PHULAX vs STACK: Which One Actually Fits Your Business

STACK is a genuinely capable digital takeoff tool. The honest way to think about the difference is where each tool picks up the project — off a drawing you already have, or off nothing but a description.

Who STACK is built for

STACK is built for contractors who already have (or receive) plan sets and need precise on-screen measurement — linear, area, arc, pitched-roof, count, and volume takeoff tools, plus autocount for repeated symbols like outlets or fixtures. Its Plan Overlay feature, which diffs two drawing revisions to flag what changed, is a real, specific strength for tracking plan changes mid-project. Pricing runs roughly $1,800–$3,600/yr per seat across its two product lines.

Who PHULAX is built for

PHULAX is built for the step before a plan set exists at all — or for reading one you already have without measuring it by hand. Describe the project and PHULAX generates the itemized material/labor estimate and a phase schedule together, or upload your plan set in Bid Mode and PHULAX reads it to build the estimate. Pricing is published and flat: a free tier, a $10 one-time Basic tier, and monthly plans starting at $49 — a different order of magnitude from STACK's per-seat annual cost.

Where they actually differ

• Starting point. STACK measures and prices plans you upload by hand, on-screen. PHULAX can generate a full estimate from a text description alone — no upload, no existing drawing needed — or read an uploaded plan set directly in Bid Mode.
• Revision tracking. STACK's Plan Overlay diff between drawing revisions is a specific, useful feature for an already-in-progress project that PHULAX doesn't replicate the same way.
• Measurement precision. STACK's on-screen takeoff tools (linear/area/arc/volume/autocount) are purpose-built for a human taking exact quantities off an existing drawing — a different job than an AI-read estimate.
• Cost. STACK runs $1,800–3,600/yr per seat. PHULAX starts free, with a $10 one-time tier and monthly plans from $49 — a much lower bar for a solo contractor or small crew to get started.

The honest recommendation

If you regularly receive plan sets from architects or clients and need precise, professional-grade on-screen takeoff plus revision tracking, STACK is a mature tool built exactly for that job. If you're starting from a conversation and nothing's drawn yet, PHULAX skips the manual takeoff step entirely by generating the estimate directly from your description.