Finch

Finch is an architecture platform for generating building designs, exploring options with real-time performance data, and producing BIM geometry. It is best suited to practices designing multifamily housing that want firm standards to shape early options. Its free tier covers editing and metrics, but key generation and AI capabilities require paid access.

Overview

Finch brings design generation, evaluation, and BIM output into one workflow, with cloud collaboration and clash detection. Its clearest fit is multifamily residential: generative tools support that typology, while other programs are limited to massing tools. Teams should also account for workflow boundaries around AI access and BIM round-tripping before making it part of an established toolchain.

Key features

Firm-informed design

The Plan Library uses past projects, firm knowledge, accessibility rules, local codes, and project constraints as a basis for design generation. That gives architecture firms a way to carry their own standards into new options rather than rely only on generic starting points. The generative scope is narrow, however: other building programs get massing tools, not generative tools.

AI assistance and outputs

Finch’s AI agent, Archie, is aimed at repetitive precision work, including door placement, compliance checks, and updates across linked units. The platform creates floor plans, area calculations, and BIM geometry, and exports BIM models to traditional BIM tools. AI unit-plan generation is currently available only to strategic AI customers, so access to enterprise features should not be assumed from the standard paid plan.

Connected workflows

Finch documents workflows with Rhino, Revit, Grasshopper, and Autodesk Forma. Supported applications include Rhino 8, Rhino 7.24+, Rhino 6 SR35+, Grasshopper, Revit 2023–2027, and Forma; MicroStation and SketchUp are unsupported.

Revit users can bring in conceptual massing and download generated BIM, but cannot upload changes to a downloaded BIM model back into Finch. In Forma, only Basic Buildings and Line-edited buildings upload as editable volumes; other geometry types enter Finch’s Generic layer as context. These restrictions matter for teams expecting a fully reversible exchange with their existing models.

Pricing

Finch has a free tier, a single-user monthly plan, and an enterprise plan with a three-seat minimum. The free option is unusually useful for evaluation because it includes all editing tools and real-time building performance metrics, but it does not include optimized unit-mix and circulation generation.

• Free — free: Single user, all editing tools, and real-time building performance metrics. It is the sensible starting point for individual exploration, but lacks the paid plan’s optimized unit-mix and circulation generation.
• Basic — €79 a month: Single user, all editing tools, real-time building performance metrics, and optimized unit-mix and circulation generation. It includes a 14-day free trial. This fits an individual who needs those generation features; it remains a one-user plan rather than a team license.
• Enterprise — from €14,500 per year, billed annually (3 seats): From 3 users, firm-wide plan library, AI-powered floor plan generation, code and compliance check, custom BIM export and integrations, AI agent, SSO, and enterprise security. Dedicated onboarding, support, and training are also included. It is intended for firms needing shared standards and broader AI and integration capabilities, but carries an annual commitment and three-seat minimum.

The Free and Basic tiers are single-user plans; Enterprise is the option for teams. Basic’s 14-day trial gives a short window to assess its added generation features, while the AI unit-plan workflow remains limited to strategic AI customers.

Platforms

Finch is available as an extension, on macOS, on the web, and on Windows. Its documented application connections make it relevant to practices already using Rhino, Revit, Grasshopper, or Forma, subject to the supported versions and geometry limits.

Who it's for

Finch is a strong candidate for architecture practices exploring multifamily residential options and seeking to apply firm knowledge, codes, accessibility rules, and constraints during design. Individual users can start with editing and performance metrics at no charge, while firms needing AI floor-plan generation, a firm-wide Plan Library, or enterprise support should consider Enterprise. It is less suitable for non-residential teams that need generative design, or for workflows requiring edits to downloaded Revit BIM to flow back into Finch.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Plan Library grounds design generation in firm knowledge, local codes, accessibility rules, and project constraints, which can make it more relevant to a practice’s own standards.
• Pros: The Free plan includes all editing tools and real-time building performance metrics, offering a useful entry point without a subscription.
• Pros: Floor plans, area calculations, BIM geometry, cloud collaboration, and clash detection bring design evaluation and model output together.
• Cons: Generative tools are limited to multifamily residential, leaving other programs with massing tools only.
• Cons: AI unit-plan generation is restricted to strategic AI customers, and Archie is an Enterprise capability, narrowing access to advanced automation.
• Cons: Revit edits to downloaded BIM cannot be returned to Finch, and only certain Forma geometry uploads as editable volumes, limiting model continuity.
• Cons: Basic is single-user at €79 a month; teams need Enterprise, which starts at three seats and annual billing from €14,500.

Alternatives

Consider Archicad if you want a paid architecture application with a free educational license for eligible students and educators, valid for one year.

usBIM.platform may suit teams looking for free online applications and 10 GB of cloud storage in its free basic configuration.

Choose Cedreo if a free, single-project option with five photorealistic 3D renderings and watermarked personal-use output better fits your needs.

LibreCAD is a free, open-source 2D CAD option for readers who do not need Finch’s building-design generation and BIM workflows.

Bonsai is a free, open-source alternative with Studio and Viewer for readers seeking software without a subscription.

Look at Hypar if you want a web-based option with a Professional plan priced at $100 a month per user and paid clearance features.

DIALux offers free core lighting design functions and access to member-manufacturer luminaires, making it the more specific choice for lighting design.

Snaptrude is another freemium architecture option; its free plan allows three projects and basic BIM and Revit export for a single user.

Browse more options in Architectural Design Software, BIM Software, and AI Floor Plan Generators.

Verdict

Choose Finch if you are an architecture practice developing multifamily housing and want firm-informed generation, real-time performance metrics, and BIM output in a collaborative workflow. The free plan is a credible way to explore its editing tools, while Basic adds optimized unit mix and circulation for one user. Look elsewhere if your projects need generative tools beyond multifamily housing or if your Revit and Forma workflow depends on unrestricted two-way model exchange; teams seeking broader AI features should weigh Enterprise’s annual price and three-seat minimum.