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Construction · head to head

Bluebeam Revu vs GCPay

Bluebeam Revu logo

Bluebeam Revu

Construction

PDF markup and collaboration for construction

From
$260/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
GCPay logo

GCPay

Construction

Subcontractor pay application and lien waiver exchange for general contractors in North America

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Bluebeam Revu hosting a Studio collaboration requires the $330 Core plan; the $260 Basics plan can only participate in one; GCPay the subcontractor is a compelled user who did not choose the tool, so adoption friction and support load fall on the general contractor, and small trades with one bookkeeper resent every extra portal.
  • They diverge on capability: Bluebeam Revu covers PDF markup, GCPay covers Pay application workflow.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bluebeam Revu and GCPay actually diverge.

Attributes where Bluebeam Revu and GCPay differ
AttributeBluebeam RevuGCPay
Starting price$260/yearOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Web, iOS, AndroidWeb
Founded2002Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Construction).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Bluebeam Revu

  • PDF markup
  • Document creation
  • Measurement tools
  • Cloud collaboration
  • Takeoffs
  • Procore
  • PlanGrid
  • Box

Only in GCPay

  • Pay application workflow
  • Lien waiver exchange
  • Compliance tracking
  • Change order management
  • ePayments
  • Retainage handling
  • ERP integration
  • Subcontractor portal

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Bluebeam Revu

  • Marking up and measuring construction drawings as PDFsnot GCPay
  • Overlaying and comparing drawing revisionsnot GCPay
  • Running takeoff quantities into Excel on the Complete plannot GCPay

GCPay

  • A general contractor in a strict lien state that has been burned by a missing unconditional waiver and needs waiver status tied to each payment rather than filed in a shared drivenot Bluebeam Revu
  • A contractor whose accounts payable team spends the first week of every month rekeying pay applications from PDF emails into Sage or Viewpointnot Bluebeam Revu
  • An owner-facing GC that must produce a clean audit trail of who was paid what and when, with insurance compliance evidence attachednot Bluebeam Revu
  • A construction group standardising on Autodesk Construction Cloud that wants payment application data in the same estate as the project recordnot Bluebeam Revu

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Bluebeam Revu

  • Hosting a Studio collaboration requires the $330 Core plan; the $260 Basics plan can only participate in one
  • Quantity Link with Excel and batch automation are held back to the $440 Complete plan
  • The $590 Max price is labelled introductory on the vendor's own pricing page, so it is not a settled rate

GCPay

  • The subcontractor is a compelled user who did not choose the tool, so adoption friction and support load fall on the general contractor, and small trades with one bookkeeper resent every extra portal.
  • Pricing is entirely quoted and keyed to annual subcontracted construction value, which means a contractor with a few very large subcontracts can pay far more than one with many small ones for identical functionality.
  • The ePayment fee structure is decided per general contractor, so a subcontractor cannot predict its cost of getting paid across clients and may be charged on one job and not another for the same work.
  • It is a payment and compliance system, not job costing; commitments still have to reconcile against the ERP, and integration gaps mean many contractors run a manual check anyway.
  • Autodesk acquired parent Payapps in 2024, and the strategic direction is convergence with Autodesk Construction Cloud, so buyers on Procore or a non-Autodesk stack should ask directly what the roadmap commitment to their platform is.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bluebeam Revu

$260/year
  • Basics$260/year
    • Per user, billed annually
    • PDF creation, viewing, editing and markups
    • Measure length and area
  • Core$330/year
    • Per user, billed annually
    • 2D and 3D PDF markup tools
    • Overlay and compare drawings
  • Complete$440/year
    • Per user, billed annually
    • Dynamic Fill measurements
    • Quantity Link with Excel
  • Max$590/year
    • Per user, billed annually, introductory pricing
    • AI drawing reviews and comparisons
    • AI multi-view stitching

GCPay

On request
  • GCPay for General Contractors$undefined/year
    • Priced on project count, subcontractor count and annual subcontracted volume
    • Unlimited free subcontractor accounts
    • Lien waiver and compliance tracking
  • ePayments and Waiver Exchange$undefined/month
    • Per-transaction fee disclosed at submission
    • General contractor may absorb the fee or pass it to the subcontractor
    • Subcontractor must acknowledge the fee before submitting

Which should you pick?

Choose Bluebeam Revu if

  • You need pdf markup.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want document creation.
Bluebeam Revu review

Choose GCPay if

  • You need pay application workflow.
  • You also want lien waiver exchange.
GCPay review

Questions people ask

Is Bluebeam Revu or GCPay better?
Neither clearly leads. Bluebeam Revu starts at $260/year and GCPay at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bluebeam Revu or GCPay?
Bluebeam Revu starts at $260/year and GCPay at On request.
Does Bluebeam Revu or GCPay run on more platforms?
Bluebeam Revu runs on Windows, macOS, Web, iOS, Android. GCPay runs on Web.
What is Bluebeam Revu best used for?
Bluebeam Revu is most often used for marking up and measuring construction drawings as pdfs, overlaying and comparing drawing revisions, running takeoff quantities into excel on the complete plan. Of those, marking up and measuring construction drawings as pdfs and overlaying and comparing drawing revisions are not what GCPay is typically brought in for.
What can Bluebeam Revu do that GCPay cannot?
Bluebeam Revu covers PDF markup, Document creation, Measurement tools, Cloud collaboration. GCPay covers Pay application workflow, Lien waiver exchange, Compliance tracking, Change order management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bluebeam Revu: How much does Bluebeam Revu cost?

Bluebeam publishes four annual per user plans: Basics at $260, Core at $330, Complete at $440 and Max at $590 per user per year. Max is listed as introductory pricing.

Source
GCPay: Who pays for GCPay, the GC or the sub?

The general contractor pays the subscription. Subcontractor accounts are free. Only the optional ePayment and waiver exchange transaction fee can be passed to the subcontractor, and only with their acknowledgement.

Bluebeam Revu: What is the difference between Bluebeam Basics and Core?

Core adds specialty markup tools for 2D and 3D PDFs, measurement of perimeters, counts, angles and volume, drawing overlay and comparison, CAD plug-ins, and the ability to host Studio collaborations rather than only join them.

Source
GCPay: How much is the ePayment fee?

It is a flat per-transaction fee, disclosed at the point the pay application is submitted. GCPay has published a $15 figure for the ePayments and waiver exchange service, and the GC decides who bears it.

GCPay: Is GCPay owned by Autodesk?

Yes. Autodesk agreed to acquire Payapps, which trades as GCPay in North America and Payapps elsewhere, in January 2024.

GCPay: Does it replace our construction accounting system?

No. It handles the application, approval and compliance workflow and then pushes approved payments into your ERP.

GCPay: Can subcontractors export their own records?

Subcontractors can download their submitted applications and waivers, but the project record belongs to the general contractor's account, so a sub should keep its own copies rather than rely on continued portal access.

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