Likelihood to Recommend PlanGrid performs really well in all aspects of construction from the general to the sub/trade. The platform distributes and communicates project documentation in an extremely user-friendly manner. As with most software, it is cheaper the larger the scale of the project. In situations where the project is relatively small, and the trade contracts are also of relatively low dollar value, the product can be cost-prohibitive.
Read full review Buildertrend was made for a specific industry (building) and so I would recommend it to anyone in that industry, with the exception of Sales and Marketing. But for everything else from the financing to the permitting to the construction and all else, Buildertrend is exactly what our team has used and will ALWAYS use. Even with our decision to use other systems for Sales and Marketing, we have never given one thought to taking Buildertrend out of our process. We will always be with Buildertrend.
Read full review Pros Plangrid is the best SaaS I have seen for ease of uploading construction plans and automated organization of those plans. For companies that are not using other products for mobile access, the Plangrid mobile apps are perfect to allow people on and off site to share and collaborate in many phases of construction project documentation. Plangrid has a very responsive technical support team (although it is pretty much email only). Plangrid's website layout is easy to use and understand and allows new users to jump right in and do basic to moderate tasks without little training. Read full review Manages in one place - crucial for organization. Professional, across the board it provides companies with a seamlessly organized and flawless presentation - to subs/vendors/owners/etc. Time Saver - you don't have to dig around through files/create templates/flip through your contact binder - it's all there. Practical tools- designed for contractors. You get what you need - period. Read full review Cons The photo attachment process is a bit complicated. In ProCore (another similar software I've used), you can upload photos directly into RFIs for your reference, or into e-mails. For PlanGrid, you have to first upload the photo into the documents tab, then link them into the RFI. It's not intuitive and can add confusion to the documents tab. Photos can't be directly uploaded. Between different devices and colleagues, it's possible you'll get an important photo outside of the PlanGrid photo capture feature within its app. Again, it's complicated for users to use. In their new drawings viewer, the icons for actions do not have icons available. I had to use them all in order to understand what they meant, and I'm fairly tech savvy. I'm not sure if a new person to PlanGrid will pick up on each icon's abilities very easily. There's no all-in-one solution in CM, but PlanGrid is fairly barebones, and I don't believe it has any ability to connect to other software. There's no ability to take meeting munites; you can hack the field reports feature to accomplish this, but it's clear that was not the intent of the designers. Read full review I think that the CRM component could use some development. I think that tracking "tasks" or "to do's" could use some development. Read full review Likelihood to Renew We are at the point where we have shown our teams what is possible with this software. We cannot take it away and go back to the way we used to do things. I think that they would push back on us to give them access to something electronic. It is a good program that we will continue to use
Read full review Usability Very well thought app, easy to use and provides fast access to the project's plans (your own and your team's), improvements in the annotation posibilities and on-site report generator will be appreciatted. The punch-list report generator and the current/previous plan version compare tools works flawlessly. Haven't used the RFI's nor field report options yet
Read full review Fantastic usablity. Buildertrend is an amazing tool that offers superior customer service and attention to detail that is unmatched. I will continue to use them for years and I know they will make growing my company a possibility. I highly recommend for companies that want to streamline their business.
Read full review Support Rating Online chat during business hours is extremely helpful. The Plangrid staff has gone above and beyond many times to help us. One time they even offered to completely rebuild our 900+ sheet project so I could slip sheet a few old drawing revisions! This undoubtedly would have taken hours on Plangrid's end. They are always responsive and are continually improving, listening to user feedback.
Read full review I highly recommend. The only suggestion I have would be to offer a free trial. They do offer a 30 day money back guarantee. The price point isn't daunting if you have had a 100 % no strings attached/no effort to cancel or try to remember to get your money back - no strings attached chance to try out the product. Especially for such a big purchase decision, I think Buildertrend would see an incredible increase in sales. They have the value and companies just need a chance to see it first hand.
Read full review Alternatives Considered Plangrid, while not serving the external document distribution function, is unrivaled for internal document distribution and sharing in the construction industry. The speed at which documents are navigatable, the ability to download your projects for viewing without an internet connection, and the document mark-up and photo tools place it head and shoulders above the competition.
Read full review BuilderTrend allows me to see a full view of all my jobs in one place. I picked it for this reason. I wanted a solution that subcontractors would be able to use without having to do anything except open their email to get the information they needed to get the job done on time. I've made it so simple that everyone I work with wants to use BuilderTrend. In fact, most of the subcontractors I work with have implemented BuilderTrend because they saw how easy my day to day operations are.
Read full review Return on Investment It helped us "wow" a joint commission survey in 2016 and have a successful survey because he loved how we could access plans on an iPad, check suite sizes, and didn't have to carry around huge, heavy sets of life safety plans. Read full review The prior year cost me roughly $4300, which was barely reasonable for my volume. Some clients liked the format, some hated it and didn't participate. In my experience, few subcontractors or suppliers embraced the program, severely limiting the effectiveness. For the coming year the fees would have exceeded $17,000, far too much for a program with limited client, employee, and subcontractor appeal with as small a volume as I have. Honestly, for the last year, I feel they've been a burning tire hung around my neck and I regret not cancelling them in early 2019, I'd have $10,000 more in my pocket and no significant negative impact. I did appreciate the daily log as a way to report on progress, but less than half my clients made use of this option. Read full review ScreenShots Autodesk Build Screenshots