Onshape vs ActCAD

AutoCAD

Altium Develop

SolidWorks Premium

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.

Altium Develop is a collaborative environment that unifies every stage of electronic product creation, seamlessly connecting requirements, design, supply chain, and manufacturing to streamline workflows, enhance visibility, and accelerate innovation.

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.

This review is based entirely on my own long-term experience using Onshape since 2015, with ChatGPT only assisting in structuring the text.

Onshape is a cloud-based 3D CAD solution for agile design & engineering teams, with tools for version control, collaboration, analytics, reporting, and more

2D Drawing

3D Design & Modeling

3D Imaging

Access Controls/Permissions

Activity Dashboard

Animation

Annotations

Bill of Materials Management

Bills of Material

CAD Tools

Change Management

Collaboration Tools

Component Library

Configurable Workflow

Configuration Management

Content Library

Customizable Branding

Customizable Templates

Data Import/Export

Data Visualization

Design Analysis

Design Management

Document Management

Electrical

File Management

For 3D Printing

For Manufacturers

For Solar Companies

Manufacturing Design Data

Mechanical

Mechatronics

Modeling & Simulation

Multiple Format Support

Multiple Projects

Product Data Management

Project Templates

Real Time Comparisons

Real-Time Updates

Reference Management

Reporting/Analytics

Role-Based Permissions

Rules-Based Workflow

Secure Data Storage

Sketching and Annotation Tools

Solar Design

Template Management

Third-Party Integrations

Version Control

Visual Analytics

Workflow Management

Most reviewers indicate that Onshape offers strong value for money, especially for startups and students, and they appreciate the free plan’s robust features. However, some users say commercial subscriptions are expensive and wish for more flexible pricing options.

Value for money

By industry, Onshape reviewers are most commonly professionals in mechanical or industrial engineering (23%). The most frequent use case for Onshape cited by reviewers is 3D CAD (64% of reviewers).

Onshape

Web-based

iPad

Android

iPhone

Windows

Chromebook

Linux

Autodesk Fusion

Creo

Standard

Professional

Enterprise

Startups

Variable performance with large files

60% of reviewers feel negative about Onshape’s performance and speed, particularly with large assemblies or slow connections. Users report that loading and editing big models can be slow, sometimes requiring page refreshes or causing workflow interruptions. They say performance is highly dependent on internet speed and computer power, and some find the software less responsive compared to local CAD programs. Reviewers indicate that these slowdowns can make it difficult to work efficiently on complex projects.

Dependence on stable internet

76% of reviewers feel negative about Onshape’s requirement for a constant internet connection. Users report frustration when working in areas with unreliable or slow internet, as the software becomes inaccessible or slow to load. They say network outages or poor connections can interrupt work, especially when traveling or in remote locations. Some reviewers indicate that the lack of offline functionality limits their ability to use the software in all environments and can be a logistical challenge.

Limited drawing and sketch tools

41% of reviewers feel negative about Onshape’s drawing and sketching capabilities. Users report that creating and editing 2D drawings is less intuitive and lacks some features found in other CAD software. They say dimensioning in sketches can be cumbersome, drawing templates are difficult to customize, and certain features like exploded views or robust bills of material are missing. Some reviewers indicate that these limitations make it harder to produce detailed engineering documentation.

Flexible multi-device access

Additive Manufacturing Engineer

Allows you to design even on smart mobile devices.

97% of reviewers feel positive about Onshape’s mobile access. Reviewers appreciate being able to design and review projects from any device, including phones, tablets, and computers. They say this flexibility allows them to work from anywhere, whether in the office, at home, or on the go. Some users report that the mobile app and browser-based interface make it easy to check models, present designs, and collaborate with others without being tied to a specific workstation.

Seamless cloud-based workflow

The cloud setup eliminates file issues, ensures everyone works on the right data, and keeps projects organized.

97% of reviewers feel positive about Onshape’s cloud access. Users say the cloud-based platform allows them to access projects from any location and device, removing concerns about file management or software installation. Reviewers appreciate that all data is securely stored online, which gives them confidence in data safety and version consistency. They indicate that cloud storage simplifies sharing, collaboration, and team scaling, and they value not having to worry about losing files or managing local storage.

Robust design capabilities

Systems Engineer

The 3D design tools are very responsive, and the ability to model multiple parts in the same studio is extremely useful for developing related components.

96% of reviewers feel positive about Onshape’s design features. Users indicate that the software offers a comprehensive set of tools for 3D modeling, enabling efficient creation and iteration of complex designs. They appreciate the ability to model multiple parts together, perform in-context editing, and manage group design projects. Some reviewers say the intuitive interface and parametric design tools help them quickly develop and refine ideas, and they value the platform’s support for collaborative design workflows.

Real-time team collaboration

Engineering Student

The main reason that I use onshape is because it allows my group to collaborate and split the work.

100% of reviewers feel positive about Onshape’s collaboration features. Reviewers appreciate being able to work simultaneously with team members and clients, regardless of location. They say real-time editing and sharing eliminate version control issues and make group projects smoother. Some users report that sharing documents with external parties is straightforward, and they find it easy to coordinate across different time zones. They indicate that the collaborative environment helps speed up the design process and makes it convenient to split work among multiple contributors.

We maintain a living best-practice document and hold weekly Onshape meetings to stay aligned, especially when projects involve large assemblies, many dependencies, and complex configuration structures.

CAD manager

The thing I like most about Onshape is the simplicity of the Part Studio, The intuitiveness of the functions of the commands, the clean not cluttered toolbar, and the power and speed of simple mate connections in assembly.

An other great features is the import/ export options, you can export in every filetype you could need or print out drawing to give in Production.

Mechanical engineer

The option to share the design between one person to the other and the branch option the let you build various solution for the same design

Director of Engineering

I like that it runs on any computer with a web browser so I can use a lightweight laptop vs a high powered windows computer for other cad programs.  

There are a lot of things missing such as mate option (in S.W. you can mate axis ) and threads , also the import option for surfaces is not good

There are some solid core features but items such as lofted sheet metal and being able to switch from the default outside angle call out to inside angle call out is still missing just to name a couple.

Mechanical Engineer

That it cant read IFC data and the sheet metal tool is not fully developed.

Freelancer

The Standard Plan does not include Company managed data and release management to fundamental things for everybody using CAD seriously, although they are lonesome riders!-)

Project Engineer

Sometimes it's hard to find the features you need, because they do feature updates every three weeks. But the search functions for finding features helps with that.

Continuous Improvement and Digital Transformation Manager

Being able to hand a fresh CAD user Onshape and they can turn around and understand our product immediately has proven to be exactly what we needed to make our company move in the right direction

Principal engineer

For my purposes (product design and analysis) it is every bit as capable as any other tool I’ve used in my career (mostly CREO, some solidworks).

After more than 10,000 hours in the platform, Onshape has proven exceptionally stable (it never crashes), extremely easy to collaborate in, and universally accessible—I have even exported a STEP file directly from my phone while standing in a workshop.

I don’t give myself a title

It tends to get confused about what was most recently opened, and I wish there were a way to tag and catalog classifications of parts and search for them rather than just by the name.

Mechanical Design Engineer

Have been daily user for 7years, more than happy with the dirrection and performance of this CAD solution, newer stops improving.

Information Technology Technician

It works perfectly well, does everything I need it to, syncs over email account as well.

Unlike some of its competitors, there is no initial "purchase" required, and the annual subscription is very competitive with other annual subscriptions.

Engineering Support

D drawing and sheetmetal modules seems a bit less powerful comparing to software such as Solidworks.

Natively cloud CAD means you can do design work in your browser.

It’s really enabled me to take on projects and do things that would have been more expensive and time consuming with most other tools.

Project Manager

I love not losing any data, how OnShape handles mates in assemblies, and their sheet metal tools.

Sharing the same documents live with a colleague or customer and making changes real time.

RnD Engineer

I've been using Onshape for the last year and a half, used several tools from it and opened it from different computers without the need to a local installation.

Large assembly performance, I understand it is a difficult issue to manage, but still that is what can feel in day to day use.

Mechanical design engineer

I work on onshape from 3 years straight and I can see, the progress that you made on a weekly/ monthly basis and that's great.

I’ve been very impressed with onshape’s capabilities for mechanical design, especially the sheetmetal tools.

Team Lead

Not having native rendering or useful CAM at all paid levels is disappointing.

We are a company that exists in 2D CAD and our transition to 3D has been very straightforward.

It is a fantastic platform, with the ability to be used on any computer, tablet, or phone.

No missing references, very powerful on automation and parametrization and alot of other modern functions.

Owner   Operator

Almost every project requires some type of detail work that we need to add

Onshape reflects real engineering complexity, so teams must follow good practices and stay trained.

Most integrations require vast implementation costs compared to counterparts.

There had been always an online course or description for me to help me going on to my designproblem!-)

Its integrated PDM is one of its biggest advantages.

It has a multitude of support videos to assist learning

Sometimes work is little slower, but this is because of a various reasons and it's fixable I think.

Multiple parts designing in the same "part" document.

Really a great free platform for CAD work.

CAD CAM Engineer and Machinist

I also love the ability of the history tree to be able to go back and adjust a dimension from earlier and have it auto calculate everything moving forward makes it so much faster to get modeling done.

Engineer

Sometimes its really slow and makes workflow not smooth.

So if you want to do some project that not everyone should see, you need to pay for it.

Design Engineer (Sr)

Ease of use, mating of components (only one required and very flexible), amazing online tutorials, quick to learn, stability, speed, roll back features, versioning, no expensive hardware is required, free public version available which makes it great for learning and hobby (has some restrictions in high end features like revision management); very nice design configuration  options using various tables.

Onshape is extremely stable, never crashes, and makes collaboration effortless.

Designer

Constant improvements like the constrained surface feature.

Automation Engineer europe

I'm really satisfied with it, nothing major I would consider, something which is negative is that when you don't have an enterprise licence everything that you do is public

I teach classes to help absolute newbies learn Onshape.

Pricing

Project Development

Design

Surface and Sheet Metal

Mating

Performance and Speed

Ease of Use

Assembly

Cloud Access

Collaboration

Small Business

Mid-size Business

Large Enterprises

Freelancers

Retired

Service not been helpful to find the issue

Director

We have sold one of Architect and they have so many problems and did not able to solve after taking the support.

ActCAD is engineering designing software for drafting 2D drawings, layouts, sections, and other engineering related drawings.The platform allows teams to manage 2D CAD drafting in architectural engineering, interior design, mechanical engineering, road and site planning,development,civil engineering

Onshape vs ActCAD Comparison (2026)

Onshape

ActCAD

Overview

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

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