I am not an engineer. I’m not even good at math, and my spatial reasoning skills are nonexistent. With that in mind, here are the CAD programs I’ve tried.
Blender, Pros: Free, surprisingly comprehensive. Cons: Not parametric, can’t precisely measure or constrain models, all the extra stuff you get like rendering has no use in 3D printing.
Onshape: Pros: Easy to use, convenient (I’ve successfully edited a model on my phone), free*. Cons: Runs on someone else’s computer in the cloud, not private, enshittification is sure to come shortly if history is any indication.
Fusion360: Pros: seems to be what everyone else is using. Cons: enshittification is already happening, runs locally with limited saves in the cloud so you don’t own your files but also don’t get the run anywhere convenience of the cloud.
Plasticity: Pros: buttery smooth workflow, pay once run forever, runs and saves locally. Cons: Not peremetric so hard to go back and adjust things later.
FreeCAD: Pros: free, open source. Cons: workflow as rough as sandpaper, constantly crashes.
Plasticity and Onshape have proven to be the most productive choices for me. If only Plasticity were parametric it would be the perfect software for me personally.
I want to like FreeCAD, I really do, but it’s so hard to use. I love Plasticity, but it’s meant for making 3D assets for games etc. using hard surface modelling, not so much for manufacturing.
If I may digress for a moment, I work as a network admin. I’m familiar mostly with Cisco at work, but use Ubiquiti at home. Cisco equipment is monstrously expensive from a consumer or prosumer perspective, and the only way to get true hands-on experience is to buy used equipment from ebay which may still be pricey.
Ubiquiti’s market strategy seems to be to make the kind of gear that a network admin would want in their home. It’s inexpensive relative to the big fish like Cisco, but has a fairly comprehensive feature set. The idea is to entice Joe IT guy to buy Ubiquiti gear for his house, fall in love with it, then push for the company to switch to Ubiquiti the next time they upgrade.
What I want is the Ubiquiti of CAD programs. Easy to use, low barrier to entry but comprehensive enough to use professionally.
Suggestions/comments?
My solution to the same issue was OpenSCAD. But it might not be for the faint of heart. For me, this is a godsend, working 100% in my mindspace.
I second this. It was my step after tinkercad and never looked back. But I do love programming so maybe biased.
If they so said have no math or spatial reasoning then OpenSCAD is the last tool for them to try.
Maybe I suck at CAD but love OpenScad as its easier for me to understand.
As I said, it’s right for me, but it might not be for everyone. If I was to invent a CAD system, I’d write something exactly like OpenSCAD…
Solidworks has a cheap maker version. You can save locally. It’s always been shit, so it can’t get enshittified /s.
Also tinkercad. It’s basic but honestly it works for most stuff I make for things around the house.
FreeCAD: Pros: free, open source. Cons: workflow as rough as sandpaper, constantly crashes.
It has a learning curve (like all software), yes. But I cannot confirm the crashes.
The 1.0.x versions have been rock solid for me. I like using it, but that might just be the Stockholm syndrome kicking in.
Yeah 1.0 has been quite stable for me. I especially recommend the weekly releases with features planned for 1.1, like better sketch projection tools and snapping.
It is getting better, but I still get crashes in 1.0. I feel like there are some specific tools and features that are a lot more prone to crashes and others that are quite solid. I had crashes in particular with the thickness tool and some joins in the assembly workbench.
I love freecad but even the latest release has some occasional crashes. For instance if you try to use PartDesign_Chamfer or PartDesign_Fillet and then go back and edit any of the sketches those were applied to things start to get wacky.
I agree I have had some chamfer and fillets trouble that even wasn’t there before (a not-completely-tangent arc cutout from a square exposes this clearly) and will cause faces to shoot to “random” positions. Things can get wonky also because the Topological Naming Problem isn’t 100% gone, but a model getting messed up is not the same as crashing.
Still haven’t had a single crash in 1.0.2.
Shapr3D has been pretty decent and for a hobbiest, $300/yr for their pro version has been tolerable
Depending on your system I think, I have been using Sketchup 2017 (whatever the last free version was they released) for years to make 3D models for all kinds of purposes, incl 3D printing. For my brain it has proven to be the most intuitive tool to learn, it’s been a really long time so maybe I have forgotten but I feel like the barrier to entry was pretty small. There is a lot of content out there from people giving tips and tutorials. There are plug-ins still flooding around that have really good functionality. I use it with a Connexion 3D Space Navigator mouse that’s prob 10+ years old. That’s been a godsend and adds so much efficiency and flow to the tool.
I don’t know if you can still download it from Trimble but there are sources for it elsewhere.
Have fun, whatever you choose.
I use a free version of sketchup make from 2008. You can still find it out there on the internet for download.
The last free-to-run version of Sketchup is from 2017, and ironically you can download it from the official website, you just have to dig for it. It isn’t immediately available, and they try their best to sell you the latest version.
Blender has an add on project called cad sketches in development. It’s free to use and is donation supported just like Blender is. I haven’t used it myself but it wouldn’t hurt looking into it.
You can buy add-ons for this to auto-generate standard gear-forms and threads/bolts/holes. It is also parametric.
There’s an entry missing in your list, which many people seem to not know about: Siemens Solid Edge
Like fusion, is free for personal/hobby use. But it’s not “cloud based”. Also unlike fusion, they aren’t constantly scaling back what you can do with the free edition. Probably worth a shot.
I’ve been using progeCAD for the last few years and its basically a clone of AutoCAD for a fraction of the price and you own it unlike autodesk’s model they’ve had since like 2017 or something.
I use alibre, it’s a one time purchase
I saw a bit ago that blended has an addon or plugin or something that adds parametric functions
I think I got the impression it’s less powerful that proper parametric cad or something, but I figured I’d mention it in case that makes it a more viable option for you!
I personally like OpenSCAD (with VSCode not with the built-in editor)
I recently looked into (affordable) Linux-CAD programs and stumbled upon VariCAD, which, checking their presentation, appeared pretty complete. Saying that I would just make a decision after throwing a serious project, multiple parts, workgroups, parameters and technical drawing generation, on it. Maybe someone can comment on it?
Fusion is easiest to get going for ‘serious’ projects as a beginner.
I will use it while I can, or until an equal alternative is available. Nothing lasts forever.
