A heavy civil/sitework contractor is considering switching from Trimble Business Center due to frequent errors with surface building and takeoff reports, as well as program crashes on large projects.

{
  "signal_id": "8bb31747-9001-5959-a4c0-46b3c31e4556",
  "signal_type": "reddit-company",
  "signal_subtype": "customerFeedback",
  "detected_at": "2026-09-24T20:31:28+00:00",
  "company": {
    "name": "Trimble",
    "domain": "trimble.com"
  },
  "data": {
    "nsfw": false,
    "stage": "considering",
    "awards": 0,
    "timing": "ongoing_state",
    "topics": [
      "construction tech",
      "estimating software",
      "earthwork takeoff",
      "reliability",
      "usability"
    ],
    "post_id": "1wpcrd4",
    "summary": "A heavy civil/sitework contractor is considering switching from Trimble Business Center due to frequent errors with surface building and takeoff reports, as well as program crashes on large projects.",
    "category": "reliability",
    "comments": [
      {
        "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/estimators/comments/1wpcrd4/comment/pbv70a7/",
        "depth": 0,
        "score": 6,
        "author": "zezzene",
        "excerpt": "I thought Insite was way cheaper and way easier to learn than agtek.",
        "posted_at": "2026-09-24T23:16:21.000Z",
        "author_url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/zezzene/"
      },
      {
        "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/estimators/comments/1wpcrd4/comment/pbv38on/",
        "depth": 0,
        "score": 4,
        "author": "Aside6345",
        "excerpt": "go with AGTEK! that and TBC are the two commonly used for earthwork. cant judge Insite bc i havnt used it sorry.",
        "posted_at": "2026-09-24T22:56:11.000Z",
        "author_url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Aside6345/"
      },
      {
        "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/estimators/comments/1wpcrd4/comment/pbv52y6/",
        "depth": 0,
        "score": 2,
        "author": "Responsible_Fly_2071",
        "excerpt": "Insite user here, I like it a lot. It’s a shallow learning curve, takes a bit to work some of the ins and outs of the trenching tools. All in all I like it, I can’t speak to Agtek as I’ve never used it.",
        "posted_at": "2026-09-24T23:06:00.000Z",
        "author_url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Responsible_Fly_2071/"
      },
      {
        "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/estimators/comments/1wpcrd4/comment/pbxxvuo/",
        "depth": 0,
        "score": 2,
        "author": "BoatyMcBoatFaceMcGee",
        "excerpt": "Possibly look into Carlson Takeoff is my suggestion. I believe it is much cheaper than Agtek (with all the bells and whistles on Agtek). Large files are also a problem though so you need to save often. It has Autocad as the back end (don’t go with the Intellicad option)so my not very tech savvy understanding is that CAD utilizes only one core so that’s a bottleneck because your ram gets split up b",
        "posted_at": "2026-09-25T10:11:07.000Z",
        "author_url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/BoatyMcBoatFaceMcGee/"
      },
      {
        "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/estimators/comments/1wpcrd4/comment/pbvwvhj/",
        "depth": 0,
        "score": 1,
        "author": "Key-Butterfly2414",
        "excerpt": "I started with TBC. That thing is like a Ferrari. Then I learned Agtek. It was definitely easier. Then I did a demo of Insight Elevation Pro. That looked way more intuitive and modern. The problem is they're all desktop software. When the hell is a company going to come up with a web-based earthwork takeoff tool that could compete with Agtek? It's going to happen. Bet it'll happen this year",
        "posted_at": "2026-09-25T01:33:51.000Z",
        "author_url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Key-Butterfly2414/"
      },
      {
        "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/estimators/comments/1wpcrd4/comment/pbwaitc/",
        "depth": 0,
        "score": 1,
        "author": "roaringpenguin",
        "excerpt": "I've only ever used Agtek, it's second nature now, but takes a lot of practice to learn the ins and outs.",
        "posted_at": "2026-09-25T02:46:47.000Z",
        "author_url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/roaringpenguin/"
      },
      {
        "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/estimators/comments/1wpcrd4/comment/pbwjghp/",
        "depth": 0,
        "score": 1,
        "author": "scbudz",
        "excerpt": "The errors are likely user error, figure out what you’re doing wrong and correct it. You will have the same errors on other software they just won’t be as good at telling you there’s errors like tbc will I.e. the flags.\nAs far as large project crashing that’s probably because you need a stronger computer, used to happen to me, occasionally large linear roadway projects will still do it but you jus",
        "posted_at": "2026-09-25T03:39:02.000Z",
        "author_url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/scbudz/"
      },
      {
        "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/estimators/comments/1wpcrd4/comment/pc1f0nj/",
        "depth": 0,
        "score": 1,
        "author": "djscreeling",
        "excerpt": "Noob question here for earthwork...but this is just a volume measurement tool, no?\n\n I ask because I made a side project to get lidar/dem data. I'm not looking for feedback on my next SaaS, especially how easy it was to make. I made it because I was curious about something else. All you do is trace a poly line in a topdown view of the lidar scan, and get a volumetric measurement of how much earth",
        "posted_at": "2026-09-25T20:01:39.000Z",
        "author_url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/djscreeling/"
      }
    ],
    "evidence": [
      "[post] TBC can do everything I need, but it has become increasingly frustrating. I regularly encounter surface building and takeoff report errors, and larger projects occasionally crash the entire program.",
      "[post] Troubleshooting boundaries, overlapping phase lines, and surface errors is taking too much time."
    ],
    "virality": "medium",
    "post_date": "2026-09-24T20:31:28.000Z",
    "post_kind": "text",
    "post_text": "I work for a heavy civil/sitework contractor performing earthwork, utilities, roads, curb and sidewalk work. I handle our estimating and am fairly experienced with earthwork takeoffs in Trimble Business Center.\n\nTBC can do everything I need, but it has become increasingly frustrating. I regularly encounter surface building and takeoff report errors, and larger projects occasionally crash the entire program. Troubleshooting boundaries, overlapping phase lines, and surface errors is taking too much time.\n\nI’m considering switching to either AGTEK or InSite Elevation Pro. InSite appears more straightforward and includes earthwork, materials, area/length/count, and utility takeoff in one package. AGTEK seems more established but also more modular and potentially more expensive.\n\nFor anyone who has experience with one or both, which program is easier and more reliable for earthwork and material takeoffs? Especially on large, multi-phase residential projects with excluded areas, pavement quantities, curb lengths, etc?\n\nAppreciate any feedback.",
    "sentiment": "negative",
    "subreddit": "estimators",
    "post_title": "Earthwork Takeoff Software",
    "prominence": "core",
    "source_url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/estimators/comments/1wpcrd4/earthwork_takeoff_software/",
    "entity_role": "vendor",
    "post_author": "mandr02",
    "upvote_ratio": 1,
    "mention_count": 1,
    "mention_surge": false,
    "subreddit_url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/estimators/",
    "total_upvotes": 5,
    "comments_total": 13,
    "total_comments": 13,
    "other_companies": [
      {
        "name": "AGTEK",
        "role": "alternative",
        "domain": "agtek.com"
      },
      {
        "name": "InSite Software",
        "role": "alternative",
        "domain": "insitesoftware.com"
      }
    ],
    "post_author_url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/mandr02/",
    "signal_category": "feedback",
    "comments_included": 9,
    "products_mentioned": [
      "Trimble Business Center"
    ]
  }
}

curl https://signals.autobound.ai/v1/signals/8bb31747-9001-5959-a4c0-46b3c31e4556 \
  -H "X-API-KEY: $AUTOBOUND_API_KEY"

curl -X POST https://signals.autobound.ai/v1/companies/enrich \
  -H "X-API-KEY: $AUTOBOUND_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"domain":"trimble.com","limit":20}'