Highwire vs SmartBid
Highwire
highwire.com
SmartBid
smartbid.coSide by side
| Figure | Highwire | SmartBid |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | — |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Subcontractor Software | 8.0 (#3) | 6.9 (#8) |
| Company history | Highwire became an independent company in 2008 after starting as an internal contractor risk assessment system at Harvard. | SmartBid says it has served general contractors since 2006 and was acquired by ConstructConnect in 2018. |
| Founded | 2008 | 2006 |
| Prequalification | Highwire offers prequalification assessments of more than 60,000 contractors covering company, finance, safety, and insurance. | Users can prequalify subcontractors with ConsensusDocs 721 forms or a custom questionnaire builder. |
| Purpose | Highwire’s prequalification assessments and field applications mitigate risks to capital projects and operations. | SmartBid is construction bid management software for general contractors, including prime, commercial, and residential GCs. |
| Security | Highwire lists ISO 27001:2022, SOC 2, PCI DSS, Texas RAMP, and the GDPR Data Privacy Framework Program among its third-party audits and certifications. | SmartBid says project data is private and secure and shared only with people granted access; its plan room uses Microsoft Azure Cloud for file storage. |
| Support | Highwire lists phone and email support and provides a Help Center with guides, tutorials, and FAQs. | The site lists 24/7 customer service, live call support, training, and an online Help Center; some support packages are additional cost. |
Plans
In their own words
Highwire
Highwire provides contractor prequalification assessments and field applications for managing risk across capital projects and operations. Its assessments cover more than 60,000 contractors, looking at company, financial, safety, and insurance information. The platform adds contractor-specific risk context and supports ongoing engagement and improvement. Field teams can use the mobile app to record inspections and findings, attach media, and share reports, including when offline. AI analytics examine contractor safety documents for leading-indicator findings. Highwire connects with Procore to link projects and sync approved contract data, though that integration does not support SSO. Clients can also use an API for contractor, project, inspection-finding, and other platform data. The Companion browser extension lets users search contractor profiles and view safety, compliance, and prequalification details from other websites. Highwire supports SAML and OIDC sign-in, and lists ISO 27001:2022, SOC 2, PCI DSS, Texas RAMP, and GDPR Data Privacy Framework Program among its audits and certifications. It is available on Android, iOS, web, and as an extension, with an API. There is a free plan and a client free trial.
SmartBid
SmartBid is bid management software for general contractors, including prime, commercial, and residential GCs. Teams can organize bid projects, send invitations and addenda, and receive subcontractor proposals through uploads. Its online plan room centralizes project files and supports customized access and editing permissions. Contractors can prequalify subcontractors using ConsensusDocs 721 forms or custom questionnaires, while BidTabs helps estimators calculate and compare proposals side by side. The Compliance module tracks licenses, certificates of insurance, and W-9 documents, using OCR to reduce manual data entry. Listed integrations include Procore, Autodesk BIM 360, Dropbox, STACK, ConstructConnect Network, SmartInsight, ShareFile, and ConsensusDocs; the plan room can also connect to a range of cloud storage services. SmartBid is available over an internet connection and through Android, iOS, and Windows mobile apps, with no installation required. API access is included with the license. Pricing is on request; the annual license scales access by user count, and invited subcontractors can access it at no cost.