Cabinet estimating software: four kinds, and which one fits a dealer or installer
"Cabinet software" covers programs that have almost nothing in common. A dealer who searches for an estimating tool lands on CNC software for cabinet shops, 3D design programs and general apps for any trade. Each one estimates a different thing. This guide sorts them into four kinds so you can tell, before a demo, whether a product even does the job you need.
1. Kitchen design programs
Examples: 2020 Design Live, ProKitchen. They draw the kitchen in plan, elevation and 3D with manufacturers' catalogs, and produce a priced list of the boxes in the drawing. The estimate is the cabinet list at the catalog's list price. They are built for designers in a showroom, and they are strongest at presentation: renderings, catalogs kept up to date, and in some plans electronic orders to manufacturers.
What they usually leave to other tools: the customer's approval and deposit, the delivery, the install crew and the final invoice. ProKitchen publishes its price, sold by the year; see ProKitchen's published price next to Cabinet Project.
2. Cabinet shop CAD/CAM
Examples: Cabinet Vision, Mozaik, KCD. They are made for shops that build cabinets: from the design to cut lists, material optimization and CNC programs. The estimate is the cost of building the box, in sheet goods, hardware and machine time.
If you sell and install manufactured RTA or semi-custom lines, you do not build boxes, and this kind of software estimates something you never pay for. It is the right tool for a custom shop and the wrong one for a dealer.
3. General field-service apps
Examples: Jobber, QuoteIQ, Houzz Pro. They run quotes, scheduling, invoices and payments for any trade, and many cabinet installers already use one. The estimate is a list of line items you type or keep as a price book.
They do not know what a B24 is. Manufacturer price lists, multipliers, a box list from a drawing and a delivery check box by box are not on their pricing pages. Both Jobber and QuoteIQ publish prices: see Jobber next to Cabinet Project and QuoteIQ next to Cabinet Project.
4. Dealer and installer job software
This is the kind Cabinet Project belongs to. The estimate starts at the manufacturer's price list: you quote by SKU, cost is list × your multiplier, and install labor goes on its own lines, by linear foot or by box. The same job then carries the approval, the order to the manufacturer, the delivery check, the install and the invoice.
It does not replace a design program for presentation renderings, and it does not make cut lists. It replaces the spreadsheet, the price book and the stack of PDFs a dealer keeps between the design and the punch list.
Five questions that sort any product in a demo
- Can I load my manufacturer's price list myself, from the PDF or spreadsheet the distributor sends, and review it before it is used?
- Where does my multiplier live, and does the customer's PDF ever show my cost?
- Does the estimate come out of the drawing, or do I type the box list twice?
- What happens after the customer says yes: the order, the delivery check, a damaged-box claim, the crew?
- How is it priced: per seat or per company, monthly or only annual, and is the price published?
For the quote itself, see how to quote a 10x10 kitchen with list price × multiplier and pricing install labor by linear foot or by box.