MicroStation

MicroStation is used by engineers, architects, and construction professionals to create precise 2D drawings and 3D models for infrastructure projects. It facilitates collaboration through the industry-leading DGN file format. 

With MicroStation, you can: 

• Draft, annotate, and design 2D geometry and 3D models at any scale. 

• Ensure project quality by enforcing CAD standards. 

• Incorporate data of any age or format into your projects. 

• Produce consistent, high-quality deliverables such as paper plots, reports, 2D/3D PDFs, and iModels. 

• Take advantage of a comprehensive set of 3D CAD capabilities, including creating renderings, performing various analyses, and creating animations. 

To see how MicroStation can benefit your next project, explore our customer success stories or contact us for a demo. 

MicroStation is primarily CAD software that also includes built-in BIM capabilities.

As CAD:

MicroStation is a full-featured 2D/3D design and drafting tool used across infrastructure, AEC, transportation, utilities, and industrial design.

As BIM:

• It supports BIM data structures and workflows.
• It serves as the universal modeling environment underlying Bentley’s full BIM suite.
• It creates BIM‑ready, data‑rich models that integrate directly into OpenBuildings Designer, OpenRoads, OpenRail, ProjectWise, and other Bentley applications.

Ultimately, MicroStation serves as both a powerful CAD application and a foundational modeling environment within Bentley’s broader BIM ecosystem, offering robust BIM capabilities essential for complex infrastructure projects.

MicroStation 2026 introduces new features and enhancements designed to boost productivity, immerse you in real-world contexts, and streamline your design workflows.

Automation & Assistance

• Python Assistant (Technology Preview): Python Assistant has been upgraded for MicroStation 2026, using the latest AI models to help users automate tasks and create custom tools more efficiently. This enhancement significantly improves code reliability and provides deeper reasoning, ensuring more accurate and stable script generation for diverse design automation needs.
• Bentley Copilot (Technology Preview): Bentley Copilot is an intelligent assistant embedded directly in MicroStation, enabling you to "Ask. Learn. Accelerate." It enables faster help, learning and onboarding by providing contextual, plain-language guidance, translating concepts from other CAD software (like AutoCAD's XREF to MicroStation's References), and allowing secure reference to your organization's standards, all within your design environment.

Immersive 3D Geospatial Context

• 3D Geospatial Context Dialog (Technology Preview): This new dialog serves as a central hub for integrating massive 3D geospatial datasets, including Cesium World Terrain, Cesium OSM Buildings, and Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles. By supporting the open standard 3D Tiles format, MicroStation 2026 allows you to stream and visualize your designs within a rich, immersive real-world 3D environment, enhancing confidence and clarity.
• Search Location Tool: MicroStation 2026 streamlines geospatial project setup with the new Search Location tool. Powered by Google services, this tool instantly finds your project area by address, eliminating manual coordinate entry and speeding up project positioning within your designs.
• Geographic Coordinate System (GCS) Dialog Improvements & New Coordinate Systems: Further enhancing geospatial workflows, the Geographic Coordinate System (GCS) Dialog in MicroStation 2026 now includes a map for validating the extent of your selected coordinate system and provides direct access to its properties. Additionally, an expanded dictionary of new coordinate systems and vertical datums ensures unmatched global precision and flexibility for your projects.

Performance & Other Enhancements

• Configurations Wizard: The new Configurations Wizard simplifies configuration setup with a guided, UI-driven approach, replacing complex script-based workflows. It offers intuitive interfaces and best-practice templates, making configuration creation accessible to all users, speeding up initial setup, and promoting consistent standards across projects.
• Component Center 2.0: Component Center 2.0 is a cloud-based library designed for managing and reusing design components, featuring deeper integration with MicroStation and Bentley Infrastructure Cloud, enhanced governance, and a modern UI. It ensures design teams consistently use approved, iTwin-ready content, boosting efficiency, scalability, and compliance throughout the project lifecycle.
• Updated SpaceMouse Integration: MicroStation 2026 features an updated SpaceMouse integration, utilizing 3Dconnexion’s latest Navigation Library for smoother, faster, and more intuitive 3D model navigation. This enhancement delivers significant performance improvements for complex models, advanced customization options, and certified compatibility with all current and future SpaceMouse devices.
• UI Rehaul (with Windows 11 Theme): The user interface has been updated with a modern Windows 11 Light Theme, providing a cleaner, more intuitive, and visually appealing experience. This rehaul aims to enhance usability, accessibility, and aesthetic alignment, making MicroStation easier to adopt and more user-friendly.
• Sheet Indexing: MicroStation 2026 features an upgrade to DGNSI-based Sheet Indexing, offering greater flexibility and a more scalable way to create project deliverables. This eliminates the need for third-party tools by allowing users to easily migrate existing DGNWS-based sheet indexes to the new format, while still retaining read-only access to older sheets.
• Nested Parametric Cells & Visibility States: This new feature allows for the creation of complex, hierarchical assemblies by nesting parametric cells within one another, similar to MCAD Assembly Modeling. Additionally, Visibility States enable dynamic control over element display within a cell, supporting configurable variations and reducing duplication in design workflows.
• Text Editor Improvements: MicroStation 2026 introduces fundamental Text Editor enhancements, including the ability to create bullet points and an Undo/Redo tool. These improvements aim to make text creation and editing more intuitive and flexible, akin to using Microsoft Word, significantly improving user experience and productivity.
• Multi-annotation Scales: To enhance interoperability, the Multi-Annotation Scale feature in MicroStation 2026 allows users to display (read-only) multiple annotation scales for text and mText elements when opening DWG files. This ensures that scaling information from AutoCAD annotations is preserved, providing a more accurate representation of external design data.
• New Custom Line Style Editor: A redesigned Custom Line Style Editor offers a refreshed UI with updated icons and a streamlined workflow, reducing the steps required to define and modify custom line styles from over 30 to fewer. This enhancement, based on user feedback, significantly improves usability and efficiency for design professionals in their precision work.

MicroStation 2026 includes a technology preview of two AI-powered tools to improve productivity: Bentley Copilot and Python Assistant. Bentley Copilot provides interactive help and learning, while the Python Assistant helps users develop custom scripts faster.

Bentley Copilot (Technology Preview): Your Intelligent In-Product Guide

Bentley Copilot is a new AI assistant embedded directly within MicroStation. It is designed to make learning the software and finding answers effortless through a simple yet powerful workflow: Ask. Learn. Accelerate.

Key Capabilities:

• Natural Language Questions: Stop hunting through menus. Simply ask Bentley Copilot for help in plain English, like "How do I create a complex chain?"
• Bridge Knowledge Gaps: If you're coming from another CAD software, Bentley Copilot can translate concepts. For example, ask what an "XREF" is, and it will explain MicroStation's "References."
• On-Demand Learning: Get contextual, step-by-step guidance for workflows, turning every task into an opportunity to upskill without leaving your design.
• Secure & Private Knowledge: Train Bentley Copilot on your company’s local standards and training documents to create a private, internal expert that ensures team-wide consistency. Your data never leaves your environment.

Who it's for: All MicroStation users, from new hires who need to onboard quickly to experienced professionals looking to master advanced features.

Python Assistant (Technology Preview): AI-Powered Scripting and Automation

Python Assistant is a dedicated AI tool for users who want to automate tasks and extend MicroStation's functionality through scripting. It acts as a coding partner within the Python Editor.

Key Capabilities:

• Code Generation & Completion: Describe a task you want to automate in plain English, and the Python Assistant will help generate the necessary MicroStation Python code, reducing manual coding time.
• Debugging & Explanation: If you have a script that isn't working, the assistant can help identify errors and explain complex pieces of code, making troubleshooting faster.
• Accelerate Customization: Quickly create custom tools and automate repetitive workflows, allowing you to tailor MicroStation to your specific project needs.

Who it's for: CAD Managers, power users, and anyone responsible for creating custom tools, automating processes, or managing a team's digital environment.

MicroStation is a versatile 2D/3D CAD and modeling software used across industries that plan, design, build, and operate critical infrastructure and complex assets. Its precision, scalability, and interoperability make it essential for professionals in the following sectors:

Infrastructure & Transportation

• Road and Rail Networks
  Used for the detailed design, modeling, and documentation of highways, roadways, rail lines, corridors, and related civil infrastructure.
• Airports and Seaports
  Supports master planning, terminal layouts, and large‑scale airside and port infrastructure design.
• Heavy Civil Construction
  Ideal for bridges, tunnels, earthworks, and construction documentation on complex civil projects.

Energy & Utilities

• Energy Production & Industrial Plants
  Used for designing power plants, refineries, mining operations, and high‑complexity industrial facilities.
• Electric, Water, Gas, and Telecom Utilities
  Enables detailed mapping, modeling, and management of large‑scale utility networks.

Public Sector & Institutional

• Government Agencies (Federal, Regional, Local)
  Used for public works, infrastructure planning, geospatial modeling, and asset management.
• Campuses & Facilities
  Supports planning, design, and operations of large institutional, educational, and corporate campuses.

Architecture, Engineering, and Manufacturing

• Architectural & Engineering Consultants (AECs)
  A core tool for multidisciplinary CAD drafting, BIM workflows, and precise 2D/3D modeling.
• Manufacturing & Industrial Facilities
  Used to design industrial plants, production facilities, and complex mechanical environments.
• Shipbuilding & Marine Manufacturing
  Supports the design and engineering of commercial ships, naval vessels, yachts, and boats, including structural, outfitting, and systems modeling, all within a unified 2D/3D design environment.

Yes. MicroStation is a powerful alternative to AutoCAD for infrastructure design, especially for teams working on large‑scale, multi‑discipline projects. While both are widely used CAD platforms, MicroStation is specifically built to support complex infrastructure workflows, including transportation, utilities, civil engineering, industrial facilities, and large 3D models.

MicroStation is often chosen as an AutoCAD alternative because it offers:

• Robust 2D and 3D CAD capabilities optimized for infrastructure scale
• Exceptional performance with large files, references, and federated models
• Advanced geospatial, terrain, and point‑cloud integration
• High‑precision modeling suited for transportation, civil, and utility design
• Strong interoperability, including reading, writing, and referencing DWG files
• Enterprise‑grade stability, ideal for long‑term infrastructure projects

For organizations designing roads, rail, bridges, utilities, campuses, and complex industrial assets, MicroStation provides a more infrastructure‑focused toolset while remaining fully compatible with AutoCAD‑based deliverables.