FreeCAD
Open source parametric CAD built on the OpenCASCADE B-Rep kernel, with a full Python API and workbenches for mechanical design, BIM, FEM and CAM.
SOLIDWORKS
The Windows-only mechanical CAD standard, unmatched on sheet metal and drawings, sold through resellers with capabilities gated hard across three tiers.
CAD Paid (one-time)
Overview
SOLIDWORKS is the default mechanical CAD system across much of manufacturing, and the reason is partly circular: it is what engineering schools teach, so it is what graduates know, so it is what firms buy. Dassault Systemes has owned it since 1997 and still sells it through authorised resellers rather than publishing prices, which is why every figure here is a reseller quote rather than a vendor page. It remains one of the few major CAD platforms still selling perpetual licences to new commercial customers in 2026, though those need an annual maintenance fee to keep receiving updates and support. Three delivery models now coexist and are the main source of buyer confusion: desktop SOLIDWORKS, which installs locally and since July 2023 ships bundled with cloud services whether or not they are wanted; 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS, which still installs locally and uses local hardware but authenticates against the cloud and saves into a cloud vault by default; and browser-based cloud apps such as xDesign and xShape, built to answer Onshape. The desktop application is Windows only, with no macOS or Linux build.
Key features
Sheet metal and drawings, rated above everything else
Modelling a folded bracket, having the K-factor and bend deductions calculated, and getting a flat pattern DXF out to a laser cutter is the workflow reviewers describe in the strongest terms of anything the software does. The path from 3D model to a fully annotated, tolerance-marked 2D drawing is the other. Together they explain why it holds its position on fabrication floors.
Capabilities gated hard between three tiers
Standard covers modelling, drawings, sheet metal, weldments and surfacing. Professional adds PDM Standard, the Toolbox fastener library, Visualize rendering, 2.5-axis CAM and ScanTo3D. Premium adds multi-body stress and motion analysis plus pipe, tube and electrical routing. Buying Standard and then discovering that version control or reverse engineering sits one tier up is the most common procurement mistake here.
ScanTo3D needs Professional at minimum
Importing scanner meshes or point clouds, preparing them, running deviation analysis and extracting curves to rebuild editable surfaces all depend on the ScanTo3D add-in, which is absent from Standard. Anyone planning a workflow around a handheld scanner has to budget for Professional before the first scan rather than after it.
Perpetual licences still exist
Unusually for 2026, new commercial customers can still buy outright instead of subscribing. The qualification is that a perpetual licence without annual maintenance stops receiving service packs, support and the next release, so the ongoing cost never reaches zero. What it does buy is software that keeps running when payment stops, which subscription-only competitors cannot offer at any price.
PDM 2026 rebuilt the parts that lose work
The most consequential recent change is not in the modelling interface. PDM 2026 added Synchronized Vault Views, which backs checked-out files up to the archive server in the background so a failed workstation no longer means lost work, moved to AES-256 with Kerberos authentication, and made metadata search accept implicit wildcards. For a team holding years of engineering data this outweighs any drawing feature in the same release.
AURA, narrower than it was announced as
Presented at 3DEXPERIENCE World as an AI companion that would predict mates and generate drawings, what shipped behaves as a documentation assistant retrieving answers from Dassault knowledge sources, and reaching it requires being on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. The distance between the demonstration and the delivery is an active complaint rather than a settled one.
Pros and cons
What users consistently praise
- The most approachable interface in mechanical CAD, which reviewers repeatedly contrast against the learning curves of CATIA and NX
- Sheet metal and flat pattern generation that users describe in stronger terms than any other feature in the category
- The route from 3D model to annotated, tolerance-marked manufacturing drawings is unusually complete
- The largest trained talent pool of any mechanical CAD system, which measurably shortens hiring and onboarding
- Perpetual licences remain available to new customers, which most competitors of this size have withdrawn
What users consistently criticise
- Crashes are the single most common complaint across every review platform, to the point that save early and often is standard community advice
- Large assemblies degrade badly, and users resent buying expensive workstations to compensate for it
- Windows only, with no macOS or Linux build
- Prices are not published, so every figure comes from a reseller and comparing offers takes real work
- The push toward 3DEXPERIENCE is widely read as prioritising cloud strategy over fixing desktop stability
- AURA shipped as a documentation assistant rather than the design copilot it was demonstrated as, and needs the cloud platform to reach
Recurring themes across third-party user reviews (G2, Capterra, TrustRadius).
Videos
Pricing
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| SOLIDWORKS Standard | USD 2,820/year, or USD 4,195 perpetual | Perpetual adds roughly USD 1,200 a year in maintenance to keep updates and support. Modelling, drawings, sheet metal, weldments, surfacing. No PDM, no Toolbox, no rendering, no ScanTo3D. |
| SOLIDWORKS Professional | USD 3,456/year, or USD 5,765 perpetual | Maintenance roughly USD 1,950 a year. Adds PDM Standard, Toolbox, Visualize, CAM Standard for 2.5-axis milling, and ScanTo3D. Widely treated as the realistic baseline for any team larger than two people. |
| SOLIDWORKS Premium | USD 4,716/year, or USD 8,395 perpetual | Maintenance roughly USD 2,000 a year. Adds multi-body stress and time-based motion analysis, pipe, tube and electrical routing, and advanced surface flattening. |
| SOLIDWORKS for Makers | USD 48/year | Also sold monthly at USD 15. Personal and non-commercial, though the terms permit selling what you make up to USD 2,000 a year. Files carry a permanent non-commercial watermark. |
| Student Edition | USD 20/year | Verified students and educators. Same watermark constraint, which matters far more than the price does. |
Best for
Sheet metal and fabrication shops
The flat pattern and bend calculation workflow is the capability users rate highest, and it runs straight from model to a DXF that a laser cutter accepts.
Teams that need to hire quickly
Because it is what engineering schools teach, the pool of people who already know it is far larger than for any competitor. That is an operational advantage rather than a marketing claim.
Drawing-heavy manufacturing
Where the deliverable is a dimensioned, tolerance-annotated print rather than a 3D file, the documentation tools go deeper than the cloud-native alternatives manage.
Buyers who want to own the licence
Perpetual licensing still exists here, so work does not stop when a subscription lapses. Few competitors of this size still offer it.
Who should look elsewhere
Mac and Linux users
No native build exists for either and none is announced. Running it means Windows, a virtual machine, or a second machine, and that cost belongs in the comparison.
Anyone starting commercial work from a student or Maker licence
The non-commercial watermark is embedded in the file itself and cannot be removed except by petitioning Dassault through a reseller, granted only in exceptional cases. Plan on rebuilding the part or moving the geometry through a neutral format instead.
Budget-constrained solo users
Reseller-only quoting, tier gating and maintenance fees put the real entry cost well above the headline figure. For one person doing parametric mechanical work, free alternatives now cover a good deal of the same ground.
Teams wanting integrated high-end CAM
CAM Standard at the Professional tier covers 2.5-axis milling and excludes turning. Serious machining means a further purchase or a separate package, which is where competitors that bundle CAM have the advantage.
Frequently asked questions
How much does SOLIDWORKS cost?
Dassault does not publish prices, so every figure comes from authorised resellers and varies with region and negotiation. As of August 2026 the commonly quoted annual subscriptions are around USD 2,820 for Standard, USD 3,456 for Professional and USD 4,716 for Premium. Perpetual licences run roughly USD 4,195, USD 5,765 and USD 8,395 respectively, plus annual maintenance of about USD 1,200 to USD 2,000 to keep updates and support. Network licences that float across a team cost more than these device-locked figures.
Can I still buy a perpetual licence?
Yes, which makes it one of the few remaining CAD platforms of this size where that is possible. The qualification worth understanding is that perpetual only guarantees the software keeps running. Without the annual maintenance fee you stop receiving service packs, technical support and the next annual release, so the cost of staying current never drops to zero. What it does protect against is losing access altogether when a payment lapses.
Can I use the student or Maker version for commercial work?
No, and the restriction is enforced inside the file rather than by licence text alone. Anything created or saved under an educational or Maker licence carries an embedded non-commercial watermark; opening such a file in a commercial seat raises a warning, and drawings print marked. It cannot be stripped by normal means, only by petitioning Dassault through a reseller, which is granted in exceptional circumstances. The practical workaround is to rebuild the part, or export the geometry to a neutral format such as STEP or IGES and continue from there.
Which tier do I need for reverse engineering a 3D scan?
Professional at minimum. Mesh and point cloud import, mesh preparation, deviation analysis and automated curve extraction all live in the ScanTo3D add-in, which the 2026 documentation places in the Professional, Premium and Ultimate tiers and which Standard does not include. If a handheld scanner is part of the plan, that decision has to be made at purchase rather than later.
Does SOLIDWORKS run on Mac or Linux?
Not natively, and no native build is announced. The desktop application is Windows only, so Mac users run it in a virtual machine, through Boot Camp on older Intel hardware, or on a separate Windows machine. The browser-based cloud apps xDesign and xShape do run anywhere, but they are a different and considerably less mature product than the desktop application.
What is the difference between SOLIDWORKS and 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS?
Desktop SOLIDWORKS installs locally and saves to your own disk or network server, though since July 2023 new licences arrive bundled with cloud services regardless. 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS also installs locally and uses your own CPU and GPU, but authenticates against the cloud at startup and saves into a cloud vault by default. The cloud apps are browser-only with no installation at all. Dassault steers new buyers toward the platform versions, which is the specific thing long-time users object to.
Is AURA a reason to upgrade?
Judge it against what shipped rather than what was demonstrated. AURA answers questions from Dassault documentation and knowledge sources; it is not the assistant predicting mates and generating drawings that the launch presentation implied. Reaching it also requires being on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. If that migration is something you want for other reasons, it is a modest bonus. On its own it is not a reason to move.
Alternatives to SOLIDWORKS
See all CAD ›Autodesk Fusion
Cloud-connected CAD, CAM, CAE and PCB in one subscription, strongest on integrated manufacturing and weakest on air-gapped or very large assemblies.
Onshape
Browser-only parametric CAD on the Parasolid kernel, with built-in version control and branching, and a free tier where every document is public.
Tinkercad
Autodesk's free browser modeller for beginners and classrooms, built from primitive solids, with a one-way bridge into Fusion and no STEP support at all.