Credit Where It's Due
OST (On-Screen Takeoff) was one of the first tools that let you measure a digital plan instead of a paper set. A lot of estimators still know it by muscle memory. If it's paid for, installed, and getting bids out the door, keep it.
This page is for everyone else — the shop that just got quoted thousands for a license plus a second product just to price the quantities they already measured.
What Estimators Say Gets in the Way
- The sticker shock — takeoff and pricing are sold as separate seats. The number people quote in public is not "a couple hundred a year."
- An interface that never left the desktop era — reviewers describe the layout as old-school and poorly thought out, the kind of tool that feels like a Windows 98 leftover.
- The workflow still splits — measure in OST, price somewhere else, build the proposal in a third program. The risky step — numbers moving between windows — is still yours.
What estimators are saying
OST is crazy expensive ($4000 for 1 liscense and another 4K for pricing).
I got Onscreen to price a take off software for 3 people and it was almost 10k.
Generally speaking it feels very 'old school' and the layout doesn't seem well thought out. To me OST feels like I'm doing takeoffs on a win98 program.
Datum Plan Is the Takeoff Engine, Not Another Desktop Suite
- Measure once, priced instantly — draw the takeoff and it lands in the estimate from your cost book. No second license for pricing.
- One screen — plan, cost book, and live totals. The quantity never passes through your keyboard.
- The deliverable — structured .xlsx or a branded PDF proposal in one click.
- No install — runs in the browser. No license server, no IT ticket to get a new estimator online.
On-Screen Takeoff vs Datum Plan, Side by Side
| On-Screen Takeoff | Datum Plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Desktop takeoff on a licensed workstation | Takeoff and estimating in the browser |
| Where the estimate lives | Often a second product, or Excel after export | On the same screen as the plan, priced as you measure |
| Interface | Reviewers call it old-school — "Win98" is the comparison they use | One workspace: plan, cost book, live totals |
| Setup | Desktop install and a license for each seat | Open a browser — no install, no license server |
| Deliverable | Quantities you still assemble into a proposal | One-click Excel estimate or branded PDF proposal |
| Pricing | Thousands per license; pricing often sold separately | $29/month flat after a 14-day free trial, every feature included |
The Price Math
Public quotes for OST plus pricing land in the thousands per seat — one contractor reported nearly $10k for three people. Datum Plan is $29/month after a 14-day free trial, month to month, takeoff and pricing together. Cancel anytime. Your exports are standard files you keep.
Keep OST If It's Already Paid For
If the licenses are on the books and the crew is fast in it, we're not asking you to throw that away. If you're staring at a renewal — or a first-time quote that looks like a truck payment — and all you need is measure, price, send, that's the job Datum Plan was built for.