Designcenter Solid Edge vs Inventor

Fishbowl

SolidWorks Premium

Autodesk Fusion

CATIA

Creo

SAP Enterprise Product Development

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

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.

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.

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

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.

2D Drawing

3D Design & Modeling

3D Imaging

Animation

Annotations

Bill of Materials Management

CAD Tools

Change Management

Collaboration Tools

Compliance Management

Component Library

Continuous Modeling

Data Import/Export

Data Synchronization

Data Visualization

Design Analysis

Design Management

Direct Manipulation

Document Generation

Document Management

Dynamic Modeling

Electrical

File Sharing

For 3D Printing

For Manufacturers

Functions/Calculations

Graphical Data Presentation

Industry Specific Database

Manufacturing Design Data

Mechanical

Mechatronics

Modeling & Simulation

Motion Modeling

Multi-CAD editing

Parts Management

PLC Tools

Presentation Tools

Product Data Management

Product Lifecycle Management

Project Management

Reporting/Analytics

Requirements Management

Reusable Designs

Search/Filter

Symbol Library

System Design Tools

Third-Party Integrations

Designcenter Solid Edge

Android

Web-based

Windows

iPad

Owner

The drawing options are very good and quality drafts are produced in very little time. The software is more powerful and stable than some other brands and the support staff in Australia is fantastic.

mechanical engineer

It is easy to  understand, the user interface is wonderful and is very easy to use. It  gives an in depth knowledge of designing of  products.

Cnc Workshop Department manager

What is best and easy i like it in solid Edge is 2D drawing cad tools , 3D tools , Selecting plane and surface and assembling.

Application Engineer 

Solid Edge is Simple yet Advanced CAD Software, It is best for beginners because its interface is simple and features are also easy to learn. You  can easily Perform 2D to 3D designs.

CAD CAD Designer

Solid Edge is the best solution for those who use Siemens devices.

Student

As an design engineering undergraduate, Solid Edge is the best designing software for part designings and the assemblies.

The software runs smooth and fast with effectively designing and Modeling parts and Assemblies. When Compared to other CAD Software, Solid Edge is more easy to use and learn.

I can quickly provide customer solutions, with great quality 2D drawings, 3D models, Video fly-throughs, machine animations, stress and displacement analysis and reverse engineering.

Digital Manufacturing Consultant

Solid Edge is reasonablly priced software. It has excellent integration with next high end software called Unigraphics.

NDT Specialist

Very useful and good for engineers. Making 2d and 3d drawings.

QA Engineer 

3D to 2D converter is moderate with few features missing in comparison with other softwares of this caliber.

Mechanical Designer

This caused so much lagging. I once waited 10 minutes just to turn a DFT file into a pdf because I wanted color.

Solid Edge has many good things like user-friendly and having a wide range of functions, but it actually I most liked was the integration with Siemens peripheral tools.

Mechanical Engineer

Solid edge in my opinion would be more successful if they lowered the price slightly, offered a 2 year free maintenance period, and then ask you as new features come out about a 1 off fee.

If you do want to upgrade from say ST8 to ST11 or some thing like that, they make you pay the maintenance fees for the years you didn't use it. That to me is outrageous.

The integration and the easy way to import and export 3d models with a commom extensions.

team manager 

I think it is difficult for amateur users but you can learn it.

Mechanical engineer 

We can create design in 2d and can do analysis of the design to avoid errors during production. They have a great customer support if we hav any issues.

Designcenter Solid Edge screenshot: Solid Edge wiring design and electrical routing

Designcenter Solid Edge screenshot: Solid Edge modeling

Designcenter Solid Edge screenshot: Solid Edge heat transfer simulation

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.

SAP Enterprise Product Development helps enterprises accelerate the development of new products in industries ranging from automotive to petrochemical, from consumer electronics to pharmaceuticals. It provides actionable information so you can make decisions based on real-world data and see the connected results across your network. SAP Enterprise Product Development enables architects, engineers and business users to work together quickly, enabling a dynamic digital thread that is customized fo

Designed with simplicity and efficiency in mind, Fishbowl’s complete manufacturing and inventory management solution transforms the inventory process and uses automation to help growing businesses make strategic and precise decisions based on real-time data and cut costs.

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.

Bills of Material

BOM Creation

Civil

Configuration Management

Content Library

Drag & Drop

For Architects

Item Management

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.

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.

Graduate Research Assistant

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.

Research Assistant

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.

Designcenter Solid Edge vs Inventor Comparison (2026)

Designcenter Solid Edge

Inventor

Overview

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

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