Route BID does the on-site bid well. The rep captures the walkthrough on a phone and a branded, signable proposal goes out the same day. It also sits next to a subcontractor marketplace, which is the part worth thinking through, because a fast bid off a shared board is still demand everyone else can see. This page is for the operator who wants the speed and a pipeline that stays theirs.
What Route BID does well
Route BID is a genuinely good mobile bidder. Capturing areas, measurements, floor types, and fixtures on the phone during the walkthrough kills the slowest part of the old process, the drive back and the re-keying. The prospect can have a branded, signable proposal before the rep leaves the lot. For a company whose pricing fits a standard calculator, that speed is most of what the sales side needs.
It sits in the wider market on the bidding software guide alongside CleanGuru, CleanlyRun, and the rest. Route pairs the bidder with a subcontractor marketplace, which fills routes fast. Worth knowing that a marketplace bid is shared demand: every contractor on the board sees the same work.
Where a standalone bidder stops short
A bidding app produces a fast, clean proposal. What it does not usually do is drop that bid into the pipeline you track the rest of your sales in, so the quote stays a document you copy across systems by hand. And the pricing logic is the vendor's, which is fine until your margin comes from a route density or a labor-burden rule the calculator does not carry.
The marketplace cuts the same way. It is a fast way to fill a truck, and it competes on price for work every other contractor can see. Pipeline you build yourself compounds; pipeline you rent from a board resets the day you stop paying for it.
Where a custom build fits instead
Colby builds the quote engine around your business and wires it into your own pipeline, so the speed of an on-site bid comes with an owned book of accounts behind it. You can see the full version on the instant quoting use case.
The bid runs on your own production rates and labor burden, the numbers you would have used by hand, so a quote reflects how you win work rather than a calculator every contractor shares.
A sent proposal lands as a tracked opportunity in the CRM you already run, so the bid is one step in your own sales process instead of a lead routed through demand everyone on the board is chasing.
Service type, square footage, frequencies, and fixtures entered on the phone inside the building, formatted and sent before the rep leaves the lot, with nothing re-keyed back at the office.
How to choose
If your pricing fits a standard calculator and you want a fast on-site bidder you can turn on this week, Route BID is a sound pick. If filling routes off a shared board suits how you grow, the marketplace earns its place.
The case for building shows up when your pricing is the edge, or when you want every bid feeding a book of accounts you own rather than demand you rent. Colby starts with a three-week discovery that maps how a bid moves through your company, then hands you a readout of build options to pick from. You own what gets built, and Colby hosts and maintains it. The quickest read on where you stand is to start a quote or score your operation.
Tell us what you are evaluating. We will reply within one business day and walk you through what the custom path would look like for your operation, including whether a discovery is worth it before you commit to a platform.
Reply within 1 business day · NDA-friendly · No build prices before discovery