Solidworks Alternatives

The last time I went down this path "freecad" seemed the best from Google searching. After installing it and running through several tutorials and YouTube examples I didn't feel like continuing with it. This was several years ago and they may have made improvements since then. They seem to be going toward a very SolidWorks look and feel.

I also played some with HeeksCAD and HeeksCAM. They were interesting packages.

You can get a student version of solidworks, it's only about $100.00.

Inventor is free.

Of course with the $100.00 or so dollars, you'll get a solidworks tee shirt.

FreeCAD comes to mind.

TurboCAD is another option, but I am not well versed in it, so you need to judge for yourself.

I too could not afford SolidWorks and did not wish to lie to obtain a student version (which is only good for 1 year and "Student" is written across all drawings).

I was fortunate enough to get in early with Alibre which had the basic functionality I needed. Now Alibre is Geomagic Design and it is still a bargain. Geomagic also has a low-cost version with which I am not familiar. But even the top version of GD is less than $2,000 and it does not die if you allow the maintenance contract to lapse (which apparently does happen with SolidWorks).

My top-end version of Geomagic Design will read and write SolidWorks files so you would not lose any work you were able to bring with you.

The low-end Geomagic Design Elements is still $1,000 and that is without the subscription, which is another $300 per year.

You don't need a subscription for Solidworks. If you buy a license it will run indefinitely, but if you want to upgrade to a newer version you pay full price and there is no support without that subscription.

Autodesk will not sell you a professional product without a subscription. Autodesk Inventor Lite is also about $1,000 and it is pretty crippled compared to their full version.

Autodesk makes a free 3D program called Fusion, which might be worth looking at.

Since I take a classes periodically, I'll get the student version of inventor, or even Autocad. For keeping my edge. Both solidworks and Autocad make it quite easy.

Solidworks require proof with student ID's. I looked at both, inventor and Solidworks, solidworks is more intuitive and requires fewer step to do an operation. While Inventor seems to have more broader possibilities (that I'm aware of) but can be rather clumsy as well as unstable (it'll lock up or drop out of the program)

It all depends, what you want to learn, what are you going to use it for, and what you want to invest ($ and your time).

Nothing wrong with a student version written on a student version software. Unless you're using it commercially. That is illegal. Then buy the software.

They is only put on to defer the pirates and that, is what bothers the otherwise pirates.

It must be tough making a pirate honest, isn't it?

Google Sketchup should do it for you.

http://www.sketchup.com/?gclid=CPiz6c6X98ACFc1_Mgod_yYAaA

Solid Edge is free and similar to Solidworks.

http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/en_us/academic/resources/solid-edge/

You need to be enrolled in a school as that is a student edition.

Solid works is the same, you have to email them a copy of your student ID, Inventor wasn't so particular, with identification, relying more on that you are answering the questions truthfully.

Turbo cad has what they call their deluxe version at 129.00 US. You can down load a trial version for free.

I downloaded FreeCAD, and I'm going to play with it tonight. I also looked at Solid Edge and I liked it very much compared to SolidWorks, but I am reluctant to try to get the student version as I am not a student anywhere.

As far as ethics go, I have no intention of using whatever program I finally end up with for commercial purposes. If I were getting paid for doing design, I would use a licensed program.

I have been using TurboCAD since I got my first copy of Version 5 and now they are on about 21 or more. I am using TurboCad Pro Ver.16 now and have not had any problem integrating it to get parts made or quotes by email or phone data transfers. The cost is great and I always have gotten the extras like the tutoring to go with them.

I have purchased Smart Draw for home use. I suffices for me and at $300 isn't that bad a program. Maybe try it and see.