Autodesk Forma (formerly Spacemaker) is an AI 3D modeling technology designed to help users discover smarter ways to maximize the potential of a building site. It was developed by Spacemaker in Oslo, and acquired by Autodesk November 2020.
$185
per month per user
Bluebeam
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Bluebeam Revu is a PDF management, control, and editing tool. It enables collaboration and markup within shared documents across projects’ life cycles and has takeoff and bid creation capabilities.
$260
per year per user
Pricing
Autodesk Forma
Bluebeam
Editions & Modules
Monthly
$185
per month per user
Yearly
$1,460
per year per user
3-Year
$4,380
3 year per user
Basics
$260
per year per user
Core
$330
per year per user
Complete
$440
per year per user
Max
$590
per year per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Autodesk Forma
Bluebeam
Free Trial
Yes
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
No
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
Yes
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
No setup fee
Additional Details
—
—
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Autodesk Forma
Bluebeam
Considered Both Products
Autodesk Forma
Verified User
Manager
Chose Autodesk Forma
I didn't select Forma; we are forced to use what the Architects and General Contractors set up for a given project. There is really no alternative to the cloud model hosting aspect of what Forma does, but for documents, I would not use it if given the choice.
It is well suited in helping the team analyze plan changes for change orders. It is good for plan file organization and keeping the entire team on the same page. It is not well suited for adding the client to the project as sometimes it can be too much information for them
The program is great for editing construction drawings, stamping/approving official documents and overlaying revised documents to see design changes. You can use it as an estimating takeoff tool, estimating database, document control, cloud document storage, the list goes on! Bluebeam poses many applications for the user to utilize for the desired needs. There may be some other software that has one specific function that can perform the specific task better, but Bluebeam is a holistic program with many tools for use.
Once you set Bluebeam Revu as your default PDF handler, it launches immediately when clicking a PDF to open. The speed with which it opens documents is impressive.
Creating PDF's out of other documents, such as Word, Excel, JPG's, etc. is simple.
Digitally signing documents is a simple, secure process. You can keep your signature password-protected, yet still access it quickly.
The Bluebeam Revu mobile application ( I use the iOS version on an iPad Pro), is awesome. Not only does it handle PDF's like you would expect it to, it allows for effortless digital signing of documents on the fly. Nice to be able to quickly sign a document and email right back out from the tablet no matter where I am.
If you have several tabs open and you try to drag one out for a side by side view then you do not have all the modification options and you have to combine them back together.
There is a lag time when hitting the print option.
There is also a lag time when opening files, sometimes I think the window is frozen.
I wish the basic version also had basic file editing, as in editing a document as Adobe does.
Bluebeam is a powerful PDF viewer and mark-up tool. We are more familiar with it than Adobe Acrobat Pro or other viewers, and it has more features geared towards construction document managers than Acrobat Pro does.
Because it is very user friendly and it also adapts the software to the device... For example , iPads are more Superintendent friendly and the desktop version is more useful for PM and Project Engineers. I also like that theres versions of the software that are on our desktop or ipad, so when we have a network failure we are still able to do the majority of our work
I'm constantly finding that Bluebeam Revu does more than I knew it could. And when I find something that it can't do, I've found that Bluebeam truly listens to its user base and will work to incorporate any good suggestion when feasible.
Its hard for me to give a rating on this one as we rarely have to use the support feature for Bluebeam. However, when we have used it, they have been ultra supportive in helping us get exactly what we needed. I know another engineer was trying to figure out a feature and the rep gave a detailed tutorial on how to complete the task
I didn't select Forma; we are forced to use what the Architects and General Contractors set up for a given project. There is really no alternative to the cloud model hosting aspect of what Forma does, but for documents, I would not use it if given the choice.
We feel there is not another program out there that would compare to Bluebeam at this current time. Some of the other programs out there do not include studio or the overlaying process which is one of our main uses. The ease of hyperlinking makes this product stand out the most.
A major positive aspect is being able to take your computer home without taking the entire set of paper drawings. They have made it so easy to navigate a set of drawings that I can work at home using only the digital drawings.
Collaboration with owners and architects has been a great feature. Setting up a Bluebeam studio and having everyone get in and mark things up, then having the architect be able to go in and see what markups have been added, has made the constructability review process much much better.
Even when not working on drawings, Bluebeam is a very good tool for working with standard PDF documents. The markup tools are very easy to use.
The negative aspect is the takeoff function because some people would like estimators to use the Bluebeam takeoff because it would make their job easier down the road; however, the actual act of doing a full scale takeoff in Bluebeam would require much more time.
