HCSS Plans vs TC Companion
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
HCSS Plans
This app facilitates real-time collaboration on construction plans for heavy civil projects. It allows teams to upload, annotate, and share PDF plans, ensuring everyone works with the latest revisions. Features include smart revision control, instant document access, and built-in calculators for accurate quantity takeoffs.
- Real-time collaboration
- Smart revision control
- PDF plan upload and markup
- Instant document access
- Built-in heavy civil calculators
- Location services for field use
- Sheet overlays for conflict detection
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Get everyone on the same (digital) page with this easy app, designed for heavy civil construction. Upload PDF plans from the office, and then collaborate with your entire project team in real time, no matter where they are, using markups, call-outs, notes, photos/videos, and more. Smart revision control ensures everyone works off the latest set of plans and site instructions so your crews can build correctly the first time, every time. ~~~~~ Collaboration ~~~~~ SEAMLESS TEAMWORK Align your entire project team — from foremen and managers to estimators, executives, and owners. • Management gains detailed insight into how the project was bid. • Foremen get instant access to project managers’ notes, clarifications, and calculations. • All team members can add and share layers, annotations, notes, photos, and videos. • Subcontractors can collaborate with your team for free while your sensitive information is protected. SMART REVISION CONTROL Avoid rework and delays when everyone works off the most up-to-date set of plans. • Sync revisions, annotations, and photos between the office and field. • Overlay new and old versions to identify design changes immediately. INSTANT ACCESS TO DOCS Digitally store all project documents in one, easy-to-use system for instant access in the office and field, even without Internet. • Organize your permits, contracts, shop drawings, vendor agreements, manuals, specs, and more. • Pin RFIs, issues, dig permits, and submittals directly onto plan sheets to quickly reference relevant info. ~~~~~ Heavy Civil Focused ~~~~~ CALCULATIONS & QUANTITIES Save time and money with effortless calculations, right in your app. • Accurately determine volume, tonnage, trucking, and more with built-in, heavy civil calculators. • No more guessing — report true quantities rather than eyeballing. • Supports both horizontal and vertical measurements for profile views. REAL-TIME LOCATION SERVICES No other digital plans solution provides this level of location services for your construction sites. • Easily locate yourself on the plans sheet, even in a green field, without a survey crew. • Catch issues early by walking the site to identify any obstacles that may not be accounted for in drawings. • Auto-pin photos in the exact place they were taken to more clearly communicate issues or work progress. SHEET OVERLAYS Overlay sheets to gain a more comprehensive view of your project. • Stack related sheets, such as electrical and sewer, to verify there are no conflicts in the area before each stage of work. • Stitch sheets over Apple Maps to see your plans in relation to existing structures in road or satellite view. ~~~~~ Smart Integrations ~~~~~ HCSS Plans is part of the HCSS suite, providing even more efficiency and accuracy across your teams. HeavyBid estimating software • Takeoff integration: Import HCSS Plans takeoff quantities into HeavyBid. • Easy reference: Link biditems and activities to relevant sheets for easy reference. • Better collaboration: Instantly share estimators’ notes and calculations with your Operations team after winning the bid. HeavyJob field entry & job management software • Accurate quantities: Pull in sheet calculations for accurate production quantities without double entry. • Quick reviews: Relevant sheets are one click away for easy quantity checks during web time card reviews. • Issue alerts: Get notified when an issue is logged on a sheet, and elevate it to an RFI if necessary.
TC Companion
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TC Companion – Traffic Control & TMI Tools TC Companion is an all-in-one work companion designed for Traffic Controllers and Traffic Management Implementers (TMIs). From checking the signs in your ute, to setting up a worksite from a Traffic Guidance Scheme (TGS), to recording truck movements throughout the shift, TC Companion helps keep the important parts of your job organised in one place. No more trying to remember every sign you’ve loaded, manually crossing signs off a TGS, or keeping truck movements on scraps of paper. TGS & SITE SETUP Got a TGS to set up? Upload your Traffic Guidance Scheme and let TC Companion’s AI-powered TGS assistant help analyse the plan and identify the temporary traffic management signs required for the setup. Create a practical setup checklist and mark each sign off as you install it. See what’s still left to put out at a glance, helping you stay organised while moving through the site. It’s like having a digital setup checklist in your pocket. MY UTE – SIGN INVENTORY Know exactly what’s in your traffic control ute before you start the job. Build your own sign inventory and keep track of the quantity of each sign you carry, including different sign types and equipment. Visual sign references make it quick and easy to find what you’re looking for. Update quantities as your ute changes so you always have a useful reference before heading to your next site. With My Ute you can quickly answer one important question: “Have I actually got the signs I need for this job?” TRUCK LOG Turn your phone into a digital truck movement log. Use your camera to scan number plates and quickly record vehicles entering or moving through your worksite. TC Companion keeps track of individual vehicles, trip counts and recent movements, helping you manage busy sites without repeatedly writing down the same registration numbers. Add or subtract trips as required and keep an easy-to-read overview of the trucks currently being tracked. Perfect for sites with repeated truck movements, deliveries, earthworks and construction traffic. SHIFT HISTORY Your work doesn’t disappear when the shift finishes. Save completed shifts and keep previous records available through Shift History, making it easy to look back at earlier work when needed. BUILT FOR TRAFFIC CONTROL TC Companion isn’t a generic construction app adapted for traffic control. Its tools are designed around the jobs Traffic Controllers and TMIs actually perform: • TGS assistance • Site setup checklists • Traffic sign inventory • Ute organisation • Sign photo references • Truck and vehicle logging • Number plate scanning • Trip counting • Shift records Whether you’re setting up signs at the beginning of a shift, checking your ute before leaving the depot, managing truck movements during the day, or packing everything down afterwards, TC Companion gives you one place to manage it. One app. Your ute. Your TGS. Your site. Your shift. TC Companion helps take the paperwork and guesswork out of staying organised so you can concentrate on the work happening around you. IMPORTANT TC Companion is an organisational and assistance tool and does not replace an approved Traffic Guidance Scheme, Traffic Management Plan, applicable legislation, standards, procedures, site-specific requirements or instructions from authorised personnel. AI-generated TGS analysis may contain errors or omissions. Always verify information against the original approved documentation before implementing a traffic management setup.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: HCSS Plans at none against TC Companion's shown. TC Companion's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
HCSS Plans ships an update every 3 weeks, TC Companion every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | HCSS Plans | TC Companion |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (408 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 57.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 408 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 201 MB | 73 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Heavy Construction Systems Specialists, Inc. | JAMIE ROBERT CHRISTENSEN |
In-app purchases
HCSS Plans
No in-app purchases
TC Companion
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is HCSS Plans free?
Is TC Companion free?
Do HCSS Plans or TC Companion have ads?
Which is updated more often, HCSS Plans or TC Companion?
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