The configurator builds it. Your AI sells it.
Configurators are strong where the factory needs exact geometry: every dimension validated, a bill of materials and shop-floor output at the end.
They ask for the jamb depth before they show a price. They speak the factory’s language. Dealers re-key the homeowner’s list into them at the kitchen table after the homeowner has gone to bed.
Keep the configurator for the factory order. Choose Poly9 AI for the conversation in front of it: plain language, installed pricing, a quote the same visit.
The five verbs, plus three that decide it.
| What matters | product configurators | Poly9 AI |
|---|---|---|
| Answer | Does not answer questions; it takes inputs. | Answers the buyer’s question first, then configures. |
| Configure | Every dimension, validated, in the factory’s terms. | The options a buyer names, in their words, with your rules refusing what does not fit. |
| Price | Factory price, usually without install or dealer margin. | Priced installed from the factory’s rules and the dealer’s rates, in one total. |
| Quote | An order form for the factory. | A quote the homeowner approves on their phone at the kitchen table. |
| Present | A CAD-style preview. | A render in the setting, labeled, and a priced collection for a whole project. |
| Learns your business | Static: the rules the factory published. | Learns which options each dealer and buyer asks for. |
| Pricing model | Licensed by the factory, often per dealer. | One credit per sales action; everyone included. |
| Time to first quote | Hours per quote for a dealer new to the tool. | The same visit, once the dealer’s install rules are written. |
Category behavior is described in general terms; specific products vary. Poly9 AI behavior is as shipped in September 2026.
Why the differences matter.
A configurator is a form. It does not answer “can I get it in black with argon?”; it waits for you to fill in the fields. Poly9 AI answers the question, then fills the fields from the answer.
The configurator validates geometry the factory needs. Poly9 AI validates the options a buyer names, with the same compatibility rules, and hands the configured order to the factory system afterwards.
Factory configurators price the unit. Poly9 AI prices the unit from the factory’s rules and adds the dealer’s install rate, so the homeowner sees one installed total and the dealer sees the lines.
The output of a configurator is an order for the plant. The output of Poly9 AI is a quote the homeowner approves at the kitchen table, on their phone, before the dealer has put their coat on. The order is created from the approval.
A configurator previews the unit. Poly9 AI renders it in the elevation, labeled as a render, and can put nine windows and a door into one priced collection for the whole house.
A configurator knows the factory’s rules. Poly9 AI learns that this dealer always quotes black exteriors and that this homeowner asked about argon twice.
Factory configurators are licensed to dealers by the factory. Poly9 AI is one credit per sales action, so a dealer pays for the quotes they send.
A dealer new to a configurator spends an evening re-keying. Poly9 AI quotes the same visit once the dealer’s install rules are written, which takes an afternoon.
- The factory order: exact geometry, bill of materials, shop-floor output.
- Products where every dimension must be validated before a price exists.
- Dealers who are trained on it and quote from a desk.
- A factory that licenses it to every dealer already.
- The conversation before the order: the homeowner’s question at the kitchen table.
- Installed pricing that combines factory rules and dealer rates.
- A quote approved on the buyer’s phone the same visit.
- A render in the setting and a priced collection for the whole project.
This is the normal arrangement. Poly9 AI is the dealer’s sales AI in front of the factory configurator: plain language in, installed quote out, and the configured order handed to the factory system after the homeowner approves. The windows and doors industry page shows it.
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 Lee Industries frame priced in grade F from the real matrix. Sample conversation, real rules.
Questions about product configurators.
Does Poly9 AI replace our configurator?
How do the factory’s rules get into Poly9 AI?
Can a homeowner use it directly?
What about products with no configurator at all?
Sources: Poly9 AI windows, doors and millwork industry page, September 2026 · Poly9 AI plan catalog, September 2026. All comparisons →
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