Revit or ArchiCAD — which BIM model should you ask for?

If you are commissioning an as-built model, the software it is built in matters more than most briefs admit. A model delivered in the wrong environment is not a model — it is an import your team will spend a week repairing. The choice is rarely about which software is better; it is about which one your project actually runs on.

The short version

Revit dominates in engineering-led and large-practice work, particularly in the UK and North America.
ArchiCAD is strong in architecture-led practices, and widespread across continental Europe.
Both export IFC, and IFC is what makes them talk — but an IFC import is not a native model.
Ask for the format your design team works in natively, not the one that sounds most universal.
We model natively in either, and deliver the IFC alongside as a convenience.

Side by side

Criterion	RevitAutodesk. Native file .rvt.	ArchiCADGraphisoft. Native file .pln.
Publisher	Autodesk	Graphisoft
Native file	.rvt	.pln
Typical users	Engineering consultants, large practices, contractors	Architecture practices, interior designers
Strongest in	UK, North America, engineering-led projects	Continental Europe, architecture-led projects
Coordination	Navisworks, deep Autodesk integration	BIMcloud, Solibri, open workflows
Exchange format	IFC 2x3 and IFC4	IFC 2x3 and IFC4
Backward compatibility	Poor — a newer .rvt will not open in an older Revit	Better, but not unlimited
What we deliver	.rvt native, versions 2021 to 2026	.pln native, plus IFC

Ask for Revit when

Your engineering consultants coordinate in Revit or Navisworks
The contractor's BIM execution plan specifies an Autodesk workflow
The project is UK or North American and the supply chain assumes Revit
Schedules and quantities will be extracted downstream
The model has to be federated with structural and MEP models

Ask for ArchiCAD when

Your practice designs in ArchiCAD and will develop the model further
The work is architecture-led with no engineering federation
Interior and joinery detail matters more than downstream quantity extraction
The project team is continental European and works in ArchiCAD natively
You want 2D documentation that stays synchronised without extra setup

What we would do

Specify the software your team opens every morning, and ask for the native file. IFC is an excellent exchange format and a poor working format: geometry survives, parametric behaviour does not, and your team ends up rebuilding walls they were supposed to inherit. If two disciplines genuinely need two environments, ask for the native model in one and IFC in the other — but be explicit about which is which, because that decision belongs in the brief, not in a surprise at handover.

Get an instant quote Talk it through first

Common questions

Which is better?

Neither, for our purposes. They are both capable of a good as-built model. What is not equivalent is receiving the one your team cannot work in natively. The right question is which software your project runs on, not which product wins a comparison.

Can I open a Revit model in ArchiCAD?

Through IFC, yes — and it will look right. What crosses is geometry and basic properties; what does not cross is parametric behaviour. Move a wall in the imported model and it behaves like an imported object, not like a wall. That is why we model natively in whichever environment you actually use.

Which Revit versions do you deliver?

2021 through 2026. Revit does not open files saved in a newer version, so tell us your version before we start — it is the single most common cause of a model arriving unopenable.

What if my consultants use one and I use the other?

We model natively in the environment where the model will be developed — usually the architect's — and deliver IFC to the other discipline for coordination. Coordination through IFC works well; development through IFC does not.