Comparison
Swarmfile vs. ACC
Autodesk Construction Cloud, rebranded Autodesk Forma in March 2026 (Docs→Forma Data Management, Build→Forma Build, Account Admin→Hub Admin; same platform, new name), is the incumbent for AEC document management and Revit worksharing. It's purpose-built, deeply integrated, and expensive. Here's how a streamed, version-controlled drive compares to a vertical SaaS platform. Last reviewed September 2026.
IncludedPartial or with conditionsNot offeredA highlighted row marks where one side clearly leads.
Architecture & performance
Capability
Swarmfile
ACC
Native drive mount (macOS / Windows / Linux)
✓FUSE/WinFsp. Every app sees a real volume at a drive letter.
◐Desktop Connector maps a virtual drive, sync-based, Windows-only. Handles most file types (published exclusion list).
Browse-without-download for huge files
✓Byte-range streaming from peers or cloud.
-Files sync to local disk via Desktop Connector before apps can open them.
Works with non-Autodesk tools
✓Works with any desktop app: Resolve, QGIS, Rhino, SolidWorks, Bluebeam, etc.
-Optimized for Autodesk products. Non-Autodesk workflows are second-class.
Revit cloud worksharing
◐File-based worksharing over the mount, no plugin. On Windows, the native lock Revit takes on open is enforced across machines and offices by the hub. Not element-level cloud co-authoring.
✓Native Revit cloud worksharing, the gold standard for multi-office Revit teams.
LAN-first P2P
✓Every workstation seeds to peers. One cloud fetch per office.
-All data flows through Autodesk's cloud. No peer-to-peer transfer.
File-type-aware chunking
✓FastCDC with Revit/DWG/IFC profiles. Content-defined dedup across revisions.
◐Revit worksharing uses element-level sync. Other file types use generic upload.
Collaboration & review
Capability
Swarmfile
ACC
Cooperative file locks
✓
✓Revit worksharing has element-level borrowing; Docs also auto-locks Office files and PDFs on open via Desktop Connector.
Per-mount branching + merge
✓Try a design variant on its own branch, then merge whole-file changes, with conflict detection, back into main or any parent branch. Merge Requests add a review-and-approve gate before it lands.
-No branch/mount-isolation primitive; Revit worksharing is single-model, element-level borrowing.
Real-time presence (who's editing what)
✓Lock-lifecycle-driven roster; SSE stream to web + Desktop App. Surfaces 'Alice is editing tower-a.rvt' inline.
◐Activity log after the fact for generic documents; Revit worksharing and Design Collaboration do show live co-authoring for CAD models.
Per-file comments + @mentions
✓Markdown thread per entry with mention chips, resolve, and reply inline; pin a comment to a spot on an image. Share-link comment surface lets external reviewers post without a seat.
✓Issues and markup comments tied to sheets/models. Strong on 2D/3D markup, less general-purpose.
Versioning + atomic changesets
✓Per-entry history with 1-3650-day per-user retention + per-user trash + restore. Atomic multi-file changesets (named, revertable, DAG-ordered) surface in the Commits tab and activity feed.
✓Version tracking on all documents with markups and approval workflows.
RFIs / submittals / approval workflows
✓Shipped: RFIs, submittals, and approval workflows.
✓Core product. Purpose-built construction administration workflows.
2D/3D web viewer + markups
-Image/PDF preview shipped. DWG/RVT viewer not built.
✓Built-in web viewer for 2D sheets and 3D models with markup tools.
Full-text search (names & metadata)
✓
✓Full-text search across project documents.
Runner / headless CI on a branch
✓A headless engine watches a branch and runs a job on every matching commit or tag, streaming only the files the job touches instead of a full checkout.
◐Design Automation API runs cloud jobs for Autodesk file types; no branch-triggered runner that streams only the files a job touches.
Outbound webhooks (signed events)
✓HMAC-SHA256-signed, SSRF-guarded webhooks for file/branch/merge/ACL/membership events (wire to Slack, Zapier, or a SIEM), plus a personal webhook channel.
◐Autodesk Platform Services Webhooks fire on data-management events via the developer platform; no built-in per-event signed webhook for branch/ACL/membership changes.
Identity & access
Capability
Swarmfile
ACC
OIDC SSO + SCIM
✓Included on Pro.
✓Available. Typically requires Autodesk enterprise licensing.
SAML SSO
✓On Enterprise, via an adapter.
✓Available. Typically requires Autodesk enterprise licensing.
Folder & file-level ACLs
✓Allow / deny / inherit with recursive resolution.
✓Role-based permissions at project, folder, and file level.
Vendor / external collaborator access
✓A named guest gets a kernel-level read-only mounted drive to their folder, not just a link, plus share links with password gate, expiry, and access caps.
✓Project-based member invitations with role scoping. Granular but complex.
Windows DACL projection
✓
-
Security & compliance
Capability
Swarmfile
ACC
AES-256 encryption (at rest + in flight)
✓
✓
Erasure coding (Reed-Solomon 10+4)
✓
-
Ransomware detection
✓Inline CID-overwrite quarantine.
◐Version rollback as recovery path.
Block-level integrity verification
✓BLAKE3 per block.
◐File-level integrity.
SOC 2 Type II
-Type I not started (planned).
✓
ISO 27001 / FedRAMP
-
✓ISO 27001 and SOC 2. FedRAMP: government edition only (Autodesk for Government), not commercial ACC.
Audit log
✓Per-tenant, plus a unified activity feed with CSV export (shipped).
✓Comprehensive project activity log, exportable as a report (filterable up to 12 months).
EU/US data residency
✓Self-serve region pinning (EU or US) at no extra cost on every paid plan from Starter up, chosen at signup.
✓Regional primary storage location (EU/Ireland, UK, Germany, and others) selectable per account.
Pricing
Capability
Swarmfile
ACC
Model
Per-seat SaaS. Storage included. $25 Pro.
Per-seat + per-project + storage. Complex bundling. Autodesk Build lists ~$1,680/user/year at the unlimited-sheets tier (lower sheet tiers less), before volume discounts.
Entry tier
$5/seat/mo Starter, 100 GiB/seat, no seat minimum or maximum. Self-serve sign-up in 2 minutes.
No self-serve free tier. Contact sales.
SSO included at team tier
✓Pro ($25/seat).
◐Enterprise licensing.
Where Swarmfile is stronger today
- A real drive letter, not a web platform. Every desktop app (Revit, Rhino, Bluebeam, SketchUp, QGIS, Resolve) sees a real volume. No per-app plugin, no sync folder, no Desktop Connector to babysit. One drive, all your tools.
- Works with any tool, not just Autodesk's. ACC is an Autodesk walled garden. Swarmfile is tool-agnostic. Use Revit for architecture, Rhino for design, Bluebeam for markup, and QGIS for site planning, all from the same mounted drive.
- LAN-first P2P. No cloud hop for every byte. ACC routes everything through Autodesk's cloud. Swarmfile lets workstations in the same office share blocks directly. One cloud fetch per office, not per workstation.
- Per-seat pricing. No per-project tax. ACC charges per project and per seat and per storage. Swarmfile is $25/seat with SSO/SCIM/LDAP included and unlimited, free egress. For a firm with 30 active projects, the cost differential is dramatic.
- Erasure coding + block-level integrity + inline ransomware detection. Three layers of data protection ACC doesn't offer at the block level.
- Per-mount branching with automatic merge. Try a design option or a look-dev variant on its own branch without copying the project, then merge it back with conflict detection. ACC's Revit worksharing has element-level borrowing on one model; no branch-and-merge primitive.
- Multi-vertical from day one. ACC is AEC-only. Swarmfile serves software, games, M&E, geospatial and AEC in one platform. If your firm spans practices or you want to standardize on one tool stack, that matters.
Pick the shape that matches your team.
If ACC already fits how you work, keep it. If you want a mounted drive with version control, locking, and LAN delivery in one place, start a trial.