STACK is built for the takeoff and the bid.
Forge is built for everything the bid turns into.
STACK is a strong cloud takeoff and estimating platform — fast on-screen measurement off plan sets, clean assemblies, real bid management. That part of the work is its home turf. Forge is built for the commercial install contractor whose problem doesn't end at the bid: certified payroll, change-orders, submittals, and the field crew, all on one chest.
Side by side. Honest about both.
Forge estimates from trade assemblies and from in-field LiDAR (Hyperion). On-screen takeoff off a 2D plan set is not the primary capture path — ground-truth geometry is.
Core strength. Fast on-screen 2D takeoff off uploaded drawings is what STACK is known for, with a deep assembly + cost-database workflow.
Forge carries the project from estimate through install, change-order, and payroll. Pre-bid invitation and bid-board workflow is not a built-out drawer today.
Native. Bid management, plan distribution, and invitation-to-bid workflow are a developed part of the STACK product.
Yes. AI primitives are the foundation. Modules share architecture rather than relying on integrations between separate products.
Estimating-era architecture with capability added over time. Strong at its core job; not architected AI-first.
Yes. Hyperion — iPad/iPhone LiDAR. Walk the structure, get a line-item estimate. Methodology + sample plan published at /proof/hyperion-accuracy; it graduates to a measured benchmark after independent third-party verification.
Not in scope. Takeoff is performed on-screen against 2D plans, not from an in-field spatial scan.
Treasury (native). Davis-Bacon rates per project, prevailing wage per worker per task, WH-347 ready to file. RMR ledger and change-orders write to the same place.
Not native. Estimating output is exported; certified payroll runs in a separate payroll system.
Documents native — submittal packages, as-builts, commissioning records, version-controlled and attached to the project record.
Focused on the estimate and the bid. Downstream submittal and closeout documentation typically lives in a separate tool.
A scan delta or install ticket generates a change-order, the customer signs from the truck, and Treasury writes the financial side automatically.
Built around the pre-construction estimate and bid. In-field change-order capture is outside its scope.
Native. Dialer, SMS, call recording, and AI summaries — federated with the project, CRM, and payroll.
Not in scope. Operators use a separate phone and messaging system.
Where STACK is the right call.
- 01.Pre-construction estimators whose core daily job is fast on-screen takeoff off uploaded plan sets — STACK is purpose-built for it and very good at it.
- 02.Operators who live in the bid-board and invitation-to-bid workflow and want strong plan distribution and bid management.
- 03.Estimating teams who want a deep, mature cost database and assembly library and aren't trying to consolidate field ops, payroll, and comms onto one platform.
- 04.Multi-trade GCs and subs whose stack already has a working payroll system and project-management tool, and who just need the takeoff-to-bid layer to be excellent.
The honest line.
If the operator's core need is the best possible on-screen takeoff and bid-management workflow off plan sets — and the existing payroll, field-ops, and PM stack is working — STACK is the right tool and you should keep it. Forge is built for the commercial install contractor who wants the bid, the certified payroll, the change-orders, the submittals, and the field crew on one chest, with in-field LiDAR as the primary measurement.
The takeoff is one part of the work. Forge is built for the rest of it.