DarkBird vs XTEN-AV
One draws the system. The other works out how long installing it takes. AV shops usually need both answers.
What is XTEN-AV?
XTEN-AV positions itself as "One AI platform for all your AV," serving AV integrators, designers, manufacturers and end users. Its products span AV design and drawings (X-DRAW), proposals (X-DOC), project management (X-PRO) and an AI assistant (XAVIA).
Its centre of gravity is design automation: AI-assisted drawings, cable labeling, templates with ready bills of materials, and rapid proposal generation from 100+ templates with digital signature and tracking. Labor estimating is not part of its public positioning.
What is DarkBird?
DarkBird is a labor estimation engine for AV integrators, MSPs, and low-voltage / security firms. It encodes how long installs actually take as reusable Install Cards — labor templates with quantity-bracketed hours per task — then scopes new projects through an AI expert interview and generates a client-ready scope of work.
The part no proposal tool does: after delivery, time entries pull back from ConnectWise Manage or HaloPSA and recalibrate every card. Estimates that ran 30% low get flagged and corrected. Your estimating gets more accurate with every completed project.
Where they differ
Agent-callable API
DarkBird
A live Model Context Protocol server with eight tools plus a REST API, both on an org-scoped key. Your Install Cards, projects, current suggestions and estimate accuracy are readable from Claude or any MCP client. Decisions that rewrite estimating data stay with a signed-in Owner or Admin.
XTEN-AV
Not part of their public positioning.
Core artifact
DarkBird
The Install Card — labor hours per task across quantity brackets, per resource.
XTEN-AV
The design: AV drawings, schematics and the bill of materials that falls out of them.
Where AI is applied
DarkBird
Scoping. An expert interview that asks what it needs to know, then recommends cards with calibration already applied.
XTEN-AV
Design and document generation — drawings, BOMs, proposals.
After the project ships
DarkBird
Actuals flow back from the PSA and adjust card hours automatically.
XTEN-AV
X-PRO advertises ROI and profitability tracking; a labor calibration loop back into estimates is not part of the public positioning.
Scope beyond AV
DarkBird
Built across the low-voltage trades — AV, security, cabling, fire, controls, MSP project work.
XTEN-AV
Focused on AV.
XTEN-AV is likely the better fit if…
- Your bottleneck is producing AV drawings and design documentation, not labor hours.
- You want AI-assisted schematics and BOMs coming out of the design step.
- You are AV-only and want a single platform covering design through proposal.
DarkBird is likely the better fit if…
- Your designs are solid and the installs still take longer than you quoted.
- You work across more than AV — security, cabling and network work share the same estimating problem.
- You want the labor number defensible from your own completed-project data.
Frequently asked questions
Does DarkBird produce AV drawings?
No. DarkBird does not do system design, schematics or CAD. It takes the scope and works out the labor, then generates a scope-of-work document. Design tooling is a genuinely different product.
Can DarkBird use a bill of materials from a design tool?
Install Card options carry their own bill of materials, and products can be imported manually or synced from a connected PSA catalog. There is no direct XTEN-AV integration today.
We are AV-only. Is DarkBird too broad?
Pick AV Integration at signup and the workspace is seeded for it — AV categories, a design-through-commissioning phase set, and AV resources. The breadth shows up in the platform knowledge, not in the setup you have to wade through.
See the difference on your own projects
Start a 45-day free trial with full Pro access — no credit card. Import your catalog, build your first Install Cards, and scope a real project this week.