout is cropped or two dimension lines disagree, it flags that line for you to confirm instead of quietly guessing.

Nothing to rip out

Upload a PDF, set your rate card once, export a branded quote. No ERP migration, no month-long rollout, no system the floor has to learn. It fits next to how you already work.

How it works

1
Upload the drawing. PDF, photo of a print, or a sketch — whatever the GC sent you. Straight into the tool; it doesn’t go to anyone.
2
Get the takeoff. Itemized cut list, material, weld/cut/bend ops, and labor hours — every line editable.
3
Drop in your rates. Your labor rate, material markup, margin. We load your rate card once so it comes out priced your way.
4
Send the quote. Export a clean branded PDF. Win the bid before the other shop finishes counting.
Straight about where we are: this is a beta. The tool works today — you upload a drawing and get the takeoff back in the app, nothing to install. It’s early, so it won’t be perfect on every print, and anything it isn’t sure about gets flagged for you instead of quietly guessed. Your first 10 takeoffs are free. In return we ask one thing: when it gets something wrong, fix the cell and tell us. That feedback is what we’re buying with the founding price, and it’s what makes it fit your shop.

Try it free. Founding shops lock $99/mo for life.

Run a few of your own prints free — no card. If it earns its place, come on as one of ten founding shops: $99/mo, unlimited, cancel anytime, and the price never moves.

Founding beta · first 10 railing shops
$99 /mo · unlimited
  • 3 free takeoffs first — no signup, no card
  • Unlimited takeoffs once you’re in
  • $99/mo locked for life — cancel anytime
  • Rate-card setup done for you + railing detail library
  • Branded quote PDF & win/loss tracker
  • A direct line to the founder — your feedback steers the build
Start with 3 free →

Straight answers

Can’t I just use ChatGPT for this?
You can try — we did, on the same real shop drawing. It read the units as metric, guessed the wrong sections, and wouldn’t commit to a picket count or the hours. It’s built to chat, not to read a dimensioned print. See the side-by-side →
What happens to my drawings?
Your prints stay yours. We don’t share them, sell them, or hand them to anyone else. We keep the ones you run so the tool gets sharper on your kind of work — and if you ever want them wiped, one email and they’re gone.
Does it actually read my prints?
Dimensioned PDF shop drawings, photos of a print, or a sketch. When a callout is cropped or unclear, it flags that line for you to confirm instead of quietly guessing — you review before anything counts.
Does it set my price?
No. It gives you quantities and labor hours. You put in your own rate, material markup and margin. It never puts a dollar figure on your work — the number that goes to the GC is yours.
How accurate is it?
Accurate enough to kill the counting, not to replace your judgement. You get an editable takeoff you eyeball in a minute — not a black-box price. Anything it isn’t sure of is flagged so you catch it before you send.
Do I have to change how my shop runs?
No rip-out. Upload a PDF, paste your rates, export a quote PDF. No ERP migration, no month-long onboarding, no new system for the floor to learn.
What does it cost?
Your first 3 takeoffs are free — no card, no signup. After that, founding shops come on at $99/mo for unlimited takeoffs, locked for life, cancel anytime. One won railing bid pays for months of it.

Who’s behind this

I’m Sydney. I’m not a fabricator — I can’t weld. I built RailTakeoff after watching solid railing bids lose to whoever quoted first, and good jobs finish in the red because the hours got guessed at 5pm to hit a deadline.

So the tool does one thing: it takes the counting off your estimator’s desk, and leaves the pricing — and the judgement — with the person who has it. It never touches your price. That’s the whole idea.

It’s early, and I’d rather hear it’s wrong than pretend it’s perfect. Founding shops reach me directly.

— Sydney, Founder, RailTakeoff

Shipping in the open

We’re in beta and fixing things as real shops hit them — here’s what’s changed lately.

Hit something that doesn’t work? Tell us — that’s how this list grows.

Come on as a founding shop

Try it first — 3 takeoffs free, no card. Founding shops get unlimited at $99/mo, locked for life, cancel anytime, and a direct line to shape the tool on your kind of work. Want us to set you up instead? Leave your shop email and we’ll reach out.

No charge to reserve. We'll reach out to confirm your founding spot.