CATIA vs Inventor

AutoCAD

Fishbowl

SolidWorks Premium

Autodesk Fusion

Creo

Designcenter Solid Edge

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

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.

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.

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.

Activity Dashboard

CAD Tools

Collaboration Tools

Data Visualization

Design Management

Lifecycle Management

Manufacturing Design Data

Product Data Management

Project Management

Requirements Management

Visual Analytics

CATIA

Linux

Web-based

Windows

Business System Analyst

Best for various types of design and modelling software like solid surface and sheet modeling. This is a very capable software for modeling.

Member Sales and Marketing

Catia is a wonderful tool and very effective to create the complex geometries and large assemblies. The best feature of this tool is its surfacing capability.

Product Development CAE Engineer 

Product tree management is so effective. I like so much the visuality of the welcome screen.

Officer

A beautiful software that can fulfill all your modelling requirement in one package.

Industrial and manufacturing Engineer

Catia is an excellent and very powerful software for designing a model and for displaying it's 2D drawing and isometric views easily.

It has good export options when you want to do analysis in different software.

Product Development Engineer

This product is benefit to prepare and see the design with 3D and check the package. It helps to decrease the prototype investment.

Site Engineer

Another most important is it's low cost among the rivels. Even with low cost it provides decent features and it makes the CATIA a good choice for 3D modeling.

Dental Surgeon

Catia's machine workbench feature is so amazing for the machining of Cad model.

Design Supervisor

The best design I have ever used for 10 years and it can be integrated with analysis tools.

Freelancer

In this way primary screen causes you to feel smidgen awkward. More than this, I think Catia has doesn't.

student

With this mouse functioning also little bit awkward.

Student

It has a lot of features but in most of the cases, they are really difficult to find. You have to drag and drop the tool bars to find them.

Engineer

CATIA is very expensive, and you have to pay every year, if you are a student you can get a discount, but it’s still expensive. Also it doesn’t run on Mac.

This software has pretty much everything that you could ever need. It makes CAD and CAM easier being able to be integrated into the same software.

The pricing is high for a single user to pay, but since its not meant for casual users its understanable and can't really consider it a con.

CATIA screenshot: CATIA behavior experience analysis

CATIA screenshot: CATIA cutout definition

CATIA screenshot: CATIA 3D pattern shape creator

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.

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

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.

2D Drawing

3D Design & Modeling

3D Imaging

Animation

Annotations

Bill of Materials Management

Bills of Material

BOM Creation

Civil

Component Library

Configuration Management

Content Library

Data Import/Export

Design Analysis

Document Management

Drag & Drop

Electrical

For Architects

For Manufacturers

Item Management

Mechanical

Modeling & Simulation

Multiple Projects

Reporting/Analytics

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.

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.

CATIA vs Inventor Comparison (2026)

CATIA

Inventor

Overview

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

Alternatives