Dynamo vs Grasshopper
Editorial guidance plus a neutral, sourced capability comparison.
Dynamo is the visual scripting environment built into Revit for BIM automation. Grasshopper is Rhino’s visual programming tool, favoured for parametric geometry.
Best for — DynamoRevit data automation and documentation tasks.
Parametric design and computational geometry.
Editorial opinion from the BMI team, separate from the neutral data below. Not sponsored.
| Attribute | ||
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Developer | Autodesk | Robert McNeel & Associates |
| Latest release | 3.6 | Rhino 8 |
| Platform | Win | Win, Mac |
| Pricing | Free | Paid |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Included with Rhino |
| Free trial | Not supportedNot supported | Not supportedNot supported |
| BIM | ||
| Native BIM | No | No |
| IFC import | Yes | No |
| IFC 2x3 | PartialPartial | Not supportedNot supported |
| IFC4 | Not supportedNot supported | Not supportedNot supported |
| IFC4.3 | Not supportedNot supported | Not supportedNot supported |
| OpenBIM | ||
| BCF | Not supportedNot supported | Not supportedNot supported |
| IDS | Not supportedNot supported | Not supportedNot supported |
| bSDD | Not supportedNot supported | Not supportedNot supported |
| COBie | Not supportedNot supported | Not supportedNot supported |
| MVD | Not supportedNot supported | Not supportedNot supported |
| Automation | ||
| API | SupportedSupported | SupportedSupported |
| Python | SupportedSupported | SupportedSupported |
| C# | SupportedSupported | SupportedSupported |
| Dynamo | SupportedSupported | Not supportedNot supported |
| Grasshopper | Not supportedNot supported | SupportedSupported |
| JavaScript | Not supportedNot supported | Not supportedNot supported |
| Collaboration | ||
| Cloud | Not supportedNot supported | Not supportedNot supported |
| CDE | Not supportedNot supported | Not supportedNot supported |
| Real-time collaboration | Not supportedNot supported | Not supportedNot supported |
| Privacy | ||
| Local processing | SupportedSupported | SupportedSupported |
| Offline | SupportedSupported | SupportedSupported |
| No account required | Not supportedNot supported | Not supportedNot supported |
| Self-hosting | Not supportedNot supported | Not supportedNot supported |
| Integrations | ||
| Connected to | Revit, Speckle, IFC 2x3 | Rhino, Speckle, Archicad, Ladybug Tools |
| 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 | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |
| Primary server provider | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |
| Data centre / server locations | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |
| Available data residency options | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |
| Customer hosting-region selection | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. | 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) | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. | 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 | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. | Information not publicly disclosed by vendor. |