D-Tools owns AV estimating.
Forge owns the rest of the chest around it.
D-Tools System Integrator is the category leader for AV systems integrator estimating. The product line, the assembly database, the integrator relationships are deep and earned. Forge is built for the AV/low-voltage contractor whose problem isn't only the estimate — it's the documentation that lives downstream of it, the certified payroll on commercial cutovers, the rack the next integrator inherits, and the change-order that died in someone's email.
Side by side. Honest about both.
Reads from D-Tools and ships native AV assemblies. The category leader's assembly library is the deepest in AV; Forge doesn't claim otherwise.
Industry-leading. Decades of AV-specific assemblies, manufacturer integrations, and integrator workflows.
Plate native. Submittal package, AHJ markup, RFI workflow, as-builts, rack elevations, DSP files — version-controlled, attached to the project.
System Integrator handles project documentation; deeper submittal + AHJ markup workflows typically require Bluebeam alongside.
Treasury native. Davis-Bacon on commercial AV cutovers, OCIP/CCIP-aware reporting.
Not native. Operators export to a third-party payroll service.
First-class artifacts attached to the project's document plate. The next integrator inherits the configuration, not a spreadsheet pointing at a network drive.
Files attach to projects in System Integrator; depth varies by integration.
Torch — Telnyx-backed dialer, compliant SMS, recording, AI summaries. Federated with project + CRM + payroll.
Not in scope. Operators use a separate phone system.
One architecture. Estimating, dispatch, change-orders, payroll, Plate share state natively.
Best-of-breed approach — System Integrator + Bluebeam + a payroll service + a phone system, bridged by integrations.
Where D-Tools is the right call.
- 01.Residential and commercial AV integrators whose primary need is deep AV-specific estimating with a long catalog of manufacturer assemblies.
- 02.Operators who already have a stable Bluebeam + payroll-service stack and aren't looking to consolidate.
- 03.Custom-residential AV (cinema, distributed audio, smart-home) where the assembly catalog matters more than the federation does.
- 04.Integrators whose certified-payroll exposure is minimal — the prevailing-wage compliance burden may not justify a chest move.
The honest line.
If the operator's primary need is the deepest possible AV assembly catalog and the existing Bluebeam + payroll-service stack is working, D-Tools remains the right call. Charter is built for the AV/low-voltage contractor running commercial cutovers with prevailing-wage exposure who wants the documentation, payroll, and project record on one chest.
Two tools, two strengths. The estimate is one part of the work. Forge is built for the rest.