[ Compare ]
You are choosing whether the bid process stays manual.
The honest process comparison is ArosBid against how a pursuit runs on your desk today — the inbox, the share drive, and the spreadsheet built in the last hour before close. Takeoff and estimate are in the product. For Trimble AutoBid specifically, see ArosBid vs AutoBid. MEP estimating is MEP estimating software. Electrical estimating is electrical estimating software. Plumbing estimating is plumbing estimating software. Mechanical estimating is mechanical estimating software. Roofing estimating is roofing estimating software. AI construction estimating is AI construction estimating. Takeoff as its own search is MEP takeoff software. The combined AutoBid job is takeoff and estimating software.
Stage by stage.
Seven stages of a pursuit, as they run now and as they run with the gate in place.
- 01IntakeHow it runs now
An invitation lands in somebody’s mailbox. Whoever opens it first decides, informally, whether it is worth chasing.
With ArosBidThe invitation is recognised, a pursuit workspace opens, and the close calendar is drafted against the real dates in the documents.
- 02Reading the setHow it runs now
Whoever has hours available skims the sections they always skim. The front end is read last, if at all.
With ArosBidEvery document and every addendum is read, including the front end, and each finding is cited to the document and page that proves it.
- 03Bid / no-bidHow it runs now
A hallway conversation, decided on memory of how this general contractor behaved last time.
With ArosBidScored against your own record with that GC and against comparable pursuits you have already closed.
- 04Vendor solicitationHow it runs now
RFQ packages assembled by hand and sent by hand. Follow-ups happen when somebody remembers.
With ArosBidPackages drafted per trade, and every open quote tracked with follow-ups until it lands or the trade is covered.
- 05LevelingHow it runs now
A spreadsheet built in the last hour before close. Vendor totals are trusted as printed and exclusions live in the fine print.
With ArosBidEvery quote normalised to the same scope lines, each stated total reconciled against its own itemisation, exclusions pulled out and priced.
- 06ProposalHow it runs now
Scope, clarifications and exclusions written from memory and from whatever the last similar job said.
With ArosBidAssembled from the decisions actually recorded during this pursuit, so what you send matches what you priced.
- 07After submissionHow it runs now
The folder closes. Why the bid was lost is rarely written down, so the next pursuit starts from the same blank page.
With ArosBidBuyout, bonds, turnover and debrief run in the same workspace, and the bid-to-win gap feeds the next number.
Where everyone actually sits.
The category is not one queue. Most tools solve a different stage of preconstruction, and knowing which stage is the whole buying decision.
| Stage | Category | Examples | Built for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quantities | AI quantity takeoff | Togal.AI, Drawer AI | Reading drawings to detect, measure, count and label elements automatically, returning structured quantities without manual measurement. |
| Cost | Preconstruction estimating | Ediphi, Quotr | Centralising cost management and estimating — cost modelling, value engineering and detailed estimates from early design onward. |
| Risk | Contract and document AI | ContraVault | Reviewing contracts and project documents for risk, alongside takeoff and project-management tooling. |
| Schedule | Schedule optimisation | ALICE Technologies | Generating and comparing construction schedule options against constraints and resourcing. |
| Intake | Bid sourcing | BuildingConnected, PlanHub, ConstructConnect, SmartBid | Distributing invitations to bid. They are the invite, not the bid process that follows. |
| The seam | Running the pursuit | ArosBid | Takeoff and estimate, then the bid after: reading the whole set including the front end, reconciling every total as code, and running intake through readiness. |
Why we would back ourselves.
Five claims, each of which you can check on a walkthrough rather than take on faith.
- 01We read the front end
Most of the category starts at the drawings. The clauses that disqualify a bid — mandatory attendance, prequalification, bonding thresholds — live in Division 00 and 01, and we read those first.
- 02We do not price by model
Every extension, sum, reconciliation and allowance is deterministic integer-cent code. A takeoff that is five percent light is checkable; a hallucinated total is not.
- 03Approval is architecture
During training, a send must cite a recorded human approval. That is not a confirmation dialog the agent could route around. Then it automates the pattern you already signed off.
- 04We run the whole cycle, not one stage
Intake, review, bid/no-bid, BOM, RFQs, leveling, budget, proposal, readiness, then buyout and debrief. The seam between stages is where bids are lost.
- 05Takeoff and estimate, then the bid after
ArosBid includes takeoff and estimate and replaces Trimble AutoBid. Intake, review, vendor RFQs, leveling, proposal, and readiness run in the same workspace.
Why choose us.
Four things that are architecture rather than features, which is why no plan removes them.
- Approved first, then automated
During training, nothing leaves without a recorded human approval. It learns those decisions, then automates what you already signed off. L5 Autonomous is next.
- Money is computed, not predicted
Every extension, sum, reconciliation and allowance runs as deterministic integer-cent arithmetic. No model prices your job.
- The agent never holds a credential
Capability-scoped connectors hold the keys, enforce access, and log every allowed and every refused request in your own deployment.
- Your instance, your data
An isolated deployment on your own subdomain with your own database and document store, signed into with your Microsoft Entra ID.
Built by Arosplatforms
ArosBid is the construction vertical of Arosplatforms.
ArosBid is the construction vertical of Arosplatforms, an AI consulting firm that builds industry-specific AI operating systems and ships them end to end — strategy, custom development, agents and automation, retrieval systems, MLOps, and governance.
arosplatforms.com- 12industry AI operating systems, of which preconstruction is one
- 40+clients served across those industries
- 3 weeksto first value, as published by Arosplatforms
- AI strategy & advisory
- Custom AI development
- Agents & automation
- RAG & knowledge systems
- MLOps & infrastructure
- Governance & security
Figures as published by Arosplatforms.
Also on this desk.
Trade contractor, not a bid board: trade contractor bid software. Process after the ITB: construction bid management software. Vendor outbox: construction vendor RFQ. Quotes back: vendor quote leveling. Category split: AI bid leveling. Cited reading: AI tender review. Inbound changes: construction bid addendum log. Electrical desk: electrical estimating software. Plumbing desk: plumbing estimating software. Mechanical desk: mechanical estimating software. Roofing desk: roofing estimating software. AI estimating: AI construction estimating.