Autodesk Revit Alternatives 2026: 5 Options, 3 Free
Autodesk Revit alternatives: FreeCAD, Bonsai BIM, LibreCAD, SketchUp and 1 more. Prices and licenses checked October 23, 2026.
•2 min read•3D & CAD
Verdict:Check Autodesk's pricing page for the current Revit price. Leave Revit if you need occasional building models without paying an annual licence, or if you do not need Revit's collaboration tools. FreeCAD is free with no sign-up and has a BIM workbench, but it is a general modeller, so expect gaps in documentation output. Bonsai BIM brings free, native IFC authoring into Blender and suits people who care about open standards, at the cost of a young tool. LibreCAD only handles 2D drafting, so use it for plans and sections rather than BIM. SketchUp is far easier for concept design and is priced from $10.75 per user monthly annually, but it does not hold building data the way Revit does. Archicad is the proper paid competitor, quoted from $201 a month on a one-year term, so it only makes sense if a firm already wants a different BIM product. The trade-off is the ecosystem: consultants usually exchange Revit files, and IFC exchange helps but is not lossless. If your client demands Revit models, keep it. For personal and small projects, try Bonsai or FreeCAD.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FreeCAD | Free (Free, no sign-up) | Windows, macOS, Linux | Free parametric 3D modelling | Docs only |
| Bonsai BIM | Free (Free and open source) | Windows, macOS, Linux (runs inside Blender) | Open IFC-based BIM | Docs only |
| LibreCAD | Free (Free, no trial or subscription) | Windows, macOS, Linux | 2D drawings only | Docs only |
| SketchUp | Paid from $10.75 per user/month, billed annually (Go plan) | Windows, macOS, Web | Fast 3D design modelling | Docs only |
| Archicad | Paid from $201 per seat/month plus tax, 1-year term paid upfront (Archicad Studio, $2,414 upfront); month-to-month is $345 | Windows, macOS | A full paid BIM rival | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You want a free 3D modeller with BIM tools (FreeCAD is the pick)
- You want open IFC-based BIM (Bonsai BIM is the pick)
- You need quick design massing (SketchUp is the pick)
- You only need 2D plans (LibreCAD is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Autodesk Revit features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Autodesk Revit today: See pricing page (Autodesk Revit pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
FreeCAD
Compared with Autodesk Revit: LGPL-2.1, free with no sign-up. A general parametric modeller with BIM tools, so you lose Revit's mature building workflows and documentation sheets.
Price: Free (Free, no sign-up) (FreeCAD pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Windows, macOS, Linux. LGPL-2.1 (open source).
Project activity: 34.9k GitHub stars · latest release 1.1.4 (Sep 28, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Free parametric 3D modelling.
Worth knowing: Mainly parametric 3D; 2D drafting is not its strength.
Bonsai BIM
Compared with Autodesk Revit: Free open-source native IFC authoring inside Blender. Open standard output, but a younger tool than Revit with a steeper learning curve.
Price: Free (Free and open source) (Bonsai BIM pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Windows, macOS, Linux (runs inside Blender). GPL-3.0-or-later (Bonsai add-on, per IfcOpenShell repository) (open source).
Project activity: 2.9k GitHub stars · latest release bonsai-0.9.1-alpha2610271050 (Oct 27, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Open IFC-based BIM.
LibreCAD
Compared with Autodesk Revit: GPL-2.0 and free, for 2D drafting only. You lose all 3D and BIM data that Revit holds.
Price: Free (Free, no trial or subscription) (LibreCAD pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Windows, macOS, Linux. GPL-2.0 (open source).
Project activity: 6.5k GitHub stars · latest release v2.2.1.6 (Oct 17, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: 2D drawings only.
Worth knowing: 2D only.
SketchUp
Compared with Autodesk Revit: From $10.75 per user a month billed annually on Go; only the Schools edition is listed as free. Easier modelling, but weaker BIM data than Revit.
Price: Paid from $10.75 per user/month, billed annually (Go plan) (SketchUp pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Windows, macOS, Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Fast 3D design modelling.
Archicad
Compared with Autodesk Revit: A BIM rival from Graphisoft priced at $201 a month on a one-year term, with a 30-day trial. Closest in function to Revit but expensive.
Price: Paid from $201 per seat/month plus tax, 1-year term paid upfront (Archicad Studio, $2,414 upfront); month-to-month is $345 (Archicad pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Windows, macOS. Proprietary.
Best for: A full paid BIM rival.
Which one to pick
- You want a free 3D modeller with BIM tools: FreeCAD
- You want open IFC-based BIM: Bonsai BIM
- You need quick design massing: SketchUp
- You only need 2D plans: LibreCAD
Limits of this review
Docs-only for FreeCAD, Bonsai BIM, LibreCAD, SketchUp, Archicad: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Autodesk Revit. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked between 2026-10-22 and 2026-10-23: Autodesk Revit, FreeCAD, Bonsai BIM, LibreCAD, SketchUp, Archicad. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.