Autodesk Build vs. CMiC Construction Platform

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Autodesk Build
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
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
CMiC Construction Platform
Score 7.7 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 BuildCMiC Construction Platform
Editions & Modules
Nailgun
$39
user per month
Dozer
$59
user per month
Crane
$139
user per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Autodesk BuildCMiC Construction Platform
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Autodesk BuildCMiC Construction Platform
Considered Both Products
Autodesk Build
Chose Autodesk Build
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 Construction Platform
Chose CMiC Construction Platform
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.
Chose CMiC Construction Platform
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 …
Chose CMiC Construction Platform
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 …
Chose CMiC Construction Platform
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 …
Chose CMiC Construction Platform
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 …
Chose CMiC Construction Platform
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 …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Autodesk BuildCMiC Construction Platform
Construction Project & Field Management
Comparison of Construction Project & Field Management features of Product A and Product B
Autodesk Build
7.9
57 Ratings
6% above category average
CMiC Construction Platform
6.3
105 Ratings
16% below category average
Plan distribution & viewing8.656 Ratings5.966 Ratings
Plan markups & sharing8.656 Ratings5.162 Ratings
Issue tracking & punchlists7.551 Ratings5.580 Ratings
Photo documentation7.048 Ratings5.676 Ratings
Jobsite reports6.736 Ratings5.887 Ratings
Document sharing7.655 Ratings5.988 Ratings
RFI tools8.338 Ratings7.789 Ratings
Collaboration & approvals7.142 Ratings7.294 Ratings
As-built drawings8.442 Ratings5.353 Ratings
Mobile app9.454 Ratings7.663 Ratings
Submittal design and management00 Ratings7.384 Ratings
Checklists00 Ratings5.646 Ratings
Meeting Minutes00 Ratings6.650 Ratings
Specifications00 Ratings5.838 Ratings
Change orders00 Ratings8.059 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Autodesk Build
-
Ratings
CMiC Construction Platform
6.1
29 Ratings
24% below category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings4.919 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings6.723 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings7.319 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings6.718 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings5.613 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings7.413 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings4.618 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Autodesk Build
-
Ratings
CMiC Construction Platform
6.3
23 Ratings
18% below category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings6.723 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors00 Ratings4.714 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings7.714 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings6.416 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings7.220 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings7.019 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings4.714 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Autodesk Build
-
Ratings
CMiC Construction Platform
4.5
18 Ratings
51% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings4.518 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Autodesk Build
-
Ratings
CMiC Construction Platform
7.3
55 Ratings
10% below category average
Dashboards00 Ratings7.642 Ratings
Standard reports00 Ratings6.654 Ratings
Custom reports00 Ratings6.945 Ratings
Data exportability00 Ratings8.152 Ratings
Estimating
Comparison of Estimating features of Product A and Product B
Autodesk Build
-
Ratings
CMiC Construction Platform
6.1
55 Ratings
29% below category average
Takeoff tools00 Ratings4.320 Ratings
Job costing00 Ratings7.751 Ratings
Cost databases00 Ratings7.942 Ratings
Cost calculator00 Ratings7.029 Ratings
Bid creation00 Ratings3.628 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Autodesk BuildCMiC Construction Platform
Small Businesses
FollowUp CRM
FollowUp CRM
Score 9.5 out of 10
FollowUp CRM
FollowUp CRM
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro
Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro
Score 8.7 out of 10
Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro
Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro
Score 8.7 out of 10
Enterprises
Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro
Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro
Score 8.7 out of 10
Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro
Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro
Score 8.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Autodesk BuildCMiC Construction Platform
Likelihood to Recommend
2.4
(69 ratings)
7.8
(114 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.5
(7 ratings)
Usability
8.2
(1 ratings)
6.1
(6 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(52 ratings)
4.7
(96 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.5
(2 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.4
(5 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Autodesk BuildCMiC Construction Platform
Likelihood to Recommend
Autodesk
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
CMiC
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.
Read full review
Pros
Autodesk
  • 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
CMiC
  • 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.
Read full review
Cons
Autodesk
  • 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
CMiC
  • 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.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Autodesk
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
CMiC
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
Read full review
Usability
Autodesk
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
CMiC
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.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Autodesk
No answers on this topic
CMiC
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
Read full review
Performance
Autodesk
No answers on this topic
CMiC
Reports are pretty shown to run but general pages typically load pretty quick.
Read full review
Support Rating
Autodesk
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
CMiC
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.
Read full review
In-Person Training
Autodesk
No answers on this topic
CMiC
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.
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Online Training
Autodesk
No answers on this topic
CMiC
I felt the training was good and the trainers knew the software.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Autodesk
No answers on this topic
CMiC
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
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Autodesk
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
CMiC
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.
Read full review
Scalability
Autodesk
No answers on this topic
CMiC
CMiC has several key features that can either work together or independently depending on your companies needs.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Autodesk
  • 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
CMiC
  • Better project visibility, surely. I can step into a former project and see how well/poorly it was run.
  • Forecasting underway - nearly complete with year 2.
  • Cost status tracking - this has been valuable, especially when figuring out how much of a liquid budget is left over.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Autodesk Build Screenshots

Screenshot of No confusing folders - all your plans at your fingertips.Screenshot of Easy overlay to visually detect changes or clashes.Screenshot of Track issues directly on the plan, including descriptions, photos, cost, and schedule impacts.Screenshot of Mark up plans for instant communication between field and office.Screenshot of Attach any kind of construction documents to your plans, including 360 photos.Screenshot of Track, review, and submit all your field reports on a mobile device.

CMiC Construction Platform Screenshots

Screenshot of CMiC FIELDScreenshot of CMiC AnalyticsScreenshot of CMiC Drawing ManagementScreenshot of CMiC FIELD