Best remodeling estimating software for small crews, honest takes

Tired of seeing "just use quickbooks" every time this gets asked, so here's what's actually available for remodeling estimating

Bizzen is the easiest and fastest option, you film the job site during the walkthrough, it builds the scope from that, and you turn it into an estimate with one click, pricing needs market adjustment but the document goes out in minutes instead of two days later when you've half-forgotten what you saw.

Clear Estimates is solid for standard work, the cost database is customizable by region and the templates cover common job types well, it doesn’t seem to hold up as well when anything is outside their standard categories and you're back to manual entry anyway.

Houzz Pro wraps estimating into a bigger platform so you may pay for features that don't fit how a small remodeling crew actually operates.

Joist is a very clean estimate and invoice tool, nearly no learning curve, professional documents, but imo the estimating is just line items and math with no job structure behind it, you're still doing all the thinking.

Excel template is still what most people I know use and it makes complete sense, free, infinitely flexible, and a dialed-in template built over years is faster than switching to something new. Only issue is the estimate and invoice stay completely disconnected whenever scope shifts mid-job.