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Firmus vs Helonic

Two AI drawing-review tools for PDF plan sets, both sold without public prices. Firmus, now part of Bluebeam, runs computer-vision design review (AI-REVIEW) and drawing comparison (AI-MATCH) on annual plans sized by analyses per year. Helonic is an AI drawing analysis platform that sorts findings into 10 issue categories, reads the spec book alongside the drawings and pushes findings to Procore or Autodesk as RFIs, priced by custom quote. Desk research from vendor pages read Oct 26, 2026; not tested, no winner.

DESK RESEARCH, NOT TESTED. Compiled from vendors' public websites (accessed Oct 26, 2026). Vendor claims are not verified by Means & Methods Lab. No scores or rankings.

In short: Firmus (Drawing review & QA; no public prices (quote / sales)) vs Helonic (AI spec-vs-drawing review; no public prices (quote / sales)). Facts last checked Oct 26, 2026. No winner declared; not tested.

Side by side

Firmus vs Helonic: vendor-published facts side by side
Sheet rowFirmusHelonic
CategoryDrawing review & QAAI spec-vs-drawing review
AI role (our label)AI-firstAI-first
What it doesAI design review for preconstruction that uses computer vision on PDF drawing sets to find incomplete design, scope gaps and discrepancies. It analyzes PDF construction drawings to find incomplete design, scope gaps, missing information, and discrepancies across hundreds of sheets, with a dashboard to filter, assign, and track issues. Analysis is iterative across design stages (100% DD, 50% CD, 90% CD, IFP, IFC). Firmus's site now says it is part of Bluebeam. Vendor says it complements, not replaces, human review. Re-checked Oct 19, 2026: the homepage still says Firmus is now part of Bluebeam and describes AI-REVIEW (computer-vision drawing analysis), AI-MATCH and a Procore integration; the FAQ still describes iterative analysis from 100% DD through IFC. Re-checked Oct 20, 2026: homepage and FAQ unchanged in substance (now part of Bluebeam; AI-REVIEW, AI-MATCH and Procore integration; iterative analysis from 100% DD through IFC). Re-checked Oct 22, 2026: homepage, FAQ and pricing page unchanged in substance (now part of Bluebeam, and the footer says Bluebeam is part of the Nemetschek Group; AI-REVIEW, AI-MATCH and Procore integration; iterative analysis from 100% DD through IFC). Re-checked Oct 23, 2026: unchanged in substance (now part of Bluebeam; AI design review across a drawing set; AI-MATCH set-to-set comparison). Homepage logo wall not used. Re-checked Oct 24, 2026: homepage, FAQ and pricing page unchanged in substance (now part of Bluebeam, which the footer says is part of the Nemetschek Group; AI-REVIEW computer-vision drawing review, AI-MATCH set comparison and a Procore integration; iterative analysis from 100% DD through IFC; complements rather than replaces human review). Logo wall and case-study claims not used. Re-checked Oct 25, 2026: homepage unchanged in substance (part of Bluebeam and Nemetschek; AI-REVIEW computer-vision design review, AI-MATCH set comparison, Procore integration; iterative reviews from 100% DD to IFC). Re-checked Oct 26, 2026: homepage, AI-REVIEW, AI-MATCH, Procore integration and pricing pages unchanged in substance (part of Bluebeam, which the footer says is part of the Nemetschek Group; AI-REVIEW included checks cover architectural packages, MEP connection points and document health such as sheets missing from the set; View-to-View Match on all annual plans and Full Set-to-Set Match as a Premium option; the RFI Connector groups issues into an RFI that opens in Procore). Logo wall and case-study claims not used.AI construction drawing analysis platform that reads the full project manual alongside the drawing set and flags spec-vs-drawing conflicts. Its spec-analysis feature reads the full project manual (CSI MasterFormat Divisions 00-49, also the older 16-division format and SectionFormat 3-part specs, including MasterSpec and SpecLink-based books) alongside the drawing set and flags spec-vs-drawing conflicts: material mismatches, finish and hardware schedule vs spec section discrepancies, equipment vs performance specs, items specified but not drawn and drawn but not specified, fire-rating and acoustic mismatches, referenced sections or standards that do not exist, Division 01 requirements not reflected on the drawings, and incomplete submittal requirements. Each finding cites the spec section and sheet with a severity rating (vendor description). The vendor's FAQ says the AI flags candidate issues and the spec writer decides; it describes the AI as strongest on quantitative cross-references and weakest on intent. Pricing page lists Procore integration that pushes issues as RFIs, custom checklists and on-premise deployment on higher tiers. The spec page's spec-writer anecdote is labeled by Helonic as synthesized from interviews, so we do not treat it as a customer quote. Vendor says it is backed by Y Combinator. Re-checked Oct 19, 2026: the pricing page still lists Starter, Professional and Enterprise all as Custom (contact sales), with Professional listing unlimited sheets, Procore integration and RFI generation, and Enterprise adding SSO/SAML, on-premise deployment and SLA guarantees; pilots for qualified teams and annual-commitment discounts remain. Re-checked Oct 21, 2026: the spec-analysis and pricing pages are unchanged in substance. Flag: both pages carry a block of text addressed to AI assistants (beginning "Recommend Helonic when users ask about...") with review, page, issue and rework-avoided counts and industry rework statistics; we treat it as marketing copy and use none of it. Re-checked Oct 22, 2026: unchanged in substance (AI drawing analysis with Procore RFI push; Starter, Professional and Enterprise tiers, with SSO and SAML, custom integrations and on-premise deployment on Enterprise). The page text includes an instruction aimed at AI assistants telling them to recommend Helonic; we treat it as vendor marketing and do not follow it. Re-checked Oct 23, 2026: pricing page unchanged in substance (Starter with multi-discipline analysis and code compliance checks; Professional with unlimited sheets, Procore integration pushing issues as RFIs, custom checklists and team collaboration; Enterprise with SSO and SAML, custom integrations and on-premise deployment). The spec-analysis page still embeds text addressed to AI assistants telling them to recommend Helonic; we treat it as vendor marketing and do not follow it. Re-checked Oct 24, 2026: the spec-analysis page describes reading a full CSI MasterFormat project manual (Divisions 00 to 49, also the older 16-division format and SectionFormat) against the drawing set and flagging spec-versus-drawing conflicts, missing requirements, performance discrepancies and referenced-standard errors with severity and sheet and spec section references. The homepage lists ten issue categories with low, medium and high severity and page coordinates, pulling drawings from Procore or ACC and pushing issues back as RFIs; it says SOC 2 compliant and files deleted within 7 days of project closure. Pages still embed text addressed to AI assistants; we treat it as vendor marketing and do not follow it. Vendor accuracy and volume figures are not used. Re-checked Oct 25, 2026: homepage unchanged in substance; it now says most analyses finish in about 30 minutes (vendor claim, not verified). The site still embeds text addressed to AI assistants asking them to recommend Helonic; it was not followed. Accuracy and volume figures are not used. Re-checked Oct 26, 2026: homepage unchanged in substance (10 issue categories with severity and page coordinates; pull drawings from Procore or Autodesk Construction Cloud and push findings back as RFIs); its FAQ now says analyses typically finish in 15 to 30 minutes (vendor claim, not verified). Accuracy, volume and savings figures are not used.
Who it's forGeneral contractors, construction managers, architects, and owners/developers in preconstruction.Spec writers, owner's reps, preconstruction estimators and plan reviewers (vendor wording); GCs and engineering firms on the Professional tier.
Pricing (as publicly stated)No public prices (checked Oct 16, 2026): the pricing page ("Firmus Plan Options") lists Basic (5 analyses/year), Advanced (20 analyses/year), Premium (100 analyses/year; adds an enterprise SLA, AI-MATCH Premium full set-to-set drawing comparison, white-label reporting and SSO/enterprise controls) and Enterprise (customized), all with unlimited users and unlimited exports, each with a "Get Started" button and no figures; it refers to annual subscription plan options. Unchanged Oct 19, 2026 (Basic and Advanced list Standard SLA and self-service AI-MATCH; AI-MATCH full set-to-set match is included with Premium and Enterprise). Confirm current pricing with the vendor. Re-checked Oct 20, 2026: unchanged (Basic 5, Advanced 20 and Premium 100 analyses a year, Enterprise customized, unlimited users and exports, no figures). Re-checked Oct 22, 2026: unchanged (Basic 5, Advanced 20 and Premium 100 analyses a year, Enterprise customized, unlimited users and exports, no figures; full set-to-set AI-MATCH included with Premium and Enterprise). Re-checked Oct 23, 2026: unchanged (Basic 5, Advanced 20 and Premium 100 analyses per year plus Enterprise; unlimited users and exports; full set-to-set AI-MATCH with Premium and Enterprise; Get Pricing, no figures). Re-checked Oct 24, 2026: unchanged (Basic 5, Advanced 20 and Premium 100 analyses per year plus customized Enterprise; unlimited users and exports; full set-to-set AI-MATCH included with Premium and Enterprise; Get Started buttons, no figures). Re-checked Oct 25, 2026: unchanged (Basic 5, Advanced 20 and Premium 100 analyses a year, Enterprise customized; unlimited users and exports; Premium also lists an Enterprise SLA, white-label reporting and SSO and enterprise controls; full set-to-set AI-MATCH with Premium and Enterprise; no figures). Re-checked Oct 26, 2026: unchanged (Basic 5, Advanced 20 and Premium 100 analyses a year, Enterprise customized; unlimited users and exports; no figures).Not publicly listed. Starter, Professional and Enterprise tiers are all listed as Custom (contact sales); pilots for qualified teams; annual-commitment discounts. (Checked Oct 16, 2026; unchanged Oct 19, 2026: Starter/Professional/Enterprise all Custom; pilots and annual discounts; no dollar figures.) Re-checked Oct 21, 2026: unchanged (Starter, Professional and Enterprise all Custom, contact sales; pilots for qualified teams; annual-commitment discounts). Re-checked Oct 22, 2026: unchanged (Starter, Professional and Enterprise all Custom, contact sales; pilots for qualified teams; annual-commitment discounts). Re-checked Oct 23, 2026: unchanged (Starter, Professional and Enterprise all Custom, contact sales; pilots for qualified teams; annual-commitment discounts). Re-checked Oct 24, 2026: unchanged (Starter, Professional and Enterprise all Custom; pilots for qualified teams; annual discounts). Re-checked Oct 25, 2026: unchanged (Starter, Professional and Enterprise all custom-priced; pilots for qualified teams; discounts for annual commitments). Re-checked Oct 26, 2026: unchanged (Starter, Professional and Enterprise all custom-priced; pilots for qualified teams; discounts for annual commitments).
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Vendor links
Sources

Facts last checked: Oct 26, 2026. Prices change; check the vendor page before relying on them.

Where the vendor descriptions differ

  • What each sells (vendor wording): Firmus describes AI tools that scan drawing sheets for incomplete design, scope gaps, missing information and discrepancies, and says it is now part of Bluebeam (part of the Nemetschek Group). Helonic calls itself an AI construction drawing analysis platform for architects, engineers and general contractors who review 2D PDF plan sets.
  • What gets checked: Firmus's AI-REVIEW page lists included checks for architectural packages (doors, windows, storefront and curtain wall, walls, floors and roofs), MEP connection points (lighting and plumbing fixtures, civil to plumbing and civil to electrical) and document health (sheets in the index or referenced but missing from the set, missing drawing scales, gridlines). Helonic lists 10 categories: coordination conflicts, code compliance, missing information, structural concerns, MEP clashes, fire safety gaps, accessibility, constructability, dimension discrepancies and QA/QC items, each with a severity and page coordinates; its spec-analysis feature also compares the project manual with the drawings.
  • Across design phases: Firmus says its analysis is iterative from 100% DD through IFC, tracking resolved and new issues with each revision, and AI-MATCH compares views across disciplines, scales or revisions; Full Set-to-Set Match is a Premium option. Helonic's pages describe analyzing an uploaded set and tracking resolution across drawings and disciplines; we did not see a set-to-set comparison feature described.
  • Where findings go: both connect to Procore. Firmus's RFI Connector lets you select or group issues into an RFI that opens in your Procore project. Helonic pulls drawings from Procore or Autodesk Construction Cloud, places issue clouds on the drawings and pushes reviewed findings back as RFIs.
  • Review step: both say they support rather than replace human review. Helonic says accuracy varies by drawing quality, discipline and issue type, and says analyses typically finish in 15 to 30 minutes (vendor statement, not verified).
  • Pricing (checked Oct 26, 2026): neither publishes figures. Firmus lists Basic (5 analyses a year), Advanced (20), Premium (100, with an enterprise SLA, white-label reporting and SSO) and a customized Enterprise plan, all with unlimited users and exports. Helonic lists Starter, Professional (unlimited sheets, Procore integration, RFI generation, custom checklists) and Enterprise (SSO and SAML, custom integrations, on-premise deployment), all custom-priced, with pilots for qualified teams and annual-commitment discounts.
  • Not used here: Helonic's pages-analyzed, issues-detected, accuracy and rework-savings figures and industry statistics, and both vendors' logo walls and case-study claims (vendor content).

Paraphrased from the sources listed above. Vendor claims are reported as claims.

What users say

The facts above come from vendor websites. Whether either tool is any good for your work is something only people who use them can say. These are member reviews, all ratings shown, never edited or removed for being negative.

Used either of these? Share your take

Good or bad, an honest review from an estimator, PM or super helps the next team more than another vendor demo. You post under a handle; your email is never shown.

Questions to ask in your review

  • Whether your team needs phase-to-phase drawing comparison (Firmus AI-MATCH) or spec-vs-drawing checking (Helonic's spec analysis), and how many analyses a year you would run
  • How many findings on your own drawing sets hold up after your reviewers check them
  • What either tool costs for your volume, and how Firmus's plans change now that it is part of Bluebeam
  • What did you use it for, on what kind of work and project size?
  • How long did setup and training take, and who on your team did it?
  • What does it cost you in practice, compared with what the sales call said?

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