Speckle vs Autodesk Data Exchange

As Speckle continues to innovate in the AEC industry, we’re excited to see other major players, including Autodesk, beginning to embrace the file-free future of collaboration and communication.

Autodesk has made strides in recent years with its Data Exchanges, AEC Data Model API, and cloud-based solutions—efforts aligning with the vision Speckle first championed. However, it’s essential to recognise Speckle’s path and what’s (already) been achieved.

When Autodesk introduced Project Quantum several years ago, it laid the groundwork for its file-free future. Still, the project didn’t materialise into widespread tools or workflows through its Plasma years until recently.

Speckle, by contrast, was born during the rise of Google’s Flux. While both were early efforts to transform AEC collaboration, Speckle, an open-source small team start-up, has since delivered on the promises more prominent players left on the table.

Speckle’s open and flexible platform has matured rapidly, evolving from a forward-thinking concept into a production-grade solution embraced by AEC professionals worldwide. Our focus has always been to enable near real-time, object-based collaboration, and we’ve built an ecosystem that empowers teams to exchange data freely and flexibly—across platforms, disciplines, and workflows.

Autodesk Data Exchange: Platforms and APIs Explained

Autodesk’s landscape of products and APIs creates a complicated environment, making it difficult to draw simple comparisons.

The mix of Data Exchanges, GraphQL APIs, and various cloud services often overlap in function, leading to a fragmented approach to AEC collaboration.

Despite these complexities, here’s a breakdown of key platforms:

Autodesk Data Exchange

A cloud-based method for sharing specific parts of models with other Autodesk or non-Autodesk applications. Data Exchanges allow for contextual geometry and read-only data views in applications like Power BI.

AEC Data Model API

A GraphQL-based API that enables querying of granular AEC data in the cloud, starting with Revit 2024 models. The API allows users to filter and access data from Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) projects without needing custom plug-ins for desktop tools.

Autodesk Connect

A service that connects various Autodesk products, like BIM 360, Fusion Team, and Autodesk Docs, into Workato, a separate paid service that enables the flow of data and files across the platform. This forms the backbone for collaboration within the Autodesk ecosystem.

Data Automation API

Provides automation capabilities for various Autodesk tools like Revit, AutoCAD, and Inventor, enabling users to execute tasks programmatically, such as running scripts or automating processes within cloud-hosted Autodesk files.

Model Derivative API

Part of Autodesk Platform Services (APS), formerly Forge, this API converts proprietary design files into neutral formats like SVF for viewing in the Forge Viewer. It’s necessary for applications requiring converting design files into viewable or transferable data.

To interact with Autodesk’s APIs—whether the AEC Data Model API, Data Management API, or others—users must work within a developed application or use Autodesk’s online explorer.

This creates a somewhat restricted environment for those wanting more immediate or flexible access to their data.

Speckle: APIs Explained

Speckle offers an explorer the ability to interact with its GraphQL-based APIs. Still, the big difference lies in the range of environments from which Speckle’s APIs can be accessed.

Speckle provides users a more open and accessible API experience, regardless of their working environment. With Speckle, API access can be tied directly to individual users and linked to a registered application.

This allows for greater flexibility in how and where Speckle data is accessed and used, whether through custom applications, simple scripts, or cloud-based workflows.

The ease of access, combined with Speckle’s flexibility, opens up more opportunities for rapid development and integration into diverse workflows without the constraints of specific applications or platform environments.

Speckle vs Autodesk Data Exchange: Data Management

Autodesk Data Exchange: Data Management API (Forge)

The Data Management API is part of Autodesk Platform Services (APS), formerly known as Forge.

It simplifies file management and data handling across platforms such as BIM 360, Fusion Team, and A360. This API provides tools to manage metadata, navigate through projects, and handle file uploads/downloads.

It allows users to browse projects, folders, and files across Autodesk cloud services. It also features metadata management, a function used for extracting and managing metadata from different files, allowing users to understand the structure and content of their AEC files.

Data Management API supports file uploading, downloading, and versioning across Autodesk’s cloud storage services.

Speckle

Speckle allows for robust data management but does so file-free. Instead of managing entire files, Speckle enables users to focus on object-level data.

This opens up workflows where objects from different sources can be combined, filtered, and modified without managing large file structures.

The Speckle API supports direct interaction with the data in real time across multiple tools and disciplines without the need to manage file uploads or file-based metadata.

Speckle vs Autodesk Data Exchange: File-Free Future Race

As we dive into data exchanges, we must set the record straight. Autodesk semantics ring similar to ideas that Speckle pioneered, but despite the similar terminology, the differences are significant. This is why so many are asking us if the two are not the same thing.

Autodesk Data Exchange might be to Speckle what "Ice Ice Baby" is to "Under Pressure"; built on the same bassline but stripped of the broader message which is what makes a song a work of art.

At first glance, Autodesk may be dipping its toes into the file-free future, but Speckle has been leading this revolution from the start. So, let’s look closer at why Speckle's approach to data exchanges blows Autodesk’s efforts out of the water.

Speckle is leading the charge in AEC collaboration rather than following trends. While Autodesk wrestles with its legacy infrastructure and platform dependencies, Speckle continues to innovate with true data freedom, unlocking the full potential of the AEC industry.

Speckle vs Autodesk Data Exchange: Speckle Leads, Autodesk Follows

Platform Agnosticism

• Autodesk: While useful, Autodesk’s Data Exchanges are locked into their proprietary tools. You can only do so much outside their tightly controlled ecosystem and collaboration with non-Autodesk tools.
• Speckle: In contrast, Speckle’s data exchanges are truly platform-agnostic. Whether using Autodesk, Rhino, Grasshopper, or any other tool, Speckle empowers you to exchange, modify, and write back data across any platform with no restrictions.

File-Free Flexibility

• Autodesk: Autodesk’s Data Exchanges are still rooted in file-based workflows. Tied to Autodesk Docs, they require you to work within their cloud, managing subscriptions and files.
• Speckle: Speckle’s file-free approach is revolutionary. Simple as that. There are no files or boundaries—just object-level data that can be exchanged, modified, and reused across multiple tools in real time. Speckle offers the flexibility that Autodesk can only dream of.

Collaboration Across Boundaries:

• Autodesk: Sure, you can view data exchanges in Revit or Power BI, but let’s be honest—it’s read-only. You’re subscribing to context, not collaborating on it.
• Speckle: Speckle’s exchanges aren’t just for show. With Speckle, you get read/write workflows to collaborate and coordinate across disciplines fully. You’re getting real-time interaction and modification, making data exchanges an essential part of the design and decision-making process.

Granular Control Over Data

• Autodesk: While you can filter and select data in Autodesk’s ecosystem, you’re still stuck working within their predefined parameters.
• Speckle: You control exactly what data you exchange—geometry, metadata, parameters—and how it’s used. Speckle doesn’t just hand you a view; it gives you the tools to own and make your data work.

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Speckle vs Autodesk Data Exchange: AEC Connectivity Breakdown

Autodesk connectors are, unsurprisingly, tightly bound to their ecosystem, providing solid but restricted connections. Their connectors function well within the walls of Autodesk products, but when you step outside of that ecosystem, you’ll quickly hit a wall.

On the other hand, Speckle’s connector ecosystem is designed with true interoperability in mind, spanning multiple platforms, from BIM tools to gaming engines to geospatial applications. This flexibility allows teams to work fluidly across disciplinary boundaries, creating a bridge between once-isolated tools.

Let’s take a closer look at how these two connector ecosystems stack up:

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Speckle vs Autodesk Data Exchange: Collaboration In The Web

One of the key differences between Speckle and Autodesk Data Exchanges is the depth of collaboration enabled on the web.

Speckle’s collaborative web platform supports active conversations and shared workflows, whereas Autodesk’s Data Exchanges serve as static references.

• In-Context Commenting:
  Speckle allows users to leave comments directly within the model, adding context to feedback. Teams can pinpoint exact elements or areas of interest, facilitating focused discussions and resolving issues collaboratively—something impossible with Autodesk Data Exchanges.

• Federated Data Conversations:
  Speckle’s ability to handle multiple models and versions simultaneously means conversations aren’t isolated to a single data set. Teams can simultaneously discuss and compare different models and exchanges, maintaining full project context. Autodesk's ecosystem doesn’t allow this federated interaction across models.

• Real-Time Collaboration:
  With Speckle, teams can collaborate on the same model or data in real-time, seeing changes and updates as they happen. This dynamic interaction enhances coordination and reduces delays. In contrast, Autodesk Data Exchanges are read-only, limiting real-time interactivity.

• Shared Model Experiences:
  Speckle enables teams to share entire model and multi-model experiences, allowing stakeholders to join live walkthroughs, comment on specific aspects, and work together as if they were in the same room. Data Exchanges only support the static consumption of data, offering none of this shared interaction.
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Speckle vs Autodesk Data Exchange: Workflows

Forget file formats and conversion gymnastics—workflows are where the real innovation in AEC collaboration happens. This is where projects live or die, where teams thrive or trip over each other.

Speckle has moved beyond the old-school idea that interoperability is all about conversions and file transfers. The future of AEC isn’t about translating one static file into another—it’s about real-time collaboration, data fluidity, and working smarter without the baggage of old, siloed systems.

Where Autodesk clings to file-based workflows, Speckle leads the charge with a file-free, object-based approach that brings teams together in ways legacy platforms can’t. This is the heart of AEC's future: live coordination, smarter reference models, seamless data extraction, and workflows that don’t just support collaboration—they supercharge it.

Here’s a breakdown of what’s possible with each platform:

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Speckle vs Autodesk Data Exchange: SDK Options and Why It Matters

Both Autodesk and Speckle offer options, but Speckle’s breadth of SDK support pushes the boundaries, especially for developers looking to build with more modern and diverse programming languages.

Here’s how the two platforms stack up in terms of SDK support:

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The AEC Data Model API is powerful and inherently verbose, querying file-based data from Autodesk Docs with location restrictions (US or non-US). Queries cascade from top-level folders, but no queries can currently be made from Data Exchanges—a major gap we expect Autodesk will address, though it’s not confirmed. In contrast, Speckle has used the same GraphQL approach from its inception and has SDK wrappers simplifying queries for most use cases while still offering flexibility for more complex needs. Speckle may place less emphasis on complex filtering, but it prioritises ease of use without sacrificing power.

You might wonder why developer flexibility matters to you as a non-developer.

The answer is simple: developer flexibility directly impacts how adaptable and customisable your tools become.

When platforms like Speckle offer a wide range of SDKs, developers can build more tailored solutions that meet the specific needs of your project. The more flexibility developers have, the better and more accessible the end solutions will be for you, as a non-developer, to use and benefit from.

Speckle vs Autodesk Data Exchange: Model Federation

BIM Collaborate offers model federation, but only for Autodesk Docs—and crucially, not for data exchanges.

Moreover, it’s yet another cost added to Autodesk’s ecosystem, further complicating the management and access of project data.

On the other hand, Speckle gives you everything you need without locking you into specific file formats or extra subscriptions.

Speckle vs Autodesk Data Exchange: Grasshopper: Simplified vs. Special

One feature of Autodesk Data Exchanges I appreciate is the flexible filters that can be applied to an already-defined exchange. These filters let users finely select what data to send—whether it’s a specific subset of geometry, metadata, or properties. This makes Autodesk’s exchanges highly targeted and useful for precision collaboration.

However, this focus on simplified, filtered data seems to be the reason Autodesk’s Grasshopper Data Exchange is so limited—it only sends a data package of geometry and property lists. While this is functional, it doesn’t cater to the true complexity of computational design.

In contrast, Speckle treats Grasshopper users like the “artists” they are. Speckle respects the full range of Grasshopper’s heterogeneous data trees, including grafts, lists, paths, and the arbitrary messes of geometry and data that, for better or worse, power today’s computational design workflows. Speckle preserves these structures, enabling multiplayer Grasshopper collaboration without sacrificing the richness and complexity of the data.

Speckle vs Autodesk Data Exchange: Pricing

Autodesk’s token-based system can be a potential minefield when comparing pricing models. While it may appear simple—pay only for what you use—the reality is more complicated.

Tokens recently saw a 200% price increase, must be purchased upfront, and expire after 12 months, making the pay-as-you-go model feel more like a "pay-before-Christmas" rush.

While Autodesk’s data exchanges might be free now in beta, they require separate permissions in your cloud account profile. We recommend discussing token costs with your reseller to get the full picture of what you’ll be paying.

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The Autodesk Derivative math:

‍Data Exchanges all derive from File Derivative API conversions. So, while DEs are free now, the underlying token expenditure would look like this (taken from the ACC calculator):
- Convert 2 Revit models for 1 token.
- 10 people on a team - upload 20 models = 10 tokens
- 10 tokens cost = approximately $30 unless bundled into a subscription

It seems cheap—$30 for 20 models? You can convert 20 Revit models 15 days a month for $450/month, just for new versions of those models.

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By contrast, Speckle offers a free, open-source platform option with possibilities for self-hosting or enterprise support when needed. Additionally, Speckle Academia provides free, unlimited server storage for educators and students, giving future AEC professionals access to the tools they need without financial barriers.

Unlike Autodesk, Speckle distinguishes between personal, professional, and educational use cases. As a server provider, Speckle offers Enterprise paid plans that build on the open-source core and adds SSO, granular project-level data sovereignty, and unlimited full dedicated servers.

Speckle vs Autodesk Data Exchange: Conclusion

Ask yourself: Do you want to stay confined by the past, locked into an ecosystem that nickel-and-dimes you for access to your data?

Or are you ready to step into a future where collaboration is seamless, data flows freely, and your tools serve your projects—not the other way around?

The future of AEC is open, collaborative, and free from the restrictions of file-based workflows. The future is Speckle.

Speckle Model Sharing vs. Autodesk Data Exchanges: In a Nutshell
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• Platform Flexibility:
  • Speckle: Fully platform-agnostic, allowing data to be shared, modified, and written back across any application or tool (Revit, Rhino, Grasshopper, etc.).
  • Autodesk: Proprietary ecosystem—data exchanges are locked into Autodesk tools, limiting flexibility with non-Autodesk applications. Publish and subscription model.
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• File-Free Collaboration:
  • Speckle: Truly file-free, focusing on object-level data exchange without relying on managing or converting files.
  • Autodesk: Still rooted in file-based workflows, tied to Autodesk Docs and traditional file management.
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• Read/Write Capabilities:
  • Speckle: Supports read/write workflows, enabling full interaction and modification of shared data across platforms.
  • Autodesk: Primarily read-only exchanges that offer contextual data but limit collaboration to viewing and referencing.
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• Interoperability:
  • Speckle facilitates BIM interoperability through end-to-end valid connectivity workflows and mapping configuration with support for various CAD and BIM tools, including Autodesk products.
  • Autodesk: Focused on interoperability within its ecosystem, with some support for external tools. Native BIM objects received under a publish and subscribe model.
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• The Granularity of Data Control:
  • Speckle: Offers granular control over data sharing, allowing users to define which objects, properties, and parameters to exchange.
  • Autodesk: Data filtering is possible but tied to the Autodesk ecosystem’s predefined parameters, limiting user control.
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• Multiplayer Collaboration:
  • Speckle: Supports multiplayer, real-time collaboration, where multiple users can simultaneously interact with and modify the same model.
  • Autodesk: No support for multiplayer collaboration—Data Exchanges are more suited for sequential, read-only workflows.
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• Data Augmentation:
  • Speckle: Supports enriching individual objects within models via the API, allowing for real-time purposeful data workflows. Speckle models can also be viewed online with tools for sorting, filtering, and categorising data.
  • Autodesk: No support for data augmentation; exchanges are limited to read-only views of existing model data.

Ready to experience the future of AEC collaboration? Start a free project on Speckle today and join the file-free revolution.

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