What is the best Autodesk Docs alternative for asset owners?

Autodesk Docs, now part of Autodesk Forma, is built for live project delivery inside the Autodesk stack, and it runs the design and construction phase well. The gap opens at handover, because the tool is organised around a project that gets archived when the job closes, while the asset itself runs for decades. Asset owners move the operating record onto a purpose-built system that holds every drawing under revision control across the whole estate, treats DGN and MicroStation the same as DWG and RVT, and does not tie the record to a per-project subscription. Lunr is built for that operations phase and manages more than 10 million documents for owners today.

Does Lunr handle DGN and MicroStation files as well as DWG and RVT?

Yes, and that is the point of a format-neutral record. Much rail, road, water, and utility design is drawn in MicroStation, so a large part of an owner's estate is DGN. A CDE built on the Autodesk stack centres Autodesk's own DWG and RVT, and everything else sits outside the native path. Lunr treats DGN and DWG the same, opens both in the browser through the Rift viewer with no CAD licence, and reads title blocks from either into searchable metadata. The record follows the asset across every file format it holds.

What happens to the drawing record when an Autodesk Construction Cloud project closes?

The project is archived. That keeps the project list tidy, but it is the wrong shape for an operating asset, which needs a live record for its whole working life. Downloading the project through the Data Management web portal does not preserve the full file history, which stays on Autodesk's server, so the version story can be lost on the way out. If the subscription later ends, Autodesk gives a short grace period, after which the data may be deleted. An asset that runs for decades cannot have its drawing record tied to a project that gets archived and a subscription that can lapse.

Can you keep Autodesk Docs for live projects and use Lunr for operations?

Yes, and it is the common setup for owners who deliver capital projects. Keep Autodesk Docs for design coordination and construction while the job is running, and hand the completed drawings to Lunr as the permanent operating record. When a project closes, its as-constructed drawings land in the asset record under revision control and stay there. You run project delivery and the operating record side by side, each on the tool built for it.

How do you move drawings out of Autodesk Docs, and does the history come with them?

Import the handover package into Lunr. It reads the title-block tags from each sheet into metadata, so drawing number, revision, and discipline become searchable fields without retyping, and your folder structure comes across as it is. Because a web-portal download from Autodesk does not preserve full file history, the sooner you bring drawings onto a controlled record the more of the version story you keep. From then on Lunr holds the full revision history and a complete audit trail on every drawing, and the record is held independently of any project subscription.

Do operations staff need an Autodesk seat to view drawings in Lunr?

No. In Autodesk Docs, access is per seat and metered by activated access, which is a poor fit for an operations team that only needs to read the record. In Lunr the whole team opens DWG, DGN, RVT, and PDF drawings in the browser through the Rift viewer, with layers, measurement, and markup, and no CAD or CDE seat. A licence is only needed to author drawings, not to read the record of the asset you operate.

fig. 01 · autodesk docs alternative

An Autodesk Docs alternative for the operations phase.

For the asset owners and document controllers who keep the drawing record after the project closes. Put every DWG, RVT, DGN, and MicroStation drawing under revision control, in a record built for the operating life of the asset. Keep Autodesk Docs for live project delivery.

Book a demo View a drawing in the browser

10M+ documents under management · Hosted in Australia and the US · SAML · Full audit trail

fig. 02 · where Autodesk Docs fits

Autodesk Docs is built for the project, and it does that well.

Autodesk Docs, now part of Autodesk Forma, runs design coordination and construction delivery inside the Autodesk stack, and plenty of teams should keep it for that. The claim here is narrow. A project common data environment is the wrong shape for the operations phase, when the project has closed and the asset has decades of life left.

Lunr is built for the operating record. It holds the controlled drawing set for the life of the asset, while Autodesk Docs runs the live projects, so handover has somewhere permanent to land.

Read why owners keep the operating record off project tools

Keep Autodesk Docs forlive projects

Live project delivery and design coordination, inside the Autodesk stack.
Model coordination and clash detection with Revit and Navisworks.
Construction-phase RFIs, submittals, and issues while the job is running.
Teams already on the AEC Collection, working project by project.

fig. 03 · the walls

Where an operating asset hits the edge of a project CDE.

These are the specific points where a project common data environment stops matching what an asset owner needs after handover. Each one is a job the operations phase requires and a project tool was never meant to do.

01It is scoped to a single project. When the job closes the project is archived, but the asset runs for decades and needs a live drawing record the whole time.

02Autodesk's own formats come first. A CDE built on the Autodesk stack centres DWG and RVT, so the DGN and MicroStation files behind much rail, road, and utility design sit outside the native path.

03Licensing is per seat, across every project. Seat use is metered by activated access, which does not suit an operations team that only needs to read the record.

04History does not travel. Downloading a project through the web portal does not preserve the full file history, which stays on Autodesk's server.

05The record depends on the subscription. When the contract ends there is a short grace period, then the data may be deleted, so the drawing record is only as permanent as the billing.

06No register across the estate. The CDE is scoped to one project, so there is no controlled register over every asset an owner holds.

fig. 04 · side by side

Autodesk Docs and Lunr, capability by capability.

A factual read of what each tool does for the drawing record. The two are not rivals for every row. Autodesk Docs runs the live project, and Lunr holds the operating record for the life of the asset.

Capability	On Autodesk Docs	On Lunr
Live design coordination during the build	Yes, its core strength	The operating record, after handover
Store and version DWG and RVT	Yes, Autodesk-native	Yes, and format-neutral
First-class DGN and MicroStation, alongside DWG and RVT	Autodesk formats come first	Yes, DGN and DWG treated the same
A permanent record for the operating asset	No, project-scoped and archived at closeout	Yes, built for the operating life of the asset
A controlled register across the whole estate	No, scoped to one project	Yes, a register over every asset
Full file history travels with the drawing	Portal download does not preserve full history	Yes, revision history and audit trail stay with the record
Read the record without a per-seat CDE licence	Per seat, metered by activated access	Yes, view drawings with no CAD or CDE seat
Full-text search inside scanned legacy drawings	No, indexes names and metadata	Yes, XRAY OCR reads the text on the sheet
Record survives the end of a project subscription	Short grace period, then data may be deleted	Yes, the record is yours, held independently

fig. 05 · the operating record

A register across the estate, not a project that gets archived.

Book a drawing in and Lunr numbers it, keeps its full revision history, and marks the previous revision as superseded. The register runs across every asset you hold rather than one project, and the title-block fields come across as searchable metadata, so drawing number, revision, and discipline are things you filter on for the whole estate.

A controlled register across every asset, showing the current revision and status of each sheet at a glance.
Automatic document and version numbering, applied in your register format as drawings are booked in.
Superseded revisions kept and marked, so an archived project never buries the current sheet.
Title-block tags read into metadata, so drawing number, revision, and discipline become filters across the estate.

estate register · automatic numbering · superseded marking · title-block metadata

See document control

A drawing's metadata and workflow panel in Lunr, showing title-block fields such as drawing number, revision, and discipline held as searchable metadata across the estate.

fig. 06 · format neutrality

Open DGN and MicroStation alongside DWG and RVT, no CAD licence.

A CDE built on the Autodesk stack centres Autodesk’s own DWG and RVT. Much rail, road, water, and utility design is drawn in MicroStation, so a large part of an owner’s estate is DGN that sits outside that native path. Lunr treats every format the same. The Rift viewer renders DWG, DGN, and PDF at full fidelity, with layers, measurement, and markup. Models open in Foundry, point clouds in Nimbus.

View DWG, DGN, RVT, and PDF in the browser, with no CAD licence and nothing to install.
DGN and MicroStation drawings are first-class, read and searched like any other format.
Toggle layers, measure, and mark up the drawing straight in the viewer.
Open BIM models in Foundry and point clouds in Nimbus from the same record.

browser viewers · DGN and DWG · layers · measurement · no CAD licence

Try the viewers

A DWG drawing open in Lunr's Rift viewer in the browser, showing the sheet with its layers panel and viewer toolbar, with DGN and DWG treated the same and no CAD licence required.

fig. 07 · search

Search the words printed inside a scanned drawing.

An operating asset carries decades of legacy drawings, many of them scans. A project CDE indexes file names and structured data, so the content of a scanned sheet is invisible to it. XRAY runs OCR and full-text search across every drawing, scans included. Search a valve tag, a title-block reference, or a note, and Lunr returns the sheet whether it was drawn this morning or scanned from a 1994 archive.

OCR and AI full-text search across every DWG, DGN, RVT, PDF, and scanned image.
Find a tag, a reference, or a note printed inside the drawing, not just the file name.
Deep XRAY re-scans a dense sheet tile by tile, so nothing on the drawing is missed.
Filter results by metadata, tags, and revision to narrow a large estate fast.

OCR · AI full-text search · deep XRAY tile re-scan · metadata and tag filters

See how XRAY search works Read about drawing OCR

Lunr's XRAY search returning a list of drawings matched on text found inside the sheets, scanned drawings included, with metadata and revision shown for each result.

fig. 08 · handover and audit

Take handover on the record, with an audit trail behind it.

A project handover often arrives as a ZIP with the history left behind. Lunr validates each handover package against a manifest, so a missing as-constructed drawing is caught on upload, issues tracked transmittals for anything you send out, and keeps a full audit trail behind every approval, revision, and change on the operating record.

Validate each handover package against a manifest, and read title-block tags into metadata.
Issue tracked transmittals, and run change requests that hold, forward, and close.
Move drawings through configurable review and approval workflows.
Keep a full audit trail on every controlled drawing, ready for compliance and audit.

manifest validation · transmittals · change requests · configurable workflows · full audit trail

See handover and transmittals

Lunr's document activity view, showing an audit trail of transmittals, workflow transitions, and metadata changes on a controlled drawing.

fig. 09 · moving across

Move the operating record across, keep Autodesk for live projects.

You do not have to rebuild anything or stop delivering projects on Autodesk. Import the handover package, bring every format across together, keep the folders your team knows, and let each project hand its drawings to the operating record as it closes.

01
Import the closeout package
Point Lunr at the handover export from Autodesk Docs, and it reads the title-block tags from each sheet into metadata, so drawing number, revision, and discipline become fields you can filter on, without the history staying locked on someone else's server.
02
Bring every format across together
DGN and MicroStation land alongside DWG and RVT, treated the same. Nothing is downgraded for sitting outside the Autodesk formats, and title blocks are read from either.
03
Keep the folders your team knows
Your existing folder structure comes across, so people find drawings where they expect, while the estate register gives the controlled view across every asset on top.
04
Keep Autodesk for live projects
Run Autodesk Docs for design and construction, and Lunr for the operating record. When a project hands over, its drawings land in the asset record and stay there for the life of the asset.

Lunr's repository folder view, showing an imported folder structure on the left beside the controlled drawing documents on the right.

See the CAD connector and the rest of the CAD, GIS, and facilities connectors on the connectors page.

fig. 10 · proof

Teams already run the operating record on Lunr.

Universities, utilities, energy companies, and government departments run their drawing record on Lunr, from project handover through the operating life of the asset.

over10,000,000

documents under management on Lunr. Proof the operating record holds up at owner-and-portfolio scale.

Case study · University of Canberra

20,000+drawings and documents brought under revision control across the campus estate.

“Lunr is a simple solution that provides the flexibility to develop the system to our needs. Lunr is simple to use, and minimal training is required.”
Daniel Byrnes, Digital Systems Coordinator, Campus Estate, University of Canberra

Read the University of Canberra case study Engineering document management for universities

fig. 11 · questions

Questions owners ask about Autodesk Docs and the operating record.

What a project CDE can and cannot do once the job closes, and what it takes to hold the drawing record for the life of the asset.

What is the best Autodesk Docs alternative for asset owners?: Autodesk Docs, now part of Autodesk Forma, is built for live project delivery inside the Autodesk stack, and it runs the design and construction phase well. The gap opens at handover, because the tool is organised around a project that gets archived when the job closes, while the asset itself runs for decades. Asset owners move the operating record onto a purpose-built system that holds every drawing under revision control across the whole estate, treats DGN and MicroStation the same as DWG and RVT, and does not tie the record to a per-project subscription. Lunr is built for that operations phase and manages more than 10 million documents for owners today.
Does Lunr handle DGN and MicroStation files as well as DWG and RVT?: Yes, and that is the point of a format-neutral record. Much rail, road, water, and utility design is drawn in MicroStation, so a large part of an owner's estate is DGN. A CDE built on the Autodesk stack centres Autodesk's own DWG and RVT, and everything else sits outside the native path. Lunr treats DGN and DWG the same, opens both in the browser through the Rift viewer with no CAD licence, and reads title blocks from either into searchable metadata. The record follows the asset across every file format it holds.
What happens to the drawing record when an Autodesk Construction Cloud project closes?: The project is archived. That keeps the project list tidy, but it is the wrong shape for an operating asset, which needs a live record for its whole working life. Downloading the project through the Data Management web portal does not preserve the full file history, which stays on Autodesk's server, so the version story can be lost on the way out. If the subscription later ends, Autodesk gives a short grace period, after which the data may be deleted. An asset that runs for decades cannot have its drawing record tied to a project that gets archived and a subscription that can lapse.
Can you keep Autodesk Docs for live projects and use Lunr for operations?: Yes, and it is the common setup for owners who deliver capital projects. Keep Autodesk Docs for design coordination and construction while the job is running, and hand the completed drawings to Lunr as the permanent operating record. When a project closes, its as-constructed drawings land in the asset record under revision control and stay there. You run project delivery and the operating record side by side, each on the tool built for it.
How do you move drawings out of Autodesk Docs, and does the history come with them?: Import the handover package into Lunr. It reads the title-block tags from each sheet into metadata, so drawing number, revision, and discipline become searchable fields without retyping, and your folder structure comes across as it is. Because a web-portal download from Autodesk does not preserve full file history, the sooner you bring drawings onto a controlled record the more of the version story you keep. From then on Lunr holds the full revision history and a complete audit trail on every drawing, and the record is held independently of any project subscription.
Do operations staff need an Autodesk seat to view drawings in Lunr?: No. In Autodesk Docs, access is per seat and metered by activated access, which is a poor fit for an operations team that only needs to read the record. In Lunr the whole team opens DWG, DGN, RVT, and PDF drawings in the browser through the Rift viewer, with layers, measurement, and markup, and no CAD or CDE seat. A licence is only needed to author drawings, not to read the record of the asset you operate.

fig. 12 · get started

Keep Autodesk for projects. Give the asset a record.

Book a walkthrough with someone who knows what a transmittal, a DGN, and an as-constructed drawing are, and watch Lunr run against a set of your own.

Book a demo Explore features

10M+ documents under management · Hosted in Australia and the US · SAML · Full audit trail · Export anytime

entity: Lunr Labs Pty Ltd
location: Melbourne AU
workspace: documents.lunr.app
rev: 2026