Hey there! As a 3D printer addict I do a lot of small parts in CAD to print and use around the house. Lately I’ve been exploring all sorts of CAD software since finding out there’s a more around than just Fusion360 and Onshape so I started exploring what’s out there and jotting down my impressions.
Hope this is not spam, just want to help people see what’s around and help them pick!
Way worse? Maybe more difficult to learn.
FreeCAD is a great free open source 3D modeling software with plenty of online resources to help you get started.
FreeCAD has a lot of problems that stem from things like opaque errors (wire is not closed, failed to recompute) to how some features aren’t just there (multi surface sketch is the big one for me) that continuously break my flow. I could adapt but it feels a bit miserable to use compared to others. It’s not “hard” it is actually “worse” (for now)
Ive tried to use FreeCAD before, I’ve tried to learn how it works, and its just so different from other programs that I have used that I have to completely re-program myself to use it. I really want to like it, but its just such a pain in the ass to use.
I’d say the opposite is true. The pro CAD softwares are a lot more user friendly than FreeCAD in term of UX, so easier to learn too.
That’s literally what they said though? FreeCAD is more difficult to learn (but you have a lot of online resources to help).