OneBookPlus
Measure any plan in minutes, not hours
AI reads your PDF or photo plans, drops measured quantities onto the drawing, and counts every symbol, then you review and price.
Digital takeoff software for Australian builders. AI reads your PDF or photo plans, measures areas, wall runs and counts, and drops them straight onto the drawing. Correct anything on the plan, count every symbol from one example, then turn the numbers you trust into a priced estimate. Part of the $99/mo builder-suite, unlimited users.
Replaces Buildxact takeoffs, Bluebeam, PlanSwift, CostX
What's included
Everything in OneBookPlus Digital Takeoff
AI reads your plan
Upload a PDF or a photo of the drawing and the AI returns areas, wall runs and counts: each one confidence-scored and dropped onto the drawing as a shape you can see. It is a first draft, roughly 85–90% of the way there, that lands in a review queue for you to check, not a black box that bills the client.
Correct it on the drawing
Zoom and pan the plan, then drag a whole shape into place or nudge a single corner until the measurement is right. Nothing is locked: you overrule the AI directly on the overlay, the same way you would with a highlighter and a scale ruler.
Pick one symbol, find them all
Tap one downlight, one door, one power point: the AI finds every matching symbol across the page and counts them for you. This is the step Buildxact can't do: their counting is manual, click-by-click, one item at a time.
Accept only the numbers you trust
Every measurement has an accept or reject control right on the plan. Keep the ones that are right, redo the ones that aren't, and only accepted quantities flow forward. You are always the one who signs off the take-off.
Areas, linear runs and counts
Measure floor and wall areas in m², linear runs like skirting, framing and gutter in lineal metres, and item counts in each: the three quantity types that drive a residential estimate.
Photo plans, not just PDFs
No clean PDF on site? Snap a photo of the printed plan and measure from that. Take-off runs on PDF and photo plans: there's no LiDAR room-scan or CAD import, just the drawing in front of you.
Straight into a priced estimate
The quantities you accept feed the OneBookPlus estimate generator, priced from your own cost catalogue and recent supplier bills. Measure, then price, without re-typing a single number into a spreadsheet.
Measured on the plan, not re-keyed
You measure and accept each quantity directly on the drawing, and the numbers you sign off seed your estimate: no re-typing totals into a spreadsheet and hoping they still match the plan. What you accepted on the drawing is what prices.
On your iPad on site or desktop in the office
Take off in the browser on your iPad at the site or on your desktop back at the office: then quote, invoice and run the job in the native OneBookPlus app the rest of your work already lives in. Unlimited users on the one $99/mo builder-suite subscription.
Minutes
To measure a plan that used to take hours by hand
1 symbol
Pick one, the AI finds and counts every other instance
Review-first
AI drafts ~85–90% of the take-off; you check and correct it on the plan
$99/mo
Builder-suite app, unlimited users, export always free
Simple setup
How OneBookPlus Digital Takeoff works
Upload the plan and set the scale
Drop in a PDF or a photo of the drawing and calibrate the scale by drawing one known dimension. From then on every measurement is to scale.
Let the AI measure and count
The AI reads the drawing and returns areas, runs and symbol counts: each confidence-scored and placed on the plan, waiting in your review queue rather than sent anywhere.
Correct it on the drawing
Drag shapes and corners to fix any measurement, and use pick-one-find-all to count the rest of a symbol. You stay in control on the overlay the whole time.
Accept and price
Accept the quantities you're happy with and push them into a priced estimate: costed from your own catalogue and recent supplier prices, ready to become a quote.
Digital Takeoff Software for Australian Builders
Good takeoff software australia builders can actually use has to do two things: measure plans fast, and stay honest about it. OneBookPlus Digital Takeoff reads your PDF or photo plan with AI and returns areas, wall runs and symbol counts, each confidence-scored and dropped straight onto the drawing. It gets you roughly 85–90% of the way there and lands every measurement in a review queue, so you check and correct on the plan rather than trusting a number you never saw. That's the difference between a plan measuring software tool that speeds you up and one that quietly bills the client for the AI's mistakes.
The step most tools miss is symbol counting. Traditional digital takeoff software, including Buildxact, makes you click every downlight, door and power point one at a time. OneBookPlus lets you pick one symbol and the AI finds and counts every other instance on the page. Desktop specialists like PlanSwift and CostX can do example-based counting too, but they're separate Windows applications you export from; this is a construction takeoff app that measures, counts, estimates, quotes and collects payment in one place, on your iPad on site or your desktop in the office.
Take-off only pays off when the numbers go somewhere. The quantities you accept flow straight into the OneBookPlus estimate generator, priced from your own cost catalogue and recent supplier bills, then into a quote your client e-signs and a progress-claim invoice they pay online. There is no LiDAR or CAD import, take-off runs on flat PDF and photo plans, and the whole builder-suite is $99/mo with unlimited users and free data export. You measure the plan once, and it drives the entire job.
Takeoff is the first link in the OneBookPlus builder chain — you can turn the quantities you accept into a priced construction estimate, bill the finished stages as progress claims, see how the takeoff stacks up against Buildxact, or explore the whole platform built for builders.
How we compare
Digital Takeoff vs the competition
See how OneBookPlus compares to the tools you might already be using.
| Feature | OneBookPlus | Buildxact | PlanSwift | CostX |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI reads the plan and measures for you | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| "Pick one symbol, find all" auto counting | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Correct measurements on the drawing itself | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works on photo plans, not just PDF | Yes | No | No | No |
| AI take-off included, not a paid add-on | Yes | No | No | No |
| Estimate, quote, invoice & get paid in the same app | Yes | No | No | No |
| Online payment collection (card + BECS) | Yes | No | No | No |
| Native mobile app (create, not just view) | Yes | No | No | No |
| GST-inclusive pricing (AU) | Yes | No | No | No |
| Unlimited users included | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Price | $99/mo | $199–399/mo + add-ons | Perpetual desktop licence | Quote only |
Example walkthrough
A day with OneBookPlus Digital Takeoff
A worked example, a Brisbane renovation builder pricing a bathroom-and-deck job from the architect's PDF
Dan gets the PDF plans for a bathroom reno plus a rear deck at 9am. Instead of printing them and reaching for a scale ruler, he uploads the PDF and calibrates the scale by drawing along the one dimension the architect noted.
The AI reads the drawing and, a minute later, drops shapes onto the plan: floor area for the bathroom and the deck in m², wall runs for the framing and waterproofing, and counts for the downlights and power points, each shape confidence-scored. Two areas look slightly off where the AI clipped a wall; Dan drags the corners into place on-screen. He taps one downlight and picks-one-find-all: sixteen light points counted across the plan in a second, where Buildxact would have him click all sixteen by hand.
He accepts the quantities he's happy with, rejects one duplicate the AI double-counted, and pushes the lot into an estimate. It prices instantly from his own catalogue and recent Bunnings and Reece bills. By 9:40 he has a costed estimate he trusts, measured on the plan, not guessed off a printout, and turns it into a quote before smoko.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about OneBookPlus Digital Takeoff.
How accurate is the AI take-off?
The AI gets you roughly 85–90% of the way there, and every measurement it produces lands in a review queue with a confidence score. It is a first draft you check and correct on the plan, not a fully-automatic result, we don't claim 98% or hands-off measuring. You accept the numbers that are right and fix the rest before anything is priced.
Can it count symbols automatically?
Yes. Tap one example of a symbol, a downlight, a door, a power point, and the AI finds and counts every matching instance across the page. This is something Buildxact's take-off can't do: their counting is manual, one click per item.
Does it work on photos, or only PDF plans?
Both. You can upload a PDF plan or a photo of a printed drawing and measure from either. There is no LiDAR or room-scanning, take-off works on flat PDF and photo plans, not a 3D scan of the room.
Can I correct what the AI measures?
Always. Zoom and pan the drawing, drag a whole shape into position or move a single corner, and accept or reject each measurement right on the overlay. Only the quantities you accept carry forward into the estimate.
Do the measurements become a priced estimate?
Yes. Accepted quantities flow into the OneBookPlus estimate generator and are priced from your own cost catalogue and recent supplier bills, so a take-off turns into a costed estimate, then a quote, without re-keying numbers.
How does this compare to Buildxact, PlanSwift or CostX?
Buildxact's take-off is PDF-only with manual symbol counting, and its AI take-off assistant is a paid add-on on higher tiers. PlanSwift and CostX are capable desktop specialists but are separate takeoff tools you then export into an estimating package. OneBookPlus does AI-assisted measuring, pick-one-find-all counting, estimating, quoting, invoicing and online payment in one app at $99/mo with unlimited users.
Australian Owned
Built in Melbourne, AU
GST Compliant
ATO-ready from day one
Encrypted & Isolated
TLS in transit, AES-256 at rest, tenant isolation at the database layer, read the security page
Free Plan Available
No credit card needed
Works great with
Other OneBookPlus products that pair naturally with Digital Takeoff.
About the author
Bishal Shrestha
Founder & CEO, OneBookPlus
Bishal spent a decade running digital projects for Australian small businesses before founding OneBookPlus. He has worked directly with small businesses across Australia, from tradies and restaurants to salons and professional services, and built OneBookPlus to replace the tool stack he watched them wrestle with.
Read the founder bioReady to try OneBookPlus Digital Takeoff?
Start free. No credit card required. Upgrade when you're ready.
Last reviewed and updated: by Bishal Shrestha