MicroStation

Subscription Produce & Issue Documents

Computer-aided design software for creating geospatially enabled 2D and 3D infrastructure drawings. Supports multi-discipline BIM authoring workflows across transportation, water, energy, and municipal infrastructure sectors with native support for DGN format and interoperability with DWG, IFC, and point clouds.

Made by Bentley Systems, public (BSY, $10.1B)

Also in Companies

Hard Lock-in

2.8 /5 composite score

RF3 remains attached because DGN is the native format, while C2 4/5 reflects MicroStation OpenAPI plus the MDL/.NET/Python/JavaScript SDK surface. C4 2/5 reflects partial DWG and IFC interoperability around the DGN-native workflow.

Situational

Rubric Scorecard

How we grade →

Criterion	Score	Evidence
Value for the price	3/5	Subscription, from $2656 Source →
Agent Friendliness	4/5	API: MicroStation OpenAPI (cloud iModels via iTwin Platform REST APIs) + MicroStation SDK (on-prem desktop via MDL/.NET)
Ease of adoption	2/5	desktop-install, steep learning curve
Portability & lock-in	2/5	7 file formats Source →
Interoperability	3/5	7 integrations

Pricing

ModelSubscription

Entry price$2656

Free tierno

Trialyes

Billing unitper-seat

Visit MicroStation →

How we verified this: we checked MicroStation against its live site and an independent source — en.wikipedia.org. Nothing on this page is listed from memory. See how we grade. Verified 2026-07-14.

Evidence

File formats

Format	Direction	Support
DGN	native	full -- V8 DGN is MicroStation native format
DWG	both	partial -- AutoCAD 2006 and earlier full support; later versions read-only on some features
IFC	both	partial -- IFC2x3 and IFC4 supported with Design Transfer View limitations
STEP	both	unknown
IGES	both	unknown
PDF	export	partial -- 2D PDF and 3D PDF exports available
point-cloud	both	unknown -- LAS/LAZ point cloud support for reality capture

Integrations

ProjectWise iTwin Platform SYNCHRO OpenBuildings Designer OpenRoads Designer OpenBridge Designer LumenRT

Adoption

Deploymentdesktop-install

Self-serve signupyes

Implementation requiredoptional

Learning curvesteep

Sources

Pricing Formats Changelog

Also covers

MicroStation also appears in these sub-categories:

2D CAD Drafting

The 2D-drafting placement centers on DGN-native desktop authoring with partial DWG exchange and PDF export; RF3 remains attached because DGN is the native format, and C2 4/5 reflects the documented SDK and OpenAPI surface.

Civil & Infrastructure

C1 3/5 reflects published $2,656 per-seat pricing and a trial, while C2 4/5 reflects the SDK/OpenAPI surface and C5 3/5 reflects ProjectWise, iTwin Platform, OpenBuildings Designer, OpenRoads Designer, and OpenBridge Designer integrations. RF3 remains attached because DGN is the native format.

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