<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[mctools]]></title><description><![CDATA[mctools]]></description><link>https://mctools.hashnode.dev</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2026 21:06:37 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://mctools.hashnode.dev/rss.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><language><![CDATA[en]]></language><ttl>60</ttl><item><title><![CDATA[55% of Construction Software Vendors Hide Their Pricing. I Know Because I Checked All 570.]]></title><description><![CDATA[I catalogued 570 construction software tools by hand. Five numbers that explain why buying construction software is broken.]]></description><link>https://mctools.hashnode.dev/55-of-construction-software-vendors-hide-their-pricing-i-know-because-i-checked-all-570</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://mctools.hashnode.dev/55-of-construction-software-vendors-hide-their-pricing-i-know-because-i-checked-all-570</guid><category><![CDATA[construction]]></category><category><![CDATA[Construction Software]]></category><category><![CDATA[SaaS]]></category><category><![CDATA[startup]]></category><category><![CDATA[indiehackers]]></category><category><![CDATA[Building in Public]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[mc]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 12 Apr 2026 00:18:21 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/69dae04baadf1107e2709293/c8d12896-bbec-457d-b0c3-bbaf8aa7fead.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I started looking at construction software last year and the search itself was the problem.</p>
<p>Capterra kept showing me Salesforce. G2 kept showing me Monday.com. Both platforms treat "construction" as a filter tag stapled onto generic SaaS, and the results punish anyone looking for something a framing crew can actually open on a phone at 6am.</p>
<p>So I built ConTechFinder. A directory that only lists construction software. No CRMs pretending to be field tools. No accounting suites pretending to understand retainage.</p>
<h2>The work</h2>
<p>I spent months cataloguing 570 tools across 15 categories by hand. No scraping, no AI summaries of vendor copy. I opened every product page, checked pricing, tested whether the mobile app existed, and read enough of the feature list to tell whether the thing was built for a GC running ten jobs or a solo remodeler writing estimates from a truck.</p>
<p>Doing this at volume shows you patterns no vendor wants you to see.</p>
<h2>What the data shows</h2>
<p>Five numbers stuck with me.</p>
<p><strong>55% hide their pricing.</strong> More than half of construction software vendors refuse to publish a price. You fill out a form, a salesperson calls, you get a custom quote based on how big your company looks on LinkedIn. The industry has decided construction buyers should negotiate for software the way they negotiate for steel.</p>
<p><strong>45% have a mobile app.</strong> Construction happens outside. The other 55% expect a superintendent to carry a laptop onto a muddy site, or to wait until 7pm to log the day's work from a home office. The gap between "we serve construction" and "we understand construction" sits right here.</p>
<p><strong>9% target solo operators.</strong> Nine percent. Out of 570 tools, roughly 50 are built for the one-person shop. The rest assume you have an office, an admin, and at least five crew members. Independent contractors make up a huge share of US construction employment, and almost nobody is building for them.</p>
<p><strong>Three categories have zero solo options.</strong> Preconstruction, BIM, and Takeoff. If you are a solo estimator bidding small commercial work, the market offers you nothing designed for your size. You either pay enterprise pricing or you use Excel.</p>
<p><strong>Project Management has 45 tools. Accounting and Bidding tie for smallest at 34 each.</strong> The category everyone crowds into is the one where differentiation is hardest. The categories vendors avoid are the ones where contractors lose the most money.</p>
<h2>What this means</h2>
<p>For buyers: stop starting your search on Capterra. The tool built for your trade and your company size probably exists, and it probably does not rank on page one of a general SaaS directory because its founder is two people in Denver with no marketing budget.</p>
<p>For vendors: if you are building for solo operators in Preconstruction, BIM, or Takeoff, you have an empty category waiting. Publish your pricing. Ship a mobile app. You will stand out by doing the obvious thing.</p>
<p>I put the full breakdown, including every category count and the methodology, at <a href="https://contechfinder.com/blog/construction-software-market-data-2026">contechfinder.com/blog/construction-software-market-data-2026</a>. The directory itself lives at <a href="https://contechfinder.com">contechfinder.com</a>.</p>
<p>If you sell construction software and you are not on it, the listing is free.</p>
]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>