What is metal building sales software, and which part of it is this?
Short answer. "Metal building sales software" usually means four different things sold together: a configurator, a quoting engine, a CRM, and an ERP or production system. Machinae Build is the first one only — the configurator that turns a visitor's sentence into a specified building on your own website. It hands the other three a lead they can work with. It replaces none of them.
The four layers, and where this sits
| Layer | What it does | Machinae Build |
|---|---|---|
| Configurator | Lets the buyer describe and see the building | This. Plain English in, 3D model plus code check out |
| Quoting | Turns a building into a priced proposal | Partly: a neutral quantity schedule, never a price |
| CRM | Tracks the person and the deal over time | No. Delivers into HubSpot, Zoho or Pipedrive |
| ERP / production | Orders steel, schedules the shop, runs the job | No, and not planned |
What it changes in the sale
- The enquiry arrives specified. Somebody who has spent four minutes drawing a 60x100 with two roll-ups and a 16 ft eave is not a form fill — they arrive with dimensions, openings and colours decided, and a link you can both look at.
- The wrong system is not quoted. The structural system is routed from the clear span rather than chosen by the buyer, which is the specific mis-sale the router exists to prevent: a wide span sold as light gauge.
- The code conversation happens before the engineer's invoice, not after.
- Changes are conversational. Up to 10 changes per edit session, so "make it 20 ft longer and drop a window" does not mean starting over.
What it will not do
- No pricing, no proposals, no e-signature, no payment collection.
- No pipeline, tasks, sequences or reporting — see CRM and lead management.
- No inventory, purchasing, production scheduling or delivery routing.
- No permit drawings, and no engineer's stamp.
- No dealer portal, no multi-user roles, no per-salesperson attribution today.
How it is bought
Embedded in your site on a subscription: $99, $249 or $599 a month for 700, 3,500 or 14,000 designs, one, three or unlimited sites. Onboarding is a fifteen-minute call and a manual invoice — there is no self-serve checkout for the embed, and the page selling it says so.
Used directly rather than embedded, it is free for five designs with no account, ten more on registering, and $5 for 100 further designs.
Related
- The embed, with a live demo: machinaebuild.com/for-builders
- For small dealers specifically: what a dealer gets
- Quoting, precisely: the quantity schedule