Cabinet CPQ: linear foot plus options, quoted.
What is kitchen and cabinet CPQ and which tool fits? Kitchen and cabinet CPQ is configure-price-quote software for cabinetry sold by the linear foot with option adders: door style and finish per foot, soft-close per door and drawer, countertops per square foot by material, install per job. Generic CPQ handles catalog items and ERP workflows. CAD configurators draw layouts but leave pricing to spreadsheets. Poly9 AI prices cabinet runs from linear-foot and option rules, returns price on request when a countertop or pull has no rule, and coexists with CAD tools.
Cabinet runs price by the linear foot: base cabinets per foot by door style and finish, soft-close per door or drawer, countertops per square foot by material, pulls per unit, install per job. A missing countertop material returns price on request for that line; the rest still prices.
Generic CPQ tools handle fixed-SKU catalog ordering and ERP integration. CAD configurators draw kitchen layouts but stop at geometry; pricing happens in spreadsheets rebuilt for each quote. Both work until option combinations multiply or a new countertop material enters mid-job.
Choose generic CPQ for catalog ordering with ERP workflows. Keep the CAD tool for kitchen layouts. Choose Poly9 AI when cabinets are quoted by the linear foot with option adders, dealers and showrooms need the same book as the plant, and price on request beats a guessed countertop price.
The five verbs, plus four that decide it.
Rows the other category wins stay in. Swipe the table on a phone.
| What matters | kitchen and cabinet CPQ | Poly9 AI |
|---|---|---|
| Answer | A quote form or phone intake. The estimator produces the quote during business hours or after the CAD layout is done. | Answers the dealer or homeowner from your catalog and rules, at the showroom counter or on your site. |
| Configure | CAD configurator draws the kitchen. Pricing is manual or a separate spreadsheet step. | Plain language: "22 feet of flat panel in white oak, matte black pulls, butcher block." Your rules refuse incompatible options. |
| Price | Fixed catalog prices, or formulas in a spreadsheet rebuilt per quote. Missing rules break the estimate or force a guess. | Cabinets per foot by style and finish, soft-close per door, tops per sq ft by material, install per job. Missing top returns price on request. |
| Quote | A line-item PDF or order form, often rebuilt in Excel before it goes to the dealer or homeowner. | No Excel rebuild. The dealer or homeowner sees the quote on their phone and approves in one tap. |
| Present | CAD wireframe preview or stock product photos. | Renders the kitchen or the cabinet run in chosen door style, finish and hardware, labeled as a render. |
| CAD and layoutThey win this row | Built for exact kitchen layouts, dimensions and shop-floor output. Pricing is out of scope or manual. | Built for the sales layer. Keep the CAD tool for layouts; Poly9 AI prices the run. |
| Learns your business | Static rules until the admin or estimator updates them. | Learns from every question, quote and collection which option combinations sell and which rules are missing. |
| Pricing model | Per seat per year for CPQ or CAD platforms, or free for spreadsheets. | Per sales action. One credit per action, $100 for a thousand, everyone on the team included. |
| Time to first quote | Depends on CAD layout time and estimator availability. Instant for spreadsheets if the door style and finish match a row. | Same day with a sample catalog. Certified quotes once linear-foot rates and option rules are written. |
Category behavior is described in general terms; specific products vary. Poly9 AI behavior is as shipped in September 2026.
The five steps. Price comes from approved rules, or returns price on request.
Why the differences matter.
Kitchen and cabinet CPQ is configure-price-quote for cabinetry sold by the linear foot with option adders. A dealer or showroom quotes 18 feet of shaker cabinets in painted maple with soft-close and a quartz countertop. The cabinets price per linear foot by door style and finish. Soft-close adds a cost per door and drawer. The countertop prices per square foot by material. Pulls price per unit. Install adds a per-job line. Each is a rule applied in plain language: "22 feet of flat panel in white oak, matte black pulls, butcher block."
Generic CPQ platforms handle catalog items with fixed SKUs and ERP integration well. Cabinet runs are the opposite: every kitchen configures from the homeowner’s space and the dealer’s available styles. A 22-foot run has pricing variables for door style, finish, soft-close count, countertop material and area, pulls per door, and install. Poly9 AI holds each as a cost recipe: cabinets per linear foot with a finish multiplier, soft-close per door or drawer, countertops per square foot by material grade, and install per job from dealer rates.
Linear-foot pricing is how cabinet shops and dealers quote runs. Base cabinets price per foot by door style: shaker, flat panel, raised panel. Finish adds a multiplier: painted, stained oak, thermofoil. A 22-foot run in flat panel painted white prices 22 times the per-foot rate plus the paint upcharge. A spreadsheet models this as nested formulas. The formula works until a new door style enters or a finish the shop just started offering has no row. Poly9 AI applies the per-foot rule, checks the door style and finish against the catalog, and refuses combinations your compatibility rules forbid.
Option adders are how cabinet pricing stays modular. Soft-close pricing is per door or per drawer, counted from the layout or the dealer’s spec. Countertops price per square foot by material: laminate, quartz, granite, butcher block. Hardware prices per pull or per hinge. Install is a per-job charge, sometimes with a per-foot component for large runs. Poly9 AI reads those rules, applies them to the configuration, and builds the quote. When a countertop material has no rule, that line returns price on request and the rest of the quote still prices. The customer sees the cabinet and hardware total immediately, and the estimator reviews the one countertop line.
Price on request is the line between an honest quote and a guessed one. A dealer asks for a run with a countertop material not yet in the book. Generic CPQ tools break the quote when a table entry is missing. Spreadsheets leave the dealer to fill the gap by hand, and the fill is often a guess that costs the order when the supplier confirms the real price. Poly9 AI returns price on request for that line, drafts the internal request for the estimator with the conversation attached, and never guesses. The dealer sends a partial quote the same visit, and the customer sees the updated total on the same link once the countertop price is confirmed.
CAD configurators are built for kitchen layouts: exact dimensions, cabinet placement, appliance fit, shop-floor cut lists. That is their strength, and Poly9 AI does not try to replace them. The CAD tool draws the kitchen. Poly9 AI is the sales layer: it takes the linear feet, door style, finish and hardware from the plan or from the dealer’s plain-language description, prices them from the shop’s rules, and sends the quote the homeowner approves at the kitchen table. A shop can run both: the CAD tool for layouts and shop output, Poly9 AI for the conversation and the certified quote.
Dealer and showroom pricing is where cabinetry quoting gets complex. The plant has trade pricing, the dealer has list pricing, and the homeowner on the dealer’s site sees list while the dealer sees trade. A trade pricing question from someone not on the dealer’s allowed list routes to the team instead of being answered. Every quote line shows which price book it came from, and the plant’s team sees every quote in Projects. Poly9 AI handles this by buyer type: trade for connected dealers, list for retail customers, and routing for unknowns.
Learning matters in cabinetry because every shop’s door styles, finish options and hardware preferences differ. One shop offers six door styles, another offers twelve. Poly9 AI learns from every question, quote and collection which option combinations sell, which dealers always choose soft-close, and which rules are missing. The cost recipes stay yours; the memory layer shows what to price next.
Pricing models follow seat count or sales actions. Per-seat CPQ or CAD licenses cost the same whether the seat quotes twice a week or forty times. Spreadsheets are free but live in the estimator’s files and break when that person is out or the formula drifts. Poly9 AI is per sales action: one credit per action, $100 for 1,000 credits, everyone on the team included.
Catalog load time matters for cabinet shops rolling out to dealer networks. You can start the same day from the sample catalog for your industry, add one linear-foot rule, and send the first certified quote in that session. Big cabinet lines get a white-glove import from us. A new countertop material or pull style is one recipe addition, and dealers quote from it on their next ask.
- Cabinet catalog ordering with fixed SKUs and prices, no custom configuration.
- Shops where the CAD tool must own the entire workflow from layout to shop floor and nobody quotes until the drawing is done.
- Large manufacturers with ERP-driven workflows where every order must enter through validated approval chains.
- Cabinets are quoted by the linear foot with option adders: door style, finish, soft-close, countertops, pulls, install.
- Dealers and showrooms need to quote from the same book as the plant, with trade and list pricing by buyer type.
- A missing countertop or pull should return price on request for that line, not break the whole quote or force a guess.
- The CAD tool draws the layout and Poly9 AI prices the run, so the homeowner gets a certified quote the same visit.
- Multiple dealers and showroom designers quote, and the rules should apply the same way every time.
- Price updates happen mid-job and one recipe change beats rewriting ten dealer spreadsheets.
A cabinet shop can keep the CAD tool for kitchen layouts and shop-floor output and use Poly9 AI as the sales layer. The CAD tool draws the kitchen with exact dimensions and appliance fit. Poly9 AI takes the linear feet, door style, finish and hardware from the plan, prices them from the shop’s rules, and sends the quote the homeowner can approve. The approved quote goes to the CAD system for final drawings and the shop floor.
Ask for an option you have not priced.
Whatever you compare it with, run this on your own catalog. Poly9 AI prices from your recipes and matrices through one engine, and when the rule is missing it says “price on request” and drafts the request. The tool that produces a plausible number instead is the one that costs you an order.
A countertop material with no rule gets price on request. Demo storefront.
Questions about kitchen and cabinet CPQ.
Does cabinet CPQ work with linear-foot pricing plus option adders?
What happens when a countertop material is not in the book yet?
Can dealers see the plant’s net pricing or do they see list?
How does this compare with CAD cabinet configurators?
How long does it take to load a cabinet line?
Can homeowners configure and quote on a dealer’s site?
- Poly9 AI plan catalog, September 2026
Get started. Judge it on your own catalog.
Create your account, add your catalog or start with your industry’s sample catalog, and ask the question you would ask the other tool. Plans are paid monthly and cancel any time.