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BIMserver

bimserver.org

Free plan Open source WebWindowsmacOSLinuxAPISelf-hosted
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Spec score 8.9 #3 of 30 in BIM Software

What it is

BIMserver stores and manages building-project information as IFC data, using structured model objects rather than treating the project as a collection of files. Users can check, version, merge, query, and filter models, arrange project structures, and generate IFC output on demand. Multi-user support lets people work on separate parts of a dataset, with notifications when a model or section changes. BIMserver is intended to serve as an IFC backend for other software, and developers can add plugins, services, and clients or embed it in their products. The listed service interfaces are SOAP, JSON, and Protocol Buffers. It is open-source and self-managed, with a free plan under the AGPL-3.0 license; some plugins and libraries use different licenses. It supports Linux, macOS, Windows, web, API, and self-hosted use. The project wiki points to GitHub Releases for downloads and includes an Ubuntu installation guide. For help, maintainers point users to the wiki, FAQ, issue tracker, and contributors, and list an email contact. The project says its open-source community has been active since 2013.

Spec sheet

What it does
BIMserver stores and manages construction-project information as IFC model objects rather than ordinary files.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Purpose
BIMserver stores and manages information for construction and other building related projects as IFC data.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
API
The project wiki lists SOAP, JSON, and Protocol Buffers service interfaces.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Support
The maintainers direct users to the wiki, FAQ, issue tracker, and contributors, and provide [email protected] as a contact address.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
License
The main BIMserver repository is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License version 3.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
API protocols
BIMserver exposes service interfaces through Protocol Buffers, SOAP and JSON channels.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Change notifications
Users can receive notifications when a model or model part changes.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Client libraries
The documentation lists Java, Maven-based Java, PHP and JavaScript client options.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Collaboration
Multi-user support lets people work on separate parts of a dataset, and users can receive notifications when a model or part changes.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Current maintenance signal
The repository page shows 101 open issues, including reports concerning a security vulnerability, WebSocket timeouts, memory leaks and query bugs.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Desktop installation
A cross-platform executable JAR is provided for desktop evaluation and can normally be launched by double-clicking it.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Developer audience
The project says BIMserver is built for developers.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Documentation and support
The project points developers to a GitHub wiki and says maintainers actively support developers through GitHub issues.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Downloads
The project wiki directs users to GitHub Releases for downloads.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
IFC database
The platform acts as an IFC database with model-driven storage and on-demand IFC generation.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Independent API evidence
A 2013 CIB paper reports that SOAP and JSON interfaces expose many methods for IFC objects, downloads, version control, users and projects.Read 15 Oct 2026 · itc.scix.net
Independent feature evidence
The same paper reports user management, model upload/download, check-in/check-out, versioning, change sets, filtering and a web-service API.Read 15 Oct 2026 · itc.scix.net
Independent history
A 2010 CIB paper describes BIMserver as a free, open IFC model server created by Jakob Beetz, Léon van Berlo, Ruben de Laat and Pim van den Helm.Read 15 Oct 2026 · itc.scix.net
Independent integration evidence
The 2013 study used BIMserver SOAP services to exchange mapped data between SketchUp and Revit workflows through IFC.Read 15 Oct 2026 · itc.scix.net
Independent technical description
German Wikipedia describes BIMserver as IFC-conformant free server software, Java-based with a C++ IFC engine and support for Linux, macOS, Windows and Unix.Read 15 Oct 2026 · de.wikipedia.org
Independent viewer evidence
An ISPRS paper describes BIMserver working with the open-source BIM Surfer WebGL viewer for IFC visualization and BIMviews for online model viewing.Read 15 Oct 2026 · isprs-archives.copernicus.org
Integration
BIMserver is intended to integrate with other software as an IFC backend, with support for custom plugins, services, clients, and embedding.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
JSON query limits
Its JSON query language is still under development and does not provide SQL-style aggregation functions such as COUNT or AVG.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
License caveat
The maintainers warn that some bundled plugins and libraries use different licenses.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Limit: developer complexity
The comparison says BIMSurfer requires extensive developer knowledge, extra repositories, a local web server and configuration changes.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Limit: user interface maturity
An OSArch discussion characterizes the BIMserver viewer and BIMSurfer as barebones compared with more polished front ends.Read 15 Oct 2026 · community.osarch.org
Limit: viewer tooling
The comparison says BIMViews lacks measurement and section-box tools and needs development to be more approachable.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Linux installation
The wiki includes an Ubuntu installation guide, indicating a documented Linux deployment path.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Memory guidance
The requirements guide suggests roughly 15 times the largest unzipped IFC file size multiplied by concurrent users for heap planning.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Model checking
Model checking is listed among BIMserver’s extra capabilities.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Model merging
Model merging is listed as a built-in capability.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Model operations
The platform supports model checking, versioning, project structures, merging, querying, filtering, and generating IFC output on demand.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Model storage
It stores IFC data as objects in a model driven architecture and describes itself as an IFC database rather than a fileserver.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Multi-user collaboration
Multiple users can work on parts of a shared dataset, with updates propagated through the system.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Plugin extensibility
The project documents serializer, deserializer, merge, query, render, schema, service and ObjectIDM plugin types.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Praise: federation
An IfcOpenShell comparison says BIMserver supports federated projects through a root project with aspect-model subprojects.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Praise: scalability
The same comparison reports BIMserver BIMViews handling federated large models with basic properties, classifications and layers.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Project history
The project wiki says the open-source BIMserver community has been actively developing since 2013.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Project structures
The server supports project structures for organizing model data.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Querying
Users can query, filter and extract subsets of BIM models, including selected object types and properties.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Security controls
The security documentation describes using Java’s Security Manager and lists permissions needed for files, sockets, plugins and Berkeley DB.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Security information
The project wiki has a Security page, but the page opened did not provide readable security details.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
System requirements
Version 1.5 requires Java 8 or newer, disk space, incoming connectivity and outgoing internet access for plugins, email and remote-server connections.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Versioning
BIMserver maintains model revisions and supports version-history workflows.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
WAR deployment
WAR deployments require Java 8 and a Servlet 3.0-or-newer container with WebSocket support, such as Tomcat 8 or Jetty 8.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com

Plans and prices

Open-source BIMserver Free Core server distributed as AGPL-3.0 open-source software · self-hosted deployment Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com

Every BIMserver plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • Stores IFC data as model objects.
  • Supports model checking, versioning, merging, and querying.
  • Multiple users can work on separate dataset parts.
  • Provides SOAP, JSON, and Protocol Buffers interfaces.

Limits

  • Deployment and operation are self-managed.
  • Core project uses the AGPL-3.0 license.
  • Some plugins and libraries have different licenses.
  • The security page provided no readable security details.

Who it suits

BIMserver is aimed at developers who need an IFC backend for building-project software. It may suit teams prepared to manage a self-hosted deployment.

Verdict

BIMserver offers a broad set of IFC model operations and integration options for developers. Its free, self-managed model means teams should account for deployment and license requirements.

Where Specifiction places it

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