These two are unusually close. Annotably is a browser-based drawing markup and issue tracker for small architecture, engineering and construction firms: you drop a pin on a drawing and it becomes a tracked issue with an owner, a status and a comment thread. Annotably's documented workflow is very nearly how Xenmark works, and this page says so rather than talking around it.
Xenmark is for the side that receives drawings. Everyone's comments land in one place, each numbered and pinned to the spot it refers to, and the review produces two documents to send back — a PDF showing where every comment sits, and a spreadsheet saying what each one means, numbered identically.
The clearest documented difference is what happens at the end of the review. Both attach structured, status-tracked discussion to locations on a drawing. What differs is what comes out: Annotably exports a punch list as PDF or CSV, while Xenmark's deliverable is a numbered comment plan and a matching Excel register with measurements on their own sheet. If the punch list is what you need, Annotably is a genuinely close fit — and right now it is free. Choose Xenmark when the handover has to be that numbered pair, with the measurements kept on their own sheet.
A numbered comment plan and an Excel register carrying the same numbers are the expected end state of a Xenmark review. Annotably exports a punch-list report to PDF or CSV, which is a different deliverable rather than a smaller one.
Length, perimeter and area are measured against the sheet scale and carried into the spreadsheet on their own tab. Annotably says outright that heavy takeoff and estimating is not what it is for.
Raise a comment against Rev A and it still reads against Rev A when Rev B arrives, so what was asked survives the drawing changing underneath it. No drawing version or revision handling appears in Annotably's published material.
Every Annotably claim below is taken from Annotably's own published material and was last checked on 25 August 2026. Software changes; if something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
| Xenmark | Annotably | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting a review | ||
| Can the person running the review start free? | Yes — the Free plan runs one active review at a time, start to finish | Yes, and more completely than ours. Annotably is free today — the whole product, not a limited tier. |
| Do external reviewers need a paid subscription? | No — the people you invite read, reply and download the exports without paying | No — clients, consultants and subcontractors are described as always free to invite, and can view drawings and comment without a seat |
| Available platforms | Any modern browser — nothing to install, and the people you invite join from a link | Browser — Mac, Windows and iPad, with nothing to install |
| How the review is structured | ||
| What the review is built from | A numbered comment. Anything drawn on the page belongs to that comment rather than standing on its own. | A pin dropped on the drawing, which becomes a tracked issue carrying a title, an owner, a status and a comment thread, alongside rectangle, arrow, freehand and text markup tools. |
| Replies | Threaded under the comment, each attributed and dated, with image attachments, and carried into the register | A comment thread on the issue, with @mentions and photos in the same thread |
| Status workflow | Open, In progress and Closed — three fixed states, and the status travels into the Excel register | Yes — issues carry a status and an owner, the list filters by status, owner or sheet, and resolving one closes it |
| Comment numbering | Numbers are stable — delete comment 5 and the gap stays, so item 12 still means item 12 in every email and every export | An issue carries a title, an owner, a status and a comment thread. |
| One issue, several drawing locations | One comment can own several markers while keeping one number and one reply thread | One pin becomes one issue. |
| Activity history | Every action timestamped and attributed to the person who made it | Status and discussion live on the issue, and the list filters by status, owner or sheet. |
| Revision handling | Comments stay tied to the revision they were raised against, in one workflow | Issues are pinned to the sheet they are raised on, within a multi-page set. |
| Measuring and markup | ||
| Measuring on the drawing | Length, polylength, perimeter and area, calibrated to the page scale | Annotably says plainly that heavy takeoff and estimating is not what it is for. The toolset is rectangle, arrow, freehand and text markup. |
| Setting the drawing scale | Pick a standard scale, type your own, name the sheet size, or calibrate from a distance you already know | Drawings are reviewed as the PDF you upload |
| Building your own reusable symbols | Check, cross, attention, arrow and cloud — five fixed review symbols, not a custom library | The markup set is rectangle, arrow, freehand and text. |
| Measuring quantities for pricing a job | Not included — measurements are there to explain a comment, not to cost work | Deliberately not. On heavy takeoff and estimating, Annotably says plainly: not our thing. Both products stop at the same place here. |
| What comes out of the review | ||
| What you send back | The two documents come out ready to send — there is nothing to set up first, because the review was structured that way from the start | A clean punch-list report, exported as PDF or CSV |
| Comment plan PDF | The drawing with each comment numbered and shown where it applies | A PDF punch-list report. |
| Spreadsheet output | An Excel file listing every comment, numbered to match the PDF | CSV. A CSV of the punch list and a formatted Excel register numbered to a comment plan are not the same output, and should not be read as equivalent. |
| Measurements in the export | Drawn on the comment plan PDF where they were placed, and listed on their own sheet in the Excel file, kept separate from the comments | The punch-list export carries issues with owners and statuses |
| What you keep when the project ends | A single zip file — every revision's exports, the attachments and the full activity log, downloaded and stored on your side | No lock-in is an explicit promise — you can export everything whenever you like, and Annotably says your work stays yours. |
| Branded reports | Your company logo and text on both deliverables, inherited from Company Settings — Plus and Pro | The deliverable is a clean punch-list report, as PDF or CSV. |
| What else each one does | ||
| Batch operations across many PDFs | Not included — a review works on one drawing set at a time | A full multi-page set uploads at once, with issues pinned on any sheet. |
| Comparing two drawings against each other | Not included — differences get raised as comments by the people reviewing | Annotably describes itself as everything a small firm needs to review drawings and nothing it does not. |
| Working offline | Browser only, so you need a connection | Browser-based, on Mac, Windows and iPad. |
| Storing documents long term | Not what it is for. You download the exports and keep them wherever your project records already live. | Not positioned as one either. Annotably describes itself as everything a small firm needs to review drawings and nothing it does not. |
| CAD integrations and creating PDFs from CAD | None — a review starts from a PDF that has already been produced | Annotably states it works on PDF, the way drawings actually get shared. |
| Connecting to a document management system | No integrations yet — the closing archive is a single zip you file wherever your records already live | No lock-in is the stated position — you can export everything whenever you like. |
This is the row where Annotably wins today, and it is worth being plain about it. Everything is free today, and the published plan keeps a permanent free tier at one project. The seat prices below are planned launch pricing that nobody is charged yet. Xenmark charges per month for the capacity to run projects. Each price is shown as the company publishes it — ours include VAT, Annotably quotes US dollars and states no tax basis, and we have adjusted neither.
| Xenmark | Annotably | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing unit | Per project capacity, monthly | Nothing is billed today. Per seat — and the published Pro and Business figures are monthly equivalents billed annually |
| Entry point | Free — one active review, start to finish | Free — everything, today. A permanent $0 forever tier limited to one project is published as the standing entry point. |
| To run a review yourself | Free | Free — nothing is charged today, and the planned free tier runs one project |
| Paid range | €14.99 – €59.99 / month | Pro $12 · Business $32 per seat / month, as monthly equivalents billed annually. Published as planned launch pricing, not yet charged. |
| Invited reviewers | Free — no per-user charge; 5–30 project members depending on plan | Free — guests, meaning clients, consultants and subcontractors, are stated to be always free on every plan |
| Tax basis | Including VAT | USD · tax basis not stated |
Xenmark — current as of 28 August 2026. Annotably — checked 25 August 2026 against Annotably's product and pricing pages. Because that pricing is published as planned rather than charged, it should be expected to change before anyone pays it.
Yes, in two separate senses. Everything is free today, with no card required. Separately, the published pricing keeps a permanent $0 forever tier limited to one project, alongside Pro at $12 and Business at $32 per seat per month — both quoted as monthly equivalents billed annually, and neither charged yet. The first 100 firms are told they lock in 50% off for life.
Yes. Annotably states that clients and subs are always free to invite, and that clients, consultants and subcontractors can view drawings and comment without paying for a seat. Xenmark works the same way — invited reviewers never pay — though every Xenmark plan caps how many project members a project can hold.
It exports a punch-list report to PDF or CSV. A CSV opens in Excel, but it is not the same thing as a formatted register numbered to match a comment plan, and the two should not be read as equivalent. Xenmark produces the Excel comment list as one of its two standard deliverables rather than as a report you configure.
No measurement tool appears anywhere in Annotably's published material, and on heavy takeoff and estimating the product says plainly that it is not what it is for. Xenmark measures length, polylength, perimeter and area against the sheet scale — but it is not a takeoff or estimating system either, so neither product covers that job.
Annotably is built around pins on sheets within a multi-page set, with each issue carrying an owner, a status and a thread. In Xenmark a comment is tied to the revision it was raised against, so what was asked on Rev A still reads against Rev A when Rev B arrives. If revision handling matters to your workflow, it is worth asking Annotably directly.
No. Annotably is free today, and Xenmark is not beyond one active review on the Free plan. Even after launch their published free tier runs one project, which is broadly where our Free plan sits — so this is closer to parity than to an advantage either way. It would be dishonest to claim a price advantage today. The comparison worth making is what each review produces at the end, not what it costs this month.
They are closer than most products on this site — both attach structured, status-tracked discussion to locations on a drawing. The clearest documented difference is the deliverable at the end. Xenmark also measures against the sheet scale and ties a comment to the revision it was raised against. If neither matters to your workflow, the products overlap heavily.
When you want the lightest possible pinned-issue workflow for a small AEC team, when a PDF or CSV punch list is the deliverable you owe, when free access today is decisive, or when measurement, scale calibration, revision handling and a matched PDF-and-Excel handover are not requirements — or you have confirmed separately that Annotably covers them.
We sell Xenmark, so this is not an independent review. We have tried to describe Annotably accurately, and every Annotably claim on this page rests on Annotably's own published material. Capabilities and pricing change. Annotably feature information was last checked on 25 August 2026, and the pricing on 25 August 2026.
Annotably publishes a product site and a pricing page rather than a conventional help centre, manual or changelog, so the list below is short. Every claim in the table above rests on one of the two sources named here.
The Free plan takes a real drawing set end to end. No card, no time limit.
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