You can get Solidworks for about $50/year for personal use. That’s cheaper than many entertainment streaming services. It’s not the full suite, but IMO it’s enough to be a really good deal for the features you do get.
FreeCAD or I will go back to my pencil, tee square and compass!
I have used AutoDesk products, (anyone remember starting AutoCad at a DOS prompt? I do), and Solid Works professionally. I have tried Fusion, OnShape, (taught a class to senior high school students for a few years), Solid Edge, and a host of lessor open source projects. All of them suck in some fashion. They are all waiting to trash your 100 hours of design sweat, (I got all the tee shirts). And if that’s the case, I’m not paying $50US a year for SW. I will wear the sackcloth and ashes of FreeCAD instead. At least it didn’t cost me anything to lose my work…
I’ve struggled to learn freecad. The flow through the toolset just doesn’t mesh with my brain. I’ve used Maya, 3DSMax, Sketchup, even Blender, but for some reason FreeCAD just doesn’t do it for me. I still hope to figure it out, free is better, and I’m glad it’s out there.
