Earthwork takeoff in Bluebeam vs SitesAI Estimate

Bluebeam Revu is on most estimators' computers already, so the first question about earthworks is often "can't I just do it in Bluebeam?" The answer is: partly, by hand. This page shows how estimators do an earthwork takeoff in Revu, where it runs out, and how it compares with SitesAI Estimate.

We make SitesAI Estimate, so read this as a vendor's comparison. Every Bluebeam fact below comes from Bluebeam's own pricing, help and press pages, checked on 19 October 2026, with links at the bottom. If something has changed, tell us and we will fix it.

How to do an earthwork takeoff in Bluebeam

Revu has a Volume measurement on the Core, Complete and Max plans. The Basics plan has length and area only. In Bluebeam's own words, Volume "calculates the volume of an area with a defined depth": you trace a shape and type its depth in the measurement properties. Each markup has one depth, and Revu does not read levels off the drawing. So an earthworks takeoff in Bluebeam is the grid method done by hand:

1. Calibrate the sheet from a known dimension.
2. Draw a grid over the earthworks area. Smaller cells are more accurate and more work.
3. Work out each cell's depth: the existing level minus the design level at each corner, read off the contours and spot levels, then averaged. Cells that the cut/fill line crosses need splitting, or their cut and fill cancel out.
4. Place a Volume markup on each cell with that depth. Put cut and fill on separate subjects or layers.
5. Total them in the Markups List, or export it to CSV and finish in Excel. On Complete and Max, Quantity Link sends totals to a workbook.
6. Apply swell and shrink in Excel, then work out the balance and the truck loads.

A reply on the Bluebeam Community forum in October 2026 described the same workaround, and its limit: "It's manual per cell, there's no live formula." Change the pad level and you redo the depths.

The method itself is sound. It is the same grid method we work through in how to calculate cut and fill. What costs time is doing it by hand: reading the levels, averaging the depths and splitting the mixed cells, for every cell and for every revision.

Where Bluebeam wins

Everything that isn't earthworks. Revu is a general PDF markup and takeoff tool for every trade: concrete, framing, finishes and services, with markups the whole project team can read and shared Sessions for review. If your takeoff is mostly not dirt, or your builder already sends you marked-up PDFs in Bluebeam, it earns its place.

It's already installed. Many estimators have a Revu licence through their employer. For an occasional small pad, the grid workaround with a handful of cells is quick enough.

AI on the Max plan. Bluebeam Max, launched in May 2026, connects Revu to Claude and ChatGPT through MCP and adds AI drawing review and Magic Markups. Bluebeam's knowledge base says MCP can create count markups but "doesn't yet truly identify underlying objects". Nothing published covers earthworks volumes.

Where SitesAI Estimate wins

It reads the levels for you. You trace the contours and spot levels on the plan and the existing surface is built from them. You add the design platform with its batters, and the cut and fill update as you draw. Move the pad level and the volumes follow. There is no grid of depths to redo.

You can check it in 3D. The existing ground and the design are shown as terrain you can turn and inspect, which is where a wrong level or a missed batter shows up before it reaches the quote.

The estimate is in the same file. Volumes carry swell and shrink per element, and they feed rate build-ups and stages that export to Excel and PDF on Pro. With Bluebeam the pricing happens in a separate spreadsheet.

It runs on a Mac. SitesAI Estimate runs in a browser on Windows, Mac or a tablet. Bluebeam's own support page says Revu is not supported on Apple Mac.

It costs less to try. The free plan opens a plan, draws the takeoff and shows it in 3D. The volume figures come with Pro at US$39 per user a month. The Revu plans with a Volume tool start at AU$550 per user a year.

Using both

The two don't conflict. A common split is Bluebeam for marking up the drawing set and every other trade, and SitesAI Estimate for the earthworks quantities and price. The same PDF, DWG or DXF plan opens in SitesAI Estimate. The real workflow is in cut and fill from a PDF plan. For a quick check from a handful of levels, the free cut and fill calculator does the grid sums for you.