# Newforma vs Bluebeam

The clearest difference is rating: Newforma at 3.3 against Bluebeam's 1.5. Newforma also leads on review sentiment (25% vs 3%) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). Bluebeam's advantage is ratings volume (392 vs 6) and update cadence (monthly vs every 2 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Newforma holds the better App Store score, 3.3 against 1.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bluebeam has 392 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 25% of Newforma's written reviews are positive against 3% of Bluebeam's.

Newforma ships an update every 2 months, Bluebeam monthly. The most recent releases landed on June 5, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Newforma | Bluebeam |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[3.3 (6 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/newforma/id1233697648/reviews)** | [1.5 (392 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bluebeam/id1479484276/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 6 | **392** |
| Positive reviews | **25.0% of reviews** | 2.6% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Monthly** |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 41 MB | 288 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 18.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Newforma, Inc](https://appshunter.io/developer/513103142) | [Bluebeam, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/489696449) |

## What reviewers say

### Newforma

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/newforma/id1233697648)

Access and manage project information securely from any location. Search, file emails, and create action items on the go to make informed decisions quickly. Integrates with your existing project management servers.

**Highlights:** Secure project data access, File search and access, Email filing, Action item management, File sharing with external users, Cloud platform integration

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


### Bluebeam

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bluebeam/id1479484276)

Access and collaborate on PDF documents directly from your mobile device. Communicate project updates with markups and work offline by syncing files. Seamlessly join live collaboration sessions and manage document revisions from the field.

**Highlights:** Real-time PDF collaboration, Markup and annotation tools, Offline file access, Document syncing, Studio Project management, Live session joining

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- ✅ Automatic saving functionality works well
- 📱 Useful for viewing PDFs on the go
- 🔄 Good for accessing Studio sessions
- 📊 Desktop version is powerful and feature-rich
- 🎯 Cleaner, more modern interface design

**What reviewers complain about**

- ❌ Massive feature loss compared to Revu for iPad
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezing issues
- 📉 Severely limited markup tools and capabilities
- 🖊️ Apple Pencil input is unresponsive and laggy
- 💾 Data loss and corruption issues

**Reported bugs**

- Markups fail to load or display correctly
- App deletes markups instead of saving them
- Documents wipe clean when reopened
- Files uploaded disappear from app
- Corrupted file errors when opening PDFs

**Requested features**

- Restore measurement and scaling tools
- Add custom toolsets and tool libraries
- Implement bookmarks for document navigation
- Enable image embedding in callouts
- Add undo/redo functionality


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Newforma free?

Newforma is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Bluebeam free?

Bluebeam is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Newforma or Bluebeam?

Newforma is rated higher. Newforma averages 3.3 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Bluebeam averages 1.5 from 392 ratings.

### Do Newforma or Bluebeam have ads?

Neither Newforma nor Bluebeam shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Newforma or Bluebeam?

Newforma ships an update every 2 months, and Bluebeam monthly. Most recently, Newforma was updated on June 5, 2026 and Bluebeam on September 24, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*