STACK vs Bluebeam.
One is a takeoff and estimating product that runs in a browser. The other is the PDF tool half the industry already has open, with measuring tools that get better as you climb the plan ladder. The price gap is roughly eight to one, and it is not an accident.
STACK vs Bluebeam: which is better for takeoff?
STACK is cloud takeoff and estimating software priced "as low as $299 per user per month", with a free version. Bluebeam Revu is PDF markup and measurement software at $260 to $590 per user per year, where count tools start on the $330 Core plan. Choose STACK if takeoff and a priced proposal are your daily work; choose Bluebeam if you mostly review and mark up drawings and take off the occasional job.
The honest framing of STACK or Bluebeam is that they are not rivals so much as neighbors. STACK was built for the estimator. Bluebeam was built for everyone who touches a drawing, and estimators learned to bend it. Plenty of contractors pay for both and are right to.
Pricing reviewed 13 November 2026, based on public documentation as of Nov 2026. STACK's page gives "as low as" figures and does not state the billing term, so treat its number as a floor. STACK and Bluebeam Revu are trademarks of their owners; this is an independent comparison.
Side by side
| STACK | Bluebeam Revu | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Cloud on-screen takeoff plus estimating and proposals | PDF markup, measurement and collaboration; not a dedicated takeoff or estimating product |
| Who reads the drawings | You do. STACK Assist automates some counts, walls and areas | You do, with manual measurement and count tools |
| Platform | Browser | Revu for Windows desktop, plus Bluebeam on web and mobile; no Mac desktop app |
| Pricing model | Per user subscription | Per user, billed annually |
| Public price | Takeoff & Estimate "as low as $299 per user / month"; a free version exists | Basics $260, Core $330, Complete $440, Max $590 per user per year |
| AI | STACK Assist (Floor Plan AI is a paid add-on); STACK IQ connector included in paid plans | Only on Max, aimed at drawing review and comparison |
| Best for | Subs and GCs who want takeoff, estimate and proposal in one cloud seat | Teams that review and mark up drawings, with takeoff as a secondary use |
The difference between STACK and Bluebeam shows up after the measuring. In STACK a measurement feeds an estimate and then a proposal inside the same product. In Bluebeam a measurement is a markup on a PDF, and turning a set of markups into a priced bid is your job, usually in Excel.
Which Bluebeam plan you actually need for takeoff
This is where most Bluebeam comparisons go wrong, because they quote the cheapest plan. Bluebeam's measurement tools are split across four plans, and the entry plan cannot count.
| Plan | Per user, per year | Measurement tools listed |
|---|---|---|
| Basics | $260 | Length and area only |
| Core | $330 | Adds perimeter, count, angle, volume, overlay and compare |
| Complete | $440 | Adds Dynamic Fill, Quantity Link to Excel, batch tools and scripting |
| Max | $590 (labelled an introductory price) | Adds the AI features |
An electrician counting receptacles needs Core at minimum. An estimator who wants quantities to flow into a spreadsheet wants Complete, because that is where Quantity Link sits. So the fair Bluebeam number in a takeoff comparison is $330 to $440, not $260. Bluebeam does change plan contents, so check the live plan table before you buy for one specific feature. We go through the workflow itself in can Bluebeam do takeoffs?
What three estimators would pay
Take a mechanical sub with three people who bid. At STACK's published floor of $299 per user per month, three users work out to at least $10,764 over twelve months for Takeoff & Estimate. Three Bluebeam Complete seats are $1,320 per year. Three Bluebeam Core seats are $990.
That gap looks decisive until you price the missing piece. Bluebeam gives you quantities; the estimate, the item database and the proposal still have to live somewhere, and somebody maintains that spreadsheet. STACK's price includes that layer. If the shop already has an estimating system it trusts, Bluebeam plus that system is the cheaper and perfectly sound route. If the shop is pricing out of a workbook only one person understands, the STACK premium is buying something real.
Two things soften the STACK number. There is a free version of Takeoff & Estimate, which is a reasonable way to learn whether the workflow suits you. And STACK sells other bundles: Build & Operate from "as low as $49 per user / month" and the full platform from "as low as $348". Detail is on our STACK pricing page.
AI: STACK Assist and STACK IQ vs Bluebeam Max
Both vendors added AI in the last year, and they pointed it at different problems.
STACK Assist is takeoff AI. STACK documents it as automating counts for doors, windows and symbols, interior and exterior wall takeoffs, and gross and room areas. Two caveats from STACK's own help pages: Floor Plan AI is an add-on to the subscription with a price you get from an account manager, and Symbol Counting AI is documented as currently available only on electrical plan sheets. STACK IQ is a separate thing, a connector that lets assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT and Copilot operate STACK, and it is included in all paid subscriptions.
Bluebeam Max, which launched globally in May 2026, puts AI behind the $590 plan: AI drawing reviews, AI drawing comparisons, multi-view stitching, Magic Markups and an AI integration. Those help a reviewer. Bluebeam's pricing page lists no feature called auto count, so do not buy Max expecting it to take off a floor for you. Our Bluebeam Max review covers what it does well.
Which one to pick
Best for: STACK
- Estimators who bid every week and want quantities, pricing and proposal in one place
- Teams on Macs or mixed hardware, since STACK runs in a browser
- Shops with no estimating system worth keeping
Best for: Bluebeam
- GCs, architects, engineers and subs whose main work is review, markup and coordination
- Occasional takeoff by people who already have Revu open all day
- Anyone for whom per-seat cost is the first filter; Bluebeam is among the cheapest per-seat tools that can measure a drawing
One platform note for Bluebeam buyers. Every plan includes Revu for Windows plus Bluebeam on web and mobile, but Revu for Mac reached end of life on 28 June 2023. A Mac estimator who wants the full desktop measuring tools should look at STACK or another browser tool.
Running both is common and sensible: Bluebeam on every desk for RFIs, submittals and markups, and two or three STACK seats for the people who build bids. See also STACK vs PlanSwift and Bluebeam vs PlanSwift.
If you would rather not click at all
Whichever of the two you choose, a person still finds each fixture and traces each run. Pilars removes that step. Upload the plan set and the spec book, and the software reads every sheet, resolves the schedules and cross-references, counts and measures, and returns confidence-scored quantities tied to the sheet they came from. The estimator reviews the result.
Pilars is $300 per user per month, billed monthly or annually, and each user covers one trade of their choice with unlimited takeoffs. That is about what a STACK seat costs at its published floor and several times a Bluebeam seat, so price is not the reason to choose it; the reason is that the software does the first pass. Three estimators would pay $900 a month, or $10,800 a year, and a shop that bids two trades needs a user for each. It is browser-based and covers 19 trades, and any detection can be opened and corrected before the quantities go into your estimate. For accuracy evidence, see our published duplex receptacle count benchmark.
Pilars does not replace Bluebeam for markup or STACK for proposals. It replaces the hours of clicking that come before them. Try it on your own drawings in the live demo.
Questions estimators actually ask
Is STACK better than Bluebeam for takeoff?
STACK is the stronger takeoff product because it was built for takeoff and estimating, with quantities flowing into an estimate and proposal. Bluebeam Revu is PDF markup software with good manual measurement tools, and it suits people who take off occasionally.
What is the difference between STACK and Bluebeam?
STACK is browser-based takeoff and estimating software priced as low as $299 per user per month. Bluebeam Revu is PDF markup and measurement software at $260 to $590 per user per year, and it does not include an estimating database or proposals.
Which is cheaper for a three-estimator shop, STACK or Bluebeam?
Bluebeam is far cheaper per seat: three Complete seats cost $1,320 per year, against at least $10,764 for three STACK Takeoff & Estimate users at the published as-low-as rate. STACK includes estimating and proposals, which Bluebeam does not.
Can Bluebeam do everything STACK does if I buy the Complete plan?
No. Bluebeam Complete adds Dynamic Fill, Quantity Link to Excel and batch tools, which makes Bluebeam a capable measuring tool. Bluebeam still has no cost database, estimate or proposal builder, so pricing happens in your own spreadsheet or estimating system.
Does Bluebeam Max have AI takeoff like STACK Assist?
Bluebeam Max puts its AI into drawing review, drawing comparison, multi-view stitching and Magic Markups, and Bluebeam lists no auto count feature. STACK Assist is aimed at takeoff itself, although Floor Plan AI is a paid add-on and Symbol Counting AI is documented for electrical sheets only.
Do STACK and Bluebeam work on a Mac?
STACK runs in a browser, so it works on a Mac. Bluebeam plans include Revu for Windows desktop plus Bluebeam on web and mobile, and Revu for Mac reached end of life in June 2023.
Is there takeoff software that does the counting for me instead of STACK or Bluebeam?
Pilars is automated: the software reads the plan set and the spec book and returns quantities for an estimator to review and edit. Pilars runs in a browser and costs $300 per user per month with one trade per user and unlimited takeoffs, which is close to the STACK floor price and well above a Bluebeam seat.