# Do any handymen or contractors have any experience using Simplywise or other AI apps designed for estimating jobs?

Users describe these apps as good for fast ballpark quotes that still need a sanity check. In a related r/Construction thread (https://www.reddit.com/r/Construction/comments/1ow7rn3/simplywise_your_opinions_please/, seen via search index), one remodeler said an app's concrete price was too low for their area, and a new-home builder said the final number was far off compared with their hard estimates. That's the core issue: a generic app doesn't know your costs.

Practical approach: (1) use AI for speed, not for the number; (2) feed it your own unit costs; (3) compare the first few AI quotes against jobs you've already priced by hand before trusting it. A free route is a spreadsheet price book plus a chat assistant, or a local model via [LM Studio](/tools/lm-studio) or [Ollama](/tools/ollama) if you don't want customer details in the cloud. We use this kind of setup in our own contracting work and still review every line. Paid options with an estimating focus are listed in our [estimating category](/category/estimating).

*AI-assisted, reviewed by our team. Last verified 2026-10-16.*

## Sources

- [r/handyman: Experience using Simplywise or other AI estimating apps?](https://www.reddit.com/r/handyman/comments/1s6wibt/do_any_handymen_or_contractors_have_any/)
- [r/Construction: SimplyWise — your opinions please?](https://www.reddit.com/r/Construction/comments/1ow7rn3/simplywise_your_opinions_please/)

## Related

- [LM Studio](https://contractoraishop.com/tools/lm-studio)
- [Ollama](https://contractoraishop.com/tools/ollama)

HTML: https://contractoraishop.com/questions/simplywise-or-ai-estimating-apps