ACC runs your BIM coordination.Peony runs your external diligence.
Pick Autodesk Construction Cloud for active BIM coordination, model authoring, clash detection, RFI workflow, and Revit / Navisworks / AutoCAD design execution. Pick Peony for external NDA-gated diligence: owner-rep monthly reviews, lender-syndicate draws, AEC firm M&A and refinancings, design-defect litigation distribution — with page-level analytics, dynamic watermarks, screenshot protection, and per-viewer audit trails.Set up in under 5 minutes.
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Side-by-side comparison
Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) — including BIM 360, ACC Build, ACC Docs, ACC Cost, BuildingConnected, Assemble, and Takeoff — is a design-and-construction execution platform for AEC and contractor teams. Peony is a purpose-built virtual data room for external NDA-gated diligence — owner reviews, lender draws, AEC M&A, refinancings, and litigation distribution.
PeonyWhy AEC firms add Peony alongside ACC
Most AEC firms, GCs, and developers keep ACC for active design and construction coordination and add Peony for external diligence workflows where ACC is the wrong fit. The two platforms solve different problems — and trying to use ACC as an external diligence room creates structural friction at every step of an external process.
No counterparty seat costs
Adding lenders, M&A buyers, expert witnesses, or owners to ACC means adding seat-based subscriptions per project. Peony issues NDA-gated links in 5 minutes — no counterparty seat cost.
Page-by-page analytics
ACC tracks model and document activity for design and construction execution. Peony shows which lender, buyer, or expert read which diligence page for how long. Prioritize follow-up across 4-8 concurrent counterparties.
Dynamic watermarks at view time
ACC has no dynamic watermarking on shared diligence exports. Peony renders viewer name, email, IP, and timestamp on every page at view time — a leak traces back to the specific viewer.
NDA-gated access with e-sign
ACC project permissions are tier-based; there is no pre-access NDA gate. Peony requires every counterparty to sign your NDA via integrated e-signatures before any diligence folder loads.
When to use each platform
ACC excels at active BIM model coordination, design execution, and contractor workflow. Peony is the better choice when external counterparties need NDA-gated access to a curated diligence subset with page-level tracking and identity-stamped watermarks.
Choose Autodesk Construction Cloud when you need
Active BIM model coordination, clash detection, and federated-model workflow
Tight Revit, Navisworks, and AutoCAD live integration
BIM 360 design collaboration and ACC Build construction execution
BuildingConnected bid management and Assemble model quantification
Construction IQ predictive analytics for inside-team project risk
Choose Peony when you need
AEC firm M&A, sale, or roll-up acquisition diligence
Lender-syndicate diligence with NDA gates and visitor groups across 4-10 lenders
Owner-rep monthly progress reports with curated subset permissions
Design-defect litigation evidence under protective order with screenshot protection
Client-handover packages with audit trails and watermarks on finished BIM deliverables
Multi-target M&A pipeline diligence across multiple vendor ecosystems (ACC, Bentley, hybrid)
Page-level analytics on every external counterparty's diligence engagement
What Peony gives you for diligence that ACC was not built for
Lenders, M&A buyers, owners access in 5 minutes
Adding 6-10 lender-syndicate members, 4-8 M&A bidders, or 3-5 expert witnesses to ACC means adding seat-based project subscriptions and giving them access to live design coordination data they neither need nor should see. Peony issues an NDA-gated link in 5 minutes; the counterparty signs your NDA via integrated e-signatures and reviews the curated diligence subset in browser. No ACC seat cost. No design-coordination data exposed to external diligence reviewers.
Screenshot protection
Block screen captures of sensitive BIM views and design diligence documents across desktop and mobile. ACC has no screenshot blocking on shared diligence exports.
Dynamic watermarks at view time
Every page stamped with the viewer's name, email, IP, and timestamp at the moment of viewing. ACC has no dynamic watermarking — leaks of BIM exports or design diligence subsets are untraceable to specific viewers.
NDA-gated access
Require counterparties to sign an NDA before they see a single page. Built-in e-signatures. ACC has no pre-access NDA gate at any tier.
Know exactly which slides each lender or buyer cares about
ACC's Construction IQ analyzes inside-team project execution risk. Peony shows which pages each external viewer read, time per page, and total engagement across the diligence subset — useful when 4-8 lenders are running concurrent confirmatory diligence on a refinancing tranche or 6-8 bidders are reviewing an AEC roll-up acquisition target.
BIM, CAD, drone footage, and point clouds in one diligence room
AEC diligence is rarely PDF-only. Peony handles 320GB+ of Revit (.rvt, .rfa), Navisworks (.nwd), IFC, AutoCAD, Civil 3D, drone progress aerials and orthomosaics, point-cloud as-built scans (LAS, LAZ, E57), and project deliverables exported from ACC inside one NDA-gated room with no per-GB surcharges. See also our spoke pages for BIM, CAD, drone footage, and point clouds.
"Peony has been great for sharing documents with investors, employees, and customers. It's easy to use, good value, and new features are constantly being added. Definitely recommend!"
Ed Harris
Founder & CEO, Ligo Bio (YC S24)
Frequently asked questions
I'm head of design at a 250-person architecture firm — we're being acquired and the buyer wants to see 5 years of BIM models. We use Autodesk Construction Cloud (BIM 360, ACC Docs, Build) for project execution. How do we share with the buyer?
For your 250-person architecture firm M&A, Autodesk Construction Cloud is the wrong distribution layer for the buyer-side diligence. ACC is built for active design and construction execution — model coordination, clash detection, RFI workflow, BIM-Connect integration. Adding the buyer's diligence team as ACC seats means giving them access to your live model coordination workflow, not the curated archive subset they need. Peony Business at $40/admin/month handles 320GB+ of Revit (.rvt, .rfa), Navisworks (.nwd), IFC, and ACC Docs PDF deliverables across 5 years of project archives inside one NDA-gated room with no per-GB surcharges. Configure visitor groups so the buyer's commercial diligence sees revenue and customer concentration; their design-quality diligence sees BIM model quality samples; their HR sees employee records; their tax counsel sees corporate structure. Dynamic watermarks stamp every page with the buyer-side reviewer's identity. Datasite quotes $50K-$150K for architecture-firm M&A diligence; Peony's 4-admin team pays $1,920/year flat. See also our /use-cases/bim-data-room page.
I'm a project executive at a 600-person civil engineering firm running a $1B highway project — sponsor uses ACC for design and BIM-Track for issue tracking. Lenders want diligence. Workflow?
ACC and BIM-Track are the right tools for active design coordination and issue tracking by the design and construction team. For your lender-syndicate diligence on the $1B highway, Peony Business at $40/admin/month handles 80GB+ of geotechnical Leapfrog models, BIM models exported from ACC, civil drawings, environmental Phase I/II, ROW documentation, and project-finance financial models inside one NDA-gated room. Configure visitor groups so each lender's credit team sees the credit memo and ground-condition subset; their construction-risk team sees the GBR and contractor risk-allocation; their environmental team sees Phase I/II and permits; their legal team sees concession and offtake agreements. Dynamic watermarks stamp every page (including BIM views and geotechnical models) with the lender-side reviewer's identity. Page-level analytics show which lender is deepest into which subset — useful for sealed-syndicate prioritization across 6-10 lenders. ACC stays with the design team; Peony is the lender-distribution layer.
I'm CFO at a 80-person specialty contractor — we use ACC Build for operations and ACC Cost for project budgets. We're preparing for sale. Realistic to share via Peony?
Yes. For your 80-person specialty contractor sale, Peony Business at $40/admin/month handles 150GB+ of historical project data exported from ACC (project archives, BIM models, drawings, RFI history, change orders, daily logs), employee records, equipment inventory, customer contracts, and corporate documents inside one NDA-gated room. Configure visitor groups so the buyer's commercial diligence sees revenue and customer concentration; their operations diligence sees project workflows and equipment fleet; their HR sees employee records; their tax counsel sees corporate structure. Dynamic watermarks stamp every page with the buyer-side reviewer's identity. Page-level analytics show which buyer streams are deepest into which subset. Audit trails log every view with timestamps — exportable for post-close reps-and-warranties evidence. Peony's flat $40/admin/month covers your 3-admin sale process for $1,440/year flat — under the cost of a single billing cycle for most boutique M&A advisors at this transaction size.
I'm an owner's rep on a $800M data-center build — the design team works in ACC, the GC works in Procore, and I sit between. I need monthly reports for the data-center operator and the project-finance lenders. What should I use?
For your $800M data-center build, ACC and Procore are the right tools for the design and construction teams' active execution. Use Peony Business at $40/admin/month for the monthly owner-and-lender distribution your role requires. Configure visitor groups so the data-center operator sees progress milestones, MEP-coordination snapshots, and operational handover packages; senior project-finance lenders see the full draw package with engineering progress validation; mezz lenders see the pari-passu tranche subset; equity investors see the executive summary. Dynamic watermarks stamp every page (BIM coordination snapshots, drone progress aerials, MEP-systems documentation) with the recipient's identity. Page-level analytics show which lender streams are deepest into which subset — useful for prioritizing follow-up across 5-8 lenders. The design team stays in ACC; the GC stays in Procore; you live inside Peony for external distribution.
I'm a partner at a 35-person AEC litigation practice — we're in a $50M design-defect case. The architect's evidence is in ACC. How do we share forensic evidence with experts?
ACC exports give you the architect's record-of-design, but ACC itself is not the right distribution layer for litigation work-product. For your $50M design-defect case, Peony Business at $40/admin/month handles 60GB+ of Revit models, Navisworks federated coordination files, IFC exports, BIM clash reports, RFI history, and design correspondence inside protective-order-gated rooms. Configure visitor groups so each expert witness sees only the evidence subset relevant to their opinion — preserving privilege and work-product. Dynamic watermarks stamp every BIM view, drawing, and document with the expert's name, firm, and timestamp; screenshot protection blocks captures. Audit trails log every view with timestamps — exportable for sanctions motions or work-product disputes. eDiscovery platforms (Relativity, Everlaw) are built for early-stage email-and-document corpus review; Peony is the late-stage distribution layer for curated BIM and design-evidence subsets.
I'm head of corp dev at a $3B AEC roll-up acquirer — we evaluate 4-6 architecture and engineering targets per year. Targets work in ACC, Bentley, or both. How do we run multi-target diligence?
For your $3B AEC roll-up's 4-6 concurrent target diligence streams, Peony Business at $40/admin/month gives you a separate NDA-gated room per target — unlimited rooms on the flat plan, no per-deal pricing, no per-page fees, no per-counterparty cost. Configure visitor groups inside each target room so your commercial diligence sees revenue and customer concentration; your design-quality diligence sees BIM samples; your HR sees employee records; your tax counsel sees corporate structure. Dynamic watermarks stamp every page with your team's identity. Page-level analytics show which of your team members is deepest into which target's subset — useful for confirmatory diligence prioritization across the pipeline. Targets export their ACC, Bentley, or hybrid project archives into Peony rooms; you do not need to onboard your team into 6 different ACC tenants. Peony's flat $40/admin/month covers your 5-admin corp-dev team for $2,400/year flat across all concurrent acquisitions.
I'm a project finance director at a $2.5B infrastructure debt fund evaluating $500M of debt for a renewable-energy portfolio — sponsor's design team uses ACC. How do we run lender diligence?
Sponsor's ACC is the right tool for the design team's active model coordination. For your lender-syndicate diligence on the $500M tranche, Peony Business at $40/admin/month gives 6-10 syndicate lenders NDA-gated access in 5 minutes with no ACC subscription cost spillover. Configure visitor groups so each lender's credit team sees the credit memo and resource-availability subset; their construction-risk team sees BIM models exported from ACC plus contractor risk-allocation; their environmental team sees Phase I/II, permitting, and ESG; their legal team sees PPA, OEM, and offtake agreements. Dynamic watermarks stamp every page (including BIM views, panel-level analytics, and engineering drawings) with the lender-side reviewer's identity. Page-level analytics show which lender is deepest into which subset — useful for sealed-syndicate prioritization. ACC stays with the design team; Peony is the lender-distribution layer. See also /use-cases/drone-footage-data-room for the renewable-energy drone-inspection diligence patterns.
Our 120-person structural engineering firm uses ACC and BIM 360 — clients increasingly ask for secure-handover of finished BIM models with audit-trail tracking. How does Peony fit?
For your 120-person structural engineering firm's client-handover workflow, Peony Business at $40/admin/month is the right distribution layer for client-handover of finished BIM models. ACC and BIM 360 are the right tools for inside-firm and design-team-coordination workflow during the active project — collaborative model authoring, clash detection, RFI routing. At project handover or refresh-handover, export the client-deliverable BIM model (Revit .rvt, .nwd federated, IFC export, structural calc reports) to a Peony NDA-gated room. Configure visitor groups so the client's facilities team sees the as-built model with audit trails; their property-management team sees coordinated MEP/structural; their refinancing or sale team sees the curated diligence subset. Dynamic watermarks stamp every page (BIM views, structural calc reports) with the client recipient's identity. Page-level analytics show which client stakeholder reviewed which deliverable for how long — useful for renewal-conversation prioritization and engagement-completion documentation.