The AGTEK alternative for earthwork takeoff.
SiteWorx/OS is the AGTEK alternative for excavation and site contractors. It computes cut, fill, sub-grade, over-excavation, trench, and topsoil quantities from PDF or DWG drawings, the same job AGTEK Gradework does. SiteWorx/OS is $1,295 a year lease or $2,795 perpetual. AGTEK Gradework is sold either as a perpetual license around $22,000 plus $1,200 a year support, or as an annual subscription around $7,300 a year for a base configuration. Both run on Windows. Vertigraph shipped the first software to calculate excavation quantities on-screen from PDFs in 2007.
SiteWorx/OS vs AGTEK Gradework
| Dimension | SiteWorx/OS | AGTEK Gradework |
|---|---|---|
| Annual price | $1,295 / yr lease | ~$7,300 / yr subscription (base config; modules and capacity tiers cost more) |
| Perpetual license | $2,795 one time | ~$20,000 to $22,000 one time (not published on AGTEK site) |
| Annual support on perpetual | $150 / yr Full Serve | ~$1,200 / yr |
| Cut, fill, sub-grade | Yes | Yes |
| Drawing formats | PDF, DWG, DXF | PDF, DWG, CAD, drone surveys, GIS |
| Exports | Excel, Word, PDF, DWG, CSV | Native machine-control formats |
| OS support | Windows 10 / 11 | Windows 10 / 11 |
| Free trial | 14 days | Demo on request |
| On-screen earthwork takeoff from PDFs | First to ship, 2007 | AGTEK has roots back to 1981; on-screen-from-PDF added later |
The case for SiteWorx/OS
Earthwork estimators who move from AGTEK to SiteWorx/OS almost always cite cost as the trigger but stay for the workflow.
Cost. AGTEK Gradework is the most expensive product in the earthwork takeoff category: roughly $22,000 perpetual plus $1,200 a year support, or about $7,300 a year on subscription for a base configuration, with module add-ons (drone processing, AI cleanup, highway, underground) priced separately. SiteWorx/OS perpetual is $2,795 plus $150 a year Full Serve. Over five years on one seat, SiteWorx/OS is roughly one-eighth the cost.
Workflow. SiteWorx/OS is built specifically for on-screen earthwork takeoff from PDF and DWG. The contour trace, drawing align, and cut and fill report flow is fast for the high-frequency case (commercial site, school, warehouse, parking lot). AGTEK has more depth in heavy-civil corridor work; if your bids are corridor-heavy that depth matters.
Every dimension, side by side
Surfaces
| Feature | SiteWorx/OS | AGTEK Gradework |
|---|---|---|
| Existing ground from contours | Yes | Yes |
| Proposed grade from design lines | Yes | Yes |
| Triangulated TIN | Yes | Yes |
| Subgrade layers | Yes | Yes |
| Topsoil strip and replace | Yes | Yes |
Quantities
| Feature | SiteWorx/OS | AGTEK Gradework |
|---|---|---|
| Cut and fill | Yes | Yes |
| Mass haul analysis | Not a primary advertised feature | Yes (native) |
| Trench volumes | Yes | Yes |
| Site balance with target volumes | Yes | Yes |
File formats
| Feature | SiteWorx/OS | AGTEK Gradework |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | Yes | |
| DWG / DXF | Yes | Yes |
Workflow
| Feature | SiteWorx/OS | AGTEK Gradework |
|---|---|---|
| Drag align two drawings | Yes | Yes |
| Quick contour trace | Yes | Yes |
Pricing
| Feature | SiteWorx/OS | AGTEK Gradework |
|---|---|---|
| Perpetual cost | $2,795 one time | ~$20,000 to $22,000 one time |
| Annual support on perpetual | $150 / yr Full Serve | ~$1,200 / yr |
| Annual subscription option | $1,295 / yr lease | ~$7,300 / yr (base config; rises with modules and capacity) |
| Published pricing on vendor site | Yes | No |
Support
| Feature | SiteWorx/OS | AGTEK Gradework |
|---|---|---|
| US phone, business hours | Yes | Yes |
| Online training | Yes, free | Yes, paid courses |
Five-year cost of ownership
1 seat over 5 years
Save $24,605 with VertigraphPerpetual scenario. SiteWorx/OS: $2,795 plus $150 per year Full Serve for 4 years ($2,795 + $600 = $3,395). AGTEK Gradework: $22,000 perpetual plus $1,200 per year support for 5 years ($22,000 + $6,000 = $28,000). AGTEK perpetual figure is from Vertigraph's own 2022 industry research and a separate 2026 third-party comparison; AGTEK does not publish pricing.
1 seat over 5 years
Save $30,025 with VertigraphSubscription scenario. SiteWorx/OS lease: $1,295 per year for 5 years ($6,475). AGTEK Gradework subscription: ~$7,300 per year base for 5 years ($36,500). AGTEK module add-ons (drone processing, AI cleanup, highway, underground) push the subscription number materially higher.
1 seat over 10 years
Save $29,855 with VertigraphPerpetual over 10 years. SiteWorx/OS: $2,795 + $150 × 9 = $4,145. AGTEK: $22,000 + $1,200 × 10 = $34,000. About 8x the cost over a decade on the same workflow.
When AGTEK Gradework is actually the right choice
AGTEK is the right call for heavy-civil corridor work and contractors with established machine-control file pipelines.
If your bids are predominantly road, runway, or pipeline corridors with thousands of cross sections, AGTEK's native mass haul and corridor design are more mature than SiteWorx/OS.
If your operations team already runs AGTEK file formats into Trimble, Topcon, or Leica machine control, the file-format continuity is real value that should not be given up casually.
SiteWorx/OS is the better fit for commercial site work, parking lots, building pads, and projects where the takeoff is a one-shot input to the bid rather than the start of an ongoing operations file.
Switching from AGTEK Gradework to SiteWorx/OS
How to migrate
- Download the SiteWorx/OS trial. The 14 day window is enough to run two parallel bids.
- Pull the last earthwork bid you ran in AGTEK with the original PDF and DWG.
- Open the PDF in SiteWorx/OS and drag-align it to north.
- Trace existing contours. SiteWorx/OS auto-detects most architectural and civil contour intervals.
- Trace proposed grade. The drawing align step from earlier means the two surfaces share the same orientation.
- Run the cut and fill report. Validate it against your AGTEK numbers on the same job.
- Run one new bid in parallel before deciding.
Frequently asked
Is SiteWorx/OS as accurate as AGTEK?
On commercial site work, yes. Both products compute volumes from a triangulated surface; the math is the same. Differences on a real job are usually within 1 to 3 percent and come from how the contour-trace step is interpreted, not from the volume calculation. Run the parallel bid; the numbers will be close.
Can SiteWorx/OS export to machine control?
SiteWorx/OS exports Excel, Word, PDF, DWG, and CSV. If your machine-control workflow consumes native AGTEK files, the migration is harder because that pipeline relies on the proprietary AGTEK format. Most contractors who run a separate operations team handle this by re-exporting from SiteWorx/OS into the DWG or CSV format their machine vendor consumes.
How much faster is SiteWorx/OS than AGTEK?
Speed on commercial site work is roughly comparable for the same operator skill. Both products compute volumes from a triangulated surface once the contours have been traced and the two drawings aligned. The trace and align steps are where operator skill matters most; the math itself is fast on either tool.
What about civil 3D, Trimble Business Center, or other survey-grade tools?
Those tools live downstream of the bid. SiteWorx/OS and AGTEK both serve the upstream takeoff job; the survey-grade products take over once the project moves to construction.
Is the SiteWorx/OS lease worth it if I prefer perpetual?
If you bid earthwork year round, perpetual at $2,795 plus $150 a year Full Serve is the more economical choice. The lease at $1,295 a year is for teams that bid seasonally or that want to try the tool for a year before committing.
Where do the AGTEK price figures come from? AGTEK does not publish pricing.
Two sources. Vertigraph's own July 2022 industry pricing research recorded AGTEK Gradework at $22,000 perpetual plus $1,200 a year support, or $7,300 a year on subscription. A separate 2026 Carlson Construction comparison records AGTEK at $20,000 perpetual with the same $7,300 a year subscription and $1,200 a year support. Both sources are linked from the Vertigraph blog. Real AGTEK quotes vary by capacity tier and module add-ons (drone, AI cleanup, highway, underground); call AGTEK for a quote against your specific configuration.
Try SiteWorx/OS free for 14 days.
No credit card, no setup call. Download the installer, pick a job, run the takeoff. If it fits the way you bid, keep it.