Comparison

Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup vs FreeBeam

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup

Enhance your PDF workflow with powerful annotation and markup tools. This app offers a dynamic and intuitive experience for editing, drawing, and adding text to your documents. Access your work across multiple devices and collaborate in real-time.

Highlights
  • Dynamic PDF annotation tools
  • Cross-platform access and cloud sync
  • Real-time collaboration
  • Insert text, images, lines, and shapes
  • Convert images to PDF
  • Redact sensitive information (Pro)
  • Measurement tools (Pro)
Features
Read full description

Powerful PDF tools at your fingertips. The latest PDF technology and software for a better experience. With an intuitive UI designed for delight – there’s a better way to PDF! Do your best work with Drawboard. - Dynamic PDF tools that feel good to use - Multi-platform access and storage. Where you are, your work is. - Paperless. A way of working for a sustainable future TOOLS FOR EVERY JOB Fast, responsive, and accurate markup tools. Draw with best-in-class ink for flawless Apple Pencil hand-feel and finally replace pen and paper. CROSS-PLATFORM ACCESS ON ANY DEVICE Upload your annotated PDFs to the cloud and mark up with others in real time with instant sync. Go Pro in-app for additional storage capacity and advanced features. WORK YOUR WAY Customize your workspace by docking your favorite tools and build a toolbar that works for you! MORE - Text review markup - freehand highlighter, text highlighter, underline, strikeout, squiggly on PDF. - Insert lines and shapes - cloud tool, rectangle, ellipse, line, arrow, polygon and polyline on PDF. - Add text with a range of fonts and text styling options - Insert images and camera photos onto PDFs. - Convert JPG and PNG image files to PDF. - Write, annotate, ink and draw on PDFs. - Customize and edit annotation colors, stroke widths, and opacities. - Create new blank PDF documents of different size, color, orientation and page count. - Insert, rotate and delete PDF pages. - Open, read, mark up and save large and complex PDF documents. GET MORE WITH PRO - Redact text and sections of your PDF documents - Measure elements on your page with length and area measurement tools and smart page calibration - Add callouts, hyperlinks and audio notes to your documents - On-page ruler - measure objects on your page with the ease of using a tape measure

About

FreeBeam

Read full description

Measure and mark up construction drawings on site, in your hand, at the scale the drawing was drawn to. Set the scale once and every length, area and angle you take is real. Nothing you open ever leaves your phone. FreeBeam works on the PDFs you already have. Open a plan from email, from Files, from anywhere iOS can share to, set the scale from the drawing's own dimension string or pick a standard one, and start measuring. Lengths, areas, continuous runs and angles come straight off the sheet. Snapping catches the drawing's real geometry - endpoints, intersections, perpendiculars - so a measurement lands on the line rather than near it, and the loupe shows you exactly where the point is going before you commit it. Mark up as you go. Text, arrows, clouds, dimensions and freehand, in the colours and weights you choose. Everything is editable afterwards: select one item or several, move them, restyle them, undo and redo your way back through the work. Copy and paste markup between drawings. Export the result as a sharp, real PDF. Not a photograph of your drawing - the original vector sheet with your markup on top, so it prints and zooms the way the source did, and anyone can open it. FreeBeam Pro, a one-off purchase with no subscription, adds the rest: unlimited drawings, exports with no watermark, and the tools that take it past measuring. Lay one drawing over another in colour to read a revision at a glance, and flatten the pair into a single sharp sheet. Join several drawings into one document, in the order you choose. Count and tally items by type for a takeoff. Set a datum and read coordinates off the plan, rotate a sheet to site north, and take bearings and distances between points. Built for the people who actually carry drawings: surveyors, site engineers, estimators, builders and setting-out crews. It runs on an iPhone in a pocket and on an iPad on a tailgate, and it works with no signal, because everything happens on the device. Nothing is collected. No account, no sign-in, no analytics, no tracking, no cloud. Your drawings, your markup and your measurements stay on your phone, which matters when the sheet in your hand is a confidential tender. A sample drawing is included, in metric or in feet and inches, with dimensions printed on it you can check your measurements against. Questions or problems: freebeam.support@gmail.com

Screenshots

Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup4 screens
FreeBeam4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: FreeBeam at 15.0 against Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup's 17.0. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and FreeBeam sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup versus FreeBeam: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrawboard PDF Annotate, MarkupFreeBeam
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (2K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews64.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings2K — better—
Update frequencyWeekly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size98 MB77 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDrawboard Pty LtdThomas Blaxland

Bugs and requests

Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Annotations not syncing properly between devices
  • Unexpected loss of work and unsaved changes
  • Scrolling and page navigation issues
  • Compatibility problems with certain PDF files
  • Text input box disappearing after scrolling

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add page flattening and form filling options
  • Improve eraser tool and precision
  • Implement a dark mode
  • Provide better organization and folder support
  • Add more customization options for tools and UI

FreeBeam

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup

Subscriptions6
  • Pro Lite7 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Pro Plus7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Pro Unlimited7 Days trial$18.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Pro Lite7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Pro Plus7 Days trial$83.901 Year
  • Pro Unlimited7 Days trial$159.991 Year
One-time2
  • Pro Plus$10.00
  • Pro Unlimited$20.00
1 purchases

FreeBeam

One-time1
  • FreeBeam Pro$29.99

Questions

Is Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup free?
Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is FreeBeam free?
FreeBeam is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup or FreeBeam have ads?
Neither Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup nor FreeBeam shows ads.

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