Turn a job description into a review-ready, priced construction estimate draft. We will email you a copy too.
Leave out addresses, names, phone numbers and access codes. The estimator doesn't need them.
Optional. Without a ZIP the draft is priced at the national average.
We email your draft, and every estimate stays saved under your email. Your first AI estimate is free with the Clamp newsletter, and editing lines yourself is always free. By drafting an estimate you agree to the Terms of Use. See our Privacy Policy.
How it works
Describe the job the way you'd explain it to your lead carpenter: sizes, what comes out, what goes in.
Get a priced draft: line items by trade with labor and materials, and a price range at typical markups.
Tune it and send it: edit any line for free. In the app, your own rates take over and it becomes a proposal.
How this draft is made
Clamp matches your description to construction assemblies and prices them from Clamp's current U.S. baseline rate library using an automated system. The result is a direct-cost draft for you to review and edit, not a bid, not a quote, and not a guarantee of what any contractor will charge. Rates use Clamp's national U.S. baseline and are not adjusted for your local market.
Baseline rates shown. In the app, your saved rates take over.
A thoughtful draft can take a few minutes. Please keep this page open.
Your estimate is ready
We emailed it to from [email protected]. Open that email and tap View your estimate.
Not in your inbox in a minute? Check your junk or spam folder.
Your estimates are saved under your email at Your estimates.
Your estimate draft
At a glance
What we heard
Assumptions to review
Projects
Illustrative price range, before permits and sales tax
Estimated job cost, before any markup
Job cost is not a price. Overhead and profit go on top.
It is an estimate of job cost: labor and materials only. A sustainable contractor price has to be higher than job cost. Overhead and profit go on top, and how much depends entirely on what that contractor's business requires to operate.
Your estimates page keeps every draft under your email. Edit lines yourself for free, or change it with a prompt.
Possible additional work
Not included in the total above. Priced in case hidden conditions are found. Shown at job cost, before any markup.
Alternates
Options priced instead of part of the base. Not added to the total above. Shown at job cost, before any markup.
Markup presets are examples, not market averages. Actual contractor markup varies by overhead, business model, volume, and profit target. In Clamp, your saved rates and your calculated markup take over.
Your full draft is on its way from [email protected]. Not in your inbox in a minute? Check your junk or spam folder.
Yes. Your first AI estimate is free when you join the Clamp newsletter, and you can unsubscribe any time. Editing lines yourself is always free.
What happens to my email?
We send your draft there and keep every estimate saved under it at Your estimates. You also get the Clamp newsletter, and every issue has an unsubscribe link.
Can homeowners use it?
Yes. Choose I'm a homeowner and you get a draft of what the job costs before any contractor's markup.
A real prompt, start to finish
You write one paragraph about the job. Clamp matches it to construction assemblies, derives quantities from the dimensions you give, and prices each line from Clamp's current national U.S. baseline rates. The draft that comes back is itemized by trade with labor and materials split out, the same structure a contractor would build by hand.
Here is a real prompt, exactly as written:
Remodel a 5 by 8 foot hall bathroom, keeping the same layout. Replace the existing 60 by 30 tub with a new tub in the same location, and install a tiled tub surround to the ceiling, about 65 square feet of wall tile. New vanity with countertop and faucet, new toilet, replace the exhaust fan, swap two light fixtures, and paint the walls and ceiling. Install about 28 square feet of porcelain floor tile in the open floor area.
What the output looks like
These rows come from the reviewed estimate that prompt produced, published in full on this site:
The numbers are direct job cost: labor and materials, with no contractor overhead or profit. A working contractor adds markup to cover both, and how much depends on their overhead, crew, and profit target. On this same $11,799.17 example, three illustrative markups spanning that range:
Illustrative selling prices on the published example
Profile
Markup
Selling price
Lean
30%
$15,338.92
Standard
50%
$17,698.76
Full-Service
100%
$23,598.34
Profile names are illustrative labels, not measured pricing practices; the right markup comes from a contractor's own overhead and profit numbers. Local rates also vary from the national baseline used here.
Rates come from Clamp's researched baseline rate library, and your own saved rates replace them line by line in the app. The published example includes its underlying data files, so you can inspect the assumptions, quantities, rates, and arithmetic.
Clamp is also a full job workflow app for residential contractors on iOS and Android: leads, design agreements, estimates, proposals, change orders, and invoices. Learn about the app.