Built around contractor review
Open the plan, add the markup, confirm the measurement, and share the result. The page is designed around the everyday drawing review loop rather than every advanced PDF feature a large design office might need.
Bluebeam alternative
Bluebeam Alternative for Construction Markup
ContractorCounter gives contractors a focused way to mark up drawings, measure PDFs, track counts, and export clear review notes without carrying the full weight of a desktop-first AEC suite.
- Browser-based drawing markup
- Calibrated PDF measurement
- Counts, stamps, comments, and exports
- Contractor-focused review workflow
Saving, exporting, and bill-of-quantities persist once you sign up free
Use the tools contractors reach for first
Callouts, arrows, stamps, counts, calibrated measurement, comments, and clean exports are front and center so review work stays fast.
Keep Bluebeam when you need Bluebeam depth
This is not a claim to replace every Revu workflow. It is a lighter markup workspace for contractors who need speed, clarity, and browser access. Weighing the whole market? Read our honest guide to the best Bluebeam alternatives.
Bluebeam vs ContractorCounter
A practical comparison for contractors choosing a markup and drawing review workflow.
| Category | ContractorCounter | Bluebeam |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Contractors who want fast browser-based markup and measurement. | AEC teams that need the full desktop Revu toolset and Studio ecosystem. |
| Price | Free plan; Pro US$29/month; Team US$99/month (5 seats); Lifetime US$499 one-time. | US$260–$440 per user per year (Basics / Core / Complete, 2026 list pricing); no free tier. |
| Free plan | Yes — markup, calibrated measurement, and counts with no card and no trial clock. Free exports carry a watermark. | No free tier; paid annual subscription only. |
| Platforms | Any modern browser — Windows, macOS, iPad. No install. | Windows-first desktop app; Mac users typically run a VM or second machine. |
| Workflow | Open drawings, mark up issues, measure, count, and export clean PDFs. | Deep PDF editing, tool chests, markups list, studio sessions, and enterprise standards. |
| Takeoff to quote | Measurements and counts feed a live Bill of Quantities that flows into multi-version quotes. | Measurement and takeoff tools; pricing happens in separate estimating software. |
| Collaboration | Shared team workspace on the Team plan; clean PDF exports anyone can open. | Studio sessions and projects for large-team, document-control collaboration. |
| Setup | Web workspace for lightweight contractor review — sign up and open a drawing. | Desktop-led install with broader configuration depth. |
Common questions
Short answers for contractors
Is ContractorCounter a Bluebeam replacement?
For the markup work most contractors do day to day — opening drawings, adding callouts and stamps, calibrating the scale, measuring lengths and areas, counting fixtures, and exporting a clean PDF — yes, ContractorCounter covers the workflow without a desktop install. It runs in the browser on Windows, macOS, and iPad, starts on a free plan, and Pro costs US$29/month against Bluebeam's US$260–$440 per user per year. What it does not try to replace is the deep end of Revu: enterprise tool chests, Studio sessions across large AEC teams, advanced PDF editing, and document-control standards. Teams that live in those features should keep Revu. Contractors who use a fraction of Revu to review and measure drawings usually find the browser workflow faster to adopt and far cheaper to run.
How much does ContractorCounter cost compared to Bluebeam?
Bluebeam lists Revu at US$260 per user per year for Basics, US$330 for Core, and US$440 for Complete (2026 pricing), and there is no free tier. ContractorCounter starts free — markup, calibrated measurement, and counts with no card required — then Pro is US$29/month, Team is US$99/month for five seats, and a lifetime license is US$499 one-time. A full year of Pro works out to US$348, which lands between Bluebeam Basics and Complete — but you only pay for the months you actually use, you can prove the workflow on the free plan before spending anything, and the lifetime license costs less than two years of Basics with no renewal ever. For occasional reviewers and seasonal workloads, the month-to-month shape usually matters more than the headline number.
Is ContractorCounter only for estimating?
ContractorCounter is focused on drawing markup, PDF annotation, calibrated measurement, counts, stamps, comments, and clean exports. Estimating can happen after the markup work is clear.
Does it work in the browser?
Yes — ContractorCounter is fully browser-based, which means it runs on Windows, macOS, and iPad without an installer, a Windows-only desktop dependency, or a virtual-machine workaround for Mac users. Upload PDF or image drawings, calibrate the scale once per sheet, and the full markup, measurement, and counting workflow runs in the tab — at the desk or on site. Because the workspace lives in the browser, the same drawing opens identically on every machine, so the office and the field are always looking at the same markups without anyone syncing files or matching software versions. If your team has been locked out of desktop-first tools on Mac or iPad, this is the structural difference to test first.