QuotedPartComparisons · Updated 2026-10-30
Should you use Zenith Quoting or run quotes in QuotedPart?
Price one of your own parts: Drop a STEP model or PDF drawing — about 90 seconds, no account.
Your part priced in about 90 seconds, no account.
Zenith Quoting is worth considering if you want to email a print and receive a human-checked estimate without setting up quoting software. QuotedPart fits a team that wants to operate and edit its own quoting workflow. Zenith's current page advertises free calibration followed by a standard $399 monthly price; it labels a separate self-service tool as being in private test. This is therefore primarily a service-versus-software decision, not a comparison of two equivalent self-service subscriptions.
See how QuotedPart connects to your workflow with its API, MCP server, autonomous quoting and shop-specific learning.
Buy the kind of help the owner actually needs
A shop owner with a stack of old PDF prints may need another set of eyes more than another screen. Zenith says a person checks each emailed estimate before it returns. That is a real advantage for someone who wants hands-on assistance and minimal setup. Ask who handles a drawing clarification and what turnaround can be committed to for your volume; this guide did not verify a service-level guarantee.
A growing estimating team has a different need: everyone must be able to see assumptions, revise the route and send the approved price. QuotedPart supports PDF drawing intake, editable operations and a branded quote page. The relevant tradeoff is who owns the estimate while it is being developed and how a correction reaches the next similar job. Neither arrangement removes the shop's responsibility to approve the manufacturing method.
| Event | Service question | In-house software question |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer changes the print | Who handles the revised estimate and when? | Can the estimator preserve the earlier revision? |
| Machine choice changes | How are new rates and setup instructions supplied? | Can the team change the routing itself? |
| Owner is away | Who approves the returned numbers? | Which teammate can review and send? |
| Order is won | What usable estimate record comes back? | How is approved work handed to the office? |
Calibrate on method, not only on the old bid
For an unrestricted test print, use a hypothetical tool-steel insert with a counterbore, a side tapped hole and a grind-after-heat-treat requirement. Keep the customer bid hidden initially. Ask for the identified material, features, setup plan and outside operations first. Then compare against your old route and actual hours, if those records exist.
Suppose the old estimate allowed 45 minutes of setup at $100/hour, but the drawing requires a second holding you budget at another 30 minutes. That is $50 more per lot, or $10 per piece at five pieces before markup. Matching the old bid while missing that holding would be a poor calibration result. A useful pilot exposes the difference and records why the new estimate is higher.
Use the current commercial offer
The home page checked October 30, 2026 describes free work until the estimates align with the shop's numbers, then a $399 monthly standard price subject to written agreement. It also advertises an introductory promotion; availability was not independently established, so the budget here uses the standard price. At a constant rate, $399 × 12 is $4,788 and $399 × 36 is $14,364.
QuotedPart's published $199 monthly shop subscription gives $2,388 for 12 months and $7,164 for 36. Those software totals do not include a dedicated person checking every estimate. Ask Zenith what the paid service includes, whether there are volume boundaries, how calibration completion is agreed and how either party ends the arrangement. A low introductory amount is not a substitute for understanding the service.
Keep the input boundary explicit
Zenith advertises PDF, scan and clear phone-photo intake. Photo intake and human review may make it easier to deal with older prints than a model-led evaluation would suggest. Its public page says not to send ITAR or export-controlled prints. Use only material you are allowed to share for the comparison, and obtain approval for any customer confidentiality requirement before sending it.
A named ERP handoff, complete production-format list and independent accuracy result were not verified from the reviewed page. Do not infer them from an itemized sample. Request the sample output you would actually retain in the shop. If the service helps clear the backlog and makes the estimator's decisions visible, it may be the right purchase; if the team needs direct control throughout the day, evaluate a workspace it can operate itself.
Sources and limits
Claims are dated where they can change. Product calculations are examples from the stated inputs, not a promise about a customer's quote. Competitor wording is attributed to the source shown.
- Zenith Quoting: Email a PDF, scan or clear print photo; the service returns an itemized estimate checked by a person. A separate self-service tool is advertised as in private test. — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- Zenith Quoting: The calibration pilot is free until estimates align with the shop; standard advertised price afterward is $399/month, subject to written agreement. The site also advertises an introductory offer, whose availability is not verified here. — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- Zenith Quoting: The public page says not to send ITAR or export-controlled prints; no named ERP integration or production trial result was verified. — source (checked 2026-10-30)
- QuotedPart publishes $199/month per shop and supports PDF drawing estimates with editable routing. — source (checked 2026-10-30)
Price one of your own parts
Drop a PDF drawing or a STEP file. QuotedPart reads the print, measures the model and prices it in seconds, on default shop rates you can change.
Your STEP file or PDF drawingDrop a PDF drawing, a STEP file or both
Free. No account, no email. Priced at our default US rates until you set yours.
Related QuotedPart guides
Comparisons
Accuracy Quoting alternative: laser-shop modules or mixed quoting?
Compare Accuracy Quoting’s published low entry price, nesting and production modules with QuotedPart’s reviewed PDF/model quote workflow.
Comparisons
AI quoting software for machine shops: what each tool's AI actually does
Eleven AI quoting tools for job shops compared on what the AI reads (STEP, PDF, email), what it produces (time, routing, price) and where the estimator still decides. Sourced.
Comparisons
aPriori alternative: shop quotes or manufacturing simulation?
Compare aPriori’s design/source/quote scope with a small-shop estimator and test the rate assumptions behind a should-cost number.
Comparisons
Asytra Quote alternative: STEP pricing vs STEP plus PDF quoting
Asytra Quote next to QuotedPart: $129/month STEP-based CNC pricing with MCP and a website widget vs PDF-print reading, sheet metal and buyer PO acceptance. Sourced.