COMPARISON
Bluebeam alternatives,
compared fairly.
People look for an alternative to Revu for different reasons: the price per seat, working on a Mac, or simply needing less of it. These are four tools worth weighing. We make one of them, so everything said about the other three comes from their own pages.
At a glance
| Tool | Price per person | Runs on | Measurement, as the vendor describes it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Redline | Free plan. Pro is $150 a year or $15 a month | Any modern browser | Calibrated lengths, areas, perimeters, volumes, counts and angles, with deductions and Dynamic Fill, on Pro |
| Adobe Acrobat Pro | $239.88 a year prepaid, or $29.99 month to month | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and a web app | Distance, area and perimeter |
| PDF-XChange Editor | From $62 for Editor or $79 for Editor Plus, as a perpetual licence with a year of maintenance | Windows 10 and later | Distance, area and perimeter, scale calibration, and measurements exported to CSV |
| Xodo | Web $95.88 a year; Desktop $119.88 a year, with a perpetual option; Document Suite $107.93 a year | Web; desktop on Windows, macOS and Linux; Android and iOS in the Document Suite | Not described on Xodo’s pricing page |
| Bluebeam Revu, for reference | $260 to $590 a year, depending on plan | Windows desktop; Bluebeam Web and the iOS app with fewer tools | Length and area in Basics; more from Core; Dynamic Fill from Complete |
US prices from each vendor’s own page, checked 14 September 2026: Adobe, PDF-XChange, Xodo and Bluebeam. Xodo shows its annual prices as discounted. Prices change, so check theirs before you decide.
Which one fits
Redline
For the architect or engineer who reviews and measures drawings on their own. Takeoff with volumes, counts, deductions and Dynamic Fill is on the one paid plan, the toolset is the same on a Mac or an iPad, and there is a free plan after the trial. It has no OCR, no batch processing and no live multi-person sessions.
Adobe Acrobat Pro
For an office whose PDFs are mostly documents rather than drawings, and which wants editing, converting, forms and signing in one tool. Its measuring covers distance, area and perimeter. Redline and Acrobat compared.
PDF-XChange Editor
For someone on Windows who would rather pay once than subscribe. Its own page lists scale calibration, distance, area and perimeter measurement, and CSV export of measurements, at a one-off price. The supported system it lists is Windows 10 and later.
Xodo
For general PDF work at a low subscription price across web, desktop and mobile. Its pricing page does not describe measurement tools, so confirm what it offers before relying on it for takeoff.
Staying on Bluebeam
If your team works in Studio Sessions, batch-processes drawing sets or builds on Revu scripting, staying on Revu is likely the right call. See Redline and Revu compared in full, and what works for Bluebeam on a Mac.
Bluebeam and Revu are trademarks of Bluebeam, Inc. Adobe and Acrobat are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe in the United States and other countries. PDF-XChange and Xodo are trademarks of their respective owners. Redline is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.
Try it on the sample drawing
Redline runs in the browser — nothing to install. Open the demo to try tools on a sample drawing. Demo edits are temporary; your own files, saving, signatures, exporting, printing and downloads come with the seven-day trial, which takes no card. After it you keep Redline Free, or choose Pro at $15 a month or $150 a year. Compare the plans.
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