The Compare tool works on both PDF and DWG files, comparing two versions of a drawing — or two different drawings, selected explicitly — in overlay or side-by-side view, highlighting what is new, modified, or removed. Autodesk's own support article describes that comparison at the drawing level; it does not describe checking the result against a schedule or a specification.
What Autodesk’s support article describes
Per Autodesk's own support article and Autodesk's on-demand training course "Compare file versions in 2D and 3D" (accessed 2026-09-14), the Compare tool in Autodesk Docs works on a drawing with at least two versions uploaded, and lets you switch between an overlaid view and a side-by-side view. To compare two different files rather than two versions of the same one, you open the tool, select "Change" next to Document B, and choose the second file.
That flexibility — comparing across files, not only across versions — is genuinely broader than several tools in this series. It is still a drawing-to-drawing visual comparison: Autodesk's description covers what is new, modified, or removed on the sheet, not whether a schedule row or a specification section still matches the geometry shown.
Comparing two different drawings still leaves a labeling question open
Because ACC's Compare tool can overlay two different drawings, it is the tool in this series best suited to a cross-discipline visual check. But an overlay only shows where lines occupy the same or different positions on the page — it does not read what a label next to those lines means.
In Groundbook's published mixed-use review, the floor-elevations finding was a structural plan and a mechanical plan that stated different elevations for the same floor area. Depending on how each sheet is drawn, the geometry can overlay cleanly while the printed elevation values — the actual numbers a reader relies on — still disagree. Resolving that needs someone to read the callouts, not only compare the line work.
Pair the overlay with a document-level check
Use the Compare tool for what it does well: a fast visual overlay of two drawings or two versions, in the same place your team already stores its files. For whether the labeled values, schedules, and specifications behind that geometry agree, use cross-discipline coordination or drawings vs. specifications review, or Groundbook's drawing version comparison workflow, available to beta users on request.
If you also work in desktop AutoCAD
AutoCAD's own DWG Compare command runs locally on DWG files and has a narrower, DWG-only scope than ACC's browser tool. See what AutoCAD's DWG Compare checks, and what object types it skips.