Comparison
Kreo alternatives
Mirage vs Kreo
Kreo is self-serve takeoff and estimating software sold on four per-user plans; as of October 2026 its AI measurement tools (Auto Measure, One-Click Area, Auto Count) are on the Pro plan at $175 per user per month billed annually. Mirage is not a plan you sign up for: its engineers deploy a takeoff agent around your drawings and estimating system, and your estimators review the output. Which one fits depends on who you want doing the measuring.
Short answer
Pick Kreo, or another self-serve tool, when your team wants to measure on screen itself, with AI assistance, from today. Pick Mirage when you want the takeoff produced from the whole drawing set, traced to its sheet and delivered into your estimating system, with engineers running it.
At a Glance
| Aspect | Mirage | Kreo |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Forward-deployed AI agent, built and run by Mirage engineers around your plan formats and estimating workflow | Self-serve cloud takeoff and estimating software, on four per-user plans |
| Who measures | The agent produces the takeoff from the whole set; the estimator reviews each quantity against its source | The estimator measures on screen; AI tools speed the measuring on the Pro and Enterprise plans |
| AI measurement | The agent's core function, on every deployment | Auto Measure, One-Click Area and Auto Count on Pro ($175) and Enterprise; Lite and Plus carry AI helpers (Ask AI, AI Scale, Smart Labels, AI Renaming) but not the measuring tools |
| Inputs | PDF, DWG and IFC, scanned and vector sheets in one pass | Drawings uploaded to the platform, as described on Kreo's site |
| Output | Quantities with sheet, detail and spec reference, exported to Excel or your estimating system's import format, or written into your cost database | Measurements and estimates inside Kreo, with report generation |
| Reported results | John Cockerill: 80 to 90% less time on piping takeoff, fabrication bill of materials ten times faster. OCBM: every quantity traceable to its source drawing | No independently published takeoff-time or accuracy benchmark found on Kreo's pages |
| Getting started | Proof of concept on your own documents one week after the first meeting; first workflow in production in 4 to 6 weeks | Self-serve sign-up, 7-day free trial on Lite, Plus and Pro, refund within 7 days of payment |
| Pricing, as of October 2026 | Fixed-price pilot, then an annual subscription priced by volume; from $10,000 to launch and $1,000 a month | $35 Lite, $70 Plus, $175 Pro, per user per month billed annually; Enterprise on request |
| Team involvement | Mirage engineers embedded in your operation during and after rollout; a person on your side signs off | Your team configures and runs the platform |
Executive Summary
Kreo is a cloud-based takeoff and estimating platform: upload a drawing set, measure quantities with manual or AI-assisted tools, build a cost estimate and generate a report. It is priced per user across four tiers, and the tier decides which tools you get.
As of October 2026, Kreo describes its Lite plan ($35 per user per month, billed annually) as being for teams collaborating on drawings without AI-powered tools, although it lists a few AI helpers (Ask AI for drawings, AI Scale, Recognize Smart Labels, AI Renaming). Plus ($70) is described as ideal for managing project measurements without AI. The AI measurement tools a buyer searching for AI takeoff means, Auto Measure, One-Click Area and Auto Count, are on Pro ($175) and on the custom-priced Enterprise plan, which adds AI workflow automation and fine-tuned models.
Mirage does not sell a plan. Its engineers deploy an agent that reads the drawing set (PDF, DWG, IFC, scanned or vector) and returns the takeoff with the sheet, detail and specification reference of every quantity, in the format your estimating system imports. The estimator's job becomes reviewing, not measuring. A proof of concept runs on your own documents one week after the first meeting; the first workflow is in production in 4 to 6 weeks.
The two overlap on one step, producing quantities from drawings, and differ on everything around it: who does the work, where the result lands, how it is bought. This page sets out both, the alternatives to compare Kreo with, and the questions that decide.
Key Takeaways
- Kreo's AI measurement tools are on its Pro plan ($175 per user per month, billed annually) and Enterprise as of October 2026; Lite and Plus are measuring without AI.
- Kreo is software your estimators run; Mirage is an agent engineers deploy and run, with your estimators reviewing.
- Mirage's documented results are time and traceability (John Cockerill, OCBM); Kreo publishes no equivalent benchmark on its pages.
- Kreo starts the same day with a 7-day trial; Mirage starts with a proof of concept a week after the first meeting.
- Compare Kreo with Togal.AI, Bluebeam Revu and Procore Estimating for on-screen takeoff; compare it with Mirage only if you want the takeoff produced rather than assisted.
Key Differences
AI as a plan tier, or AI as the product
On Kreo, which AI you get follows the plan you buy: the measurement tools sit on Pro and Enterprise, and the lower plans measure without AI. Mirage has no non-AI tier. Reading the drawing set and producing the takeoff is what the agent does, on every deployment.
Assisted measuring, or a produced takeoff
Kreo's AI tools make the estimator's measuring faster: an area filled in one click, repeated symbols counted automatically. The estimator still decides what to measure and does it sheet by sheet. Mirage produces the takeoff from the whole set and hands it over with the source of every quantity, so the estimator reviews flagged lines instead of measuring.
Self-serve software, or forward-deployed engineers
Kreo is a product your team signs up for and configures across its tiers. Mirage's engineers map your plan formats, your cost codes and your estimating system, build the agent around them and keep running it in production, with a person on your side signing off on exceptions.
Inside the platform, or into your system
Kreo's estimate and reports live inside Kreo. Mirage's output lands in Excel, in the import format of your estimating system or in your cost database, so the pricing workflow around it does not move.
Advantages and Limitations
Mirage
Advantages
- The takeoff is produced from the whole drawing set, not assisted sheet by sheet
- Every quantity carries its sheet, detail and spec reference, with confidence flags
- Reads PDF, DWG and IFC, scanned and vector, in one pass
- Documented results: 80 to 90% less time on piping takeoff at John Cockerill
- Output goes to Excel, your estimating system or your cost database
Limitations
- Not usable the same day: proof of concept in a week, first workflow in production in 4 to 6 weeks
- No self-serve login; every deployment involves Mirage engineers
- Costs more to start than a per-user plan: from $10,000 to launch, then from $1,000 a month
- Does not price the takeoff and keeps no material catalogue or labour database
Kreo
Advantages
- Published per-user pricing across four plans, with a 7-day free trial
- Self-serve: no deployment engagement required to start
- Takeoff, estimating and report generation in one cloud platform
- AI helpers on every paid plan; AI measurement on Pro and Enterprise
Limitations
- AI measurement tools (Auto Measure, One-Click Area, Auto Count) need the Pro plan at $175 per user per month or Enterprise
- The estimator still does the measuring, with AI assistance
- No independently published benchmark for takeoff time or accuracy found
- Licensed per user, so cost grows with the number of estimators
Real-World Use Cases
A small team that wants to measure on screen, from today
Clean vector sets, a few bids a month, estimators who prefer to keep their hands on the measuring: a self-serve tool is the quicker start. Compare Kreo's Pro plan with Togal.AI, Bluebeam Revu and Procore Estimating on the features your team uses most.
A team that wants the AI measurement without the tier decision
If the question is which Kreo plan unlocks the tools you need, note that the measuring tools are on Pro. If you would rather not run the tool at all, Mirage produces the takeoff and your team reviews it.
High-volume bidding with tight turnaround
When the bottleneck is hours spent measuring, bid after bid, Mirage's agent produces the takeoff. At John Cockerill, piping takeoff takes 80 to 90% less time and the fabrication bill of materials is produced ten times faster, with engineers reviewing the output.
A takeoff that must land in an estimating system
When quantities have to reach a cost database or an estimating platform rather than a report, Mirage exports in that system's import format or writes into it, and connects to Procore, Autodesk Construction Cloud, SAP, Oracle and Microsoft Dynamics for the work that follows.
Mirage Products
Takeoff & Estimating
Mirage's AI agent for construction quantity takeoff: plan, section and detail sheets read together, quantities returned with their source attached.
See the pageAI for estimating managers
Task by task, what the agents prepare and what stays with the estimating team, and how to run a pilot on a bid already priced.
See the pageWhich Kreo alternative is best for AI takeoff?
It depends on who should do the measuring. If your estimators should keep measuring on screen with AI help, the alternatives to Kreo's Pro plan are other on-screen tools: Togal.AI, which describes itself as an AI-powered takeoff tool built by estimators that automatically detects, measures and compares from drawings; Bluebeam Revu, whose plans run from $260 to $590 per user per year on its US pricing page and whose Max plan carries AI drawing review in preview; and Procore Estimating, which takes off from 2D drawings or 3D models with auto-count and plan overlay.
If the takeoff should be produced from the drawing set and reviewed, rather than measured faster, the alternative is a deployed agent, which is what Mirage is. The fair comparison is then Mirage against Kreo's Pro plan, since the lower plans do not carry the AI measurement tools, and the questions below decide it.
Kreo's plans, feature by feature, as of October 2026
From Kreo's pricing page, read on 7 October 2026. Prices are per user per month, billed annually, in US dollars; Kreo also lists GBP and EUR prices.
- Lite, $35. "For teams to collaborate on drawings without AI-powered tools." Includes Ask AI for drawings, AI Scale, Recognize Smart Labels and AI Renaming; no Auto Measure, One-Click Area or Auto Count.
- Plus, $70. "Ideal for managing project measurements without AI." Includes AI Scale only among the AI features listed; the measuring is manual.
- Pro, $175. "For professional teams to enhance workflows with AI-powered tools." Auto Measure, One-Click Area, Auto Count, Ask AI, AI Scale, Smart Labels, AI Renaming, plus the Wand and Dropper tools. Marked as Kreo's most popular plan.
- Enterprise, custom. "For large organizations needing custom solutions and support." Everything in Pro, plus AI workflow automation and fine-tuning of AI models, priced on request.
- Trial and refund. A 7-day free trial on Lite, Plus and Pro, and a refund within 7 days of payment on the same three plans.
How do you choose: six questions
Answer them for the bids you actually price, not for the team in general.
- Who should hold the measuring tool? Your estimators, with AI help: a self-serve tool. Nobody on your team, because the hours are the problem: a produced takeoff.
- What do the drawings look like? Clean vector PDFs: any tool copes. Scans, DWG and IFC mixed in one set, revisions arriving mid-bid: that is where a deployed agent earns its setup.
- Where must the quantities end up? In a report or inside the tool: Kreo does that. In Excel, an estimating system's import format or a cost database, with the source of each line: Mirage delivers there.
- How many estimators, how many bids? Per-user pricing favours a small team; per-workflow pricing favours volume. Count both before comparing prices.
- How soon? Today, with a 7-day trial: Kreo. In 4 to 6 weeks, after a proof of concept on your own documents a week after the first meeting: Mirage. Neither helps with a bid due tomorrow.
- Who answers when a set does not read? With software, your team and the vendor's support. With Mirage, the engineers who built the deployment, who change it when a new drawing convention appears.
Where Mirage fits on US and UK projects
On US projects, Mirage reads US drawing sets and returns quantities traced to their sheet and detail for your estimators to price in the system they already use, and runs the document workflows around the bid and the job: CSI MasterFormat organisation, certified payroll against prevailing wage determinations and AIA G702/G703 pay applications. It does not check drawings against US building codes.
On UK projects, the quantities can be measured into an NRM2-structured bill for the quantity surveyor to price, and the contract side covers NEC4 administration. The AI for quantity surveyors page sets out what a QS checks on a traced quantity.
Further reading
Hiring another estimator, automating the takeoff or keeping the spreadsheet process: the decision with people in it. See hire an estimator or automate takeoff
The step-by-step method once you decide to automate. See how to automate an estimating department
Put your takeoffs per month, hours per takeoff and the costs from a quote into the automation ROI calculator.
Sources
Every statement about Kreo on this page comes from Kreo's own pricing page, read on 7 October 2026; prices and plan contents can change, so check the page before deciding. Togal.AI, Bluebeam and Procore are described from their own public pages as read on 1 October 2026.
Sources: Kreo, pricing (read 7 October 2026), Togal.AI, Bluebeam, pricing, Procore, Estimating
FAQ
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Takeoff & Estimating
Mirage's AI agent reads plan, section and detail sheets together and returns quantities with their source attached, deployed by engineers who work inside your estimating workflow.
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