Autodesk Build, based on the former PlanGrid, is construction productivity software. It includes tools to collaborate, collect, and manage project information throughout the project’s construction and operations lifespan. It enables document centralization and tracking.
$39
user per month
Buildertrend
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
BuilderTrend is a construction management system. It includes functionality for pre-sale, project management, financial management, and customer management processes. It also provides mobile accessibility.
N/A
CMiC Construction Platform
Score 7.8 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
CMiC Project Management is a construction project collaboration and management solution. It centralizes project-related communications and documents onto one platform, and connects the job site with the back-end office.
N/A
Pricing
Autodesk Build
Buildertrend
CMiC Construction Platform
Editions & Modules
Nailgun
$39
user per month
Dozer
$59
user per month
Crane
$139
user per month
Core Subscription
Contact for quote
per year
Premium
Contact for quote
per month
Premium
Contact for quote
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Autodesk Build
Buildertrend
CMiC Construction Platform
Free Trial
Yes
No
No
Free/Freemium Version
No
No
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Yes
Yes
No
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
No setup fee
No setup fee
Additional Details
—
—
—
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Autodesk Build
Buildertrend
CMiC Construction Platform
Considered Multiple Products
Autodesk Build
Verified User
Director
Chose Autodesk Build
Procore and PlanGrid are the most direct competitors. The pricing structures are very dynamically different between PlanGrid and Procore. Procore tends to succeed better in the "project management" realm, while PlanGrid succeeds far beyond Procore in its ability to deal with …
PlanGrid is very similar to Procore but offers a slightly more straightforward user interface and seems not to be loaded with extra options that rarely would get used like Procore. PlanGrid is a much smoother software than Submittal Exchange or CMiC due to that same interface. …
CMiC has far more capability than these other software platforms. We had to use all of the other software together to meet the same capability as CMiC alone.
CMiC incorporates more features and reduces the need to use additional software platforms. We found that Foundation Software is not as user-friendly and can be limited in the various types of reports that are available. PlanGrid and Procore both would have had to be partnered …
The look and feel of CMiC is very similar to PlanGrid but when you get into the nitty-gritty of using CMiC for drawing management, it's lacking features our employees have pointed out. Submittal Exchange is much cleaner for submittal management. The interface is better. The …
Worse than all 3. PlanGrid: Smoother use than CMiC. The way it is formatted and shows the plans in order is the best. CMiC shows plans in the order they were uploaded instead of plan order (A100, A101, etc.). Procore: Same reason as PlanGrid. It just feels as though CMiC's plan …
In addition to PlanGrid, I have used a purpose-built in-house system, about 10 years ago. It was build using forms designed with Word & Excel. These forms were infilled, saved as signed PDFs, and uploaded to Google Cloud. The in-house user base was small and use was managed …
CMiC is not there yet in terms of usability when compared to PlanGrid. I have attended the conferences and have seen the plans to improve usability and look forward to these changes. Unfortunately, until it is at this point it does not compete in regards to construction plan …
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.
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.
CMiC is a robust platform best suited for large companies with resources for implementation and management of the program. One analogy is CMiC is like a droid phone where the user must decide how to use all the features of the program (as opposed to an iPhone where most configuration decisions are made for the user). Smaller companies with limited resources can struggle with CMiC both with the expense and configuration.
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.
The user interface is similar to that of other project management software applications so folks in our company that had previously used other applications have been able to switch over fairly easily.
I really like the software and it was much less expensive than other applications.
I like the mobile application so that our superintendents can view the documentation on their phones.
I really like the punch list capability mobile field, however, we have a hard time getting our superintendents to use it for some reason.
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.
Onsite consultants. There is a demand for this service that is great enough to allow outside BuilderTrend Super-Users like me to partner with BuilderTrend and make this a reality.
As their company grows, their support needs to grow as well.
Provide incentives for Super Users that are helping BuilderTrend acquire new business. Advocates should be their best friend.
Needs to be more user friendly on the mobile side of the platform. Ease of use is key here.
There is not much instruction or support in standing up some programs like deploying ECM for outlook, making Collaboration Gateway work, or setting up the system for getting Plans available on the mobile devices.
Security configuration is extremely detailed and spread throughout the system. It is extremely hard to make adjustments to a person's security unless you know exactly where to look, which requires years of experience but shouldn't.
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
This is a platform that would continue to be in the best interest for our company. I just hope that CMiC support removes the gaps between the enhancements that they create to better the system to what they currently have
Hard to get the hang of this software, but with time it become very repetitive and easier to navigate. I have used this software for over a year now and the constant updates by Autodesk have made the software better and better to use at work. This allows me to use this tool more effectively
Its simple to use and intuitive. The level of support that we have from online videos, to access to customer support, and the ability to call anyone at anytime on the main line has been invaluable to utilize and not get stuck on something you don't know yet. We've never not had anyone that couldn't respond in time for us.
I believe it isn't easy to use and is unintuitive. Undecipherable error messages appear throughout the application without indicating what is wrong or how to correct it, in my experience. The terminology on the screens is specific to Canada, which adds to the confusion.
Sometimes since this is a cloud based product the system can become slow but we haven’t had any issues of availability without CMiC first letting us know it would be down
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.
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.
The support team [has] been in touch with our deployment team and has given them effective guidance up to completion. It has helped us in [the] best methods of resource allocation and secure record-keeping process. We have tracked all our billing information and made the right payments with documentation and avoided [unnecessary losses]. [The] support team has [to] lead our teams to the right channels and empowering our team with the right skills for maximum production.
The training was on system functions and not really how best to use it for our business. It would have been nice to be provided recommendations for use rather than just a blank slate of functionality.
Lots of confusion between sales and implementation regarding what was included and not included...the security encountered a "bug" and made it extremely difficult to set up roles and individual responsibilities
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.
The program has outstanding customer service. With project scheduling, project management, financial management, customer management, and service management capabilities in a single suite, there's really not much this program can't do! Owners generally love the use of this software as well, giving them the ability to view daily logs, photos, schedules, etc.
CMiC Construction Platform is the best price point in the market. Others are revenue-based billings, and the annual fees reflect as such. CMiC Construction Platform support staff is generally amazing and offers real-time support on critical issues. The imaging and workflow functions are real-time savers. CMiC Construction Platform is generally a smaller and in touch organization that treats your team like their own and stays with you after the purchase.
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.
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.
