Manufacturing · alternatives
Alternatives to SolidWorks
23 manufacturing tools sit alongside SolidWorks in this directory. Below is what separates each from SolidWorks on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 23
- With a free tier
- 1
- Cheaper to start
- 6
- SolidWorks starts at
- $2820/year
Why people look past SolidWorks
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the SolidWorks entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
It costs more than the category median
SolidWorks starts at $2820/year. Across the 8 manufacturing tools listed beside it that publish a price, the median entry point is $1249.5/month.
There is no free tier
The record for SolidWorks carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 1 of the 23 alternatives below can be used without paying.
Cost climbs steeply across the tiers
SolidWorks publishes 5 tiers, from $48/year up to $4716/year. Teams that outgrow the entry plan can find the next rung a large step, the SolidWorks pricing page breaks each one down.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Professional-grade 3D mechanical design
- Starts $2791 a month cheaper, at $29/month.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than Per user per year.
- 2 tiers to SolidWorks's 5.
Cloud-based 3D CAD, CAM, and CAE platform
- Can be used without paying; SolidWorks cannot.
- Starts $2750 a month cheaper, at $70/month.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than Per user per year.
- 2 tiers to SolidWorks's 5.
Computer-aided design and drafting software
- Starts $725 a year cheaper, at $2095/year.
Industrial edge platform that collects, normalises and forwards OT data to cloud and enterprise systems
- Starts $1320 a month cheaper, at $1500/month.
- Sold on a Per site by data point count model rather than Per user per year.
- 3 tiers to SolidWorks's 5.
Enterprise asset management suite licensed by a shared pool of AppPoints rather than by named user
- Starts $330 a month dearer, at $3150/month.
- Sold on a Per year by AppPoint pool model rather than Per user per year.
- 4 tiers to SolidWorks's 5.
Industrial connectivity server translating 150-plus PLC protocols into OPC UA, formerly KEPServerEX
- Sold on a quote model rather than Per user per year.
- 1 tier to SolidWorks's 5.
Every SolidWorks alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SolidWorks (this page) | $2820/year | Per user per year | 5 | |
| InventorAutodesk's parametric CAD software competing on simulation, surfacing, and sheet metal design for mechanical engineering. | $29/month | Subscription | 2 | vs SolidWorks |
| Fusion 360Cloud-based CAD platform from Autodesk offering parametric modeling, simulation, and lower pricing than SolidWorks with subscription model. | Free, then $70/month | Freemium | 2 | vs SolidWorks |
| AutoCADAutodesk's foundational CAD platform widely used for 2D drafting and 3D design across mechanical and other engineering disciplines. | $2095/year | - | - | vs SolidWorks |
| Litmus Edge | $1500/month | Per site by data point count | 3 | vs SolidWorks |
| IBM Maximo Application Suite | $3150/month | Per year by AppPoint pool | 4 | vs SolidWorks |
| Kepware Server | On request | Quote | 1 | vs SolidWorks |
| Petasense | On request | Quote | 1 | vs SolidWorks |
| COPA-DATA zenon | On request | Quote | 1 | vs SolidWorks |
| Nanoprecise Sci Corp | On request | Quote | 1 | vs SolidWorks |
| KCF Technologies | $199/one-time | Per monitoring point, quoted | 2 | vs SolidWorks |
| Samotics | On request | Quote | 1 | vs SolidWorks |
| Erbessd Instruments | $999/one-time | One-time purchase | 2 | vs SolidWorks |
| Flow Software | $11390/one-time | One-time purchase | 3 | vs SolidWorks |
| Poseidon Systems | On request | Quote | 1 | vs SolidWorks |
| Augury | On request | Quote | 1 | vs SolidWorks |
| PROGNOST Systems | On request | Quote | 1 | vs SolidWorks |
| MOVUS | On request | Quote | 1 | vs SolidWorks |
| Rockwell FactoryTalk | On request | Quote | 1 | vs SolidWorks |
| Sensemore | On request | Quote | 1 | vs SolidWorks |
| Seeq | On request | Quote | 1 | vs SolidWorks |
| GENESIS Version 11 | On request | Quote | 1 | vs SolidWorks |
| AVEVA System Platform | On request | Quote | 1 | vs SolidWorks |
| ABB 800xA | On request | Quote | 1 | vs SolidWorks |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the SolidWorks badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (1)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Fusion 360 , Free, then $70/month
Cheaper than SolidWorks (6)
Entry price under SolidWorks's $2820/year. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- Inventor , $29/month
- Fusion 360 , Free, then $70/month
- AutoCAD , $2095/year
- Litmus Edge , $1500/month
- KCF Technologies , $199/one-time
- Erbessd Instruments , $999/one-time
What you would be giving up
SolidWorks is most often brought in for product design, engineering analysis, manufacturing documentation, prototyping, quality control. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If SolidWorks is broadly right and the question is cost, the SolidWorks pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Manufacturing category lists everything the directory holds, and best manufacturing tools ranks them.
SolidWorks runs on windows. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about SolidWorks alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to SolidWorks?
- 23 other manufacturing tools are listed in this directory, led by Inventor, Fusion 360, AutoCAD, Litmus Edge. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to SolidWorks?
- 1 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Fusion 360.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to SolidWorks?
- Yes. 6 of the alternatives below start under SolidWorks's $2820/year: Inventor at $29/month, Fusion 360 at Free, then $70/month, AutoCAD at $2095/year, Litmus Edge at $1500/month.
- Why do people look for an alternative to SolidWorks?
- On the figures on record, 3 things stand out: it costs more than the category median; there is no free tier; cost climbs steeply across the tiers. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from SolidWorks?
- SolidWorks is most often brought in for product design, engineering analysis, manufacturing documentation, prototyping, quality control. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to SolidWorks?
- None of the manufacturing tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these SolidWorks alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Manufacturing, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare SolidWorks against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against SolidWorks covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every manufacturing tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Manufacturing category, 23 tools beside SolidWorks. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.