Controls & Automation Estimating
Streamline vs Togal.ai
Togal.ai counts symbols fast — once you've told it what to count. Streamline finds the equipment and instruments for you, straight from the P&ID.
The honest verdict
Togal.ai counts fast, but you have to tell it what to count first. You'd go through the P&ID and input the symbol legend by hand — pumps, valves, instruments — then it counts. Streamline pulls those tags out of the P&ID on its own, and it also reads the control narrative and I/O list, which Togal.ai doesn't touch.
Side by side
| Togal.ai | Streamline | |
|---|---|---|
| What it reads | The P&ID, once you've input the symbols | The P&ID, control narrative, and I/O list, on its own |
| How it gets the tags | You input the symbol legend by hand | It pulls tags and counts out automatically |
| How much of the draft it finishes | Counts and quantities | An 80–90% complete takeoff and bid draft |
| Time on a mid-size bid set | Fast counting, after your setup time | About 15 minutes to a reviewable draft |
| Reconciles across documents | No — counts one drawing at a time | Yes — P&ID, equipment schedule, and I/O list |
| Who does the rest | You — narrative review and drafting | You — final 10–20% review |
Where Togal.ai is genuinely good
Fast, accurate counting once it knows what to count on a drawing. Estimators already know it. No new workflow to learn for basic quantity takeoff.
Where it stops
It counts what you tell it to count, one drawing at a time. It doesn't read the control narrative or I/O list, and it doesn't reconcile equipment against points — so a pump with no assigned controls scope won't get flagged.
What we do with your plans and spec
| Streamline | Togal.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Reads the full P&ID and PFD | Yes | For counting only |
| Reads the control narrative and I/O list | Yes | No |
| Extracts equipment and instruments | Yes | No — you input them |
| Extracts I/O points | Yes | No |
| Flags basis-of-design products | Yes | No |
| Flags approved alternate manufacturers | Yes | No |
| Reconciles P&ID, schedule, and I/O list | Yes | No |
| Pulls tags and quantities automatically | Yes | No — you input them |
| Pre-fills your takeoff and bid template | Yes | No |
What Streamline does differently
When a P&ID, control narrative, I/O list, and equipment schedule land, Streamline reads them and pulls out equipment, instruments, valves, I/O points, tags, basis-of-design, and quantities — reconciled across all the documents. Then it pre-populates your own takeoff and bid template.
What used to take hours of manual markup takes about 15 minutes to get to a structured, reviewable draft. It gets you 80–90% of the way there — not 100%. You still check and finish it.
The analogy
This is roughly where AI coding tools like Cursor were early on — not flawless, but a real step-change in how much gets done automatically versus lightly assisted.
Can you handle all types of bid sets?
Mostly, yes. Streamline works across P&ID conventions, narrative formats, and I/O list layouts, and it recognizes a P&ID by content — equipment tags, piping, instruments, control relationships — not by filename. You finish and verify the last 10–20% where you already work.
Who this is for
Built for mid-size controls integrators running multiple application engineers, where bid volume is a real constraint. Not a fit for a one-engineer shop with no backlog, and not built for a six-month enterprise procurement cycle.
Questions estimators ask
- Does Streamline replace Togal.ai?
- Not necessarily — Togal.ai is good at counting symbols on a drawing. Streamline reads the P&ID, control narrative, and I/O list together, and hands you a reconciled takeoff without the manual setup step.
- Do I still need to input the symbol legend myself?
- No. Streamline pulls equipment tags, instruments, and counts from the P&ID automatically.
- Does it catch reconciliation gaps Togal.ai can't?
- Yes. Streamline checks equipment against the I/O list and control narrative — a pump with no controls scope, or a start command with no run-status feedback, gets flagged before the bid goes out.
- How long does it take?
- About 15 minutes to a reviewable takeoff draft, versus hours of manual markup.
Try it on your next bid
- →1 month free.
- →60-day money-back guarantee — double the standard 30.
Watch a recorded demo, then leave your contact info and we'll follow up.