Free/inexpensive CAD programs

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Wanted to post info about free/inexpensive CAD programs out there in no particular order. Please share your experience with these or other CAD software.

  1. Fusion360 (Autodesk Fusion for personal use) - This is what I use for personal projects. I have tried a few others but keep coming back to this.


    - If you are coming from Solidworks or Creo the workflow can seem a bit wonky at first, but their sketch tool offers great tools to make things like slots and other shapes easy.
    - It offers free cloud storage, so if you have multiple computers you don't have to juggle with a flash drive. Note: only a few files can be in an editable state at a time. But it's easy to change old files to read only mode
    - It can do some STL editing. The paid version is supposed to be better at editing STLs. This is only needed if you only have the STL version. Some people like to edit STLs they download.
    - Version control
  2. Tinker CAD - Not my cup of tea, but might be yours!

    - Make objects out of simple shapes
    - Browser based CAD
    - Simple to use

  3. OnShape - I have been meaning to try this out. A lot of people seem to like it.

    - Collaboratively work on CAD projects
    - Version Control
    - Browser based CAD
    - Cloud Storage

  4. OpenSCAD

    - If you are into programming or math this CAD is for you. This CAD lets you use formulas to make shapes.
    - Some of the projects I have seen made by this look extremely complicated

  5. FreeCAD

    - I have not tried this


Here is a video with some more info on free CAD software
 
I use Fusion 360! Yes there is a bit of a learning curve…once you get the basics you can pretty much start your project without any issues!

The free version only lets you create and edit 10 projects at a time… if you want to do more than that… you need to mark your file as a read only and toggle them off and on as needed.

If you get stumped… just go to YouTube!

There’s a ton of info on there… so much that it will make your head hurt… :p
 
I started with FreeCad but have transitioned to the free version of Fusion. I feel Fusion is more intuitive for me than FreeCad but I think they each have some features over each other that a more accomplished user could leverage. Both have lots of how-to videos but I think there are probably more Fusion users out there in industry. I started on AutoCad about 35 years ago but never really used it as a developer. I could really use a CAD class to become more efficient and will be looking at the local community college classes next year.
 
If all you need is 2D drawings, all of those are overkill. They are all great but overkill.

LibreCad (formerly "qcad") is a free and open source 2D cad program that I've used for a couple decades and works well for most things. Works on multiple platforms too.
 
OpenSCAD is a weird one; it seems like a CAD program for people who can get Snow Crash by looking at a bitmap. Might make sense for some sort of website where you select a few parameters and have it generate, say, a shift knob where you specify the thread, diameter, and shift pattern.

I have been using FreeCad, and, well, it's main good points are that it's free even for commercial use, and it isn't OpenSCAD. If you proceed with a model like you're used to commercial programs like Fusion or Solidworks, a lot of commands will fail to execute properly and the support community will tell you that it's your fault for not doing something like breaking a circle into four segments so the software can figure out what to do. It's buggy and cantankerous, but can usually get you about what you wanted to model eventually.
 
Cuda416 said:
If all you need is 2D drawings, all of those are overkill. They are all great but overkill.

LibreCad (formerly "qcad") is a free and open source 2D cad program that I've used for a couple decades and works well for most things. Works on multiple platforms too.
Click to expand...
I use LibreCad at work to quickly check DXF files before sending them for laser cutting or water jet.
 
Before I retired, about 1 year ago, I used AutoCAD LT 2021 for a lot of 2d drawings (system drawings/schematics). I also created some personal drawings and would like to make some modifications/updates to those personal drawings.

Is there anything (free) I could use for an AutoCAD *.dwg or *.dxf file?
 
I use SketchUp, not quite a "CAD" tool but you can do some detailed stuff.
Before I retired I used MicroStation a true CAD program. Nothing free about it.


Alan
 
DartGTDan said:
Before I retired, about 1 year ago, I used AutoCAD LT 2021 for a lot of 2d drawings (system drawings/schematics). I also created some personal drawings and would like to make some modifications/updates to those personal drawings.

Is there anything (free) I could use for an AutoCAD *.dwg or *.dxf file?
Click to expand...

I am sort of in the same boat, but while I do still have access to AutoCAD I don't want to use it for personal stuff if possible. I did think about buying a copy of LT, but it's a fair bit of money and a yearly cost. I use QCad now for my personal drawings and was able to open my .dwg files fine. The free version has a limit in that it only runs for 15 minutes and then has to be closed and re-opened. The full version is only $45 or something, and I have planned to buy it, but life has me away from the stuff I needed it for so I haven't gotten it done yet.

While there is a pay option, it is a low cost and a one time payment so no "subscription". I hate the idea of having to buy a tool over and over again. Not sure what I would do if I had to buy new sockets and wrenches every year.

It's a little clunky compared to AutoCAD, but it works well enough. I do most of my personal work in Fusion360 now so this is more just 2D layouts like trying to compare roll centers on suspensions or getting stuff out of the huge layout I did for my fabricated spindle project.

If I could find a place to buy an older version of AutoCAD LT that was pre-subscription methodology and didn't cost a bunch, I would probably buy it. I would bet even a version 12 or 13 would work for me.

Cuda416 said:
LibreCad (formerly "qcad") ...
Click to expand...

I don't think that is completely accurate. While LibreCad did start as an expansion of QCad, QCad is still available, and it didn't become LibreCad.

I do have an install for LibreCad that I downloaded last year. I would think I would have tried it, I know I did mess with a couple of different programs, but I can't remember for sure. It's possible that for my uses, I found QCad to be a better fit for me, but I can't say for sure.
 
I also prefer fusion. The free hobbyist license gets you started, and once you're used to the workflow changing is tough. The 10 part limit is tough, but I have a full license now.

We use Creo at work, but the workflow is just different enough to make the change annoying. We're allowed to use NX for non-production projects and I found that's the closest to fusion, close enough that I can get parts made.
 
I use tinkercad which is CAD for 5 year olds, but that is perfect for me. I would like to learn solidworks, but real cad seems like it has a steep learning curve. someday soon I'll learn though.
But tinkercad is great, never crashes, and there is a big enough library to do basically whatever.
 
DionR said:
I don't think that is completely accurate. While LibreCad did start as an expansion of QCad, QCad is still available, and it didn't become LibreCad.
Click to expand...
LibreCad is a direct fork of qcad. In my book, saying formerly qcad is accurate and says nothing about the state of qcad but to each his own. The point is LibreCad wasn't built in a vacuum and is directly related to qcad. That being said, I'm now curious about qcad again so thanks for that. lol.
 

Cuda416 said:
LibreCad is a direct fork of qcad. In my book, saying formerly qcad is accurate and says nothing about the state of qcad but to each his own. The point is LibreCad wasn't built in a vacuum and is directly related to qcad. That being said, I'm now curious about qcad again so thanks for that. lol.
Click to expand...

To be clear, I wasn't trying to call you out or anything. I guess I just read "formerly" as one became the other and the former no longer exists. Just semantics.
 
DionR said:
To be clear, I wasn't trying to call you out or anything. I guess I just read "formerly" as one became the other and the former no longer exists. Just semantics.
Click to expand...

Nah I didn't take it that way at all, no harm no foul. Just being pedantic. I'm seriously going to check out the latest version of qcad though to see what's changed.
 
Well nevermind, Qcad is out. It's available as a trial commercial version unless you want to build it from source and I'm just not that interested in it.
 
Cuda416 said:
Well nevermind, Qcad is out. It's available as a trial commercial version unless you want to build it from source and I'm just not that interested in it.
Click to expand...

They do have a trial version. The only drawback is it shuts down every 15 minutes, but it can be reopened after that. Bit of a hassle, but still workable depending on what you are doing. And the trial doesn't expire beyond having to restart every 15 minutes.
 
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