CostKit launched today. It’s an AI-powered construction estimating platform that generates professional, phase-by-phase cost estimates in under 60 seconds. You describe your project, answer a few trade-specific questions, and get a complete breakdown with regional labor and material pricing — ready to export as a branded PDF or share with a client via link. It’s at costkit.ai.
This is how we got here.
The Problem
Construction estimating is one of those problems that sounds simple until you watch someone actually do it. A contractor gets a call about a bathroom remodel. Before they can quote a price, they need to account for demolition, framing, plumbing rough-in, electrical, drywall, tile, fixtures, paint, permits, overhead, and contingency. Each line item has a labor cost, a material cost, and both of those vary by region. A plumber in Delaware charges a different rate than a plumber in California.
Most contractors handle this with spreadsheets. Some use pen and paper. The experienced ones have templates they’ve built over years, but those templates still require manual input for every project. A single residential estimate can take hours to put together properly — and that’s time not spent on the job site or closing the next customer.
The existing estimating software market doesn’t help small contractors much. Tools like PlanSwift and ProEst are built for large general contractors running commercial projects. They’re expensive, require training, and assume you have a dedicated estimating department. A solo roofer or a three-person remodeling crew doesn’t need blueprint takeoff software. They need a fast way to generate an accurate, professional-looking estimate they can hand to a homeowner.
What CostKit Does
You start by describing your project in plain language: “Full kitchen remodel, 200 sq ft, gut to studs, new cabinets, quartz countertops, tile backsplash.” You select your trade, your state, and answer a short set of questions that adjust based on the type of work. A roofer gets questions about shingle type and roof pitch. An HVAC contractor gets questions about system type and ductwork.
CostKit’s AI takes those inputs and generates a complete estimate organized into phases — demolition, rough-in, framing, finishes, and so on. Each phase contains individual line items with quantities, unit costs, labor, and materials. The costs are adjusted for your region automatically.
Everything is editable. If the AI priced drywall at $1.80 per square foot and you know your supplier charges $1.50, you change it. The totals recalculate. Overhead and contingency percentages are adjustable too.
When the estimate is ready, you export it as a branded PDF with your company name, logo, and contact information. Or you generate a client view link and send it directly. The estimate looks like it came from professional estimating software — because it did — but it took a minute instead of an afternoon.
Technical Decisions
CostKit is a Next.js application running on Fly.io with Supabase for the database and auth layer.
The AI layer uses Claude to analyze project inputs and generate structured estimate data. The system prompt includes trade-specific context and regional cost awareness. The output is validated against a Zod schema before it reaches the frontend, so the AI can’t produce malformed data that breaks the estimate view. The structured output approach means every estimate has consistent phases, line items, and totals regardless of how the project was described.
Regional pricing is baked into the generation step. Labor rates and material costs vary significantly across the US — a framing crew in rural Georgia costs less than one in San Francisco. The AI factors in the contractor’s state and adjusts accordingly. This isn’t a lookup table; it’s contextual cost awareness based on the trade and region combination.
PDF generation runs server-side with Puppeteer. The estimate renders as an HTML component first (which doubles as the in-app preview), then Puppeteer captures it as a PDF. This means the PDF matches what you see in the browser exactly. Free-tier PDFs include a small “Powered by CostKit” watermark. Paid plans get fully branded output.
Stripe handles billing with four tiers: Free (2 estimates/month), Starter ($39/month or $30/month annual), Pro ($89/month or $70/month annual), and Team ($179/month or $140/month annual). Usage tracking enforces estimate limits per billing period at the API level.
Who It’s For
CostKit is built for independent contractors, small remodeling companies, and trade specialists — roofers, plumbers, HVAC techs, electricians, general contractors running small crews. The people who know their trade deeply but spend too much time on the paperwork side of running a business.
The existing tools in this space are either too complex (enterprise estimating suites that require weeks of training) or too generic (blank spreadsheet templates that don’t know anything about construction costs). CostKit sits in the middle: smart enough to generate accurate estimates automatically, simple enough to use on a phone between job sites.
Plans
Free: 2 estimates per month, AI generation, phase-by-phase breakdowns, watermarked PDF. Starter: 25 estimates per month, branded PDFs, editable line items, saved estimate dashboard, client view links. Pro: unlimited estimates, custom templates, trade-specific cost tuning. Team: unlimited estimates, 5 team seats, shared estimate library, team analytics.
No credit card required to start.
Try It
CostKit is live at costkit.ai. Describe a project, and you’ll have a professional estimate in under a minute.
Questions? [email protected].