PlanHub and ConstructionBids.ai both help contractors find bid opportunities, but they serve the market with fundamentally different models. PlanHub connects subcontractors to general contractors through a project-posting network. ConstructionBids.ai aggregates opportunities from 100+ government portals and private sources using AI-powered search. This comparison breaks down pricing, features, coverage, and ideal use cases so you pick the right platform for your business.
Quick Comparison Overview
| Feature | PlanHub | ConstructionBids.ai | |---------|---------|---------------------| | Primary Focus | GC-to-sub project network | Public + private bid aggregation | | Bid Sources | GC-posted projects | 100+ government portals + private sources | | Starting Price | Free basic tier | $149/month | | Premium Price | $100-200/month | $149-299/month | | Free Trial | Free tier (limited) | 14-day full access trial | | Contract Length | Monthly or annual | Month-to-month | | AI Features | None | Advanced bid matching + analysis | | Government Coverage | Limited | Comprehensive (federal, state, local) | | Plan Room | Yes | No (links to source documents) | | Mobile App | Yes (iOS/Android) | Responsive web app | | Real-Time Alerts | Email notifications | Email, SMS, dashboard alerts | | Bid Analytics | Basic reporting | AI-powered competitive intelligence |
Platform Overview
PlanHub
PlanHub operates as a construction bid marketplace connecting subcontractors with general contractors. GCs post active projects to the platform, and subcontractors browse and respond to those listings. The platform launched to fill the gap between traditional plan rooms and modern digital procurement.
Core model: PlanHub depends on general contractors actively posting projects. Subcontractors only see opportunities that GCs choose to list on the platform. This network-dependent model means coverage varies by market and GC adoption rates.
Key characteristics:
- Free basic tier for subcontractors to browse projects
- Premium plans ($100-200/month) for enhanced search and notifications
- Plan room features with document hosting
- Growing network of GCs across the United States
- Mobile app for on-the-go bid review
ConstructionBids.ai
ConstructionBids.ai takes an aggregation-first approach. Instead of waiting for contractors to post projects, the platform actively scrapes and monitors 100+ government procurement portals, federal databases, state DOT sites, and private bid boards. AI-powered matching delivers relevant opportunities directly to each contractor's dashboard.
Core model: ConstructionBids.ai pulls opportunities from the source, regardless of whether any contractor manually posts them. Government agencies publish bids on their own portals, and the platform captures them automatically.
Key characteristics:
- 100+ source aggregation spanning government and private sectors
- AI-powered search, matching, and bid analysis
- Comprehensive coverage of federal, state, and local opportunities
- Real-time alerts with customizable filters
- Transparent monthly pricing at $149-299/month
Pricing Breakdown
PlanHub Pricing
PlanHub offers a tiered pricing structure with a free entry point:
Free Tier:
- Browse available projects in your area
- Limited search filters
- Basic project details
- Email notifications (limited frequency)
Premium Plans ($100-200/month):
- Full project details and documents
- Advanced search and filtering
- Priority notifications
- Enhanced plan room access
- Bid management tools
The free tier gets subcontractors in the door, but serious bidders need premium access for complete project details and document downloads. Annual commitments reduce the monthly rate.
ConstructionBids.ai Pricing
ConstructionBids.ai offers two transparent monthly plans:
Professional ($149/month):
- Full access to 100+ source aggregation
- AI-powered bid matching
- Custom search filters and saved searches
- Real-time email and dashboard alerts
- Bid tracking and pipeline management
Enterprise ($299/month):
- Everything in Professional
- Advanced AI competitive intelligence
- Historical bid tabulation analysis
- Team collaboration features
- Priority support and onboarding
Both plans operate month-to-month with no annual commitment required. A 14-day free trial provides full platform access before any payment.
Pricing Verdict
PlanHub wins on entry price with its free tier. Contractors testing the waters appreciate zero upfront cost. However, the free tier restricts access to project details and documents, pushing active bidders to premium plans at $100-200/month. ConstructionBids.ai starts at $149/month but includes full AI features and comprehensive source coverage from day one. For contractors actively pursuing bids, the cost difference between platforms narrows significantly at the premium level.
Start your free 14-day trial of ConstructionBids.ai and compare coverage firsthand.
Bid Coverage and Sources
Coverage determines how many relevant opportunities you actually see each month. This is where the two platforms diverge most.
PlanHub Coverage
PlanHub's project inventory comes from GCs posting on the platform. This creates a network-dependent coverage model:
Strengths:
- Private commercial projects that GCs actively manage
- Growing footprint in major metropolitan markets
- Office, retail, industrial, and multi-family residential listings
- Direct GC-to-sub project flow
Limitations:
- If GCs in your market don't use PlanHub, you see fewer projects
- Government and public works coverage is minimal
- Coverage varies dramatically by geographic region
- No federal contract aggregation
- Project volume tied to GC adoption, not market activity
Coverage reality: A subcontractor in a market with strong PlanHub GC adoption sees solid deal flow. A subcontractor in a market where GCs prefer other platforms sees a thin project list. You cannot control which GCs join the network.
ConstructionBids.ai Coverage
ConstructionBids.ai sources opportunities independently of any contractor network:
Government Sources:
- Federal contracts via SAM.gov integration
- State DOT projects across all 50 states
- County and municipal procurement portals
- School district and university construction
- Transit authority and infrastructure projects
- Water districts and utility construction
- Housing authority developments
Private Sources:
- Private bid boards and invitation-to-bid postings
- Pre-construction project tracking
- Owner-direct opportunities
Coverage numbers:
- 100+ procurement portals monitored continuously
- All 50 states plus federal opportunities
- 15,000+ new bids posted monthly
- Historical bid data for competitive analysis
Coverage reality: Every publicly advertised government bid in monitored portals appears on the platform regardless of contractor behavior. Coverage does not depend on any third party choosing to post.
Coverage Verdict
ConstructionBids.ai delivers broader, more reliable coverage. PlanHub provides access to private commercial projects that ConstructionBids.ai does not cover, but its project volume depends on GC adoption in your specific market. For contractors who pursue government work, ConstructionBids.ai is the clear choice. For contractors focused exclusively on private GC-driven commercial work, PlanHub fills a niche.
Search and Filtering
PlanHub Search
PlanHub provides standard search functionality:
- Filter by trade and CSI division
- Geographic search by state, city, or zip code
- Project type filtering
- Keyword search across project titles and descriptions
- Sort by date, location, or bid deadline
The search tools work adequately for browsing a curated project list, but they lack intelligence features. You search; the platform returns results. No learning, no pattern matching, no proactive recommendations.
ConstructionBids.ai Search
ConstructionBids.ai layers AI on top of search:
- AI-powered matching learns your bidding preferences and surfaces relevant opportunities
- NAICS code filtering for government bid categorization
- Set-aside filters (DBE, MBE, WBE, SDVOSB, HUBZone, 8(a))
- Multi-state and radius-based geographic search
- Saved searches with automated monitoring
- Natural language query processing
- Budget range and project size filters
- Agency and department-level filtering
The platform actively recommends bids you have not searched for based on your profile, past activity, and win patterns. This shifts bid discovery from manual browsing to intelligent delivery.
Search Verdict
ConstructionBids.ai wins decisively on search capabilities. AI-powered matching and proactive recommendations outperform manual keyword search. Contractors using ConstructionBids.ai discover opportunities they would have missed with basic search tools.
Notifications and Alerts
Timely bid notification separates winning contractors from those who find out too late.
PlanHub Notifications
- Email alerts when new projects match your criteria
- In-app notifications for bid invitations
- Push notifications via mobile app
- Basic frequency controls
PlanHub delivers functional notifications. GC bid invitations arrive promptly. The mobile app provides convenient push notifications for contractors in the field.
ConstructionBids.ai Notifications
- Real-time email alerts with customizable triggers
- Dashboard notification center with priority ranking
- SMS alerts for high-priority bids
- Custom alert rules by geography, trade, project size, and deadline
- AI-prioritized alerts based on match quality score
- Deadline countdown warnings
ConstructionBids.ai notifications include a match quality score, helping you prioritize which opportunities deserve immediate attention. Alert customization goes deeper, letting you set specific conditions that trigger notifications rather than broad category matches.
Notifications Verdict
ConstructionBids.ai provides more granular, intelligent notifications. PlanHub's mobile app push notifications offer convenience, but ConstructionBids.ai's match scoring and SMS alerts deliver better prioritization for busy estimating teams.
Plan Room and Document Access
PlanHub Plan Room
Plan room functionality is one of PlanHub's genuine strengths:
- Digital plan room with hosted project documents
- Online document viewing without downloads
- Specification and addendum tracking
- Bid package organization
- Mark-up and annotation tools on premium plans
For subcontractors who review plans frequently, PlanHub's plan room reduces the friction of accessing bid documents. GCs upload complete bid packages, and subs review them within the platform.
ConstructionBids.ai Document Access
ConstructionBids.ai takes a different approach to documents:
- Direct links to source documents on agency procurement portals
- Bid package summaries with AI-extracted key requirements
- Addendum tracking and alerts
- No hosted plan room; documents live at the source
ConstructionBids.ai prioritizes getting you to the official bid documents rather than hosting copies. AI-extracted summaries let you quickly assess whether a project warrants downloading the full bid package.
Document Access Verdict
PlanHub wins on plan room convenience with its hosted document viewer. ConstructionBids.ai compensates with AI-generated bid summaries that save time during initial evaluation. The right choice depends on your workflow preference.
AI and Analytics Features
PlanHub Analytics
PlanHub offers basic reporting:
- Bid activity tracking
- Project pipeline view
- Basic bid history
No AI-powered features. No competitive intelligence. No automated analysis of bid patterns or win probability.
ConstructionBids.ai AI Features
AI capabilities define the ConstructionBids.ai platform:
- Bid matching engine that learns your preferences over time
- Competitive intelligence using historical bid tabulation data
- Risk analysis flagging unusual requirements or tight timelines
- Scope analysis extracting key requirements from bid documents
- Market insights showing bidding trends by region and trade
- Win probability scoring based on historical patterns
These features transform bid discovery from a manual search exercise into an intelligent recommendation system. Contractors report spending 60% less time on initial bid evaluation when using AI-powered summaries and matching.
AI Verdict
ConstructionBids.ai wins this category entirely. PlanHub offers zero AI features. For contractors who want technology working on their behalf to find and evaluate opportunities, ConstructionBids.ai is the only option between these two platforms.
See AI-powered bid matching in action with a free trial.
Mobile Experience
PlanHub Mobile
PlanHub offers a dedicated mobile app for iOS and Android:
- Browse projects on the go
- Receive push notifications
- View project details and documents
- Respond to bid invitations
- Generally positive app store ratings
The mobile app is a genuine PlanHub advantage. Field contractors and estimators who need project access away from their desk benefit from native app performance.
ConstructionBids.ai Mobile
ConstructionBids.ai provides a fully responsive web application:
- Mobile-optimized dashboard accessible from any browser
- Full search and filter functionality on mobile
- Notifications via email and SMS
- No native app download required
The responsive design works well on mobile devices, but lacks the polish of a dedicated native app. SMS alerts partially compensate for the absence of push notifications.
Mobile Verdict
PlanHub wins on mobile experience with its dedicated app. ConstructionBids.ai's responsive web app is functional but does not match native app convenience for field use.
Who Should Choose PlanHub
PlanHub fits contractors who meet these criteria:
- Focused on private commercial work where GCs manage sub procurement
- Located in markets with strong PlanHub GC adoption (verify before subscribing)
- Budget-conscious and want to start with a free tier before committing
- Value plan room features for in-platform document review
- Need a mobile app for field-based project review
- Don't pursue government contracts or public works projects
PlanHub works best as a supplementary tool for private sector opportunities. The free tier lets you test whether GCs in your market actually post projects before investing in premium.
Who Should Choose ConstructionBids.ai
ConstructionBids.ai fits contractors who meet these criteria:
- Pursue government and public works contracts at federal, state, or local levels
- Want comprehensive coverage that doesn't depend on other contractors' behavior
- Need AI-powered search and matching to reduce bid evaluation time
- Operate across multiple states or regions
- Require competitive intelligence with historical bid data
- Bid on set-aside contracts (DBE, MBE, SDVOSB, HUBZone, 8(a))
- Want real-time alerts with intelligent prioritization
ConstructionBids.ai serves as a primary bid discovery platform. Its aggregation model ensures consistent opportunity volume regardless of market dynamics.
The Verdict: Which Platform Wins in 2026?
ConstructionBids.ai wins on coverage, features, and technology. The platform delivers more opportunities from more sources with smarter tools for evaluation. AI-powered matching, competitive intelligence, and comprehensive government coverage give contractors a measurable advantage in finding and winning bids.
PlanHub serves as a decent free starting point, but contractors outgrow it quickly. The free tier provides limited value, and premium plans ($100-200/month) deliver a narrower project list than ConstructionBids.ai's $149/month Professional plan. Coverage that depends on GC adoption creates an unreliable pipeline foundation.
The strategic recommendation: Start with ConstructionBids.ai as your primary bid discovery platform for reliable, AI-enhanced coverage. Add PlanHub's free tier as a supplemental source if private commercial GC connections matter to your business. As your bid volume grows, ConstructionBids.ai's AI tools and aggregation depth deliver compounding returns that PlanHub's manual network cannot match.
Bottom line: Contractors who rely solely on PlanHub leave government opportunities and AI-driven efficiency on the table. ConstructionBids.ai provides the broader coverage, smarter tools, and consistent deal flow that growing construction businesses need.
Start your free 14-day trial of ConstructionBids.ai today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is PlanHub free for subcontractors?
PlanHub offers a free basic tier for subcontractors. The free tier provides limited project browsing and search capabilities. Full project details, document access, and advanced features require a premium subscription at $100-200 per month.
How much does ConstructionBids.ai cost per month?
ConstructionBids.ai offers two plans: Professional at $149/month and Enterprise at $299/month. Both plans operate month-to-month with no annual commitment. A 14-day free trial provides full access before payment.
Does PlanHub cover government construction bids?
PlanHub provides minimal government bid coverage. The platform focuses on private commercial projects posted by general contractors. Contractors pursuing federal, state, or local government work need a dedicated government bid aggregator like ConstructionBids.ai.
Can I use both PlanHub and ConstructionBids.ai together?
Yes. Many contractors use ConstructionBids.ai as their primary bid discovery platform for government and aggregated opportunities, then supplement with PlanHub's free tier for private commercial GC connections. The platforms cover different segments of the market.
Does ConstructionBids.ai have a mobile app?
ConstructionBids.ai offers a fully responsive web application optimized for mobile browsers. The platform does not have a dedicated native app. SMS alerts and email notifications ensure you receive bid opportunities on any device.
How many bid sources does ConstructionBids.ai monitor?
ConstructionBids.ai monitors 100+ procurement portals across federal, state, and local government agencies. This includes SAM.gov, state DOT portals, municipal procurement sites, school districts, transit authorities, and private bid boards.
Does PlanHub offer AI-powered bid matching?
PlanHub does not offer AI-powered features. The platform uses standard search and filter tools for project discovery. ConstructionBids.ai provides AI-powered bid matching, competitive intelligence, risk analysis, and scope extraction.
Which platform is better for small contractors?
ConstructionBids.ai serves small contractors better with its comprehensive coverage and AI-powered matching that saves time on bid evaluation. PlanHub's free tier costs less upfront, but its limited coverage means fewer relevant opportunities. Small contractors benefit more from seeing every available bid in their market than from saving $149 per month on a tool that misses opportunities.
How does PlanHub's coverage depend on GC adoption?
PlanHub only shows projects that general contractors actively post to the platform. If GCs in your market use different tools or post projects elsewhere, PlanHub's project list will be thin. You have no control over which GCs join the network or how actively they post.
What types of set-aside contracts does ConstructionBids.ai track?
ConstructionBids.ai tracks all major federal and state set-aside categories including DBE, MBE, WBE, SDVOSB, HUBZone, 8(a), and small business set-asides. Dedicated filters let you search specifically for set-aside opportunities matching your certifications.
