ArcSite Review (2026): Pricing, Features & Honest Verdict

TLDR

ArcSite is a mobile-first CAD app for field contractors. You draw a job to scale on a tablet, it auto-builds the material takeoff, and the top tier turns that into a branded proposal. The mobile drawing is genuinely good. Best for: on-site contractors in trades like decking, fencing and concrete. Price: from $14.99/mo, Free plan: no. Rating: 7.4/10.

What is ArcSite?

ArcSite is CAD software built backwards from how most CAD works. Instead of a desktop draftsman recreating a job from notes, a contractor stands on the job site with a tablet and draws the space to scale, on the spot. From that drawing, ArcSite pulls material quantities, dimensions and counts automatically, then can spin the whole thing into an estimate or proposal before the contractor leaves the driveway.

The company is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and ArcSite reports over 11 million drawings, takeoffs and proposals created on the platform. It targets more than 50 field trades: fencing, concrete, roofing, HVAC, plumbing, foundation repair, electrical and inspection work among them. The pitch matters now because these trades have largely skipped CAD entirely, working off paper sketches and spreadsheets. ArcSite is trying to be the first CAD tool that a non-drafter will actually use in the field.

That positioning is what makes ArcSite hard to compare to anything else. Desktop CAD like AutoCAD is too heavy and too desk-bound for a contractor in a truck. Quoting apps like Joist are light but cannot draw. Estimating platforms like STACK assume you already have a blueprint to measure. ArcSite sits in the gap: the person on-site is also the person drawing, and the drawing is the thing that drives the quote. When we dug into how contractors actually use it, that single-operator workflow is the whole point. One person, one tablet, one walk around the property, and the job is documented, measured and priced.

What Are ArcSite’s Key Features?

On-site mobile CAD drawing

This is the core, and it is the reason ArcSite exists. You draw to scale on an iPad or Android tablet using custom shapes, precise measurements, layers and annotation. It is real CAD precision, not a freehand sketch app, but the interface is built for fingers and a stylus in the field rather than a mouse at a desk. We found this is where the product earns its rating: the drawing experience is fast and accurate in a way desktop CAD never managed for trades.

Automatic material takeoffs

Once a job is drawn, ArcSite reads the geometry and calculates material quantities, lengths and counts for you. Pair it with a custom product library and a digital price book and the takeoff becomes a priced bill of materials. This lives on the $119.99/mo Takeoff plan, so it is not in the cheap Draw tiers. For a contractor who hand-counts linear feet of fence or square footage of deck, this is the feature that pays for the subscription. It also kills the most common source of margin loss in field trades: a miscounted takeoff that turns a profitable bid into a break-even one. The library and price book mean your real costs flow into the count automatically, and forms and crew sheets push the same data out to the people doing the install.

Estimates and proposals

On the Estimates plan, the same drawing becomes a branded, client-facing proposal with digital approvals, payments, invoicing and change orders. The drawing, the takeoff and the quote all share one source of truth, so changing a wall length re-prices the proposal. This is the all-in-one promise: walk a site once, leave with a signed quote. Client financing and integrations sit here too, so a homeowner can approve and even pay a deposit on the spot. For a sales-driven contractor, closing on the driveway instead of mailing a quote three days later is a measurable difference in win rate.

AR room scanning and exports

On LiDAR-equipped Apple devices, ArcSite includes an AR room scanner that captures a space into a base drawing. Exports cover PNG, PDF, DXF and DWG, so plans drop into AutoCAD or hand off to an architect cleanly. These are not headline features, but they remove the dead ends that usually kill field-to-office handoffs.

How Much Does ArcSite Cost?

ArcSite starts at $14.99/mo for Draw Basic, which is unlimited projects and the core mobile-CAD drawing for DIYers and solo users. Draw Pro is $34.99/mo and adds cloud backup, layers, versioning, the AR scanner, shared team accounts and DXF/DWG export. Billed annually, those two drop to $10 and $30 per month. Both come with a 14-day free trial. There is no permanent free plan.

The real money lives higher up. Takeoff is $119.99/mo and unlocks the automated takeoffs, product library, price book, forms and crew sheets. Estimates is $159.99/mo and layers branded proposals, digital approvals, payments, invoicing, change orders and API access on top. Enterprise pricing is custom. The jump from $34.99 to $119.99 for takeoff is the sticker-shock moment, and it is the line most contractors have to think hard about.

Against competitors, the math is reasonable for what it bundles. STACK, a cloud takeoff and estimating tool, starts around $599 per year. Knowify runs about $475/mo for its accounting-heavy contractor suite. Joist is free but only handles simple quotes and invoices with no CAD. ArcSite sits in the middle: pricier than a free quoting app, cheaper than enterprise construction platforms, and the only one in the group that draws to scale on a tablet.

Who is ArcSite Best For?

Use ArcSite if you are a field contractor who measures and quotes jobs on-site, especially in linear or area-based trades like fencing, decking, concrete, roofing or HVAC. If your day involves walking a property, sketching it, counting materials and handing over a price, ArcSite collapses three steps into one and the takeoff tier will pay for itself fast.

Skip ArcSite if you only need a basic invoice or a rough sketch. The cheap Draw tiers do not include takeoffs, and a free tool like Joist covers simple quoting. Also think twice if your crews work in dead zones: proposals and uploads need internet, and remote sites can be frustrating. And if you live in QuickBooks-grade accounting, ArcSite is not that. It is a drawing-and-quoting tool first.

The sweet spot is a small-to-medium contractor doing high-volume, repeatable jobs where the bid is the bottleneck. A fencing company quoting ten properties a week, a deck builder, a concrete crew: these are the buyers who get the most out of the takeoff and estimate tiers because every job is a fresh measurement. Larger enterprises with multiple regions can scale into the custom plan with multi-location controls, but the value still hinges on the same field-first drawing workflow.

Best ArcSite Alternatives

STACK

STACK is a cloud takeoff and estimating platform that measures digital plans, with AI-assisted takeoffs and regional cost data. It is the stronger pick if your work is plan-based: you receive blueprints and need to measure them on a big screen. ArcSite wins when there is no plan and you are the one creating the drawing on-site. STACK starts around $599 per year.

Houzz Pro

Houzz Pro is an all-in-one suite for residential contractors and designers, covering estimates, takeoffs, project management and client communication, plus lead generation through the Houzz marketplace. It is broader than ArcSite but its drawing tools are weaker. Choose Houzz Pro if you want CRM and marketing baked in; choose ArcSite if precise on-site CAD is the priority. Houzz Pro plans typically start around $85/mo.

Joist

Joist is a free, simple app for estimates and invoices aimed at solo tradespeople. It has no CAD, no takeoff and no drawing, so it is a different tool for a smaller job: get a quote and an invoice out fast. If you do not need to draw or auto-calculate materials, Joist costs nothing and does the paperwork. ArcSite is the upgrade once measuring and material counts matter.

Final Verdict: Is ArcSite Worth It?

ArcSite earns a 7.4 because it nails a problem nobody else solved: real CAD precision in the hands of a contractor standing on the job. The drawing experience is fast, the takeoff automation is a genuine time-saver, and the single flow from drawing to priced proposal is the kind of thing that wins jobs while a competitor is still driving back to the office to do paperwork.

It is not flawless. Takeoff features cost $119.99/mo, a real jump from the Draw tiers, and the connectivity requirement bites on remote sites. Invoicing only shows up at the top tier. But for a field contractor in a measurement-heavy trade, ArcSite is one of the few tools that genuinely changes how a workday runs. Trial the Draw Pro plan first, and only step up to Takeoff once you have confirmed the field workflow fits your crew. For that buyer, it is worth it.