What Metal Building Software does

Metal Building Software, Inc. is a private, for-profit software company headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota, United States, operating since 1984. Its name and self-description ("the industry's premier software development company") indicate it serves the pre-engineered metal building industry, providing domain-specific software — most likely for estimating, design, detailing, or fabrication workflows — to metal building manufacturers, component fabricators, and/or contractors. Its market position is based on four decades of vertical specialization rather than disclosed scale.

Name

Metal Building Software

Website

https://mbsweb.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Metal Building Software is a privately held vertical software company founded in 1984 and based in Fargo, North Dakota, that develops software for the pre-engineered metal building industry, serving manufacturers, fabricators, and contractors with domain-specific tooling.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Construction Design Software

NAICS

Prefabricated Metal Building and Component Manufacturing (332311), Fabricated Structural Metal Manufacturing (332312)

SIC

Fabricated Structural Metal Products (3440)

akta.pro primary industry

Software Development (Programming, Frameworks, Dev Tools) (EDABAFAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Structural Steel Fabrication (IMADACAA), Architectural & Miscellaneous Metals (Stairs, Railings, Ladders) (IMADACAE)

Keywords

• Metal building software
• Construction estimating software
• Steel building design
• Pre-engineered buildings
• Structural design software

Headquarters

HQ city

Fargo

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Core offering

Metal Building Software, Inc. is a software development company serving the metal building industry. The company develops specialized software tools aimed at businesses operating in metal building design, estimating, fabrication, or construction workflows. Specific named products and feature descriptions were not available from the source content.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Ideal customer profiles1 record

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights1 record

Broad incumbents

• Buildertrend: Buildertrend offers construction project management software for residential and light commercial builders. While broader in scope, it competes in adjacent estimating and project management workflows relevant to smaller metal building contractors.
• Tekla Structures (Trimble): Tekla, now part of Trimble, provides structural BIM software used across steel detailing, metal buildings, and broader construction. While not exclusively focused on pre-engineered metal buildings, it overlaps with MBS in serving steel building design and fabrication workflows.
• Procore: Procore is a leading horizontal construction management platform increasingly expanding into specialty trades and verticals. It represents a competitive threat to MBS as it adds capabilities that encroach on metal building project workflows.
• Bluebeam (Nemetschek): Bluebeam provides PDF-based markup, estimating, and project collaboration tools used across construction, including by metal building contractors. While broader than MBS, it overlaps in the construction document and collaboration layer of metal building projects.
• Autodesk Advance Steel: Autodesk's Advance Steel offers structural steel detailing and metal building design within its broader AEC portfolio. It competes indirectly with MBS by addressing metal building design and detailing as part of a much wider construction software suite.
• Trimble Construction: Trimble is a large construction technology platform with structural, MEP, and field solutions used across the building lifecycle. It is an indirect but increasingly relevant competitor to MBS as it consolidates vertical construction software assets.

Direct peers

• ASC Software (A&E Systems): ASC Software develops estimating and design software specifically for the pre-engineered metal building industry. It is the closest direct competitor to Metal Building Software in terms of vertical focus, customer base, and product functionality.
• Design Data (SDS/2): Design Data produces SDS/2, a structural steel detailing and fabrication software widely used by steel and metal building fabricators. Overlap with MBS in serving steel-intensive building manufacturers makes it a direct peer in the same downstream workflow.
• StruMIS: StruMIS delivers steel project management and fabrication MIS software for structural steel and metal building manufacturers. It targets the same customer profile as Metal Building Software with comparable functionality across project and production management.
• FabTrol Systems: FabTrol provides steel fabrication management software used by structural and miscellaneous metals fabricators. It competes with MBS for the same metal building manufacturer customers, addressing production management, nesting, and shop-floor workflows.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Metal Building Software