7 Best CAD Software for 2023

Alibre Design Expert is a frontrunner for small and medium size businesses (SMBs) and individuals due to its relatively low cost of ownership and exceptional performance for engineering tasks. It is described as a having a great price to performance ratio and focuses on providing all of the high-value tools required for mechanical engineering, design, and documentation. It is similar to other products such as Solidworks and Inventor, and it tends to have a lower learning curve.

Alibre Design Expert supports key features for engineering and data-driven design including: opening all major CAD formats, parametric 3D design of parts and assemblies, sheet metal design, 2D documentation creation, excel-driven part libraries, variant management, rendering, and Python-based scripting language for automation.

Autodesk Fusion 360 is cloud-based, subscription-based choice for 3D design software in the world of additive manufacturing. It lets users make detailed 3D designs and has online collaboration, parametric modeling, and sculpting.

You can easily move designs in and out of Fusion 360 because it works with many file types. Plus, it's great for 3D printing and has tools to get your design ready to print. All in all, this cloud-based tool covers 3D design, CAM, CAE, CAD, and circuit design.

Onshape is an online tool for 3D design that lets users create, test, check, and build products all in one spot. It's versatile, working on devices like tablets, laptops, and phones.

With Onshape, you get access to a 3D printing library and tools like dimensioning, a good sketching environment, scripting, and more.

Solidworks is an industry standard and offers a wide set of tools for 3D design, testing, and seeing your ideas come to life. It comes with special features like the 3D sculptor, DraftSight, and a tool for making molds.

Solidworks comes loaded with a variety of features, including tools to automatically create animations, manage surface modeling, and produce photorealistic renderings. This makes it a robust platform for product design, simulation, and analysis.

AutoCAD is an industry standard CAD program primarily geared towards architectural design, though it is also exceptional at preparing mechanical drawings from 3D models. Engineers and designers typically do not use AutoCAD for mechanical designs, and instead would choose a 3D CAD program for this purpose.

Autodesk Inventor is a high-end CAD program tailored for product design and engineering. It's packed with tools for 3D mechanical design, simulation, tooling creation, and sharing designs. Inventor helps cut down both time and costs in product creation. Its 3D digital model lets you instantly check designs in real-world situations, ensuring they look and work right without building a prototype. You can simulate movement, bending, and tension to perfect your design. Plus, with its direct editing and sophisticated surface design tools, crafting smart product parts becomes easy.

Siemens Solid Edge is a comprehensive software that covers every step of product development. Engineers can use it to produce products more effectively. It boasts top-tier tools for mechanical, electrical, and PCB design. Additionally, it seamlessly integrates simulation analysis and offers cutting-edge resources for both traditional and modern manufacturing methods.

Solid Edge's synchronous technology gives you the speed to whip up new design concepts, swiftly adjust to changes, and update various parts in an assembly all at once. This flexibility means you can skip tedious upfront planning, steer clear of feature glitches, and cut back on lengthy corrections. What's more, this technology lets you handle multi-CAD data as if they're native files, making teamwork with suppliers and partners smooth and hassle-free.