Archicad vs Bonsai
Editorial guidance plus a neutral, sourced capability comparison.
Archicad is a polished commercial BIM tool with a long openBIM track record. Bonsai authors IFC natively and for free, trading polish for openness and scriptability.
Architecture studios wanting a refined, supported BIM workflow.
Open-source users and teams wanting IFC as the native format.
Editorial opinion from the BMI team, separate from the neutral data below. Not sponsored.
| Attribute | ||
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Developer | Graphisoft | IfcOpenShell community |
| Latest release | 29.1 | 0.8.3 |
| Platform | Win, Mac | Win, Mac, Linux |
| Pricing | Subscription | Open source |
| Licence | Proprietary | GPL-3.0 |
| Free trial | SupportedSupported | Not supportedNot supported |
| BIM | ||
| Native BIM | Yes | Yes |
| IFC import | Yes | Yes |
| IFC 2x3 | SupportedSupported | SupportedSupported |
| IFC4 | SupportedSupported | SupportedSupported |
| IFC4.3 | SupportedSupported | SupportedSupported |
| OpenBIM | ||
| BCF | SupportedSupported | SupportedSupported |
| IDS | SupportedSupported | SupportedSupported |
| bSDD | SupportedSupported | SupportedSupported |
| COBie | SupportedSupported | SupportedSupported |
| MVD | SupportedSupported | SupportedSupported |
| Automation | ||
| API | SupportedSupported | SupportedSupported |
| Python | SupportedSupported | SupportedSupported |
| C# | SupportedSupported | Not supportedNot supported |
| Dynamo | Not supportedNot supported | Not supportedNot supported |
| Grasshopper | SupportedSupported | Not supportedNot supported |
| JavaScript | Not supportedNot supported | Not supportedNot supported |
| Collaboration | ||
| Cloud | SupportedSupported | Not supportedNot supported |
| CDE | SupportedSupported | Not supportedNot supported |
| Real-time collaboration | SupportedSupported | Not supportedNot supported |
| Privacy | ||
| Local processing | SupportedSupported | SupportedSupported |
| Offline | SupportedSupported | SupportedSupported |
| No account required | Not supportedNot supported | SupportedSupported |
| Self-hosting | Not supportedNot supported | SupportedSupported |
| Integrations | ||
| Connected to | Speckle, Grasshopper, 2D drawings, PDF markup, Revizto, IFC 2x3, IFC4, IFC4.3, BCF, bSDD, IDS, Schedules (COBie) | IfcOpenShell, Blender, 2D drawings, IFC 2x3, IFC4, IFC4.3, BCF, bSDD, IDS, Schedules (COBie) |
| Security & compliance | ||
| ISO 27001 | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| SOC 2 | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Cyber Essentials | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| ISO 27701 | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| PCI DSS | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Penetration testing | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| OWASP ASVS | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| MFA | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| SSO | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| SAML | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| SCIM | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Encryption at rest | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Audit logging | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Data residency | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| ISO 19650 | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| CDE | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Security documentation | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last security review | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Cloud Infrastructure & Data Residency | ||
| Cloud hosting provider | Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Vendor documented · BIMcloud SaaS · Reviewed 2026-10-01 Automated retrieval unavailable; showing the latest reviewed vendor statement within its 45-day review window. Source evidenceBIMcloud Software as a Service is hosted on the Google Cloud PlatformOfficial vendor documentation | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |
| Primary server provider | Google Cloud; Graphisoft operates the BIMcloud SaaS tenant Vendor documented · Product/service-level · Reviewed 2026-10-01 Automated retrieval unavailable; showing the latest reviewed vendor statement within its 45-day review window. | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |
| Data centre / server locations | Australia: Sydney; Belgium: St. Ghislain; Brazil: São Paulo; Finland: Hamina; Germany: Frankfurt; Hong Kong; India: Mumbai; Japan: Tokyo; South Africa: Johannesburg; Spain: Madrid; Switzerland: Zürich; UK: London; US: Iowa, South Carolina, Los Angeles Vendor documented · Published region table; service location tied to purchase country · Reviewed 2026-10-01 Automated retrieval unavailable; showing the latest reviewed vendor statement within its 45-day review window. Source evidenceList of available regions for BIMcloud Software as a Service:Official vendor documentation | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |
| Available data residency options | UK, EU, US, Australia, APAC and other listed regions; tenant region assigned by country of purchase Vendor documented · BIMcloud SaaS; check purchase-country-to-region mapping · Reviewed 2026-10-01 Automated retrieval unavailable; showing the latest reviewed vendor statement within its 45-day review window. Source evidencelocation of your BIMcloud Software as a Service tenant is tied to the country of purchase.Official vendor documentation | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |
| Customer hosting-region selection | Tenant location tied to the country of purchase; unrestricted customer region selection not stated Vendor documented · Product/service-level · Reviewed 2026-10-01 Automated retrieval unavailable; showing the latest reviewed vendor statement within its 45-day review window. Source evidencelocation of your BIMcloud Software as a Service tenant is tied to the country of purchase.Official vendor documentation | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |
| ISO 27001 certification | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |
| SOC 2 compliance | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |
| GDPR compliance | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |
| Encryption at rest | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |
| Encryption in transit | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |
| Single Sign-On (SSO) | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |
| Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) | BIMcloud SaaS supports MFA and secure password mandate Vendor documented · BIMcloud SaaS · Reviewed 2026-10-01 Source evidenceBIMcloud SaaS delivers multi-factor authentication and a secure password mandate optionOfficial vendor documentation | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |
| Customer-managed encryption keys | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |
| Air-gapped deployment | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |
| On-premise deployment | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |
| Government, defence / sovereign cloud | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |
| Official documentation | BIMcloud SaaS regions and hostingBIMcloud SaaS security and MFA | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |