Buildertrend AI: What Its AI Features Do (and Don’t) in 2026

Updated October 2026. Every Buildertrend feature and price below was checked against buildertrend.com, its help center and its press releases.

Yes, Buildertrend has AI, and it is built into the platform rather than sold as a separate add-on. As of October 2026, Buildertrend’s AI page lists five AI features (Client Updates, Bill Capture, Page Naming, Selections and Submittals), all aimed at cutting paperwork; it does not advertise AI estimating or AI takeoffs, and its pricing is a custom quote.

That short answer covers what most people searching “Buildertrend AI” want to know. The rest of this guide explains what each feature does, where the data comes from, what Buildertrend has said about where its AI is heading, and how it compares with tools that put AI into estimating and takeoffs, including Eano Pro’s AI estimating.

Does Buildertrend have AI?

Yes. Buildertrend describes its AI as “built directly into the workflows construction teams rely on every day,” and says it “isn’t a separate product or third-party add-on.” In other words, there is no “Buildertrend AI” app to buy or log into. The AI shows up as buttons and automations inside modules you already use, like the Client Portal, Bills, Plans and Submittals.

Buildertrend now calls itself “the leading AI construction management software” in its September 29, 2026 press release. That positioning is new. The company’s first big AI release, AI-powered Client Updates, launched in mid-2025, and most of the other features arrived over the following year.

What AI features does Buildertrend have in 2026?

Here is every AI feature Buildertrend lists on its own AI page, with what goes in and what comes out.

1. AI Client Updates

Client Updates drafts a written progress summary for the homeowner from information already in the job: Daily Logs, Schedule items, Change Orders and Invoices. A project manager reviews and edits the draft, then publishes it to the Client Portal.

Buildertrend’s launch announcement reports that early users cut the time spent on updates by 97%, from 30 to 60 minutes down to 6.5 minutes on average, and that 180 updates published in beta saved an estimated 115.5 hours. Those are Buildertrend’s own figures from early users, not an independent study.

The important limit: the AI can only summarize what your team has already entered. If nobody files a Daily Log or updates the schedule that week, the draft has little to work with. Client Updates rewards teams that already log consistently.

2. AI Bill Capture

Bill Capture reads uploaded bills and receipts and fills in vendor details, line items and cost codes automatically. Buildertrend positions it as part of its accounts payable automation. It is aimed at the office or bookkeeping side, where retyping bills into a job’s costs is slow and error-prone.

3. AI Page Naming (AI Plans)

Page Naming organizes an uploaded plan set into named, ready-to-use sheets and streamlines slip-sheet revisions, so the field is less likely to build from an outdated drawing. Buildertrend’s press materials also call this “AI Plans.”

4. AI Selections

Selections pulls product data from a supplier’s product URL and extracts the description for you to edit and review, so you don’t retype product specs into each selection.

5. AI Submittals

Submittals scans a spec book and plan sets and drafts the submittal log in an importable format. Buildertrend announced it on September 29, 2026, together with a Sage Intacct integration, a Bluebeam integration and AIA-style progress invoicing. According to Buildertrend’s help article as summarized by Construction Metrics, the draft log comes back as a CSV you review and then import. This feature is mostly relevant to commercial and high-end residential jobs that run formal submittals.

What can’t Buildertrend’s AI do?

Based on what Buildertrend publishes, these are the gaps contractors most often ask about:

• No AI estimating. Buildertrend has Estimates, Bids and a cost catalog, but its AI page does not list an AI feature that builds an estimate from a project description or plans.
• No AI takeoff. Buildertrend Takeoff is a measuring tool. Its help article describes setting the scale on your plans and measuring each room with assemblies; the line items then sync to your Buildertrend estimate. That sync is useful, but the measuring is manual.
• No chat assistant. None of the five features is a general assistant you can ask questions. Each one does one job inside one module.
• Summaries depend on your data. Client Updates and Submittals only work as well as the logs, schedules and documents your team has already entered.

That could change. In July 2026 Buildertrend acquired BizJet AI, a startup whose multi-agent systems automate “cost estimating, scheduling and project assistance,” and said the deal accelerates its vision for agentic AI. As of October 2026, Buildertrend has not announced an AI estimating or AI takeoff release from that acquisition.

How much does Buildertrend AI cost?

There is no separate price for Buildertrend’s AI. Buildertrend says its AI isn’t a separate product, and its pricing page does not publish plan prices. Instead you answer a few questions and schedule a call for a custom quote. Buildertrend says its pricing includes unlimited users, and that it is built for builders who “oversee 5+ projects a year or handle complex, multi-phase builds.”

Two practical points before your sales call:

• Ask which AI features are included in the package you are quoted. Buildertrend’s AI page does not say whether every feature is available on every package, and Submittals is newer and aimed at larger and commercial work.
• Ask about setup and training. Buildertrend sells training and onboarding services, including setup and data migration, as part of its support offering.

Buildertrend AI vs Eano Pro AI: feature-by-feature

If the AI you need is in estimating and takeoffs rather than paperwork, here is how Buildertrend compares with Eano Pro. We built this table from each vendor’s own pricing and product pages.

• Price: Buildertrend: Custom quote; unlimited users. Eano Pro: $159/mo billed annually ($199 monthly), 2 users; Estimator from $25/mo.
• AI estimating from a project description: Buildertrend: Not listed. Eano Pro: Yes, AI Quick Quote.
• AI takeoff from plans: Buildertrend: No; Buildertrend Takeoff is manual measuring with assemblies. Eano Pro: Yes, upload PDF plans (up to 100 MB, 100 pages).
• Takeoff flows into the estimate: Buildertrend: Yes, syncs to the Proposal/Estimate. Eano Pro: Yes, built into estimating.
• AI client progress updates: Buildertrend: Yes, AI Client Updates. Eano Pro: Client dashboard and AI Video Daily Logs.
• AI bill and receipt capture: Buildertrend: Yes, AI Bill Capture. Eano Pro: Receipt scanning.
• AI plan sheet naming: Buildertrend: Yes, AI Page Naming. Eano Pro: Not offered.
• AI submittal log drafting: Buildertrend: Yes, AI Submittals. Eano Pro: Not offered.
• QuickBooks integration: Buildertrend: Yes (also Xero, Gusto). Eano Pro: Yes, QuickBooks.
• Free trial: Buildertrend: Not listed; demo and quote. Eano Pro: Free trial with a free AI takeoff.

The short version: Buildertrend’s AI saves time after the job is sold, on client updates, bills and documents. Eano Pro’s AI is aimed at the step before that, getting an accurate estimate out quickly so you win the job.

How does Eano Pro use AI for estimating and takeoffs?

Eano Pro was built around estimating first. Its AI estimating works in three steps: describe the project (or start from a template used by other general contractors), get a detailed breakdown of tasks, materials and labor costs, then edit the quote and send it. Eano has also announced two features as coming soon: estimates priced from the Home Depot catalog, and AI estimates built from your own cost book.

Eano’s AI takeoff takes PDF plans (up to 100 MB and 100 pages), uses AI to help identify and extract quantities, and feeds them straight into the estimate so nobody re-enters measurements in a second system. Eano says most itemized estimates from its takeoff tool are ready within 15 minutes. You can try a free takeoff on your own drawings before you commit, which is the honest way to judge any AI takeoff tool.

From there, the estimate flows into proposals with e-signatures, scheduling and tasks, a client dashboard, milestone photo sharing and a CRM, all on the same platform.

Here is what contractors told us, word for word from our success stories:

“It’s the fastest estimating system I’ve ever used. What used to take around an hour now takes about 10 minutes.” — Chris Singh, Creative Construction 360 Inc

“I like how the opportunities move through into the projects. It keeps everything organized.” — Kyle Samples, Home Truths

“What sold me was the hands-on support. I can call Ross anytime, jump on a call with Stella, and we fix things together. I don’t think any other company would take that kind of time to help us.” — IM Contracting

Which is better for your business: Buildertrend AI or Eano Pro?

Match the tool to where your time actually goes.

Buildertrend’s AI is a good fit if:

• You already run on Buildertrend and your team logs daily, so Client Updates has data to summarize.
• Your office spends hours keying bills into job costs.
• You run commercial or high-end residential jobs with formal plan sets and submittals.
• You fit Buildertrend’s own target: 5 or more projects a year or complex, multi-phase builds, and you want unlimited users on one quote.

Eano Pro is a better fit if:

• Estimating is your bottleneck and you want AI to build the first draft of an estimate or takeoff.
• You want a published price you can see before a sales call: $159/mo billed annually for Pro, or start at $25/mo with Estimator.
• You are a residential remodeler or general contractor who wants estimating, proposals, scheduling and client updates in one place without a long rollout.

Many contractors weigh both. If you are already considering a switch, our guide to Buildertrend alternatives compares pricing across four platforms, and our Eano vs Buildertrend page goes deeper on the two side by side.

How should you evaluate any construction AI feature?

Whatever you choose, test AI on your own jobs, not a demo project. A few questions help:

1. What does it read? AI that summarizes your data is only as good as what your team enters. AI that reads plans depends on clean, dimensioned drawings.
2. What does it produce, and who checks it? Every feature above produces a draft (an update, a bill, a submittal log, an estimate) that a person should review before it goes out.
3. Where does the output go next? The biggest time savings come when the output lands directly in the next step, like a takeoff flowing into an estimate or a bill landing in job costs, instead of being copied between systems.
4. What does it cost, all in? Ask for the full price, including users, setup and any add-ons, in writing.
5. Can you try it first? Run a completed job back through the tool and compare the result with what actually happened.

For a broader look at AI in construction software, see our 2026 guide to AI construction software trends and how AI takeoff software reads a blueprint.

How we researched this guide

We reviewed Buildertrend’s AI page, pricing page, help center articles on Buildertrend Takeoff, and its press releases from 2025 and 2026, and checked Eano Pro’s features and prices on eano.com in October 2026. Buildertrend’s performance figures are the company’s own and we have not independently tested them. Eano is our product, so we have tried to state plainly where Buildertrend offers AI features Eano Pro does not.

Related comparisons

• Buildertrend alternatives: 4 options compared with pricing
• Eano Pro vs Handoff AI
• 7 best Togal AI alternatives for takeoffs and estimating
• Jobber alternatives for contractors
• Contractor Foreman alternatives
• CompanyCam alternatives
• Best construction management software for general contractors

Want to see AI estimating on your own project? See Eano Pro pricing or start a free trial and run a free AI takeoff.