What Handoff does well
Handoff is known for speed at the estimating stage, using AI to help a contractor turn a plain description or photos into a structured estimate without building every line by hand. For a contractor whose main friction is producing a detailed estimate fast, that AI-assisted approach is a genuine strength. If a quick, professional estimate is the piece you want solved, a focused estimating app is a reasonable fit and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
Why a GC looks for more than an estimate
A fast estimate is where a job starts, not where it ends. Once work begins, the questions become whether you are on budget, what the change orders add up to, and whether you are getting paid on schedule. An estimating-focused app does not answer those. The common reasons contractors look for more:
- Strong on generating the estimate, lighter on tracking costs against it.
- No connected view of progress, change orders, and where a job stands.
- The estimate lives in one place while budgets and invoices live in another.
If your estimate and your actuals keep drifting apart, a connected whole-job tool is worth a look.
Where TradesMetrics fits
TradesMetrics is deliberately narrow. It is built for the small residential GC, and it keeps the whole job on one set of numbers.
Phone-first, including voice
TradesMetrics is designed to be driven from the field, including by voice. You can capture a cost, start a change order, or log a delay by talking to it while you are on site, so the record gets made in the moment instead of from memory later.
One connected loop, so numbers never drift
Your estimate becomes your budget, your budget is what you track costs against, change orders adjust both, and your invoices draw from the same live numbers. Progress reads in plain English: budget, spent, future spend, and whether you are over or under. The estimate is not a separate document that goes stale the day work starts. See the full construction project management loop for what it covers.
A usage-based price
TradesMetrics charges a 0.5% platform fee on the work that flows through it, with no per-seat charges. Add your crew and bookkeeper without raising the bill, and a slow month costs almost nothing. Run it against whatever you pay today.
Honest trade-offs
Handoff's emphasis is on producing the estimate quickly with AI, and if that single step is your main need, a focused estimating app may serve it well. Check how each tool builds an estimate and whether the cost assumptions fit your market before you decide. TradesMetrics also has a free estimating tool to start a job fast, then carries it forward into a live budget and payment. The trade you are making is a dedicated AI estimator for a connected estimate-to-payment loop. For a GC who runs the whole job, that is usually the right trade.
How to decide
Take one real job and run it end to end in each tool, from estimate to invoice, using only your phone. The alternative worth switching to is the one that carries the job past the estimate. To check your pricing first, our public Price Index shows current residential cost ranges, and our overview of construction project management software covers what to look for.
The best test is your own numbers. Price a job with the free estimating tool, then watch it flow into a live budget and payment schedule inside TradesMetrics.