Why Revit so expansive

[mgtechYMXNP]

I would be very satisfied with Revit LT, but it doesn’t include the 'in-place modeling' feature. Because of that, I’m forced to purchase the full version—over $4,000—just for that one function. On top of that, the discounts we used to get from official resellers are no longer available, so it’s becoming extremely expensive.

Please add the 'in-place modeling' feature to Revit LT—you’ll make a lot of users very happy!

[mhiserZFHXS]

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@RDAOU wrote:

As for the comments I read about the Dev team and not much efforts being put in developing the software, sometimes and certain features might lead some users (especially beginners) to a state of hopelessness and frustration but the blame cannot be entirely the Dev team's fault. Throwing such comments at them is unfair and harsh and for that I would ask how often did you participate in the programs and test groups Autodesk has and how many survey calls did you take, or at least how many of those 5 mins click surveys, the latest of which was on Assemblies in Revit and Inventor, did you send at last but not least how many ideas did you start, and how often did you defend them and how many users actually supported your Ideas if any at all? Now how many of those were offered by the alternative software developers which you believe is cheaper?🙂

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I want to make one thing abundantly clear about this one. I've said it before, but not explicitly in this thread, so I'll say it now. When I criticize a lack of development, as many do, I am in no way pointing that blame to the actual developers at Autodesk. I am sure that they work their butts off every single day, as most of the folks that are doing the actual work in the tech industry do. My criticism goes to the executives and administrators at Autodesk that do not give those people more help. From what I can find online, Autodesk earned nearly a BILLION dollars in PROFIT last year. Not revenue. Profit. They could EASILY double the size of their Revit development team, and it'd barely be noticeable on the bottom line. 

Now, if they come out and release "Revit 2.0" in a year or two, I will gladly eat crow. But until that happens, I will continue to call out Autodesk, like all tech companies, for moving to completely unjustifiable subscription models while providing no increase in development. 

And regarding other various comments, I have acknowledged that Revit is the best BIM software. I know that. And so do they. Are we literally being forced to pay for it? No. But in an increasingly competitive market, we have to if we want to stay relevant. All of this leads to them essentially having a monopoly on the BIM market, which is bad for everyone except their shareholders. 

[HVAC-Novice]

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@HVAC-Novice mentioned Archi-CAD being a disservice to students; I'm not going to bash the product specifically (from demos it seems reliable for what it does), but anecdotally this is a real and legitimate issue in my neck of the woods. IFC conversion processes are not always well-documented, and as a single component of a larger team I only have so much sway to impress upon such a product user the need to maintain their standards in a way that allows for effective export of their software package into the IFC environment. Do I take their weekly model updates, run their IFC through an ArchiCad-To-Revit add-in, spend an hour attempting to wrestle the content that did not convert properly into a form that is controllable, export my model into IFC format for their use, and similarly expect them to spend an hour wrestling the conversion....every week? Do I then have to do this with a BricsCad user on the next project? Or even on the same project?

You might save a few hundred on a workstation subscription but I feel like as the AEC industry we should be generally aware that first costs vs operating costs routinely paint a different picture.

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I have never used ArchiCAD and didn't research it fully except reading their help document and watching a demo video. But from what I can tell, it doesn't really have MEP features comparable to Revit. Can it do pressure loss calculations for ducts and pipes? Can it perfom plumbing calculations? Can it perform electrical design (with oob, or plug-in)? Can it perform HVAC load calculation? Can it perform professional lighting calculations? Does it have an eco-system of add-ins that can expand the oob capabilities? If the answer is "no", then it is not comparable to Revit at all. 

And even if you are just an architect and don't need the above yourself. You still need the platform you use to have the above functions since you will need engineers to collaborate with on your project. Unless your project has an outhouse, no electricity, windows for AC and a stove for heating. 

ArchiCAD probably has some good ideas and some things may be better than in Revit. But what I saw is in no way comparable to Revit. So, the price comparisons isn't really useful. A Honda Fit is cheaper than a semi tractor and also has nicer driving characteristics. But it isn't a commercial trucking alternative.

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@HVAC-Novice wrote:

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Can it do pressure loss calculations for ducts and pipes? Can it perfom plumbing calculations? Can it perform electrical design (with oob, or plug-in)? Can it perform HVAC load calculation? Can it perform professional lighting calculations? Does it have an eco-system of add-ins that can expand the oob capabilities? If the answer is "no", then it is not comparable to Revit at all. 

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I tested Archicad for a couple of days, lack of extensive educational material was the main reason for quitting it. I'm 99% certain the answer to all your question is - yes.

Maybe circumstantial evidence but it's not difficult to go on Graphisoft forum and find users who switched to Archicad and plan never to come back. How often do we see that here? As one architect sad to me "I'm using Revit on work because I have to, but for all personal projects I'm using Archicad and that says a lot".

In fact, unless you're routinely designing Burj Khalifa type of buildings, with a team of programmers supporting design team, Archicad is probably better than Revit in every way. You can look at projects done with Archicad, and knowing that in Europe Archicad vs Revit use is 50/50 (and that's with Autodesk extensive marketing and already well established monopoly like industry position), suggesting that Archicad is "not comparable to Revit at all" is not to be taken seriously.

https://www.graphisoft.com/case-studies