# Bluebeam vs CAD

The clearest difference is review sentiment: CAD at 50% against Bluebeam's 3%. CAD also leads on rating (4.3 vs 1.5) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). Bluebeam's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and ratings volume (409 vs 6). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. CAD sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Bluebeam asks for nothing beyond the download.

CAD holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 1.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bluebeam has 409 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 3% of Bluebeam's written reviews are positive against 50% of CAD's.

Bluebeam ships an update monthly, CAD every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Bluebeam | CAD |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [1.5 (409 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bluebeam/id1479484276/reviews) | **[4.3 (6 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cad-locator/id1532756928/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **409** | 6 |
| Positive reviews | 2.9% of reviews | **50.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Monthly** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | **Free** | Subscription |
| Size | 295 MB | 141 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | **16.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Bluebeam, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/489696449) | [KPR Publishing LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1532756930) |

## What reviewers say

### 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


### CAD

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cad-locator/id1532756928)

Visualize .dxf files on your phone or tablet without complex calibration. Upload your design files to see lot lines, detention areas, and more, aiding contractors, developers, engineers, and surveyors in planning and execution.

**Highlights:** Visualize .dxf files on a map, View in State Plane or Lat/Long, Layer management, Surface to Grid corrections, Unlimited uploads (10MB limit), TXT formatted point sets (PNEZD)

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| CAD-Locator Basic Membership | $1.99 | per month |
| CAD-Locator Basic Membership | $19.99 | per year |
| CAD-Locator Monthly Membership | $49.99 | per month |
| CAD-Locator Membership | $499.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Bluebeam free?

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

### Is CAD free?

CAD is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

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

CAD is rated higher. Bluebeam averages 1.5 out of 5 from 409 ratings, while CAD averages 4.3 from 6 ratings.

### Do Bluebeam or CAD have ads?

Neither Bluebeam nor CAD shows ads.

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

Bluebeam ships an update monthly, and CAD every 2 months. Most recently, Bluebeam was updated on October 29, 2026 and CAD on October 11, 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.*