Support for Building Information Modelling?: Unknown Platforms: All POSIX (BSD/Linux/Unix like OS), Packages for FreeBSD, IRIX, Linux, Solaris, Windows Latest Version + Date: Stable version date: says about FreeCAD, VariCad, and Solidworks: And don't hesitate to come here to ask questions (about FreeCAD). I think FreeCAD is easier and has a cleaner GUI.Īll I can tell you is to try VariCAD, and try FreeCAD as well. I don't know if the V2011 has made much improvement in this regard. Although it seems to be an interesting package for the price, I found its GUI very difficult to grasp (with gazillion of toolbars all over the place). If you're willing to learn Python, there's a lot that FreeCAD can do that its GUI doesn't at the moment.īTW I've tried VariCAD in the past. If you are a simple user in need of a free CAD package, or a CAD enthousiast who's interested in FOSS (like me ), then look no further than FreeCAD. If you don't have the money for SolidWorks, you may be interested in Alibre Design (which IMHO is more interesting than VariCAD). If you're a company owner in need of a complete, robust and well-supported software, maybe a commercial package would be better for you. It won't imprison you in a maintenance scheme like SolidWorks (pay annual fee or don't get updates). FreeCAD won't imprison you in a closed, proprietary format like the others. On a more accessible level, it has a scripting interface that allows you to extend FreeCAD's functionality. If you have the knowledge, you can hack the code all you want. Still, FreeCAD has a huge advantage over the previous two: it is open source, thus totally open (if you are not familiar with this development model, you should look it up). I don't know the numbers for VariCAD, but it is done by a commercial company, so it must have a lot more manpower than FreeCAD. SolidWorks has a team of maybe tens (hundreds?) of paid programmers.

But it is not complete yet, and won't be for quite some time, because its development is mainly done by three guys on their spare time (Jürgens, Werner and Yorik), with sporadic help from other contributors (still, FreeCAD's development is surprisingly fast and active, its team of developers highly dedicated).

SolidWorks proprietary $4000 basic packageįreeCAD aims to be a complete parametric solid modeler, like SolidWorks.

Varicad price