# Bluebeam vs Planformer

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Planformer at 100% against Bluebeam's 3%. Planformer also leads on rating (5.0 vs 1.5) and update cadence (every 10 days vs monthly). Bluebeam's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ads (none vs shown). On price and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Planformer sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $49.99 per month. Bluebeam asks for nothing beyond the download.

Planformer holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bluebeam has 408 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 100% of Planformer's.

Bluebeam ships an update monthly, Planformer every 10 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Bluebeam | Planformer |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [1.5 (408 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bluebeam/id1479484276/reviews) | **[5.0 (6 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/planformer-smart-takeoffs/id6741836313/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **408** | 6 |
| Positive reviews | 2.9% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Monthly | **Every 10 days** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Freemium |
| Size | 295 MB | 101 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | **15** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Bluebeam, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/489696449) | [Planformer LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1795857040) |

## 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


### Planformer

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/planformer-smart-takeoffs/id6741836313)

Measure building plans, blueprints, and maps directly from your phone. Quickly calculate distances, areas, and count items. Work offline and collaborate with teammates seamlessly.

**Highlights:** Measure distances instantly, Calculate areas in seconds, Count repetitive items, Work offline, Collaborate effortlessly, Simple and easy to use

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

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly Premium | $49.99 | per month |
| Yearly Premium | $399.00 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Bluebeam free?

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

### Is Planformer free?

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

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

Planformer is rated higher. Bluebeam averages 1.5 out of 5 from 408 ratings, while Planformer averages 5.0 from 6 ratings.

### Do Bluebeam or Planformer have ads?

Planformer shows ads; Bluebeam does not.

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

Bluebeam ships an update monthly, and Planformer every 10 days. Most recently, Bluebeam was updated on October 24, 2026 and Planformer on October 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.*