Compare IFC Files
Compare two IFC models by GlobalId and see what was added, deleted, moved, or unchanged in a visual viewer.
When to reach for it: When you need to see what changed between two versions of a model — a site progress update, a design revision, or before/after a coordination sprint.
What you get: An interactive 3D comparison viewer that colour-codes every element into four categories: added (green), deleted (red), moved (orange), unchanged (grey). Elements are matched by GlobalId; moved elements are detected via position change.
Example: Compare last week's model against today's to review progress.
How compare ifc files works
- Upload your primary IFC file (the newer version)
- Upload a second IFC file to compare against (the older version)
- Click Run to analyse element GlobalIds and positions
- The 3D viewer opens with elements coloured by category
- Use the four filter buttons to show only added, deleted, moved, or unchanged elements
Under the hood
BIMCamel parses IFC files in the browser using the open-source web-ifc engine and renders models with @thatopen/components + three.js. Heavy operations (clean / optimise / validate / convert) run on disposable server-side workers using the same web-ifc stack plus our own .NET pipeline; results stream back to your browser as soon as they're ready. Uploads sit on our servers only as long as your tier's retention window allows and are never used to train AI.
Frequently asked questions
Is Compare IFC Files free?
Yes. Compare IFC Files is free to use — guests get 3 runs a day with 25 MB uploads, and a free account raises that to 6 runs a day with 100 MB uploads. No trial clock, no watermarks.
Do I need to install anything?
No. Compare IFC Files runs entirely in your browser — no desktop software, no licence, no plugin. Any modern browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari) will do.
Which IFC versions are supported?
IFC2x3 and IFC4 — the two schema versions exported by essentially every AEC authoring application. IFC4.3 files work for most operations too.
Is my file safe?
Yes. Your file is uploaded over HTTPS and processed on an isolated worker. Guest uploads are stream-only — the working files are deleted as soon as your download finishes. Free accounts keep results for 7 days; Pro and Team keep them until you delete them. Nothing is shared with third parties or used to train AI.