Comparison
Accubid alternatives
Mirage vs Trimble Accubid
Trimble Accubid is a complete electrical estimating platform: material database, labor units, takeoff through LiveCount, bid assembly. Mirage is not another one. It is a takeoff layer that reads the drawing set and hands traced quantities to the estimating system you already price in, Accubid included, so the right alternative depends on whether you are replacing the platform or the counting.
At a glance
| Aspect | Mirage | Trimble Accubid |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A takeoff layer in front of your estimating system, deployed and run by Mirage engineers | A complete electrical estimating platform: Classic (estimating through purchasing, project management and billing) and Anywhere (cloud-based, for electrical and industrial mechanical contractors) |
| Material database | None: it feeds yours | Over 42,000 items and 13,000 assemblies (Classic) |
| Labor units | None: yours stay in your estimating system | Labor units, labor factoring, labor tracking and cost codes built in (Classic); custom productivity units or preloaded industry labor rates (Anywhere) |
| Material and labor pricing | None | Real-time material, labor and vendor pricing from Trade Service, included in Anywhere |
| Takeoff | Devices, conduit and wire runs, homeruns, panel and luminaire schedules, read from plans, one-lines and schedules together | LiveCount, web-based, with AI-powered takeoff and Auto Count |
| Drawing formats | PDF, DWG and IFC, scanned and vector sheets in one pass | LiveCount: a PDF or scanned images of the drawings |
| Homeruns | Traced from each device to its panel, flagged when the panel tag is missing | Not described on the product pages |
| Revisions | The delta between two sets: which quantities changed, on which sheets | Drawing compare: what was added or removed since the last revision (Anywhere) |
| Into the estimate | An Excel or CSV file laid out for your estimating system's import, not a live link | A live two-way link between LiveCount and the estimate |
| How it is run | Inside your environment, built and operated by forward-deployed engineers; a person reviews exceptions and signs off | Software your estimators run: Anywhere as a cloud subscription, multi-user and multi-branch; Classic also offered hosted |
| Published electrical work | No electrical deployment published yet; takeoff agents in production at OCBM and John Cockerill | Described by Trimble as the original full-featured electrical estimating solution |
| Published pricing | No: scoped after a proof of concept on your own drawings | Not on the product pages; Anywhere is sold as one subscription |
Summary
A search for an Accubid alternative usually starts from one of two problems. Either the estimating platform no longer fits (its database, its deployment, the way it is licensed), or the platform is fine and the takeoff in front of it is where the hours go. The answers are different.
If the platform is the problem, the alternatives are other electrical estimating platforms. McCormick Systems and ConEst IntelliBid are the most direct: each sells a material database, labor units, on-screen takeoff and bid assembly for electrical contractors, as Accubid does. Vision InfoSoft's Electrical Bid Manager is a lighter program in the same category.
If the takeoff is the problem, look first at what you already own: Accubid Anywhere lists LiveCount's AI-powered takeoff and Auto Count among its features, with drawing compare and a two-way link to the estimate. Where that is not enough, Mirage is built for the other path: keep Accubid, and put an agent in front of it that counts devices, measures runs, traces homeruns to their panels and returns every line with the sheet it came from, as a file laid out for import.
Mirage does not maintain a material catalogue or labor units, does not price and does not assemble the bid. It has not published an electrical deployment yet; its takeoff agents in production run at OCBM and John Cockerill. Those are the limits to weigh it against.
Key takeaways
- Accubid is a complete electrical estimating platform; Mirage is a takeoff layer that feeds one.
- If the platform is the problem, compare McCormick, ConEst IntelliBid or Electrical Bid Manager: Mirage does not replace an estimating system.
- If the takeoff is the problem, check what LiveCount's Auto Count already covers, then add Mirage where sets are mixed-format, revised often or inconsistent.
- Mirage exports an Excel or CSV file for import, not a live link, and does not check drawings against the NEC.
Key differences
An estimating platform, or a takeoff layer
Accubid holds the database, the assemblies, the labor units, the pricing and the bid. Mirage holds none of them. It produces quantities, with their sources, for the platform that does.
Takeoff inside the platform, or in front of it
LiveCount sits inside Accubid with a live two-way link, so a count lands in the estimate as it is made. Mirage returns a file for import instead. In exchange, it reads the one-line, the panel schedules and the plans together and flags where they disagree, across PDF, DWG and IFC sheets, scanned or vector.
Software you run, or agents run with you
Accubid is software your estimators operate. Mirage is deployed by its own engineers inside your environment: a proof of concept on your drawings one week after the first meeting, then the first workflow in production in 4 to 6 weeks, with a person reviewing every exception.
Advantages and limitations
Mirage
Advantages
- Leaves your Accubid database, assemblies, labor units and job history where they are
- Reads plans, one-line diagrams and panel schedules together, and flags where they disagree
- PDF, DWG and IFC, scanned and vector sheets, in one pass
- Every quantity traced to its sheet, detail and schedule reference, with confidence flags
- Revision deltas: what changed between two sets, without a full recount
Limitations
- Not an estimating platform: no material database, labor units, pricing or proposal
- No live link into Accubid: an Excel or CSV file for import
- No electrical deployment published yet
- Does not check drawings against the NEC
- No self-serve login and no published price
Trimble Accubid
Advantages
- A complete electrical estimating platform, from estimate to purchasing, project management and billing (Classic)
- Over 42,000 items and 13,000 assemblies, with labor units and labor factoring built in
- LiveCount's AI-powered takeoff and Auto Count, linked both ways to the estimate
- Real-time material, labor and vendor pricing from Trade Service (Anywhere)
- Cloud access for several offices on the same items, assemblies and projects (Anywhere)
Limitations
- Its product pages do not describe homerun tracing
- LiveCount's page names PDF and scanned images, not DWG or IFC
- Pricing is not published on its product pages
Use cases
Keep Accubid as it is
Clean vector sets, standard commercial devices, estimators who already use LiveCount's Auto Count: the takeoff is not the bottleneck, and adding a layer in front of it may not be worth it.
Keep Accubid, add Mirage in front
The counting is where the hours go: large or mixed-format sets, scanned sheets next to DWG, industrial or infrastructure work with non-standard assemblies, frequent revisions, one-lines and schedules that disagree with the plans. Mirage counts and traces; Accubid prices.
Move to another estimating platform
The platform itself is the problem: its database, its deployment or its licensing. Then compare McCormick, ConEst IntelliBid and Electrical Bid Manager on their own terms (see below). Mirage does not solve that.
Move from Classic to Anywhere
If the issue is access from several offices or a large upfront cost, Trimble's own answer is Anywhere: cloud-based, multi-user and multi-branch, one subscription. That is a move inside Trimble, not away from it.
Mirage products
Electrical takeoff
Device counts, conduit runs, homeruns and panel loads read from the drawing set, every line traced to its sheet, exported for import into Accubid, McCormick, ConEst or your own cost database.
See the pageTakeoff and estimating
Mirage's quantity takeoff across trades: plan, section and detail sheets read together, every quantity returned with its source attached.
See the pageHow to choose
Name the problem first. If it is the estimating platform, the alternative is another platform, and the comparison is database, labor units, pricing feed, deployment and how your estimators work in it. If it is the counting, the alternative is a different takeoff, and the platform can stay.
Check what you already own before buying anything. Accubid Anywhere lists LiveCount's AI-powered takeoff and Auto Count among its features, with drawing compare and a two-way link to the estimate. On clean commercial sets, that may already cover the need.
Mirage is aimed at the sets where counting is not the whole job: scanned and vector sheets mixed with DWG or IFC, homeruns that have to be traced to a panel, schedules that disagree with the plans, revisions that would otherwise be recounted. Ask for a proof of concept on one of your own sets; it comes one week after the first meeting.
Other electrical estimating platforms
If the platform is what you are replacing, these are the alternatives to compare with Accubid, each described from its own vendor's site.
- McCormick Systems. Electrical, plumbing and mechanical estimating with built-in takeoff. For electrical work: over 55,000 items and 25,000 prebuilt assemblies, trade-specific labor units from NECA, PHCC and MCAA standards, auto-count and a patented Auto Home Run, cloud-based, with databases for the USA and Canada.
- ConEst IntelliBid. Electrical estimating for electrical, low voltage, datacom and solar contractors: over 140,000 items and more than 500,000 pre-built assembly kits, pre-installed industry standard labor units, three editions, installed locally or run through CE Cloud. On-screen takeoff comes from SureCount, which writes into IntelliBid.
- Vision InfoSoft Electrical Bid Manager. A lighter program for electrical contractors of all sizes: over 10,000 items and assemblies, three columns of labor units per item, integration with PlanSwift and On-Screen Takeoff, QuickBooks job costing. Its site says you can get started for less than $1,000 a year.
Where Mirage fits on US and UK projects
On US work, Mirage's electrical takeoff is a quantity list, not an estimate: devices by type and circuit, conduit and wire by run, homeruns by panel, panel and luminaire schedules, each line with its sheet reference. It goes into the estimating system the contractor already prices in, Accubid, McCormick or IntelliBid, as an Excel or CSV file laid out for that system's import. Labor units, assemblies and prices are applied there, not by Mirage.
Mirage does not check drawings against the National Electrical Code. It counts and traces what the drawings show and flags where they disagree with each other. Whether the design complies with the NEC stays with the engineer of record and the plan reviewer.
On UK work, the same quantities can be prepared for NRM2 measurement instead of an estimating system's import. Mirage's NRM page says plainly that this would be its first UK NRM deployment, built on the takeoff agents already in production. See NRM quantity surveying
The counting itself
How an electrical takeoff is done from 2D drawings, and what to check before it goes into the estimate. See the guide to electrical takeoff from 2D drawings
Homeruns, measured by hand and traced automatically. See the home run calculation guide
A long branch or feeder run raises the question of conductor size. See the voltage drop calculator
Sources
Every statement about Trimble Accubid, McCormick Systems, ConEst and Vision InfoSoft on this page comes from the vendors' own product pages, read on 1 October 2026. Performance figures vendors publish about their own products are not repeated here.
Checked 1 October 2026: Trimble Accubid Classic, Trimble Accubid Anywhere, Trimble LiveCount, McCormick Systems, electrical estimating, McCormick Systems, estimating software, ConEst IntelliBid, Vision InfoSoft, Electrical Bid Manager
FAQ
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Read the comparisonMirage for electrical takeoff
Electrical takeoff
Device counts, conduit runs, homeruns and panel loads read from the drawing set, every line traced to its sheet, exported for the estimating system you already price in.
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