PinMy vs WhatsApp for site coordination
The honest competitor for most teams is not another app. It is a WhatsApp group, a camera roll, and someone typing it all up at eight in the evening. WhatsApp is free, everyone already has it, and it works — right up until you need to find one photo from four months ago.
At a glance
| PinMy | ||
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Mobile field capture for AECO teams | A general messaging app, used for everything |
| Where an issue lives | A pin on an exact point of a PDF plan, photo, video frame, map or 3D IFC model | A message in a group, scrolling away as the day goes on |
| Capture on site | Voice, photo, video or text, transcribed automatically; works with gloves on | Photos and voice messages, instantly and by everyone |
| Reporting | Item Report (PDF) from any single file — every pin and comment, no assignment needed (beta) | Someone retyping the day into a document at the end of it |
| Pricing | Free forever plan; Premium €8.99/month + VAT; Teams custom | Free |
We state our own price exactly and do not state theirs. Check their site for current figures. WhatsApp ↗
What they are good at
- Zero adoption cost — every subcontractor on the site already has it installed
- Instant, and nobody needs to be taught anything
- Genuinely good at the thing it is for: reaching a person right now
When to choose them instead
- You need to reach someone immediately. Nothing beats it for that, and PinMy does not try.
- The job is small enough that nothing has to be findable again after it closes.
- The people involved will not install a second app under any circumstances.
Where PinMy is different
- A pin has a location. A message has a timestamp and then it is gone up the scroll — which is why the evening report exists.
- Voice notes are transcribed and searchable instead of being a 40-second recording nobody will replay.
- The PDF comes out of the file itself, so the report is a by-product of the walk rather than two hours of work afterwards.
Questions people ask
Does PinMy replace our WhatsApp groups?
Not for talking to people — keep the group for that. It replaces the part where the group is being used as a filing system: the photos, the defects, and the messages you will need to find again.
Do subcontractors have to install PinMy?
No. Guest Mode lets a contractor or client open a shared file in any browser without installing anything and without creating an account.
Try it on one file
The fastest way to settle a comparison is to upload one plan you are already arguing about and pin three issues on it. The free plan needs no card.