Comparison

Construction Cost Estimator vs Retail Inventory+Order Manager

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Construction Cost Estimator

Quickly generate on-site construction and repair estimates. Break down costs by material, labor, and more. Save custom items or purchase detailed costbooks for thousands of construction items. Email professional PDF estimates to clients.

Highlights
  • On-site estimate creation
  • Customizable PDF reports
  • Company branding on estimates
  • Organized cost breakdown
  • Customizable costbook
  • International currency support
Currently charting
Read full description

Construction Cost Estimator helps contractors and service companies quickly create on-site estimates for construction and repair projects. You can save time and money by creating the estimate on the spot and then emailing it to the customer as a PDF or printing a hardcopy. Each cost item is broken down into Material, Labor, Other, and Subcontract costs. You can save frequently used cost items in your own custom costbook, or you can purchase 3 different Craftsman costbooks within the app that contain detailed costs for over 30,000 common construction items. Just search for a cost item, enter the quantity, and add it to your estimate in 3 easy steps! FEATURES • Fast and easy user interface for creating cost estimates • Customize multiple types of PDF reports, and email them to customers directly from the app • Add the logo and contact info for your company to create professional-looking estimates • Costs are organized by Phases, Areas, and Categories that can be customized for each project • Enter your overhead, profit, and tax rates for each project • The app provides full support for international currencies and units CRAFTSMAN COSTBOOKS You can save common cost items in your own custom costbook, and you can purchase 3 different Craftsman Costbooks within the app via in-app purchase for $49.99 each. The costbook data is only valid in the US and Canada, but the costbooks are also available for purchase internationally. • National Construction Estimator • National Home Improvement Estimator • National Renovation and Insurance Repair Estimator Each costbook contains thousands of common construction items, and the costs are localized to your US Zip Code or Canadian Postal Code. The Craftsman Costbooks are really helpful if you need to provide a cost estimate for work that you haven't done before, or if you need to do a sanity check on cost estimates from subcontractors. You can also copy cost items from the Craftsman Costbooks to your own custom costbook, and then change any of the numbers. WHO USES CONSTRUCTION COST ESTIMATOR? The app is used by many types of contractors, estimators, and service companies, such as: General contractors, electricians, plumbers, builders, landscapers, roofers, painters, carpenters, heating and air conditioning, flooring, siding, tile, concrete, asphalt paving, bathroom and kitchen remodeling, deck builders, handyman services, pest control, real estate flippers and rehabbers, insurance repair estimators, and more! ----- See more screenshots and a sample PDF estimate at: http://www.ConstructionCostEstimator.com ----- I am dedicated to responding quickly to support requests. If you have questions, problems, or feature requests, please send me an email using the Support link below. -----

About

Retail Inventory+Order Manager

Manage stock levels, track sales revenue, and monitor procurement costs for small to medium businesses. This app helps optimize capital use and respond quickly to market changes with detailed product and order management.

Highlights
  • iCloud sync and backup
  • Inventory statistics with low stock alerts
  • Detailed product information management
  • Purchase and sales order management
  • Supplier and customer management
  • Net profit and stock level statistics
  • CSV data export
Features
Read full description

RetailInventory for iPad is an inventory management helper that focuses on small and medium-sized businesses and businessmen. It enables users to keep abreast of the inventory status, sales revenue and procurement costs of all products in order to improve the efficiency of capital use and enable you to quickly respond to market changes. The main function: - iCloud sync and backup.  - Get the macOS version, you can sync data between devices. - While protecting data, it can be read and written by other devices. - Latest inventory statistics, for eye-catching warnings for products below inventory - Product information includes sub-categories, specifications, images, units of measure, product number, purchase price, sales price, maximum inventory, and minimum inventory alert settings - Product purchase and statistics - Product sales and statistics - Custom product parent category - Custom product subcategories - Customize suppliers and customers - Custom business account - Purchasing and sales order management - Supplier and customer order management - Statistical net profit, latest stock, total sales amount, total purchase amount - Support multiple conditional searches, quickly search for data, etc. - Preset categories, specifications, units, accounts, suppliers, customers can be quickly selected - Total quantity and total amount of sales and purchases of statistical products - Counting orders from suppliers and customers - Statistical product inventory and profit - Cost of sales statistics, sales profit statistics - Set password protection invoicing data - Export CSV data (orders, customers, suppliers, products) Tips: If iCloud cannot sync data to the device, please check whether you have logged in to your iCloud account or check the network connection. If there is no problem, please exit the App, open the App again and click the button to synchronize the data to the device.

Screenshots

Construction Cost Estimator4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Retail Inventory+Order Manager at $6.99 against Construction Cost Estimator's $19.99. Retail Inventory+Order Manager also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 26.6). Construction Cost Estimator's advantage is review sentiment (77% vs 40%) and chart position (#130 vs unranked). On update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Construction Cost Estimator costs $19.99 and Retail Inventory+Order Manager $6.99 up front. Construction Cost Estimator sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Retail Inventory+Order Manager asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Construction Cost Estimator ships an update every 4 months, Retail Inventory+Order Manager every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Construction Cost Estimator versus Retail Inventory+Order Manager: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterConstruction Cost EstimatorRetail Inventory+Order Manager
Price$19.99$6.99 — better
Rating4.8 (520 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews77.4% of reviews — better40.0% of reviews
Number of ratings520 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#130 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPad
Requires iOS26.612.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size66 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperContractor Tools苑飞 胡

Customer experience

Construction Cost Estimator

All ratings516 ratings
Positive95.7%
Neutral2.5%
Negative1.7%
Written reviews106 reviews
Positive77.4%
Neutral7.5%
Negative15.1%

Retail Inventory+Order Manager

Written reviews5 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral40.0%
Negative20.0%

Bugs and requests

Construction Cost Estimator

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Freezing on login screen
  • Incompatibility with older devices

Requested features

6 requests
  • Ability to sync estimates across devices
  • More customization options for reports
  • Integration with accounting software
  • Desktop version for office use
  • Multiple custom cost books
Show 1 more
  • Ability to calculate tax and markup separately

Retail Inventory+Order Manager

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Construction Cost Estimator

One-time10
  • NHI Costbook 2014$49.99
  • NRI Costbook 2013$49.99
  • NCE Costbook 2013$49.99
Show 7 more
  • NHI Costbook 2013$49.99
  • NCE Costbook 2014$49.99
  • NCE Costbook 2015$49.99
  • NHI Costbook 2015$49.99
  • NCE Costbook 2016$49.99
  • NHI Costbook 2016$49.99
  • NRI Costbook 2016$49.99
None

Retail Inventory+Order Manager

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Construction Cost Estimator free?
Construction Cost Estimator costs $19.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Retail Inventory+Order Manager free?
Retail Inventory+Order Manager costs $6.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Construction Cost Estimator or Retail Inventory+Order Manager have ads?
Neither Construction Cost Estimator nor Retail Inventory+Order Manager shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Construction Cost Estimator or Retail Inventory+Order Manager?
Construction Cost Estimator ships an update every 4 months, and Retail Inventory+Order Manager every 2 months. Most recently, Construction Cost Estimator was updated on October 26, 2026 and Retail Inventory+Order Manager on October 7, 2026.

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