crux · estimating software for specialty subcontractors

01 · What crux does

One app from bid documents to a proposal you can send.

crux does the reading, measuring and cross-checking that eats an estimator's week, and it shows its work. Every quantity and every claim points back to the sheet, spec section or addendum it came from, so you can check it in seconds.

A

Reads the whole bid set

Specs, drawings, addenda, the bid form and the GC's scope of work. crux indexes them and pulls out what matters to your trade: schedules, systems, submittals, alternates and conflicts.

SpecsA-601Bid form

B

Measures the takeoff

Lengths, areas and counts are measured from the drawings' vector geometry, using your trade pack's takeoff rules, never from a picture. When a dimension isn't on the drawings, crux asks you in chat rather than guessing.

Vector geometryNo guesses

C

Tracks every addendum

Each addendum is logged against the sheets and sections it changes, with what that means for your scope and your number, so nothing slips between bid day and award.

Addendum 02Supersedes A-101

D

Drafts RFIs to the GC

What the documents don't answer becomes a cited question, drafted for you to review and send. Missing surveys, unscheduled rooms and spec conflicts get caught before they cost you.

Draft onlyYou send

E

Builds the estimate

In your estimate template, at your labor rates (open shop, union, prevailing wage or Davis-Bacon) and your production rates. Material prices you haven't confirmed are flagged as budget-grade.

Your templateBudget-grade flag

F

Writes the proposal

On your letterhead, with inclusions, exclusions and clarifications drawn from the bid documents and cited. crux drafts; you decide what goes out.

Your brandCited scope

Also in the box Bid / no-bid checkWin-loss logSubmittal registerContract risk scanSupplier quote reviewSite-walk prepCall intake

02 · Your data

Your numbers are yours.

crux runs on your computer, not ours. It is the harness, memory and knowledge base around the AI, and all of it lives on your machine. Your bids, drawings, rates and pricing never touch crux's servers; we couldn't see them if we wanted to.

crux's servers

Licensing and billing. Nothing else.

Your email address
Your license key
A device key for your one computer
License and usage events

Stripe handles payment, so card numbers never reach crux. Emails go out through Resend.

Your computer

Everything you work on stays here, in your own folders.

Bid documents, drawings and addenda
Takeoffs, estimates and proposals
Rates, pricing and company knowledge
Chats, RFIs and drafts

Backups and company profiles are files you save where you choose, locked with your own password. crux can't open them.

Your Claude account

The AI runs on your subscription, under your login.

Your own Claude plan
Your own sign-in
Your own agreement with Anthropic

When crux reads a document for you, it goes to Anthropic under that agreement, never through crux.

Read the privacy policy

03 · Trade packs

One core. A pack for each trade.

The crux core reads, measures, cites and drafts the same way for every trade. What a trade knows comes in its pack: the spec sections it cares about, its takeoff rules, production rates, labor and material defaults, and the proposal language that protects you.

Pack 01Available at launch

Painting and coatings

For commercial painting subcontractors.

Painting, staining and transparent finishes, high-performance and special coatings
Wall coverings, fluid-applied flooring and intumescent coatings
Lead-based paint rules and red flags
Default production rates and proposal language you can replace with your own

09 9109 9309 9609 9709 7209 67

Pack 02In development

More trades are coming

The core is built trade-agnostic, so each new trade is a new pack, not a new product. Your seat stays the same.

Tell us your trade

04 · How it works

Bid documents, takeoff, estimate, proposal. Each number traceable.

Here is one room of a sample job, followed from the bid set to the proposal with the first trade pack, painting and coatings. The screens are illustrative, drawn to show how crux works; the project is made up.

04.1 Bid documents

Load the bid set. crux reads all of it.

Drop in the project manual, drawings, addenda, bid form and any GC scope of work. crux indexes every page, finds the sections that matter to your trade and notes what each addendum changed.

Every fact crux reports carries its source, down to the sheet or the spec paragraph.

Bid set · indexed6 files

Project manual612 pp · 09 91 23 Interior Painting
Indexed
Drawings A-001 to A-60142 sheets · vector PDF
Indexed
Addendum 012 pp · no changes to this scope
Logged
Addendum 02Revises A-101 and A-601 · Door 104
Affects scope
Bid formBase bid and 3 alternates
Indexed
GC scope of workLead survey referenced, not issued
RFI 03

Sheet 04.1Illustrative · sample project

04.2 Takeoff

Quantities come from the geometry. Unknowns come to you.

crux traces rooms, walls and openings from the drawing's vector lines and computes the quantities your trade pack needs. A picture can show where something is; it never sets a number. If a dimension isn't on the drawings, crux asks.

Shown with the painting pack: walls = perimeter × height − openings. Every input is cited or confirmed by you.

Takeoff · A-101 Level 1Painting pack

crux

Room 104 has no ceiling height on A-101 or the reflected ceiling plan, A-121. What height should I use for the walls?

You

9'-0" to the ceiling grid.

crux

Got it. Here's the wall area for Room 104:

Wall area calculation for Room 104
Perimeter	62'-8"	A-101
× height	9'-0"	You
= gross wall	564 SF
− door, 3' × 7'	21 SF	A-601
Walls, Room 104	543 SF

Sheet 04.2Illustrative · sample project

04.3 Estimate

Your template, your rates, filled in and checked.

crux carries the takeoff into your own estimate workbook, applies your labor and production rates, and checks the result against the takeoff. Anything it had to assume is marked, so nothing is priced on a hidden guess.

Material costs you haven't confirmed stay labelled budget-grade, with where the price came from.

Estimate · your templateOpen shop

Room 104 · interior painting
Item and source	Qty	Unit
Walls, gypsum board, eggshell, 2 coatsA-101 · 09 91 23, 3.7 schedule	543	SF
Door frame, hollow metal, semi-glossA-601 · Door 104, Addendum 02	1	EA
Labor, walls, 2 coats543 SF × 2 coats = 1,086 SF ÷ your rate of 150 SF/hr	7.24	HR
Paint, eggshell1,086 SF ÷ 350 SF/gal = 3.10 gal, ÷ 0.90 for 10% waste	3.45	GAL

Budget-gradePaint price from a default table, not yet confirmed by you.

Sheet 04.3Illustrative · sample project

04.4 Proposal

A proposal on your letterhead, with the scope spelled out.

Inclusions, exclusions and clarifications come from the bid documents, each one cited, in your company's voice. Estimates and proposals carry your brand, not ours.

Anything that leaves your company is a draft. You review it and you send it.

Proposal · draftYour letterhead

Proposal P-0142
Interior painting

Base bid: interior painting

DraftYou send

Includes

Interior painting per Section 09 91 23 1 and drawings A-101 to A-601 2. Addenda 01 and 02 acknowledged 3.

Excludes

Lead-based paint abatement. The GC scope references a lead survey that isn't in the bid set; see RFI 03 4.

Clarifies

Room 104 walls priced at 9'-0" high, as confirmed by the estimator; no height is shown on A-101 or A-121 5.

Sheet 04.4Illustrative · sample project

05 · House rules

Built to be checked, not trusted blindly.

An estimate is only as good as the evidence behind it. These rules are built into how crux works, not left to a setting.

R1
No quantity from a picture
Quantities come from vector geometry. Images help find things; they never set a number.
R2
Every number cited
Each fact points to a sheet, a spec section or an addendum you can open.
R3
Unknowns become questions
Gaps in the documents become RFIs to the GC, or questions to you. Never silent assumptions.
R4
Costs flagged by origin
Prices you haven't confirmed are marked budget-grade until you do.
R5
Drafts only
RFIs, proposals and emails are drafted for you. Nothing is sent on your behalf.

06 · Pricing

One seat, one price. Everything included.

A seat is one licensed user on one Windows computer. Every seat includes the full app, the trade pack for your trade, updates and support. crux isn't on public sale yet: request early access and we'll send your checkout link when your seat is ready.

Monthly

Billed monthly

$399per seat / month

Billed every month in advance. Cancel anytime; your seat stays active to the end of the month you've paid for.

Request early access

Annual

Two months free

$3,990per seat / year

Billed once a year in advance. Works out to $332.50 a month, $798 less than paying monthly for a year.

Request early access

Founder pricing · first 20 companies

$299 / month · $2,990 / year

For the first 20 companies to subscribe. Your founder price is locked for 24 months from your first payment, per seat, as long as the subscription stays active. If you cancel, founder pricing ends and does not come back.

Claim a founder seat

Billing terms

Subscription, billed monthly or annually in advance, in US dollars, through Stripe.
Renews automatically at the end of each billing period until you cancel.
Cancel anytime from the billing portal. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current paid period; you keep access until then.
No partial-period refunds, with the exceptions in our Refund & Cancellation Policy.
Sales tax is added at checkout where it applies.
One seat, one computer. Move a seat by deactivating it in the app, or ask us to reset it.

Every seat includes

The crux desktop app for Windows, with automatic updates.
The trade pack for your trade: its knowledge, takeoff rules, production rates and templates. See which packs are available.
Labor rate sets for open shop, union, prevailing wage and Davis-Bacon, plus default production rates you can replace with your own.
Default estimate and proposal templates, or use your own.
Email support at support@cruxai.bid.

You'll also need a Windows 10 or 11 PC and your own paid Claude subscription from Anthropic, billed separately by Anthropic. crux does not include or resell Claude.

07 · FAQ

Questions estimators ask.

Can I buy crux today?

Not yet. crux is in private beta and is not on public sale. Request early access and we'll email you when a seat is ready, with a secure Stripe checkout link. You won't be charged anything until you complete that checkout.

Can crux see my bids, drawings or pricing?

No. crux runs on your computer. Your bid documents, drawings, takeoffs, estimates, rates, pricing, proposals, chats and company knowledge stay in your own folders and never touch crux's servers. Backups and company profiles are files you save where you choose, locked with a password you choose; crux can't open them.

The AI works through your own Claude account. When crux reads a document for you, that content goes to Anthropic under your own agreement with Anthropic, not through crux.

crux's servers handle licensing and billing only: your email, your license key, a device key for your one computer, and license and usage events. Stripe handles payment, so card numbers never reach crux. See the Privacy Policy.

Which trades does crux support?

crux works trade by trade through trade packs. The first pack, available at launch, is painting and coatings: 09 91 painting, 09 93 staining and transparent finishing, 09 96 high-performance coatings, 09 97 special coatings, 09 72 wall coverings, 09 67 fluid-applied flooring and intumescent coatings, with lead-based paint rules built in.

More packs are in development. Tell us your trade when you request early access and we'll let you know when its pack is ready.

Do I need a Claude subscription?

Yes. crux runs on your own paid Claude subscription from Anthropic, which you buy and manage separately. During setup, crux installs Anthropic's official Claude app and you sign in with your own account. crux doesn't include, resell or pay for Claude usage.

How does it get quantities? Does it guess?

It never guesses. Quantities are computed from the vector geometry in your PDF drawings: lengths, areas and counts. Images are used only to find what and where. When something needed for a quantity isn't in the documents, such as a wall height, crux asks you and records your answer as the source.

Scanned, image-only drawings don't carry vector geometry, so crux will tell you what it can't measure rather than estimate it.

Does it work on a Mac?

Not at launch. crux is a Windows desktop app for Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit).

What is a seat? Can I move it to a new computer?

A seat is one license for one person on one computer. To move to a new computer, deactivate the seat in the app on the old one and activate it on the new one. If the old computer is lost or dead, email us and we'll reset it.

How do I cancel?

Cancel anytime from the Stripe billing portal (linked from the app and from your receipts). Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current monthly or annual period, and you keep full access until then. See the Refund & Cancellation Policy for details.

Will it send emails or bids for me?

No. RFIs, proposals and emails are drafts. You review them and you send them.

08 · Early access

Bid your next job with crux.

We're opening seats to a small group of subcontractors first, starting with painting and coatings, the first trade pack. Tell us who you are and what you bid, and we'll be in touch. Founder pricing goes to the first 20 companies.

Or email us directly support@cruxai.bid

Subcontractor estimates, measured from the drawings and cited to the specs.