Easy to use if you’re familiar with AutoCAD.Ultimate pricing (bundle of all editions) – $1,500/year or $2,000/lifetimeĪs you can tell, lifetime licenses make this significantly more affordable overall.Mechanical pricing – $1,290/year or $1,700/lifetime.
Pro pricing – $720/year or $960/lifetime.Lite pricing – $350/year or $560/lifetime.After that, you’ll have several options, including:
One great thing about BricsCAD is that you can try it for free for 30 days without a credit card. While it doesn’t have the same powerful features, it’s still an impressive offering for free architectural design software. If you just need a basic 3D modeling solution, BricsCAD Shape is completely free. The latter two are feature-packed with tools that aren’t found in AutoCAD, such as Sheet metal, 3D Compare, and BIM.īricsCAD also integrates with the cloud, has a robust rendering engine, recognizes XREFS, and is customizable.
dwg.ĭespite being a paid software like AutoCAD, BricsCAD is more affordable with four editions: Lite, Pro, BIM, and Mechanical. You can use it with the major operating systems, such as macOS, Windows, and Linux, and hundreds of third-party apps from across the world, which are based on. If you’re familiar with AutoCAD’s 2008 version, BricsCAD has a somewhat similar interface plus rich features in 2D design and 3D direct modeling. Plus, it’s designed for Windows, macOS, and Linux environments. While LibreCAD works great for 2D models, FreeCAD is one of the best open-source alternatives to AutoCAD for 3D modeling, though it supports 2D as well. The best alternatives are easy to learn and use and will ideally have ample documentation.
The most important factors to consider include: You’ll obviously want more affordable alternatives to AutoCAD that offer similar features and read similar files, easily integrate with AutoCAD, and are intuitive to learn. The challenge is in deciding which AutoCAD alternatives are worth your time, as the market is awash with ghastly knockoffs. There are some worthy contenders with similar supporting infrastructure and critical functionality. If you’re an average student or hobbyist working on a lean budget, you don’t have to always pick AutoCAD.