A Drawer AI alternative when you only need the counts
Drawer AI is AI takeoff built only for electrical, and it goes well past counting: it detects devices, fixtures and panel schedules, then generates conduit paths, sizes wire with voltage drop and places home runs1. It's sold on annual plans by quote12. AmpCount does less on purpose. It counts every device and fixture from the legend, holds back uncertain marks and checks the fixture schedule, for a published $149 a month for up to 3 people, or $1,490 a year.
What Drawer AI is
Drawer AI is a web app from an Austin company founded in 2021, which raised a $5M seed round in October 202413. It reads the symbol legend, detects typical and non-typical power devices, lighting fixtures and panel schedules on PDF drawings, merges multi-page sheets into one floor layout without double counting, and routes branch circuits and home runs1. It exports an Excel report with quantities and wire lengths and a marked-up PDF1. Drawer says it has onboarded more than 300 electrical contractors2.
AmpCount vs Drawer AI at a glance
| AmpCount | Drawer AI | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Electrical takeoff for commercial contractors. Counts devices and fixtures on vector PDF plans. | Electrical AI takeoff: devices, fixtures, panel schedules, conduit, wire and home runs1. |
| How counts start | Reads the legend, then matches every symbol on every sheet by its drawn geometry. No clicking to start. | Upload PDFs; the AI reads the symbol legend and detects devices and fixtures1. |
| Uncertain symbols | Anything not an exact match is marked uncertain and stays out of the count until you confirm it. | QA tools for the estimator to review detections12. |
| Fixture schedule check | Checks counts against the fixture schedule and shows the sheet with the difference. | Extracts panel and lighting fixture schedules1. A fixture count vs schedule check isn't described. |
| Conduit and wire | Not included. | Conduit paths, wire sizing with voltage drop, footage by circuit1. |
| Price | $149 a month or $1,490 a year, published. Up to 3 people, no sheet limits. | Not published. Starter and Enterprise annual plans by quote12. |
| Billing | Monthly or yearly. Cancel anytime. Full refund within 14 days. | Annual subscriptions, 30-day money-back guarantee12. |
| Runs on | Browser, on Windows or Mac. | Web app1. |
| Export | Excel, CSV and an estimating sheet with your item codes per drawing. | Excel report with quantities and wire lengths, marked-up PDF, and Revit models through BIM Wizard1. |
Prices as listed on November 3, 2026. Check the vendor for a current quote.
To see Drawer AI next to the rest of the field, the electrical estimating software guide lists 14 tools with their published prices, and the electrical takeoff software guide explains the four ways software counts a plan set.
Where Drawer AI is strong
- Built only for electrical, with named customers such as Starr Electric, Intermountain Electric and Gaylor Electric1.
- Routes conduit, sizes wire and places home runs: the part of the takeoff that isn't drawn on the plans1.
- Merges overlapping sheets so devices aren't counted twice1.
- Turns PDF drawings into native Revit models through its BIM Wizard1.
Where AmpCount is different
Counts only, by design
AmpCount stops at devices and fixtures. If your estimator would rather lay out conduit and wire themselves, you're not paying for routing you won't use.
A review list instead of QA tools
Drawer gives estimators QA tools to review AI detections1. AmpCount counts only exact geometric matches and puts everything else in an uncertain list, so the review starts with the marks most likely to be wrong.
The fixture schedule, not only panel schedules
Drawer extracts panel and lighting fixture schedules to link devices to circuits1. AmpCount checks the fixture count per type tag against the fixture schedule and points at the sheet where they differ.
Monthly or yearly, with the price listed
Drawer sells annual plans through its sales team2. AmpCount is $149 a month for up to 3 people, with a full refund within 14 days.
The matching is plain geometry, step by step, as shown in how AmpCount works. A vision model helps read titles, legends and schedules but never confirms a mark or counts, as the AI electrical takeoff guide explains.
Where the time goes in an electrical takeoff
An electrical takeoff has two halves: counting what's drawn (devices, fixtures, panels) and working out what isn't (conduit runs, wire, home runs). Drawer AI automates both and sells annual plans1. On the desktop side, McCormick's Auto Home Run handles home runs inside a full estimating suite. Pricing and labor come after both halves, in the order the step-by-step guide to electrical estimating lays out.
AmpCount automates the first half only. The count runs across the whole set from the legend, and what's left is a short review. For shops whose estimators route from their own experience, or that mostly bid device-heavy fit-outs, the counting is the part worth automating. Shops that hand the whole takeoff out instead can compare outsourced electrical estimating services.
What it costs
Drawer AI sells annual plans by quote, so there's no public number to compare, as of November 1, 202612. Its plans are tailored to team size and project volume, and only Enterprise lists unlimited routing and home runs12.
AmpCount's price is on the page: $149 a month for up to 3 people, or $1,490 a year on the yearly plan, with no sheet limits on either. The monthly plan cancels anytime. There's no routing tier because there's no routing.
Using AmpCount for counts
- Upload the vector PDF set, the same one you'd send to Drawer AI.
- Let AmpCount count devices and fixtures from the legend. Nothing gets routed.
- Clear the uncertain list and check the fixture schedule result.
- Export counts per drawing with your item codes.
- Lay out conduit, wire and home runs the way your estimators do today, with a conduit fill check on the raceway sizes.
Pricing the counts by hand for now? The electrical estimate template and the electrical estimate calculator take quantities straight from the export.
Before you switch
- Decide whether you need routing and wire sizing automated, or only counts.
- Check that the sets you'd send to Drawer AI come as vector PDFs.
- Take one job you already routed and counted, run it through AmpCount and compare device and fixture totals only.
- Check your Drawer AI renewal date and money-back window if you're a customer.
Choose Drawer AI if
- You want conduit, wire and home runs generated, not only device counts.
- You bid large commercial jobs where routing time is a bigger cost than counting time.
Choose AmpCount if
- Counting devices and fixtures is your bottleneck and your estimators handle routing themselves.
- You want to start on this week's bid without an annual contract.
- You want the fixture schedule, not only panel schedules, checked against your counts.
Cancel anytime. Full refund within 14 days if it doesn't fit your plans.
Questions
Where can I read Drawer AI reviews?
Drawer AI publishes customer case studies on its own site1, and software directories collect user reviews. Reviews tell you how a tool felt on someone else's jobs. Before you commit to an annual plan, run Drawer AI and AmpCount on one plan set you already counted by hand and compare the review effort and the misses.
How much does Drawer AI cost?
Drawer AI doesn't publish prices. Its site lists Starter and Enterprise annual plans with a 30-day money-back guarantee and asks you to contact sales, as of November 1, 202612. Among AI takeoff tools, Togal.AI lists a per-user price on its site4.
Does AmpCount route conduit or size wire?
No. AmpCount counts devices and fixtures and checks fixtures against the schedule. Drawer AI does routing and wire sizing1; if you need that, it covers ground AmpCount doesn't. If your estimators size wire by hand, a voltage drop calculator checks the long branch runs.
Can I use both?
You can, but they overlap on device and fixture counts. The deciding question is whether you want conduit and wire automated.
Does AmpCount read the same PDFs as Drawer AI?
Both work from PDF drawings1. AmpCount needs vector PDFs exported from CAD software and flags scanned sheets instead of guessing, so check how your sets arrive.
How many people does the AmpCount plan cover?
Up to 3 estimators on one plan, working from the same bids and symbol library, with no sheet limits. Drawer AI gives every team member access on its Enterprise plan2.
How do I check AmpCount's counts?
Every count links to its marks on the sheet, and anything that isn't an exact match is in the uncertain list, opened zoomed in on the mark.
Other comparisons
Guides and calculators
Sources
Drawer AI is a trademark of Drawer AI. AmpCount is not affiliated with Drawer AI. If something here is out of date, email support@ampcount.com and we'll fix it.