# Bluebeam vs AIA Events

The clearest difference is rating: AIA Events at 3.5 against Bluebeam's 1.5. AIA Events also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs monthly). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

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

AIA Events holds the better App Store score, 3.5 against 1.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 392 and 242 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 3% of Bluebeam's written reviews are positive against 8% of AIA Events's.

Bluebeam ships an update monthly, AIA Events every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Bluebeam | AIA Events |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [1.5 (392 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bluebeam/id1479484276/reviews) | **[3.5 (242 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/aia-events/id6502470921/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **392** | 242 |
| Positive reviews | 3.0% of reviews | **7.7% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Monthly | **Every 5 days** |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 288 MB | 145 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | **17.4** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Bluebeam, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/489696449) | [The American Institute of Architects](https://appshunter.io/developer/644577124) |

## 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


### AIA Events

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/aia-events/id6502470921)

This app serves as a digital companion for AIA events, offering a full conference schedule, personalized scheduling, real-time updates, and networking opportunities. Connect with attendees, speakers, and share your experience on social media.

**Highlights:** Full conference schedule access, Personalized schedule builder, Real-time event updates, Connect with attendees and speakers, Social media sharing

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

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Refreshingly intuitive
- 👍 Extremely helpful app

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Audio/video quality issues
- 🐛 PowerPoint slides too small
- 🐛 Captions obscure images
- 🐛 Inaccessible design (no zoom, hard to read text)
- 🐛 Missing CEU amounts

**Reported bugs**

- Audio and video could be better
- PowerPoint slides formatted too small
- Captions obscure images
- App does not allow for zooming
- Grey text on white is very hard to read

**Requested features**

- Printed copy of programs
- PDF of the program
- Allow pre-reservation for sessions
- Printed booklet for ease of use
- Beta test next year's app with real users


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Bluebeam free?

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

### Is AIA Events free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Bluebeam or AIA Events?

AIA Events is rated higher. Bluebeam averages 1.5 out of 5 from 392 ratings, while AIA Events averages 3.5 from 242 ratings.

### Do Bluebeam or AIA Events have ads?

Neither Bluebeam nor AIA Events shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Bluebeam or AIA Events?

Bluebeam ships an update monthly, and AIA Events every 5 days. Most recently, Bluebeam was updated on October 2, 2026 and AIA Events on October 1, 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.*