Autodesk Build vs. Viewpoint Spectrum

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Autodesk Build
Score 7.6 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
Viewpoint Spectrum
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
Viewpoint Spectrum is a cloud-based construction ERP suite with project management, accounting, resource management, and reporting and analytics. Key features include workflow automation and collaboration tools, document imaging and sharing, cost estimating tools, and RFI management tools.N/A
Pricing
Autodesk BuildViewpoint Spectrum
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 BuildViewpoint Spectrum
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 BuildViewpoint Spectrum
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Autodesk BuildViewpoint Spectrum
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
Viewpoint Spectrum
-
Ratings
Plan distribution & viewing8.656 Ratings00 Ratings
Plan markups & sharing8.656 Ratings00 Ratings
Issue tracking & punchlists7.551 Ratings00 Ratings
Photo documentation7.048 Ratings00 Ratings
Jobsite reports6.736 Ratings00 Ratings
Document sharing7.655 Ratings00 Ratings
RFI tools8.338 Ratings00 Ratings
Collaboration & approvals7.142 Ratings00 Ratings
As-built drawings8.442 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile app9.454 Ratings00 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Autodesk Build
-
Ratings
Viewpoint Spectrum
4.9
22 Ratings
38% below category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings7.522 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings6.916 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings8.319 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Autodesk Build
-
Ratings
Viewpoint Spectrum
6.1
9 Ratings
17% below category average
API for custom integration00 Ratings6.19 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Autodesk Build
-
Ratings
Viewpoint Spectrum
8.2
27 Ratings
1% above category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings8.422 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings7.927 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Autodesk Build
-
Ratings
Viewpoint Spectrum
5.1
30 Ratings
31% below category average
Dashboards00 Ratings6.929 Ratings
Standard reports00 Ratings6.430 Ratings
Custom reports00 Ratings6.028 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
Autodesk Build
-
Ratings
Viewpoint Spectrum
7.6
28 Ratings
0% below category average
Accounts payable00 Ratings8.327 Ratings
Accounts receivable00 Ratings8.125 Ratings
Global Financial Support00 Ratings6.08 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings7.519 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings8.022 Ratings
Configurable Accounting00 Ratings7.219 Ratings
Standardized Processes00 Ratings7.923 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
Autodesk Build
-
Ratings
Viewpoint Spectrum
6.1
17 Ratings
25% below category average
Inventory tracking00 Ratings6.117 Ratings
Automatic reordering00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Location management00 Ratings6.26 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
Autodesk Build
-
Ratings
Viewpoint Spectrum
8.6
15 Ratings
10% above category average
Pricing00 Ratings8.412 Ratings
Order entry00 Ratings8.413 Ratings
Credit card processing00 Ratings8.84 Ratings
Cost of goods sold00 Ratings8.911 Ratings
Subledger and Financial Process
Comparison of Subledger and Financial Process features of Product A and Product B
Autodesk Build
-
Ratings
Viewpoint Spectrum
7.6
27 Ratings
3% above category average
Billing Management00 Ratings8.223 Ratings
Cash and Asset Management00 Ratings7.722 Ratings
Travel & Expense Management00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Budgetary Control & Encumbrance Accounting00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Period Close00 Ratings8.123 Ratings
Project Execution Management
Comparison of Project Execution Management features of Product A and Product B
Autodesk Build
-
Ratings
Viewpoint Spectrum
6.8
7 Ratings
1% below category average
Project Planning and Scheduling00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Task Insight for Project Managers00 Ratings7.16 Ratings
Project Mobile Functionality00 Ratings7.96 Ratings
Definable Resource Pools00 Ratings7.24 Ratings
Procurement
Comparison of Procurement features of Product A and Product B
Autodesk Build
-
Ratings
Viewpoint Spectrum
6.9
5 Ratings
1% below category average
Bids Analyzed and Compared00 Ratings7.83 Ratings
Contract Authoring00 Ratings7.12 Ratings
Contract Repository00 Ratings7.12 Ratings
Requisitions-to-Purchase Orders Integrated00 Ratings5.74 Ratings
Supplier Management00 Ratings6.83 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Autodesk BuildViewpoint Spectrum
Small Businesses
FollowUp CRM
FollowUp CRM
Score 9.5 out of 10
Acumatica
Acumatica
Score 8.7 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro
Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro
Score 8.5 out of 10
Infor VISUAL
Infor VISUAL
Score 7.4 out of 10
Enterprises
Revit
Revit
Score 8.9 out of 10
SAP Business ByDesign
SAP Business ByDesign
Score 7.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Autodesk BuildViewpoint Spectrum
Likelihood to Recommend
2.4
(69 ratings)
8.0
(69 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(6 ratings)
Usability
8.2
(1 ratings)
7.7
(30 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
8.5
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(52 ratings)
5.1
(29 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
6.5
(4 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
6.6
(20 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
7.5
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
Autodesk BuildViewpoint Spectrum
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
Trimble Viewpoint
The Installation team is amazing. They provide clear guidance at the beginning of the process regarding what is expected and what needs to be done. The implementation manager follows up monthly with you to make sure you are on track and if you need additional help. They are very helpful and responsive in resolving issues.
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
Trimble Viewpoint
  • Job Costing - Viewpoint Spectrum handles job costing per project, per work order, per site, and gives us an up to date analysis of the project.
  • HR - helps to keep all of the training certifications and HR incidents in a consistent and manageable order for all Managers to use.
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
Trimble Viewpoint
  • Support isn't readily available. You can submit a ticket and wait days before it's picked up. Even critical issues (system outages) can wait an hour or two before someone responds.
  • Large companies will feel limited. This product wasn't designed to handle large amounts of data, and performance seems to slow when there are more than 80 concurrent users.
  • The new developments are limited. HR Management is less robust than a third-party product specializing in HR Management. Viewpoint Analytics is nowhere near as robust as Power BI or Tableau.
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
Trimble Viewpoint
The product is working for us and the cost to implement a new system does not warrant the expense.
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
Trimble Viewpoint
There's a little bit of a learning curve, but once you've been working in the system for a while, it becomes second nature. I would say that out of all of the other software that I've personally used, Spectrum has been the easiest one to pick up and learn quickly
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Autodesk
No answers on this topic
Trimble Viewpoint
I've never seen Spectrum down
Read full review
Performance
Autodesk
No answers on this topic
Trimble Viewpoint
For the most part the product is very reliable. Since we are hosted we sometimes have connectivity issues but I would say that is more our ISP than Spectrum.
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
Trimble Viewpoint
The support has recently changed. Last year, you could call in and get an immediate response. Now that doesn't seem possible unless you have an urgent situation with access to the software, payroll or payables. I have found that using chat or e-mail works nicely for the most part, but sometimes I feel it would be easier if someone from support would jump on our site and take a first-hand look rather than going back and forth
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Online Training
Autodesk
No answers on this topic
Trimble Viewpoint
Our trainer was excellent and navigated the time zone differences expertly. She gave us test assignments to complete and was available for questions at any time.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Autodesk
No answers on this topic
Trimble Viewpoint
My only insight would be to take time in your implementation and training process; ours was six weeks from start to finish.
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
Trimble Viewpoint
I have previously used Sage Masterbuilder, another construction industry software. This has been a number of years ago. The company I am working for already had Spectrum and have been using it for as long as it has been around when it was known as Forefront. Based on conversations I've had with the personnel that were here at the time of purchase, Spectrum clicked off all the boxes they were looking for.
Read full review
Scalability
Autodesk
No answers on this topic
Trimble Viewpoint
You can grant user specific access which is nice. Project managers do not need all the same modules as Accounting. But Accounting does need access to PM modules as well
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
Trimble Viewpoint
  • [In my opinion,] it takes at LEAST twice as long to do our jobs now.
  • [I feel like] we are paranoid about something not being printed correctly because of [what I believe are] buggy text fields.
  • [In my experience,] we still have to refer to a physical file cabinet with paper, even though a main point of switching was to go paperless.
  • [In our experience,] screens can now be "locked", so we can't see something if our coworker is also looking at it.
  • [I believe that] the financial hit our company took from this switch was astronomical. [In my opinion:] Beware!
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.