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Construction · head to head

PlanGrid vs Trunk Tools

PlanGrid logo

PlanGrid

Construction

Construction productivity software for the field

From
$39/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Trunk Tools logo

Trunk Tools

Construction

Answers questions from a project document set with citations, so field staff stop hunting drawings

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: PlanGrid autodesk states PlanGrid is no longer available for purchase by net-new customers, with new buyers directed to Forma Build; Trunk Tools nothing about pricing is published, and because it is quoted by project rather than by seat, the cost of standardising it across a portfolio of jobs is hard to model before a sales process
  • They diverge on capability: PlanGrid covers Blueprint management, Trunk Tools covers Question answering with citations.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which PlanGrid and Trunk Tools actually diverge.

Attributes where PlanGrid and Trunk Tools differ
AttributePlanGridTrunk Tools
Starting price$39/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
Founded1982Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, Ios, Android), 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 PlanGrid

  • Blueprint management
  • Issue tracking
  • Photo documentation
  • Punch lists
  • RFI management
  • Autodesk BIM 360
  • Procore
  • Box

Only in Trunk Tools

  • Question answering with citations
  • Text message interface
  • Submittal review
  • RFI drafting
  • Schedule agent
  • Drawing and specification ingestion
  • Change awareness

What people use each for

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

PlanGrid

  • Giving field crews real-time access to construction plans, issues and photosnot Trunk Tools
  • Capturing site forms and photos from a tablet on a job sitenot Trunk Tools
  • Managing organization licences for a construction document appnot Trunk Tools

Trunk Tools

  • A superintendent on a data centre project who needs to know the required fire rating of a specific partition type without leaving the decknot PlanGrid
  • A project engineer reviewing 300 submittals who wants conflicts against the specification flagged before the architect sees themnot PlanGrid
  • A contractor whose RFIs are being rejected as already answered in the specification and wants the document checked firstnot PlanGrid
  • A team that has just received a revised drawing set and needs to know which in-progress work is now affectednot PlanGrid

Where each one falls short

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

PlanGrid

  • Autodesk states PlanGrid is no longer available for purchase by net-new customers, with new buyers directed to Forma Build
  • PlanGrid access is now sold only through Forma Build, so pricing is set by the Forma Build subscription rather than PlanGrid itself
  • Mobile users must access PlanGrid projects through the Autodesk Forma mobile app rather than a standalone PlanGrid app
  • The PlanGrid desktop app requires Windows 10 or higher
  • The Admin Console for managing users and licences is a separate site restricted to designated organization admins

Trunk Tools

  • Nothing about pricing is published, and because it is quoted by project rather than by seat, the cost of standardising it across a portfolio of jobs is hard to model before a sales process
  • Answer quality is bounded entirely by the discipline of the underlying document control, and on a project with stale drawing revisions it will cite superseded sheets with the same confidence as current ones
  • It is an overlay on Procore or Autodesk rather than a system of record, so a contractor is now paying two vendors for the same document set and depends on the integration continuing to be maintained
  • The company is young and the product category is new, so there is little independent long-run evidence on accuracy, and a contractor putting field decisions on it should build its own verification sampling rather than trust vendor claims
  • Answers with citations do not carry contractual weight; an RFI response or a specification still governs, so the tool reduces search time without reducing the contractual review burden

Pricing, plan by plan

PlanGrid

$39/month
  • Build$39/month
    • Sheet management
    • Issue tracking
    • RFIs
  • EnterpriseFree
    • Advanced analytics
    • Custom integrations
    • Priority support

Trunk Tools

On request
  • Trunk Tools$undefined/year
    • Quoted by project, user count and modules taken
    • Pilot projects commonly priced separately from an enterprise agreement
    • Document ingestion and integration setup scoped per customer

Which should you pick?

Choose PlanGrid if

  • You need blueprint management.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want issue tracking.
PlanGrid review

Choose Trunk Tools if

  • You need question answering with citations.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want text message interface.
Trunk Tools review

Questions people ask

Is PlanGrid or Trunk Tools better?
Neither clearly leads. PlanGrid starts at $39/month and Trunk Tools at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, PlanGrid or Trunk Tools?
PlanGrid starts at $39/month and Trunk Tools at On request.
Does PlanGrid or Trunk Tools run on more platforms?
PlanGrid runs on Web, Ios, Android. Trunk Tools runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is PlanGrid best used for?
PlanGrid is most often used for giving field crews real-time access to construction plans, issues and photos, capturing site forms and photos from a tablet on a job site, managing organization licences for a construction document app. Of those, giving field crews real-time access to construction plans, issues and photos and capturing site forms and photos from a tablet on a job site are not what Trunk Tools is typically brought in for.
What can PlanGrid do that Trunk Tools cannot?
PlanGrid covers Blueprint management, Issue tracking, Photo documentation, Punch lists. Trunk Tools covers Question answering with citations, Text message interface, Submittal review, RFI drafting.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Trunk Tools: Does it replace Procore?

No. It reads from Procore or Autodesk Construction Cloud and adds retrieval and review on top. You still pay for the document platform.

Trunk Tools: What does it cost?

Trunk Tools does not publish pricing. Expect a quote scoped by project, users and which modules you take.

Trunk Tools: Can it be wrong?

Yes. It cites its source, which lets you check, but if the document set contains superseded drawings it will answer from them. Document control discipline is a prerequisite, not an optional extra.

Trunk Tools: Can field staff use it without the app?

Yes. TrunkText answers questions by text message, which is the main reason foremen adopt it.

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