# Bluebeam vs CRANER

The clearest difference is review sentiment: CRANER at 100% against Bluebeam's 3%. CRANER also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). Bluebeam's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10). On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. CRANER sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per year. Bluebeam asks for nothing beyond the download.

Bluebeam ships an update monthly, CRANER every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Bluebeam | CRANER |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[1.5 (392 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bluebeam/id1479484276/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **392** | — |
| Positive reviews | 3.0% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Monthly | **Every 2 weeks** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 288 MB | 71 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Bluebeam, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/489696449) | [LICOSO GmbH](https://appshunter.io/developer/1591023103) |

## 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


### CRANER

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/craner/id1591023101)

Plan crane operations efficiently with a mobile solution. Select the right crane, place it accurately on a map, and react flexibly to site changes. Export your project plans as PDF files directly from your smartphone.

**Highlights:** Crane operation planning, Crane selection via search, Map integration and placement, Flexible on-site adaptation, PDF project export, Direct email sharing

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| RT530E-2-75% | $1.99 | per year |
| GRT880-75% | $1.99 | per year |
| RT765E-2-85% | $1.99 | per year |
| RT765E-2-75% | $1.99 | per year |
| RT9130E-2-85% | $1.99 | per year |
| AC40/2-75% | $3.99 | per year |
| LTM1250-5.1-75% | $8.99 | per year |
| LTM1750-9.1-75% | $17.99 | per year |
| LTM1650-8.1-75% | $17.99 | per year |
| LTM11200-9.1-75% | $17.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Bluebeam free?

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

### Is CRANER free?

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

### Do Bluebeam or CRANER have ads?

Neither Bluebeam nor CRANER shows ads.

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

Bluebeam ships an update monthly, and CRANER every 2 weeks. Most recently, Bluebeam was updated on October 2, 2026 and CRANER on September 23, 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.*