Cabinet Project vs KCD Software: building cabinets or selling them
KCD Software and Cabinet Project both appear when someone searches for cabinet software. They are for different businesses. KCD is design-to-manufacture software for cabinet and closet shops: draw a custom job, price it, cut the parts, and, on the top plan, send them to a CNC. Cabinet Project is for dealers and installer crews who sell and install boxes a manufacturer already makes. This page puts the published prices side by side.
Published prices
| Product and plan | Price | What the pricing page says it is for |
|---|---|---|
| KCD Designer | $99/month | 2D and 3D studio, elevations, floor plans, and five levels of dimensioned drawings. Two months free when paid yearly. The page does not print a yearly dollar total. |
| KCD Professional | $128/month | Estimates, proposals and reports, plus optional Cabinotch (send the design, machined parts come back). Two months free when paid yearly. |
| KCD Workshop Standard | $168/month | The Workshop card prints this as *$168/mo. It does not say whether Standard has the same startup fee as Workshop Plus. |
| KCD Workshop Plus | $570 for a 3-month startup, then $195/month | The card writes "$570/3 month startup" and "$195/mo after 3 month activation". OptiSaw sheet optimization, unit part sizes with construction, cut lists, and door and drawer orders. |
| KCD CNC Commander | $1,995 for a 3-month startup, then $295/month | The card writes "$1995/3 month startup" and "$295/mo after 3 month activation". Design to CNC machine code, parts nested to their true shape, CNC Manager, and one-button machining. |
| Cabinet Project Solo | $59/mo or $590 a year | Quote, order, delivery check and install for one user |
| Cabinet Project Team | $99/mo or $990 a year | The same for three users |
| Cabinet Project Shop | $149/mo or $1,490 a year | The same for five users. This is the plan to set next to Workshop Plus, which is $195/month after the startup. |
Every KCD plan on that page includes free live tech support, 8:30am to 5:30pm EST, Monday to Friday. Designer and Professional also offer a month-at-a-time rental. Cabinet Project plans are per company, monthly or annual, with a 14-day trial and no card.
Where KCD Software is the better tool
- You build the boxes. Workshop lists cut lists, door and drawer orders, and, on Plus, OptiSaw sheet optimization. CNC Commander writes machine code, nests parts, and runs them from CNC Manager. Cabinet Project does not write G-code, does not run OptiSaw, and does not send a job to Cabinotch. It exports a cut list of the drawn boxes (.csv), a cutting plan that lays those panels on full sheets for a table saw (.pdf), a label for every part on Avery 5160 sheets, and a hardware list (.csv), and it prices sheets, edge banding and hardware at your own costs. That is enough for a few boxes, not for running a shop floor.
- Custom sizes. A shop designs any box it wants. Cabinet Project works from the SKUs a manufacturer publishes.
- A person on the phone, on their clock. The pricing page lists free live tech support on every plan, weekdays 8:30am to 5:30pm EST.
Where Cabinet Project is the better tool
- You sell a manufacturer's line. RTA and semi-custom lines come as price lists by SKU. Cabinet Project imports the list, applies your multiplier and quotes by SKU. Your cost is list times multiplier, not sheet goods and machine time.
- After the sale. Customer approval and deposit in a portal, the order to the manufacturer, the delivery check with photo claims, the install schedule, the punch list and QuickBooks Online.
- The phone at the jobsite, in English, Spanish and Portuguese. The drawing, the quote and the delivery check are the same job.
Which one are you looking for?
If your shop builds cabinets or closets and cuts the parts, look at KCD Software, or at Mozaik next to Cabinet Project if that is the shop tool you already know. If you buy boxes from a manufacturer and install them, look at dealer software. The four kinds of cabinet software are laid out in cabinet estimating software: which kind fits a dealer or installer, the dealer side in Cabinet Project for RTA cabinet dealers, and what the drawing does and does not export in kitchen cabinet design software.
Sources
- KCD Software pricing page, checked .
Competitor prices change. If one of these is out of date, write to info@designmastersolutions.com and we correct it.