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TopBuilder vs Unanet CRM by Cosential

Two CRMs built for construction and AEC business development. TopBuilder is a contractor CRM with bid management, quoting, email campaigns and ContractorBI dashboards fed by Procore and ERP data; Unanet CRM by Cosential is an AEC CRM for pipeline, relationships and proposal data, with Champ Agents for agentic AI. Partly like-for-like (our reading). Desk research from vendor sites read Nov 2, 2026; no winner.

DESK RESEARCH FROM VENDOR SITES. Compiled from vendors' public websites (accessed Nov 2, 2026). Vendor claims are not verified by Means & Methods Lab. No scores or rankings.

In short: TopBuilder (Business development / CRM; no public prices (quote / sales)) vs Unanet CRM by Cosential (AEC CRM, pipeline & proposal data; no public prices (quote / sales)). Facts last checked Nov 2, 2026. No winner declared; desk research from vendor sites.

Side by side

TopBuilder vs Unanet CRM by Cosential: vendor-published facts side by side
Sheet rowTopBuilderUnanet CRM by Cosential
CategoryBusiness development / CRMAEC CRM, pipeline & proposal data
AI role (our label)Not AI-firstAI features added to established product
What it doesConstruction CRM and business-intelligence platform with a Procore integration for forecasting and planning from bid to completion (listed at Groundbreak as ContractorBi, linking to topbuildersolutions.com). The homepage describes one platform with TopBuilder CRM (leads, bid management with bid scoring on your own criteria using ERP profitability and payment history, quoting from pre-defined options with e-signatures, tracked email campaigns, centralized emails, calls and meetings, automated follow-up tasks and shared calendars), ContractorBI (real-time dashboards for revenue, project schedule, financial performance and forecasts, with Excel workbook import and Procore, Sage and Autodesk Construction Cloud connections) and Construction Data Services (unifying ERP, project management, estimating and CRM data), plus a free iOS and Android app. Integrations listed include Procore (accounts, contacts, jobs, bid opportunities, documents, estimates, budget items and job cost data), Viewpoint Spectrum, Sage, QuickBooks, Acumatica, BuildingConnected, STACK, B2W, Outlook, Gmail and Excel. A Who We Help menu lists CFOs and controllers, specialty, general and roofing contractors, electricians and plumbers. The homepage title has called it "the most intelligent construction CRM" and now reads Construction Contractor Business Intelligence Software, but the pages we read do not describe AI features, so the Not AI-first tag stays. Reviewer quotes and speed claims are vendor content and are not used.CRM built for architecture, engineering and construction firms (formerly Cosential), which Unanet calls the AI-first enterprise CRM for AEC. Listed areas: relationship management inside Outlook, pipeline management and forecasting for seller-doers and BD teams, proposal generation, a service portal, and Champ Agents, described as the agentic AI experience for BD and marketing teams across relationships, pursuits and proposals. The proposals page says the CRM compiles project, financial and HR data into a marketing and proposal library: track proposals and RFPs, manage team experience and qualifications, generate pre-formatted qualification statements and project profiles, batch resumes and project descriptions, and export to PDF or RTF with integration to Adobe InDesign and Microsoft Word; it points to Unanet ProposalAI (a separate product, see its own page) as the AI-first proposal workflow. Listed integrations include Viewpoint, Procore, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Trimble Construction; the FAQ says it connects with ERP, accounting and project-management systems such as Unanet, Deltek, Trimble, Sage and Procore, works with Unanet AE ERP, and answers general, specialty and industrial contractor questions such as reusing project experience and resumes in prequalification packages. Unanet says the CRM shares a platform and data lake with Unanet ERP. Market-share lines, time-saving percentages, usage counters and customer quotes are vendor content and are not used.
Who it's forConstruction companies' business development teams.AEC business development, marketing and proposal teams.
Pricing (as publicly stated)Not publicly listed. The vendor site has no pricing or plans link, and /pricing and /plans return a not-found page. Calls to action are Contact us, Request demo and Schedule a demo; ContractorBI is offered as a free 14-day trial. Confirm current pricing with the vendor.Not publicly listed. The CRM pages link no pricing or plans page and unanet.com/pricing returns a not-found page; calls to action are "Talk to an Expert" and Schedule Demo. Confirm pricing with the vendor.
User reviewsNo reviews yet. Read or writeNo reviews yet. Read or write
Vendor links
Sources

Facts last checked: Nov 2, 2026. Prices change; check the vendor page before relying on them.

Where the vendor descriptions differ

  • Where they overlap: both track leads, relationships and the pursuit pipeline for firms that win work through bids and proposals, and both connect to Procore and Sage. TopBuilder is aimed at contractors (specialty, general, roofing, electrical and plumbing, plus CFOs and controllers); Unanet CRM is aimed at architecture, engineering and construction BD, marketing and proposal teams.
  • Pursuit and bidding: TopBuilder lists bid management with bid scoring on your own criteria using ERP profitability and payment history, quoting from pre-defined options with e-signatures, tracked email campaigns, centralized emails, calls and meetings, automated follow-up tasks and shared calendars. Unanet CRM lists relationship management inside Outlook, pipeline management and forecasting for seller-doers and BD teams, and a marketing and proposal library that compiles project, financial and HR data into qualification statements, project profiles and batched resumes, with export to PDF or RTF and Adobe InDesign and Word integration.
  • Reporting: TopBuilder's ContractorBI gives dashboards for revenue, schedule, financial performance and forecasts, with Excel import and Procore, Sage and Autodesk Construction Cloud connections, and Construction Data Services unify ERP, project management, estimating and CRM data. Unanet says its CRM shares a platform and data lake with Unanet ERP, so project and contract data flow between the two.
  • AI: Unanet calls the product the AI-first enterprise CRM for AEC and lists Champ Agents as its agentic AI experience for relationships, pursuits and proposals; it points to Unanet ProposalAI, a separate product, for AI proposal writing. TopBuilder's pages read do not describe AI features, so we tag it Not AI-first.
  • Integrations: TopBuilder lists Procore, Viewpoint Spectrum, Sage, QuickBooks, Acumatica, BuildingConnected, STACK, B2W, Outlook, Gmail and Excel. Unanet CRM lists Viewpoint, Procore, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Trimble Construction, and says it connects with Unanet, Deltek, Trimble, Sage and Procore systems.
  • Pricing: neither publishes prices. TopBuilder has no pricing page (calls to action are Contact us and Request demo) and offers ContractorBI as a free 14-day trial; Unanet's CRM pages link no pricing and the calls to action are Talk to an Expert and Schedule Demo.
  • Not used here: TopBuilder reviewer quotes and speed claims; Unanet market-share lines, time-saving percentages and customer quotes (vendor material). Facts for both come from vendor websites (desk research).

Paraphrased from the sources listed above. Vendor claims are reported as claims.

What users say

The facts above come from vendor websites. Whether either tool is any good for your work is something only people who use them can say. These are member reviews, all ratings shown, never edited or removed for being negative.

Used either of these? Share your take

Good or bad, an honest review from an estimator, PM or super helps the next team more than another vendor demo. You post under a handle; your email is never shown.

Questions to ask in your review

  • How well either fits heavy civil and public-works pursuits (DOT prequalification, SF 330, bid-day subcontractor coverage) on a real pipeline
  • What either costs per user or per firm, and whether Unanet's Champ Agents are included or priced separately
  • What did you use it for, on what kind of work and project size?
  • How long did setup and training take, and who on your team did it?
  • What does it cost you in practice, compared with what the sales call said?
  • Where does it fall short, and what would make you switch?

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