AF
Autodesk Forma
Autodesk Forma is Autodesk's AECO industry cloud. The construction products formerly grouped under Autodesk Construction Cloud now carry the Forma name, including Forma Build, Data Management, Takeoff, and Design Collaboration.
At a glance
What Autodesk Navisworks does
Autodesk Navisworks is a Windows desktop family for federating, reviewing, and simulating multidisciplinary project models. Navisworks Manage includes clash detection; Simulate covers model review, 4D/5D analysis, and quantification without the full clash toolset; Freedom is a free published-file viewer.
Those editions should not be compared as if they were interchangeable. Coordination teams also need agreed export, coordinate, naming, clash-grouping, and issue-sync standards to get reliable results from large federated models.
Pricing visibilityPublic pricing
Autodesk sells Navisworks Manage and Simulate subscriptions and offers a 30-day trial. Navisworks Freedom is a free viewer; edition capabilities and regional prices differ.
Best fit
Who should take a closer look
01
VDC and BIM coordination teams
02
Contractors federating many design formats
03
4D planning and model-based review
Construction types
- Commercial general contractors
- Design-build teams
- Infrastructure and industrial coordination
- BIM and VDC teams
Company sizes
- Small
- Mid-market
- Enterprise
Documented features
What the vendor says is included
These capabilities appear in the cited vendor material. Availability can still vary by plan, module, region, configuration, or integration.
Multiformat model federation
Clash detection in Manage
4D TimeLiner simulation
Model review and viewpoints
2D and 3D quantification
Issue coordination
Animation and rendering
Free review viewer
Before the demo
What stands out, and what to pin down
What stands out on paper
- Federates many design formats without requiring one authoring tool
- Manage combines clash detection with review, sequencing, and quantification
- Freedom gives stakeholders a no-cost path to review published NWD and DWF files
Questions for the vendor
- Manage, Simulate, and Freedom have materially different capabilities
- Native use is Windows-only
- Large-model performance depends on export standards, model preparation, and workstation capacity
Integrations
Named connections
Autodesk RevitAutodesk FormaAutoCADOracle Primavera P6Microsoft Project
An integration name alone does not tell you which records move, in which direction, or how often. Ask to see the exact workflow you need using representative data.
Support
Help documented by the vendor
Autodesk HelpAutodesk communitySubscription support
Availability and response commitments can vary by plan, region, and contract. Put required onboarding, training, support hours, and escalation times in the proposal.
Sources
Where this information came from
We use first-party product pages, documentation, pricing pages, and release notes where available. They document vendor claims; they do not substitute for an independent test.
- Autodesk Navisworks overview and edition comparisonAccessed Jul 14, 2026
- Autodesk Navisworks purchase, trial, and Freedom viewer optionsAccessed Jul 14, 2026
Something changed? Submit a documented correction.