BIMcollab vs BIMserver
BIMcollab
bimcollab.comBIMserver
bimserver.orgSide by side
| Figure | BIMcollab | BIMserver |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | €12.50/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 6 | 1 |
| Spec score · BIM Software | 8.5 (#6) | 8.9 (#3) |
| Model checking | BIMcollab Zoom supports Smart Views, clash detection, and IDS checks; its free mode includes model viewing, annotations, BCF issue management, and visual validation through Smart Views. | Model checking is listed among BIMserver’s extra capabilities. |
| Purpose | BIMcollab connects data, workflows, and BIM tools to support collaboration across the lifecycle of buildings and infrastructure. | BIMserver stores and manages information for construction and other building related projects as IFC data. |
| Support | Support is available by email, video call, and live chat during regular CET business hours, with Help Center articles and tutorials. | The maintainers direct users to the wiki, FAQ, issue tracker, and contributors, and provide [email protected] as a contact address. |
Plans
BIMcollab
- Basic (annual commitment)€12.50 a month
- Advanced (annual commitment)€18.75 a month
- Basic (monthly)€19 a month
- Enterprise (annual commitment)€25 a month
- Advanced (monthly)€29 a month
- Enterprise (monthly)€39 a month
In their own words
BIMcollab
BIMcollab brings together document management, BIM coordination and model checking for collaboration on buildings and infrastructure. Its WebViewer supports IFC models, while BIMcollab Zoom is a downloadable viewer for Windows and Mac OS X. Zoom includes Smart Views, clash detection and IDS checks; its free mode supports viewing, annotations, BCF issue management and visual validation with Smart Views. Issues can be managed using BIM-tool plug-ins and exported as BCF, PDF, CSV or XLS. BIMcollab lists more than 35 integrations, including Power BI, Solibri, Trimble Connect, AutoCAD, Autodesk Docs and Revit. All plans list unlimited projects; Basic includes 10 GB storage per space, while Advanced and Enterprise list unlimited storage. A free plan and free trial are available. Paid pricing ranges from €12.50 a month for Basic with annual commitment to €39 a month for Enterprise billed monthly. Cloud data is stored in the Netherlands unless the customer uses an on-premise installation. BIMcollab is headquartered in Eindhoven, Netherlands, and was founded in 2014.
BIMserver
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.