Key features of FreeCAD:įusion 360 was designed by Autodesk, the creators of well known and respected AutoCAD, which has been around since the 1980s. 36% of users said they used it for professional purposes, largely mechanical engineering design and FEM (finite element method) analysis.

So who uses FreeCAD? A poll on the FreeCAD forum suggests that most people (52%) using FreeCad are doing so for their hobbies – whether the hobby is Computer-aided design or they are making personal real objects.

Because it is open-source, you can also add functions to the software using Python programming. One of the key things to know about FreeCAD is that, as an open-source project, it is completely free for all to use. It’s primarily aimed at those working in mechanical engineering and product design, and with its scriptable CAD, there are options for electrical or architectural design too.įreeCAD was released in October 2002 by authors Jürgen Riegel, Werner Mayer, and Yorik van Havre who wanted to create open-source CAD software to work on all platforms. What is FreeCAD?įreeCAD is a 3D modeler used mostly for designing real-life objects of any size. So let’s get into the details and find out more about FreeCAD and Fusion 360. These are both extremely high functioning software that can be used for complex designs, and many of the features are likely to be used only by those with a background in engineering, however, there is plenty to attract a hobby user, learner, or small business user too. FreeCAD allows you to maintain control of your files, whereas Fusion 360’s files are stored in the cloud.FreeCAD is free to extend, whereas Fusion 360’s extensions and plugins are of an additional cost.FreeCAD is still in development, whereas Fusion 360 is a complete product.FreeCAD has a steeper learning curve, whereas Fusion 360 is relatively user-friendly and intuitive.

FreeCAD is open source and therefore will always be completely free, whereas Fusion 360 has free licenses only for educators and students.

The main differences between FreeCAD and Fusion 360 are: Main Differences Between FreeCAD vs Fusion 360

Autodesk fusion 360 free personal use