# Elevation Survey vs Bluebeam

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Bluebeam at none against Elevation Survey's 2. Bluebeam also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months). Elevation Survey's advantage is review sentiment (32% vs 3%) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Elevation Survey sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Bluebeam asks for nothing beyond the download.

Elevation Survey ships an update every 3 months, Bluebeam monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 16, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Elevation Survey | Bluebeam |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | **[1.5 (392 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bluebeam/id1479484276/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | — | **392** |
| Positive reviews | **32.3% of reviews** | 2.6% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | **Monthly** |
| Monetization | Freemium | **Free** |
| Size | 75 MB | 288 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 18.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Booth](https://appshunter.io/developer/415450674) | [Bluebeam, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/489696449) |

## What reviewers say

### Elevation Survey

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/elevation-survey/id433368313)

This app simplifies leveling surveys by automatically calculating instrument and ground heights. It allows for instant computation of staff readings for layout work and offers flexible data entry modes. Survey data can be easily exported and shared.

**Highlights:** Automatic HI and GH calculation, Instant staff reading computation for layout, Color-coded input and results, Add notes for projects, Export data as CSV, Standard and Staff data entry modes, In-app tutorial

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

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium Monthly | $6.99 | per month |
| Premium Yearly | $59.99 | per year |


### 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


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Elevation Survey free?

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

### Is Bluebeam free?

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

### Do Elevation Survey or Bluebeam have ads?

Neither Elevation Survey nor Bluebeam shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Elevation Survey or Bluebeam?

Elevation Survey ships an update every 3 months, and Bluebeam monthly. Most recently, Elevation Survey was updated on September 16, 2026 and Bluebeam on September 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.*