MicroStation vs. SketchUp Comparison


MicroStation Bentley Systems	SketchUp Trimble	+	+
Visit Website	Learn More Update Features	Add To Compare	Add To Compare



About MicroStation is the trusted CAD software purpose-built for the design, modeling, and management of global infrastructure projects. Known for its extreme scalability, MicroStation empowers engineering professionals to deliver precise 2D and 3D deliverables for projects of any size or complexity. A key differentiator is its industry-leading interoperability; users can integrate a massive variety of data types, including DWG, IFC, and SHP, without the need for risky data conversions or translations. By providing a single environment for various project elements, it ensures secure and effective deliverables across the entire project lifecycle. Whether you are an engineer, architect, or GIS professional, MicroStation provides the flexibility and power needed to turn a vision into a sustainable reality while maintaining the highest standards of data integrity.		About Design delightfully, collaborate clearly, and build better buildings. The joy of drawing by hand. The ease of super-smart 3D modeling software. Make sustainable buildings. Change the world, hundreds of professionally-developed extensions at your fingertips. Design in 3D. Document in 2D. Make work easier, bring efficiency to your team and the 3D community. A great idea can be its best with the right technology. Draw in 3D, analyze and improve your building’s performance, and creatively document and share your ideas with your class. Integrated with Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive. Works on Chromebooks or any Internet-connected computer. Students have access to free and intuitive 3D modeling tools. Positioning-centric information is changing the way people, businesses and governments work throughout the world. By applying Trimble's advanced positioning solutions, productivity increases and safety improvements are being realized.
Platforms Supported Windows Mac Linux Cloud On-Premises iPhone iPad Android Chromebook		Platforms Supported Windows Mac Linux Cloud On-Premises iPhone iPad Android Chromebook
Audience Architects, engineers, construction professionals, CAD managers, BIM managers, project managers, drafters, documenters, visualization experts. Anyone who uses CAD to design, build and operate infrastructure assets, marine/naval, or industrial/plant drafting.		Audience Designers in the construction, engineering, architecture, and interior design fields looking for a design solution
Support Phone Support 24/7 Live Support Online		Support Phone Support 24/7 Live Support Online
API Offers API		API Offers API
Screenshots and Videos View more images or videos		Screenshots and Videos View more images or videos
Pricing $1,208 per year Pricing details: MicroStation on SELECT Starting Price: $1,208 per year Best For: Organizations requiring flexible licensing and continuous support. Key Features: This subscription includes license pooling, which allows users to share licenses across multiple computers. It provides access to software upgrades, technical support, and the ability to use "Term Licenses" to pay for additional software as needed without upfront perpetual costs. MicroStation Virtuoso (Practitioner License) Starting Price: $2,656 per year Best For: Individual practitioners or teams that need both software and expert training. Key Features: This 12-month named-user license is sold through Bentley’s Virtuosity eStore. It includes two "Virtuosity Keys" per license. These keys are credits that can be redeemed for expert services, such as 1-on-1 mentoring, customized training courses, and tailored on-demand learning to help users "hit the ground running." MicroStation Enterprise 365 Starting Price: Custom Quote Best For: Large organizations requiring comprehensive access to the Bentley portfolio. Key Features: This program provides unlimited access to Bentley’s infrastructure applications. Licenses are typically managed on a "per-day" basis for named users or unique machines. It is designed to scale with the organization, offering global pricing and simplified administration for multidisciplinary teams. MicroStation for Education Starting Price: $0 for Students / $1,500 for Institutional Units Best For: Students, educators, and academic institutions. Key Features: Individual students and faculty members can generally access MicroStation for free through the Bentley Education portal. For university departments, an annual flat fee provides unlimited installations for use in labs and administrative units. Free Version Free Trial		Pricing $119 per year Free Version Free Trial
Reviews/Ratings Overall 5.0 / 5 ease 5.0 / 5 features 5.0 / 5 design 5.0 / 5 support 5.0 / 5 Read all reviews		Reviews/Ratings Overall 4.0 / 5 ease 4.0 / 5 features 3.6 / 5 design 4.2 / 5 support 5.0 / 5 Read all reviews
Pros from Real Users Pros Integrated package with lots of features and a tremendously more intuitive and user friendly interface and lots of power in modeling, and it reads and works on so many other software formats. I can open a DWG, do my work, save t, and nobody knows I did it on MicroStation. They just see the work done. Although expensive, it is not more expensive than the other serious packages but so much more efficient. It saves me hours and my productivity is paying off so quickly against the cost.		Pros & Cons from Real Users Pros I've used them all (18 yrs of designing) and although SketchUp is great for certain work (creating parts and gears, and certain structures, etc), it sucks as a pool design program! + Control of all views is wonderful, I can have a perspective from any angle that is already preset within SketchUp. In addition, that I can also save my own perspectives, this being more comfortable for me. It is also possible to navigate through 3D space without problems, I liked that everything was fluid, so I could get closer to editing certain things with more detail and thus not move anything other than what I want to modify. + To be honest, the ease of the user interface surprised me, I thought that because it is something professional it would be difficult to manage within the platform. However, it was not difficult to remember all the tools to capture the plans of the designs and make them come true, thus being able to improve the designs by being able to make the changes live and see how everything is turning out. + I can make a kind of sketch in both 2D and 3D, this was very useful for me because I currently use a drawing tablet to be able to capture my ideas more quickly than when I use a mouse. So being able to sketch in 3D with my tablet makes it easier for me when I want to add custom elements more quickly and then make them a more formal design, but in the meantime you have the sketch view. + I can import any .cad file, this was essential because I have work colleagues who use other software and when they want us to work collaboratively I don't want to use another platform. So I just import and edit within SketchUp without needing to go anywhere else. + I can edit any aspect of the 3D models, from points, vertices or surfaces. In addition, adding textures is not that difficult, being able to add textures even to each face is very simple, generally you have to make meshes and know how to distribute a 3D object to pass it to a plane and from there make it texture, but with this software you can you can do everything directly to the object without having to break it apart. º To begin with, its interface is very friendly and practical, despite the fact that this platform is for professional use, I can say that even a child can understand all its functionalities because of how easy it is to be. I didn't require any training, nor did I have to search for a lot of information to start capturing my ideas within this platform and it was very simple to start from scratch without getting lost along the way. º I can export to high quality images, I like this because I can make designs with so many details that when rendering and exporting it to an image I can be sure that everything will be seen in extreme detail so that the client can see all the work that I did in case you can only see images since you do not have a high speed internet to see the sketches in real time. º I can import models from other 3D platforms and this fascinates me in case I am working collaboratively with my team and they are using other software. It is very convenient to be able to have the freedom to import any 3D object and put it in my sketches, and it is also not necessary to centralize the company's employees who use other platforms, since that way I do not have to go through tedious implementation processes that despite the fact that this platform is easy not everyone wants to learn from scratch as they have their preferred platforms. º I have multiple view or perspective modes that allow me to render from the point of view that is restored or it can also help me when I am doing the sketches and applying details. Many platforms don't have as many display modes or only have free mode and it's awkward to be able to navigate in 3D space, so with this platform I can have more comfort and freedom when sketching. º I can create different materials to my liking so I can have more control when applying materials to each object, despite the fact that the materials they have in the gallery are not so great, this platform gives the freedom to import or create your own materials for being able to add them to the sketches and being able to have a closer perspective to the reality of the ideas that are had when making the sketches. SketchUp is a great tool for small companies to use because it is a lot cheaper than other programs that do pretty much the same time. This 3D program is very easy to learn and use. They also have a lot of online support and forums to help build or find things that other people have designed in. Easy to get started 3-D modelling & rendering Customization - Supports many extensions Ability to share designs and models easily Has a free version Cons Just a 'generic' drawing program that takes me forever to design pools vs all my other programs - and then when done I have something that looks like a little kid did it! - The material library is not very realistic, I consider it as a preview of the final version of an architectural design. This is very disappointing since I am paying for a product whose texture pack is limited, thus having to design my own textures or pay third parties who have already developed good textures so that my designs are not so cartoonish. - The rendering of the layouts is not very realistic, it would be nice if the preview shows the current rendering type to save resources and have a preview of what is being created. However, I prefer more realistic views so that clients can have a better perspective of the end result in a design. In addition, it would not be necessary to transfer all the files to a 3D program to have a better rendering, but it would be nice if a better rendering was integrated into this platform. - The .png images do not show transparency very well, it even provides them with shadow or reflection, I would prefer it to have more definition, especially when it comes to plants or materials or objects with tiny details. I know that it causes less impact to the processor by having more details, but with the power of today's computers anything is possible and handling architectural designs is not so complicated to process. - I did not like that they removed the single payment, now everything is by subscription, thus having to make a better calculation when using this software. Before, just having the product when it was a single payment meant less expenses because I didn't have to worry about monthly expenses when I wasn't using this software, now I always have to be up to date or decide whether or not to pay each month to know if it's profitable. º I have problems when importing the sketches to other platforms, especially the crystallization of some materials. This is a bit annoying because I have to accommodate the materials within the other platforms since it doesn't export correctly and makes the job a bit slower and heavier when I had recently put the materials from the sketches. I would like it to have all the possible compatibility even for platforms that are old that I still use to be able to make adjustments to my sketches. º I don't know if it's performance issues, but when I'm zooming in to see the models in detail it gets slow or the speed suddenly increases without me having touched anything within the configuration. This is very inconvenient and a solution that I have applied is to have a general view of the model so as not to move around much in 3D space without doing practically any zooming so that this type of problem does not happen to me. I would like them to improve the problem of zooming so that you can work more comfortably and it is practical to have a more fluid zoom in or out. º The material palette is very scarce or not so realistic, this makes my sketches very poor or everything looks like cartoons. It can be imported, but it is a process to create materials manually, I would like it to be more practical or extensive in your materials gallery or some way to acquire materials without requiring third parties to carry out this work of creating materials. º I miss being able to have the definitive license, now everything is with a subscription and it's annoying. I would prefer to have the final product in order to have a fine investment and not an investment in installments since there are times that the work I do does not cover the expenses or only covers the monthly payment. On the other hand, with a lifetime license I already have a budget made on the profits that I will obtain in relation to the investment that I will make in this platform. º I would like it to have more access with keyboard shortcuts so that I can access the different functions more quickly. I'm not saying that it doesn't have some keyboard shortcuts, but there are vital functions which I use a lot and they don't have those shortcuts that it would be easier to make sketches within this platform. If you are a power user and require very intricate details then this program will be lacking some tools to do so. The tools is very limited and not many short cut keys to work with. While it is easy to begin with , for proper modeling you need to learn a lot. It has some file format compatibility issues.
Training Documentation Webinars Live Online In Person		Training Documentation Webinars Live Online In Person
Company Information Bentley Systems Founded: 1984 United States www.bentley.com/		Company Information Trimble Founded: 1978 United States www.sketchup.com
Alternatives ActCAD Software Jytra Technology Solutions		Alternatives MicroStation Bentley Systems
iC3D Creative Edge Software		SmartDraw
OpenBuildings Designer Bentley Systems		ActCAD Software Jytra Technology Solutions
AutoCAD Autodesk		Chief Architect
SkyCiv Structural 3D SkyCiv Engineering View All		Planner 5D View All
Categories 3D Architecture 3D Modeling Architectural CAD Architecture CAD Civil Engineering Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) Construction Design Engineering Public Works Structural Engineering		Categories Architectural Rendering Architecture Bathroom Design Cabinet Design Construction Design Design Collaboration Floor Plan Furniture Design Home Design Interior Design Kitchen Design Landscape Design Mechanical Engineering Office Design Pool Design Site Plan Surface Modeling Urban Planning
Architecture Features 2D Drawing 3D Modeling Bills of material BIM Modeling Building Information Modeling Client Management Contact Management Contract Management Document Management Drafting Manufacturing Design Data Presentation Tools Project Management Proposal Management Quotes/Proposals Visualization / Presentation Show More Features 3D Architecture Features 2D Drawing Animation BIM Modeling Component Library Data Import / Export Landscape Design Virtual Tour 3D Modeling Features 2D Drawing Animation Annotations Bill of Materials Character Modeling Collaboration Tools Component Library Data Import / Export For 3D Printing For Architects For Manufacturers Reference Management Simulation Architectural CAD Features 2D Drawing 3D Modeling Architectural Symbol Library Automatic Formatting BIM Modeling Comparison View Design Templates Drafting CAD Features 2 1/2-Axis Milling 2D Drawing 3-Axis Milling 3D Modeling 4-Axis Milling 5-Axis Milling Civil Collaboration Database Connectivity Design Analysis Design Export Document Management Electrical Hole Making Mechanical Mechatronics Presentation Tools Simulate Cycles Spiral Output Structural Engineering Toolpath Simulation User Defined Cycles Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) Features CAD/CAM Compatibility Finite Element Analysis Fluid Dynamics Import / Export Files Integrated 3D Modeling Manufacturing Process Simulation Mechanical Event Simulation Multibody Dynamics Thermal Analysis Engineering Features 2D Drawing 3D Modeling Chemical Engineering Civil Engineering Collaboration Design Analysis Design Export Document Management Electrical Engineering Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Presentation Tools Structural Engineering Public Works Features Billing & Invoicing Compliance Management Contract Management Customer Database Document Management Equipment Maintenance Fixed Asset Management Job Costing Project Management Service Request Management Work Order Management		Architecture Features 2D Drawing 3D Modeling Bills of material BIM Modeling Building Information Modeling Client Management Contact Management Contract Management Document Management Drafting Manufacturing Design Data Presentation Tools Project Management Proposal Management Quotes/Proposals Visualization / Presentation
Integrations LumenRT ArcGIS Artlandia SymmetryMill ContextCapture ForRender HiveDrive Irrigation F/X Land F/X NVIDIA Omniverse USD Composer OpenBridge Designer OpenBuildings Designer Prevu3D ProjectWise Rendervi Revizto Spark Cloud Studio Spoak Ultimate Unwrap 3D Virtofy metropoly Show More Integrations View All 15 Integrations		Integrations LumenRT ArcGIS Artlandia SymmetryMill ContextCapture ForRender HiveDrive Irrigation F/X Land F/X NVIDIA Omniverse USD Composer OpenBridge Designer OpenBuildings Designer Prevu3D ProjectWise Rendervi Revizto Spark Cloud Studio Spoak Ultimate Unwrap 3D Virtofy metropoly Show More Integrations View All 87 Integrations
		Claim SketchUp and update features and information Claim SketchUp and update features and information