EN
We are a BIM consultancy (airc.digital) that works across multiple Archicad practices, and we have hit a significant collaboration wall that we think Graphisoft needs to address — both technically and in terms of how it is communicated to users.
The problem:
We recently attempted to collaborate on a shared BIMcloud project with a client practice. Both companies are legitimate Archicad licensee, we hold BIMcloud SaaS Legacy licenses (CAL), and our client holds BIM Collaborate licenses (Falcon). When we attempted to connect to their BIMcloud, we were blocked:
After raising a support ticket, we were informed by Graphisoft that these two license types are fundamentally incompatible and cannot interoperate. The only workaround offered was for us to become a full, paid member of our client's BIMcloud - consuming one of their licensed seats.
The misleading UI:
What makes this particularly frustrating is that BIMcloud Manager contains not one but two pieces of UI messages that directly contradict the reality we experienced.
The first is the "Bring Your Own License" option shown when configuring a guest user, which states:
"The user can work here only if a license from a different BIMcloud has been assigned to their Graphisoft ID."
The second, and arguably more serious, is the Assign license to Graphisoft ID option shown in our own BIMcloud Manager, which states "A license will be permanently reserved for the user. They will always be able to work on this or any other BIMcloud Software as a Service to which they were invited with the same Graphisoft ID."
That phrase "any other BIMcloud Software as a Service" is, based on our direct experience and Graphisoft's own support response, simply not true. It does not work across BIMcloud instances running different license infrastructures. We followed exactly the workflow this UI describes, and were still blocked from accessing our client's BIMcloud.
There is no asterisk, no caveat, no small print. The product explicitly tells administrators that assigning a license to a Graphisoft ID will enable access to any BIMcloud SaaS. This is incorrect, and administrators making licensing decisions are doing so based on false information.
We would argue this constitutes misleading product communication at best, and false advertising at worst.
Why this matters:
Graphisoft actively promotes Archicad as a platform for collaborative BIM workflows. BIM consultancies, who by definition work across multiple client environments, are exactly the kind of users who should benefit most from cross-BIMcloud collaboration. Instead, we face a hard technical barrier that is invisible until you hit it, with no path forward short of purchasing additional seats in every client's license pool.
This is not a niche edge case. As the industry transitions from Legacy to Falcon licensing, mixed-license environments will be increasingly common, and this issue will affect more and more teams.
What we are asking for:
1. Correction of the UI messaging as the "Assign license to Graphisoft ID" description must be updated to reflect what it actually does, and the "Bring Your Own License" option should clearly state which license types it is compatible with, or be hidden entirely when it cannot function.
2. A supported cross-license collaboration pathway a guest access mechanism that works regardless of whether each party is on Legacy or Falcon licensing.
3. An official acknowledgement from Graphisoft of this limitation and a roadmap commitment to resolving it.
We would be very interested to hear from other BIM consultancies or multi-practice teams who have encountered the same issue. Has anyone found a workable solution that doesn't involve purchasing additional seats?
Apparently the feature to bring your BIMcloud SAAS license is considered to have been "delivered" by the development team... 🙄
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