Three bids for the same renovation are almost never for the same work. Enter what each one covers and this levels the scopes before it compares the prices — because the cheapest number on the page is usually the one with the most left out of it. Free, and nothing leaves your browser unless you make an account.
Tick licensed, insured and references only when you checked them — not when they claimed it.
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Add a total to two bids to see the verdict.
Because they're rarely bids for the same job. A quote is a contractor's reading of what you asked for, and two readings of the same kitchen can differ by tens of thousands without either party being dishonest. One assumed the existing electrics are fine. One priced a full rewire. One didn't mention electrics at all, which means you'll be paying for whatever it turns out to need — as a change order, at change-order prices.
Comparing the bottom-line numbers on three quotes tells you almost nothing. Comparing them line by line is where the real information is, and it takes about fifteen minutes.
These are the ones that separate a cheap bid from an incomplete one. None of them are optional in reality — the work happens either way, and whoever didn't price it will be billing you for it later.
Three. Two only tells you which of two contractors is cheaper; three tells you roughly what the job costs, because the odd one out becomes obvious. If two bids land close together and the third is 30% under, the third is almost always missing scope rather than beating the market.
Nine times out of ten it covers less work. Demolition and disposal, permits, electrical upgrades, subfloor repair, painting after the trades leave, and final clean are the lines that quietly disappear from a low bid. This tool asks about each of them separately for exactly that reason, then re-prices the cheap bid using figures the other contractors wrote down for the same lines.
A placeholder. The contractor has budgeted, say, $3,000 for tile without knowing which tile you'll choose. It's not a price — it's a number that will be trued up later, and if you pick anything above it you pay the difference. Marking a line as an allowance is how you remember that its figure isn't fixed.
Commonly 10–30% up front, with the rest tied to progress milestones. A request for half the job or more before anyone has shown up is worth questioning, and in some places it exceeds what the law allows. Check the rules where you live before you sign.
No — it means you can finally tell which one is actually cheapest. Once the missing scope is priced back in, the lowest sticker price frequently isn't the lowest total. What you do with that is a judgement call about the contractor, not just the number.
No. The tool runs in your browser and saves to this device. An account keeps your comparisons available wherever you sign in, which matters because bids arrive over days, not minutes.
Knowing roughly what a job costs before the first contractor walks in changes the conversation. The cost estimator gives you a range for your project, size and region, broken into materials, labour and permits.
Estimate the cost first