FreeCAD vs Inventor

AutoCAD

SolidWorks Premium

Autodesk Fusion

CATIA

Creo

Designcenter Solid Edge

Compare FreeCAD and Inventor based on features, pricing, verified reviews, integrations & more on GetApp. Find out which software is best for your business in 2026.

Autodesk Fusion is a 3D CAD, CAM, and CAE tool that combines industrial and mechanical design, simulation, collaboration, and machining to connect the entire product development process in an integrated, concept-to-production toolset

SolidWorks Premium is the leading 3D design solution in the industry. It seamlessly integrates powerful design tools-including industry-leading part, assembly, and drawing capabilities with built-in simulation, rendering, animation, product data management, and cost estimation. 

SolidWorks will help you get work done faster and easier than before, using innovative phases of product creation to achieve a more productive 3D design experience.

AutoCAD is a design and drafting platform which supports automated design tasks and offers features such as 2D drafting, drawing and annotation, 3D modeling and visualization, and more.

FreeCAD is an on-premise open-source paramedic 3D modeler, which helps businesses design objects of all sizes. Programmers can sketch constrained 2D shapes and utilize them as a base to create other objects. It supports several file formats such as IGES, SVG, DXF, DE, IFC, STL, STEP, OBJ, and more.


2D Drawing

3D Design & Modeling

3D Imaging

Annotations

CAD Tools

Collaboration Tools

Data Import/Export

Document Management

Electrical

For 3D Printing

For Architects

For Manufacturers

Mechanical

Modeling & Simulation

Project Management

Reporting/Analytics

FreeCAD

Linux

Windows

Hardware Engineer

This is a good software for 3D design. It is for free and there is a great community that can give support to you, with a lot of tutorials in Youtube.

Teaching Assistant

It is free and open-source and that is great for such a useful software. It is lighter that other similar software.

Owner

FreeCAD has been a Godsend for developing and evaluating my ideas and I would definitely recommend it if you are a small business with minimal or no budget for expensive CAD software.

Cost/Project Engineer

Being a community-based free software, it's still seeing lots of improvements. Constant feedback is allowing it to better improve functionality and integration across disciplines.

Amateur engineering designer

It isn't complete (e.g. there is no dimensioning readily available), and suffers from ongoing development that results in occasional crashes.

Project Manager

If you need a drafting tool, get this one. It’s also great to learn what CAD is, and how it can help you draft.

Artist

So, I'll recommend this software for those seeking a classic and quick CAD Drawing and Viewing experience. Thank you so very much for the elegant software.

QC Technician

My problem was I don't have enough time to spend on I was working in a company and my job was not related to CAD.

Also it has many integrated tools to work with 3D and 2D designs, you can review models, import many file formats and convert some meshes like STL to a solid.

Especialista

For small design projects it is a very complete tool that helps you solve problems effectively without having to invest a penny.

Greggles

Near no customer service and sometimes sub-par tutorials. Getting the right install location can be difficult.

Although free of charge, the software offered a large variety of tools and preferences, and a user friendly interface.

Graduate Research Assistant

Since the environment is lite, finding the right tools to have extended functions or tasks in modeling will be a little bit difficult. So, the software might be limited in handling complex CAD files.

Industrial and Manufacturing engineer

Overall, a good experience using this software.

The most attractive feature is that it is free to use I am not very good at designing 3D projects but Free Cad seems to be for me a good platform to teach myself.

Research Assistant

Poor and very complicated user interface. 3D surface generation can not react that you desire.

Release Manager

The interface takes a bit to get used to, but its not a huge curve by any means. Geometric constraints work great.

Civil Engineer

The Interface can generate brief difficulty when navigating without representing major inconveniences. You may experience some unstable installation especially on Mac.

FreeCAD screenshot: FreeCAD combo view

Freelancers

Large Enterprises

Mid Size Business

Small Business

Creo is an engineering CAD software that helps businesses optimize the entire product lifecycle using augmented reality, real-time simulation, additive manufacturing, and generative designing methodologies from within a unified platform.

Designcenter Solid Edge provides businesses with a range of modeling and simulation tools to address all aspects of the product development process. The software portfolio covers electrical design, 3D design, computer aided manufacturing (CAM), 3D printing, simulation, data management, and more.

CATIA is a cloud-based and on-premise product modeling software, which helps businesses in various industries, such as architecture, aviation, transportation & construction, design, build, and visualize 3D models. Features include team collaboration, simulation, and real-time concurrent designing.

Inventor is a Windows-based 3D CAD software that assists in 3D modelling through mechanical design, documentation, and product simulation tools. Professionals can create custom design configurations and automate repetitive tasks.

Animation

Bill of Materials Management

Bills of Material

BOM Creation

Civil

Component Library

Configuration Management

Content Library

Design Analysis

Drag & Drop

Item Management

Manufacturing Design Data

Multiple Projects

Rules-Based Workflow

Secure Data Storage

Version Control

Inventor

Instructor

The price, for education, is great. Also, I am very impressed with the user interface and the ease of use.

Electrical Engineer

Only downside is it does crash sometimes for no reason when opening step files.

Student

Inventor is a perfect tool for mechanical drawings as well as 3D mechanical models. Document production is  a very important ability of Invetor.

We used it mainly for R&D, in which we find it usable with some features earning a 'good' and even a 'very good.

Engineering Sales and Marketing Member

Really great as the designers have the great experience using this and create the ideas into 3D models and drawings.

The visualization and rendering options offered in a well-built user environment was appreciable. This was quite advantageous for exporting visually good outputs.

Project engineer

Has a great deal of value in using all inventor products. The PLM system integrated with engineer works great.

The platform is very memory demanding, so running the application on multiple computers caused it to crash or slow down.

Virtual Design Construction Estimator

It creates cleaner lightmaps for objects than many other programs and the built-in render engine is actually surprisingly good, negating the need to export and render elsewhere, saving time.

Corrosion and Materials Engineer

Overall the experience has been great and Inventor is almost a necessity for anyone who works with cad drawings. All drafters and engineers will want to learn this.

It has a good subscription program which makes it easy to scale as you need licenses.

In other words, it helps take the complex and break it down to where a manufacturer can get on board easily and quickly.

Engineer

Ease of use and Vault integration. Makes file management easy.

Additive Manufacturing Engineer

The fact that Inventor is easy to use is a huge plus.

I did not like the fact that the program crashes a lot, i would like an autosave function so if if does crash you dont loose your work.

Privacy and Data Protection Consultant

It takes some time to get the look and feel of Inventor and to be able to exploit all differents functionalities.

FreeCAD vs Inventor Comparison (2026)

FreeCAD

Inventor

Overview

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

Alternatives