Both can be used to review PDF drawings, but they are very different products. Bluebeam is the broader platform: Revu combines PDF markup, measurement, takeoff, drawing comparison, batch tools, Studio collaboration, document management and integrations.
Xenmark is focused on the review itself. It is for the side that receives drawings: you collect everyone's comments in one place, each one numbered and pinned to the spot on the drawing it refers to. The review produces two main deliverables to send back — a PDF showing where every comment sits, and a spreadsheet saying what each one means.
If you are comparing feature counts, Bluebeam wins, and if you need the wider Bluebeam toolset that is the one to buy. The question worth answering is not which product does more, but which one fits the job in front of you. Choose Xenmark when the job is collecting, resolving and returning drawing comments as a numbered plan and a matching Excel register.
Xenmark Free runs one active review at a time, start to finish. In Bluebeam, unpaid users can join a Studio Session, but creating and administering one needs a Core, Complete or Max plan, or an active trial.
The comment plan PDF and Excel comment register are the expected end state of the workflow. Bluebeam's Markups List reports the same kind of data, but as a general system you shape into the report you want.
Comments, replies, statuses, revisions and the handover are the workflow, not modules inside a wider platform — so there is less to set up before a review starts. Takeoff, PDF production and document management stay with the tools built for them.
Every Bluebeam claim below is taken from Bluebeam's own published material and was last checked on 24 August 2026. Software changes; if something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
| Xenmark | Bluebeam | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Hosting a Studio Session needs a Core, Complete or Max plan, or an active trial. Basics can take part but cannot create Sessions or Projects. |
| Do external reviewers need a paid subscription? | No — the people you invite read, reply and download the exports without paying | No — unpaid collaborators can join a Session and use a limited markup toolset. Outside a Session, markup tools are disabled. |
| Available platforms | Any modern browser — nothing to install, and the people you invite join from a link | Browser and a full Windows desktop application |
| 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 markup drawn on the PDF, tracked in a list alongside its author, date and status |
| Replies | Threaded under the comment, each attributed and dated, with image attachments, and carried into the register | Replies appear beneath the markup |
| Status workflow | Open, In progress and Closed — three fixed states, and the status travels into the Excel register | Default and custom statuses |
| 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 | Markups are tracked as records rather than as a fixed numbered list |
| One issue, several drawing locations | One comment can own several markers while keeping one number and one reply thread | Multiple markups can be grouped to behave as one, though the record stays a markup |
| Activity history | Every action timestamped and attributed to the person who made it | Studio keeps a complete Session Record of markups, comments and chat |
| Revision handling | Comments stay tied to the revision they were raised against, in one workflow | Studio Projects maintain file revision history; Sessions do not maintain revisions automatically |
| Measuring and markup | ||
| Measuring on the drawing | Length, polylength, perimeter and area, calibrated to the page scale | Considerably broader — also counts, angles and volumes from Core, and full quantity takeoff |
| Setting the drawing scale | Pick a standard scale, type your own, name the sheet size, or calibrate from a distance you already know | More advanced — including different scales in different parts of one sheet |
| Building your own reusable symbols | Check, cross, attention, arrow and cloud — five fixed review symbols, not a custom library | Yes — saved tool sets, stamps and custom markups you define |
| Measuring quantities for pricing a job | Not included — measurements are there to explain a comment, not to cost work | Yes — a core strength, with totals that push into Excel on Complete |
| 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 | You build the report you want from the markup list, choosing what it contains and how it is laid out |
| Comment plan PDF | The drawing with each comment numbered and shown where it applies | Configurable PDF markup summaries and Session reports |
| Spreadsheet output | An Excel file listing every comment, numbered to match the PDF | Markups List summaries export as CSV, XML or PDF for use in Excel |
| 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 | Held in the markup list and included when you export it |
| 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 | Session reports and packages; reviewed Session documents can be saved |
| Branded reports | Your company logo and text on both deliverables, inherited from Company Settings — Plus and Pro | PDF markup summaries accept a logo |
| What else each one does | ||
| Batch operations across many PDFs | Not included — a review works on one drawing set at a time | Yes |
| Comparing two drawings against each other | Not included — differences get raised as comments by the people reviewing | Yes — automatic overlay and comparison |
| Working offline | Browser only, so you need a connection | Yes — Revu is a Windows application |
| Storing documents long term | Not what it is for. You download the exports and keep them wherever your project records already live. | Yes — Studio Projects |
| CAD integrations and creating PDFs from CAD | None — a review starts from a PDF that has already been produced | CAD plug-ins and workflows from Core. Not a CAD editor itself — it generates and links PDFs from tools like AutoCAD and Revit. |
| Connecting to a document management system | No integrations yet — the closing archive is a single zip you file wherever your records already live | SharePoint, OneDrive, Procore, Box, Dropbox, Egnyte and others |
The two are not priced in the same unit, which matters more than the numbers. Xenmark charges per month for the capacity to run projects; Bluebeam charges per user per year for the people who need Bluebeam capability. Neither charges for invited reviewers, though Bluebeam's free participants are limited to a Studio Session and to a reduced markup set, with appearance properties such as font, line style and opacity disabled. Each price is shown as the company publishes it — ours include VAT, Bluebeam's Netherlands list does not, and we have adjusted neither.
| Xenmark | Bluebeam | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing unit | Per project capacity, monthly | Per user, annually |
| Entry point | Free — one active review, start to finish | €240 / year — Basics |
| To run a review yourself | Free | €300 / year — Core, since Basics cannot host Studio |
| Paid range | €14.99 – €59.99 / month | €240 – €540 / year |
| Invited reviewers | Free — no per-user charge; 5–30 project members depending on plan | Free inside a Studio Session |
| Tax basis | Including VAT | Excluding VAT · Netherlands list |
Xenmark — current as of 28 August 2026. Bluebeam — checked 24 August 2026 against their official Netherlands pricing page. They set list prices per country rather than converting between them, so figures differ by market.
Yes, as an invited collaborator. Unpaid collaborators can join Studio Sessions and use a limited set of markup tools — Bluebeam lists Text Box, Callout, Pen, Highlight, Line, Arrow, Dimension, Cloud, Cloud+ and Stamp. Outside a Session, unpaid Revu accounts are read-only and the normal markup tools are disabled. Hosting a Session is what requires a paid plan.
No. Bluebeam's Studio FAQ states plainly that a subscription is not required for collaborators. The Session host needs an appropriate plan; the people invited into it do not, though their markup toolset is reduced.
Under Bluebeam's current subscription plans, a Core, Complete or Max plan. An active trial can also host, as can a legacy Revu 20 licence until Revu 20 reaches end of life on 31 December 2026. Basics can take part in Studio collaboration but cannot create Sessions or Projects.
It depends on how many people need paid capability. Xenmark runs one active review at a time on the Free plan and never charges for invited reviewers. Bluebeam is priced per user per year, but invited Session collaborators are free there too — so the honest comparison is between the people who need full tooling, not headcount.
Not as a native Excel comment register. Bluebeam's Markups List exports a summary as CSV, XML or PDF, which you then open in Excel. Quantity Link is a separate Complete and Max feature that moves measurement and takeoff totals into Excel, not review comments. Xenmark produces the Excel comment list as one of its two standard deliverables rather than as a report you configure.
Yes. Studio Projects maintain file revision history. Studio Sessions do not maintain file revisions automatically, so the two are used together for that. In Xenmark, revision history and comment history are the same workflow.
Generally, no. Bluebeam has much broader PDF, measurement, takeoff and document-management capability. Xenmark covers the drawing-review workflow and ends it with the comment plan and the matching register.
If you need takeoff or estimating, advanced measurement, batch processing, drawing comparison, CAD integration, offline desktop use, or document management — or if your team already works in Bluebeam every day.
We sell Xenmark, so this is not an independent review. We have tried to describe Bluebeam accurately, and every Bluebeam claim on this page rests on Bluebeam's own published documentation, named below. Capabilities and pricing change. Bluebeam feature information was last checked against that documentation on 24 August 2026, and the pricing on 24 August 2026.
Bluebeam's documentation is linked, so every claim here can be checked against the source it rests on.
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