--- description: Review of Kestrel Software: system overview, features, price and cost information. Get free demos and compare to similar programs on Software Advice Ireland. image: https://gdm-localsites-assets-gfprod.imgix.net/images/software_advice/og_logo-55146305bbe7b450bea05c18e9be9c9a.png title: Kestrel | Reviews, Pricing & Demos - SoftwareAdvice IE --- Breadcrumb: [Home](/) > [Takeoff Software](/directory/397/takeoff-software/software) > [Kestrel](/software/552474/Kestrel) # Kestrel Canonical: https://www.softwareadvice.ie/software/552474/Kestrel > Kestrel turns PDF drawings into an NRM2 Bill of Quantities in Excel that is ready to price, and a set of annotated drawings that show where every figure came from. It is takeoff software for UK estimators and quantity surveyors, built by Alves Rowe Ltd, a UK preconstruction consultancy, and shaped by our founder Jamie Rowe, a practising estimator. WHO IT SUITS Small and mid-sized main contractors, subcontractors, fit-out firms and independent QS practices working in the UK. If your week involves opening a drawing set, scaling off lengths, areas and counts, and turning them into a bill somebody can price, that is exactly the job Kestrel was written for. If you need job costing, bid management, scheduling or a full estimating suite, Kestrel is not that, and we would rather say so now than waste your trial. HOW IT WORKS Open the PDF, calibrate the scale, then measure directly on the drawing. Lengths, areas and counts accumulate as you go, organised by finish type and project zone, so the bill builds while you measure instead of being retyped afterwards. Drawings in a set often print at different scales, so Kestrel keeps the scale per page and can apply one you have set to other pages at the same scale. An optional assistant can scan a drawing to identify finishes and read the scale from the title block. It is off by default, it uses your own provider API key, and that provider bills you directly, not us. Kestrel works fully without it. Projects save as single local files with the drawings embedded, so a job is one file you can archive, copy or hand over. Kestrel is offline-capable, there is no cloud storage, and no login is needed to take off. The licence verifies online periodically. Windows only, metric only, one user on one machine. WHAT COMES OUT An NRM2 Bill of Quantities exported to Excel, with quantities, codes, descriptions and live formulas that recalculate the moment you type your rates in. Annotated PDF drawings with a Take Off Legend and a Quantity Key on every sheet, so a colleague, a client or a checker can see where each figure came from. Alongside those, a drawing register listing every drawing with its number, title, revision and date, so you have an audit trail of the information you measured from. Rates are yours to enter. Kestrel does not ship a cost database and does not guess your prices; it hands you a bill that is ready to price with the numbers you trust. PRICING AND TRIAL Core costs £25 per month plus VAT. Paid annually it is £250 plus VAT, two months free against the monthly rate, and takeoff.alvesrowe.com/pricing always shows what is current. There is a 14-day free trial. A card is required to start it, you are not charged until the trial ends, and if you cancel before then you are not charged at all. SUPPORT Support comes from the people who build the software, not a call centre. Our site at takeoff.alvesrowe.com carries an FAQ, a download page, a contact form and a written guide library covering takeoff practice and NRM2. In the software itself, help is built into each panel. If you want to talk through whether Kestrel fits your workflow before you install anything, get in touch; we would rather have an honest conversation than a bad fit. Kestrel does one part of the estimating process and tries to do it properly: get the quantities off the drawing, get them into a bill, and show your working on the drawings you issue. > > Verdict: Rated **4.8/5** by 4 users. Top-rated for **Likelihood to recommend**. ----- ## Quick Stats & Ratings | Metric | Rating | Detail | | **Overall** | **4.8/5** | 4 Reviews | | Ease of Use | 5.0/5 | Based on overall reviews | | Customer Support | 5.0/5 | Based on overall reviews | | Value for Money | 4.8/5 | Based on overall reviews | | Features | 4.5/5 | Based on overall reviews | | Recommendation percentage | 100% | (10/10 Likelihood to recommend) | ## About the vendor - **Company**: Kestrel ## Commercial Context - **Starting Price**: £25.00 - **Pricing model**: Flat Rate (Free Trial) - **Pricing Details**: Kestrel is £25 per user per month, or £250 per year (two months free), plus UK VAT. Every feature is included, for one user on one machine: PDF takeoff for lengths, areas and counts; finishes, zones and drawing register; NRM2 Bill of Quantities with annotated PDF export; and BYOK AI assist (Detect Finishes, Title-block, Scale fallback). Start with a 14-day free trial and cancel anytime - a card is required, but you are not charged until the trial ends. Founders Discount: the annual plan is £150 for the first year until 1 September 2026, then £250 a year. Core covers the full workflow: PDF takeoff, finishes, zones, the NRM2 Bill of Quantities export, and the optional bring-your-own-key AI assist. AI usage is billed directly to you through your own Anthropic key (typically a few pence per drawing), so there is no markup. One licence covers a single user on a single machine. - **Target Audience**: Self Employed, 2–10, 11–50, 51–200, 201–500 - **Deployment & Platforms**: Windows (Desktop), Windows (On-Premise) - **Supported Languages**: English - **Available Countries**: United Kingdom ## Features - API - Annotations - Assembly Takeoff - Bill of Materials - Built-In Database - Cost Estimating - Data Import/Export - Document Management - Electronic Plans - Estimating - For AEC Industry - Project Estimating - Quotes/Estimates - Reporting & Statistics ## Integrations (2 total) - Claude - Microsoft Excel ## Support Options - Email/Help Desk - FAQs/Forum - Knowledge Base ## Category - [Takeoff Software](https://www.softwareadvice.ie/directory/397/takeoff-software/software) ## Reviews ### "Efficient and practical tool" — 4.0/5 > **Clara** | *9 July 2026* | Architecture & Planning | Recommendation rating: 9.0/10 > > **Pros**: Easy to use with a clear and logical layout Speeds up the estimation process and reduces manual effort Helps improve budget accuracy during early project stages Reduces the risk of calculation errors through automated pricing formulas > > **Cons**: Not specifically designed for FF\&E teams, so some workflows and terminology do not fully align with industry requirements Certain FF\&E-specific tasks require manual workarounds or additional tracking outside the platform > > Reliable and effective estimating tool that supports efficient budget planning and cost management. With further FF\&E-focused features and customisation options, it could become an even stronger solution for workplace furniture and fit-out projects ----- ### "Simple, Focused, Excellent Design - Would Highly Recommend" — 5.0/5 > **Aline** | *9 July 2026* | Construction | Recommendation rating: 10.0/10 > > **Pros**: - Very easy to understand - no sharp learning curve. When I did have a query, the built-in help function worked perfectly. - No feature bloat - this is take off software, and doesn't try to be anything else. It does take offs exceptionally well in an undiluted, frictionless way. - Fantastic for providing a clear audit trail. Output of NRM2 BoQ, PDF mark ups and Drawings Register is perfect\! > > **Cons**: - I'm not able to use DWGs for take offs. however, this is largely not an issue as the vast majority of tender packs I receive are in PDF format. - The optional AI is good, but not perfect. However, this is a subtle feature set that you don't need to rely on, and does work most of the time. > > I first started using Kestrel for PDF mark up, however quickly realised how well the take off workflow had been designed. I now use this for all of my take offs, and the automatically generated BoQs has actually become a fantastic way for me to provide clients with a quick estimate - alongside the marked up PDFs, I always have a clear, demonstrable audit trail. ----- ### "Estimating software for Fit Out industry" — 5.0/5 > **Claudio** | *10 July 2026* | Construction | Recommendation rating: 10.0/10 > > **Pros**: The software is perfectly built for the fit out industry and it has all tools needed to be able To do take off easily and accurately. Customer support is by miles the best I ever found. > > **Cons**: I have not really found anything specific I like less. I think the product is overall strong. I believe the initial MVP released is basic, but overall efficient and the developing team are continually releasing updates with more features and better tools. > > I love Kestrel software, its customer support and how the product exports BOQ and lets you associate costs to items. Best estimating software for the fit out industry. ----- ### "Useful for doing take-offs quickly and accurately" — 5.0/5 > **James** | *10 July 2026* | Design | Recommendation rating: 10.0/10 > > **Pros**: It's easy to use and the workflow using Kestrel exactly follows the workflow that would be used for any other take-off. > > **Cons**: It is feature-rich which means that there is always something to learn, but in fact those features save time so I shouldn't complain. > > I've tried it on quite a few sample projects and results were as expected. It takes away all of the tedious bits, like formatting Excel worksheets and trying to annotate PDFs. ## Links - [View on SoftwareAdvice](https://www.softwareadvice.ie/software/552474/Kestrel) ## This page is available in the following languages | Locale | URL | | en | | | en-AU | | | en-GB | | | en-IE | | | en-NZ | | ----- ## Structured Data