Cabinet estimating software that prices from the design

Cabinet estimating software prices a job from the design itself: each cabinet box, door, drawer front, panel and piece of hardware carries a cost, and the software rolls them into a quote, cut lists and sheet counts. Shops that build their own boxes use design-to-manufacture software; commercial millwork estimators also take off casework, trim and panels in linear feet from architectural plans. The useful difference between tools is how far they go toward cut lists, optimization and CNC.

By Agustín Policano, founder of AmpCount, which makes electrical takeoff software. Facts about other products and statistics link to their source, checked November 3, 2026.

What a cabinet takeoff measures

Item	Unit	What to watch
Base and wall cabinets	LF / EA	Early budgets use linear feet; real quotes price each box by width, height, depth and construction.
Doors and drawer fronts	EA	Style, material and finish drive cost. Outsourced doors are priced from the supplier.
Sheet goods	sheets	From the cut list after optimization. Material and core type change price and machining.
Hardware	EA	Hinges, slides, pulls and specialty inserts per box.
Panels, fillers and scribes	EA / LF	End panels, fillers and scribe moldings are easy to leave off an early quote.
Trim and moldings	LF	Crown, light rail, base and casing for millwork packages.
Commercial casework and millwork	LF / EA	Reception desks, nurse stations and wall paneling from interior elevations, priced to the grade the spec calls for.
Finishing and install	LF / hours	Shop finishing, delivery and installation labor.

How a cabinet estimate is built

Measure the room or read the interior elevations and casework plans.
Design or lay out the cabinets with sizes, construction and materials.
Assign door styles, finishes and hardware from the selections or specification.
Generate the price from the design using your material and labor costs.
Produce cut lists and optimize sheet usage to confirm material quantities.
Add finishing, delivery, installation and any outsourced components.
Send the proposal; after approval the same design drives shop drawings and production.

What to look for in cabinet software

Pricing from the design

Every box, door and part should carry cost, so changing a design updates the quote without a separate spreadsheet.

Cut lists and optimization

Sheet optimization turns the design into real sheet counts and less waste.

CNC output if you run a router

Shops with CNC need machine-ready output from the same design that priced the job.

Commercial takeoff for millwork

Millwork estimators bidding from architectural sets need linear feet and counts from plans and elevations, which design software does not take off.

Software cabinet estimators use

Tool	What it does for cabinet	Price
Mozaik Cyncly	Design-to-manufacture cabinet software: design, pricing, cut lists, optimizer and, on CNC editions, machine-ready G-code. Windows only; 3-month paid trial.¹	Manufacturing $125/mo; CNC $225/mo; Enterprise $325/mo
KCD Software KCD Software	Cabinet and closet design with estimates, proposals and contracts generated from the design on Professional; parts lists and sheet optimization on Workshop.²	Designer $99/mo; Professional $128/mo; Workshop $570 3-month startup then $195/mo
Cabinet Vision Hexagon	Modular design-to-manufacture software for cabinet, closet and furniture production, connecting design, costing and CNC machining.³	Quote only
Microvellum Microvellum	Cabinet and commercial millwork design-to-manufacturing software with CAD and CNC integration, used for casework, reception areas and custom interiors.⁴	Not published
PlanSwift ConstructConnect	General plan takeoff for millwork bids: linear feet of casework and trim and counts of items from architectural PDFs.⁵	Essential $2,000/yr; Core $3,000/yr (1 seat)

As described on each vendor's own pages, checked November 3, 2026. Prices change; check with the vendor.

For tools that cover every trade on one plan set, see the construction takeoff software and construction estimating software guides.

Millwork estimating software for commercial bids

A commercial millwork bid starts before any shop design exists. The estimator reads interior elevations and casework plans, takes off linear feet of base and upper casework, counts specialty pieces such as reception desks and nurse stations, and prices to the grade in the specification. A plan takeoff tool handles that stage.

Once the job is awarded, design-to-manufacture software such as Microvellum, Cabinet Vision or Mozaik takes over for shop drawings, cut lists and CNC⁴³¹. Some shops run both: takeoff to win the bid, design software to build it.

Power in casework: break rooms, labs and reception desks

Commercial casework carries a lot of electrical work: receptacles in backsplashes and desk tops, undercabinet lights, power to appliances in break rooms and grommets for cords at workstations. The 2023 NEC 210.8(B) requires GFCI protection in kitchens and in areas with sinks and permanent provisions for food preparation, beverage preparation or cooking, and item (7) covers receptacles and cord-and-plug-connected fixed or stationary appliances within 6 feet of the top inside edge of a sink bowl⁶. Mike Holt's commentary adds that the buffet serving item requires GFCI protection for receptacles in the break area of a commercial occupancy⁷.

For the millwork shop those rules turn into cutouts and access. GFCI devices are deeper than standard receptacles, so a box in a thin back panel or apron may not fit; reception desks and nurse stations need a raceway or chase from the floor or wall into the casework; and undercabinet lights need a junction box location the electrician can reach after the uppers are hung. Settle on the shop drawings who furnishes undercabinet fixtures and who cuts their holes.

Sinks set the GFCI zone, so the plumbing layout matters to both trades. Data at desks usually comes from the low-voltage contractor, and break rooms with several microwaves and coffee makers can need more dedicated circuits than a quick read suggests, which the electrical side checks with a load calculation.

Where cabinet takeoffs go wrong

Quoting by linear foot and building by box, which hides the cost of tall, corner and specialty cabinets.
Leaving fillers, panels, scribes and toe kicks off the quote.
Not updating sheet good prices in the software when supplier prices change.
On commercial millwork, missing items shown only on interior elevations or details, not on plans.
Pricing a grade lower than the specification requires.
Quoting before site dimensions are confirmed, then rebuilding boxes when walls are out of square or the window moved during framing.

Trades that bid the same job

A cabinet bid rarely stands alone. The trades next to it on the schedule read the same drawings and often share scope lines, so it pays to know how they take off too: countertop estimating software, remodeling estimating software, flooring estimating software and framing takeoff software.

Where AmpCount fits

AmpCount only counts electrical devices and fixtures, so it does not price cabinets or millwork. Undercabinet lights, receptacles in casework and power to reception desks appear on the electrical plans, and AmpCount counts them for the electrical contractor; the millwork shop uses that list to plan cutouts and grommets.

How electrical takeoff software counts a plan set

Questions

How do cabinet shops price a kitchen?

Early budgets use a price per linear foot. Real quotes price each box, door and piece of hardware from the design, which design-to-manufacture software does automatically.

Is there a free trial of Mozaik?

Mozaik says there is no free trial; it offers a 3-month paid trial that converts to a one-year subscription if you continue¹.

What is the difference between cabinet and millwork estimating?

Cabinet estimating usually prices a design the shop drew. Commercial millwork estimating starts from an architect's drawings and specification, so it begins with a takeoff of casework, trim and panels.

Do I need CNC software to estimate cabinets?

No. KCD's Professional plan and Mozaik Manufacturing price from the design without a CNC router²¹. CNC editions add machine output¹.

What does cabinet estimating software cost?

Published prices include KCD Software from $99 per month (Designer) and $128 (Professional)², and Mozaik from $125 per month (Manufacturing) to $325 (Enterprise)¹. Cabinet Vision and Microvellum do not publish prices on the pages we checked³⁴.

Guides and tools for any trade

Sources

Product names are trademarks of their owners. AmpCount is not affiliated with any vendor on this page.