CAD Decent & Free

Aabeck · Nov 2, 2019

For years I have been using DraftSight for all my CAD work. I just got emails on all my accounts that the free edition, that needs relicensed every year to continue working, will be shut down in December and have to upgrade to their paid edition.

What other free CAD programs are the others here using that is decent to use?

Fortunately all my CAD projects are in the standard AutoCAD 2017 DWG format, so I won't lose anything or be forced to pay for Draftsight RansomWare Edition.

OkiePC · Nov 2, 2019

I have been using NanoCad for 5 years now. I started with the free version, liked it so much I decided to upgrade to the subscription for NanoCad Plus after my trial ended during a holiday and I didn't want to wait for a renewal key. It has been worth the money just for the small handful of improved features like batch plotting.

It's $180/year.

https://nanocad.com/products/plus/

Bob O · Nov 2, 2019

I use the free version of NanoCAD since the free version of Draftsight was going away.

http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?t=120657&highlight=DraftSight

Aabeck · Nov 2, 2019

Thanks guys.

I am downloading Nanocad && going to try that.

Much obliged

parky · Nov 2, 2019

I used A9CAD (not sure if it is still supported), this was before I purchased a copy of Autocad LT , A9 was just like autocad, to be honest you could not tell the difference until 2015 but could open autocad files. My old version would not open the later ACAD versions but I never needed to as I upgraded to ACD 2015

Aabeck · Nov 2, 2019

I finally successfully downloaded Nanocad.

Tried to download it about 10 times in Firefox, but kept failing. Then I copied the link and put it in Chrome and it downloaded the first time.

theColonel26 · Nov 2, 2019

My $0.02 all old school DWG CAD is terrible, they are just one step above doing it with paper and pencil.

If this is for electrical get SkyCad they have a free edition.
https://skycad.ca/

seth350 · Nov 2, 2019

+1 for SkyCAD

Aabeck · Nov 2, 2019

I just checked out Skycad

Unfortunately all my customers that want a copy of the schematic want it in DWG or DXF format. That is an $79 per month upgrade

Designing on DWG is not a great way to draw schematics, I agree, but for that price it's the way I'll keep doing it.

Gene Bond · Nov 3, 2019

I've been using DoubleCAD for a while now, ever since Autodesk refused to accept my licence, which I bought/upgraded 3-4 times over the years. When it went from ~$100 to upgrade the LT version every few years to >$300, I decided they didn't want my business.

I bounced around with a few others, and likely will continue to try some here and there. The problem is the learning curve to gt comfortable with each different programs personality. Once you get comfortable, it's hard to change.

theColonel26 · Nov 3, 2019

Aabeck said:
I just checked out Skycad

Unfortunately all my customers that want a copy of the schematic want it in DWG or DXF format. That is an $79 per month upgrade

Designing on DWG is not a great way to draw schematics, I agree, but for that price it's the way I'll keep doing it.

You look like you are independent. How much do you charge per hour? (Rhetorical) It has to be more than $80 an hour, even if it is $80, if better software saves you an hour of work a month it pays for itself. Watch the tutorials if you are doing this all in "Dumb" Cad (what I call dwg cad) I guarantee you it will save you a lot more than 12 hours a year, probably s few hundred hours a year. Yes you'll have a learning curve at first but it will pay off in the end.

Ok I'll shut up now

Elcan · Nov 4, 2019

theColonel26 said:
You look like you are independent. How much do you charge per hour? (Rhetorical) It has to be more than $80 an hour, even if it is $80, if better software saves you an hour of work a month it pays for itself. Watch the tutorials if you are doing this all in "Dumb" Cad (what I call dwg cad) I guarantee you it will save you a lot more than 12 hours a year, probably s few hundred hours a year. Yes you'll have a learning curve at first but it will pay off in the end.

I completely agree!
I'm also a fan of SkyCAD. https://skycad.ca/

CAD Decent & Free

Aabeck

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OkiePC

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Bob O

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Aabeck

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parky

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Aabeck

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theColonel26

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seth350

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Aabeck

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Gene Bond

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theColonel26

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Elcan

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