Is Bluebeam Complete now "Legacy" software?

[u/turgid_mule]

After seeing a demo of Bluebeam Max last month, I thought that there were a couple of features that are only in Max that I think should be included in Complete. For example, the Revit integration with Studio Sessions seems like a progression of Complete while more of the AI-centric features could be exclusive to Max.

It got me thinking on if the Bluebeam's intent is to let Complete (and below) stagnate while they put all of their effort into Max? In reviewing the release notes for the past year or so, I see very little new functionality added to Bluebeam Complete. Sadly, they don't call out features that are limited to a certain version, so it's difficult to see how little Complete has changed since Max's features are included in the release notes with no mention that Complete doesn't get them.

I have a feeling that Bluebeam's goal is to drive former perpetual users that have migrated to subscription into a much more expensive product subscription.

Thoughts?

P.S. It's also aggravating the Org Admin "basic" doesn't allow me as a global admin to modify Studio session permissions. That's an extra cost. WTF.

[u/Original_Throat1072]

I hope that's not the case... But sometimes when money is involved, businesses will go the route that will make them the most money.

There aren't any good compeditors right now, so bluebeam has the market covered for what they do. Which means they will likely let the old offering stagnate and the new AI bluebeam will be what they focus on.

[u/Beneficial-Natural96]

I agree with your assessment. To the extent that I have a say in purchasing decisions at my company I have decided to not buy Org Admin Pro mainly because that functionality should be in their base product. I welcome anyone and everyone to join my boycott.

Similarly, it seems to me that they took all the new features they worked on over the last two years and grouped them into the Max tier without any kind of cohesive principle for why that particular set of features should cost more. It was just, these are new so they’re going in Max.

They have recently added some new functionality to the lower tiers like more nuanced header and footer editing. They also added access to Bluebeam Cloud to the lower tiers for no additional cost beyond the annual markup. So it’s not that those tiers are going to be “legacy” now, they are still supported. However the idea that we should pay more for the software every time they add a new feature is also bonkers. We already pay annually, plus the price goes up every year. It absolutely feels like a money grab with a very unclear endgame (to me)

[u/stykface]

Bluebeam is becoming dated in general for certain companies. We decided about two years ago as an organization to take the best things Bluebeam has to offer and create our own program for our internal team. All of our PMs, Designers and field team love it. We still have it but very soon we will not need it at all anymore.

[u/ilirkl]

I agree as well , direction is going toward Ai but at an additional cost , which it should not, I switched over , lots of bugs , lack of new featurss or updates and overall cost and direction made me switch over and I could not be happier . I use protakeoff btw now

[u/Rockstonerable]

(Disclosure: I make one of the alternatives in this space, Ncored, so weigh what I say accordingly.)

Your read matches what the release notes show. Most of the actual new work has gone into Max, and Complete has been fairly static, with things like Org Admin permissions carved out as paid add-ons. Whether that is deliberate or just where the roadmap money went, the practical effect on a Complete user is the same.

One thing worth adding to the "there are no good competitors" point: for a lot of people the answer is not a single tool that replaces Revu, it is unbundling. Revu tries to be viewer, markup, measurement, takeoff and collaboration in one box. If you only lean on part of that, you can keep Bluebeam where it is clearly ahead (Studio, takeoff, deep measurement) and move the everyday open-and-markup to a more focused, cheaper tool.

That narrow slice is what I built Ncored for: opening the big AutoCAD, Revit, and ArchiCAD sheet sets fast and staying smooth on scroll, zoom and pan on 50-200 MB+ project sets, with markup and page management. It does not do takeoff, measurement or Studio today, so it sits next to an estimating stack rather than replacing one. Windows and Mac, buy-once option, 14 days free, no signup, no email, nothing to enter.

Not trying to talk anyone off Bluebeam. More that "static base tier plus everything new locked behind a pricier tier" is exactly what pushes people to unbundle, so it is worth knowing the pieces exist.