Unlocking Creativity: My Choice of Free CAD Software

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If you’re looking for basic CAD software packages and don’t need highly technical functionality, you likely will find all you need, and maybe more, in one of these free CAD programs.

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Best Open-Source Option: FreeCAD

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What We Like

• Well-supported open source platform.
• Ideal for engineering.
• Well-optimized for 3D work.

What We Don’t Like

• Clunky to work with.
• 2D features aren’t great.

FreeCAD is a serious open source offering that supports parametric 3D modeling, which means you can modify your design by going back into your model history and changing its parameters. The target market is mostly mechanical engineers and product designers, but it’s got a lot of functionality and power that anyone would find attractive.

Like many open-source products, it has a loyal base of developers and can compete with some of the commercial heavy hitters because of its ability to create real 3D solids, support for meshes, 2D drafting, and lots of other features.

Further, it’s customizable and is available on multiple platforms, including Windows, Mac, and several Linux distributions like Ubuntu and Fedora.

Download FreeCAD

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Best for Students and Teachers: AutoCAD Student Version

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What We Like

• Part of the Autodesk family of modeling applications.
• AutoCAD is an industry standard.

What We Don’t Like

• Watermarking on the free software editions.
• More complex than others; not newcomer-friendly.

AutoCAD, the heavy hitter of the CAD industry, offers a free, fully functional version for download to students and faculty. The only limitation on the software is a watermark on any plots you generate, designating that the file was created with a non-professional version.

Not only does Autodesk offer its base AutoCAD package for free, but it also offers free trial licenses for almost its entire suite of AEC vertical packages, such as the Civil 3D toolset, AutoCAD Architecture, and AutoCAD Electrical.

If you’re looking to learn CAD or just do some personal design work, this is absolutely the way to go.

Download AutoCAD for Students

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Best Alternative to AutoCAD: LibreCAD

What We Like

• Free and open source.
• Excels at 2D work.

What We Don’t Like

• Not as strong for 3D work.
• Skews toward app developers rather than CAD users.

Another open-source offering, LibreCAD is a high-quality, 2D-CAD modeling platform. LibreCAD grew out of QCAD, and, like FreeCAD, has a large, loyal following of designers and customers.

It includes lots of powerful features that include snap-to-grid for drawing, layers, and measurements. Its user interface and concepts are similar to AutoCAD, so if you have experience with that tool, this should be easy to get familiar with.

Download LibreCAD

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Best Premium Offerings: SketchUp for Web

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What We Like

• Options for hobbyists to industry professionals.
• Self-pacing and learning resources.
• Free version includes several products.

What We Don’t Like

• Pricing model isn’t great.
• Free feature is web-only.
• Important features hobbled.

SketchUp was originally developed by Google and was one of the greatest free CAD packages ever put on the market. In 2012, Google sold the product to Trimble. Trimble has enhanced it and developed it further and now offers a slew of related products.

The interface makes it easy to get up to speed on the basics. Even if you’ve never done any CAD work or 3D modeling before, you can pull together some really nice presentations in minutes.

If you’re looking to put out detailed designs with accurate sizing and tolerances, you’ll need to spend some time learning the ins and outs of the program. The SketchUp website offers a really impressive array of video and self-paced training options to help you along the way.

SketchUp’s free web-based version has plenty of power, but if you need additional functionality, you have to buy a SketchUp paid subscription—and pay a hefty price tag.

Download SketchUp for Web

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