Head to head

Nightglass vs Bluebeam Revu

Both are built for drawing sets and process files on your computer. Bluebeam Revu is the established AEC tool on Windows, with live team sessions; Nightglass is a native desktop app for Mac, Windows and Linux (Windows and Linux in beta), with a free tier, at a fraction of the per-seat price.

Side by side

Drawing Sets & Platform

CapabilityNightglassBluebeam Revu
Huge drawing setsYes: 511 sheets open at once, under 3 GBBuilt for drawing sets; test results coming soon
Measurement & takeoffYes: Six measures, to Excel (Pro)Yes: Industry standard
Batch sheet linkingYes: Yes, across sets (Pro)Yes: Batch Link (Complete+)
Compare revisionsYes: Drawings and text, with reports (Pro)Yes: Overlay + compare (Core+)
Team collaborationPartly: No live sessions; shares PDFs and XFDF (Pro)Yes: Studio Sessions (live)
Mobile and iPad appsNo: NoYes: iOS and Android
LicensingPer personPer seat
MacYes: Yes, nativePartly: Web and mobile only
WindowsPartly: BetaYes: Revu for Windows
LinuxPartly: BetaNo: No

Privacy & Control

CapabilityNightglassBluebeam Revu
Where documents are processedYes: On your computerYes: Locally, in the desktop app
Account to use itYes: None neededNo: Bluebeam ID

Private AI

CapabilityNightglassBluebeam Revu
Where the AI runsYes: On your computer (Pro)Partly: Cloud AI, Max plan only
AI costIncluded in ProMax plan (Smart Review, Smart Overlay)

Editing, OCR & Data

CapabilityNightglassBluebeam Revu
Markup & annotationYes: Full studioYes: Deep, built for AEC
OCR for scansYes: Built in, runs locally (English)Yes: Built in

Security & Legal

CapabilityNightglassBluebeam Revu
RedactionYes: Permanent, true removal (Pro)Yes: Yes
Digital signaturesYes: Certificate signingYes: Digital signatures

Pricing & Ownership

CapabilityNightglassBluebeam Revu
Subscription, per year$99/yr (or $12/mo)About $260–590/yr per seat
Own it outright$299 founders lifetimeNot offered
Free tierGenerous free tierNone (view-only after trial)
Trial14 days, no card14 days

Prices and features as listed by each vendor as of November 2026; check their sites. Side-by-side large drawing-set test results are coming soon. Rows we could not verify are left out.

Bluebeam and Revu are trademarks of Bluebeam, Inc. Adobe and Acrobat are trademarks of Adobe. Foxit is a trademark of Foxit Software. PDF-XChange is a trademark of PDF-XChange Co. Ltd. PDFgear is a trademark of its owner. Used for identification only.

Where Bluebeam Revu is stronger

  • Its takeoff toolset is the industry standard, with quantities to Excel.
  • Live team collaboration in Studio Sessions.
  • iOS and Android apps, plus web access on any computer.
  • Deep markup built for AEC, and long established with AEC teams.
  • A mature Windows desktop app (Revu for Windows).
  • Batch Link (Complete and up) and overlay compare (Core and up).

Where Nightglass is stronger

  • Runs natively on the Mac, as well as on Windows and Linux (beta); Bluebeam offers web and mobile on the Mac, and its desktop app is Windows only.
  • Hundreds of sheets stay fast: in our tests, 511 sheets stayed open at once with Nightglass under 3 GB of memory.
  • No account needed; Bluebeam requires a Bluebeam ID.
  • Pro is $99 a year (or $12 a month), or $299 once for the founders lifetime license; Bluebeam is about $260 to $590 per seat per year, with no perpetual license.
  • A free tier for everyday work (Bluebeam is view-only after its trial), a 14-day Pro trial with no card, and a Linux version in beta.

Who should choose which

Choose Bluebeam Revu if your team already runs Revu on Windows, depends on its takeoff toolset or live Studio Sessions, needs mobile apps, or shares AEC workflows built around Bluebeam.

Choose Nightglass if you work on a Mac, or across Mac, Windows and Linux, need huge drawing sets to stay fast with markup, takeoff to Excel, batch sheet linking and compare, and want to pay a fraction of a Bluebeam seat, or start free.

More