Softwr

Manufacturing · head to head

Fusion 360 vs TrendMiner

Fusion 360 logo

Fusion 360

Manufacturing

Cloud-based 3D CAD, CAM, and CAE platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
TrendMiner logo

TrendMiner

Manufacturing

Search-driven time series analytics for process engineers, now owned by Proemion rather than Software AG

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Fusion 360 has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Fusion 360 requires paid subscription for professional use; TrendMiner ownership moved from Software AG to Proemion in a 47 million euro sale during the Silver Lake break-up, so the integration roadmap tied to webMethods and Cumulocity is gone and the new owner is far smaller.
  • They diverge on capability: Fusion 360 covers 3D CAD modeling, TrendMiner covers Pattern search.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Fusion 360 and TrendMiner actually diverge.

Attributes where Fusion 360 and TrendMiner differ
AttributeFusion 360TrendMiner
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Windows, macOSWeb, Windows, Linux
Founded1982Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Manufacturing).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Fusion 360

  • 3D CAD modeling
  • Simulation
  • CAM programming
  • PCB design
  • Cloud collaboration
  • Autodesk ecosystem
  • Manufacturing partners
  • PLM systems

Only in TrendMiner

  • Pattern search
  • Value-based search
  • Monitors
  • Soft sensors
  • Context items
  • Dashboards
  • Machine learning models
  • ContextHub

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Fusion 360

  • Product designnot TrendMiner
  • Prototypingnot TrendMiner
  • Manufacturingnot TrendMiner
  • 3D printingnot TrendMiner
  • Simulationnot TrendMiner

TrendMiner

  • Finding every prior occurrence of a heat exchanger fouling signature to estimate cleaning frequency from history rather than from a rule of thumbnot Fusion 360
  • Comparing golden batches against off-spec ones in a pharmaceutical process without exporting to a data science teamnot Fusion 360
  • Building a monitor that flags the early temperature signature that preceded the last three compressor tripsnot Fusion 360
  • Giving a process engineer a way to answer a question in an afternoon that previously required a historian export and a spreadsheet weeknot Fusion 360

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Fusion 360

  • Requires paid subscription for professional use
  • Cloud-based, requires internet connection
  • Free tier limited to students and educators

TrendMiner

  • Ownership moved from Software AG to Proemion in a 47 million euro sale during the Silver Lake break-up, so the integration roadmap tied to webMethods and Cumulocity is gone and the new owner is far smaller.
  • It is built for continuous time series and handles discrete manufacturing, relational quality data and event-driven production poorly, so plants that are not continuous process get limited value.
  • Value depends entirely on historian data quality and tag naming; sites with inconsistent tag descriptions and missing asset context spend months on data preparation before the search features are usable.
  • Licensing is by named analyst user, and the population who genuinely use pattern search is small, so organisations that buy broadly pay for seats that log in occasionally.
  • It reads history but does not fix it: there is no data collection layer, so an existing historian is mandatory and TrendMiner is always an additional cost on top of it.

Pricing, plan by plan

Fusion 360

Free
  • Personal UseFree
    • Non-commercial use
    • Basic CAD tools
    • Cloud storage
  • Commercial$70/month
    • Full CAD/CAM/CAE
    • Simulation
    • Rendering

TrendMiner

On request
  • TrendMiner$undefined/year
    • Annual subscription sized by named users and connected historian tag volume
    • Separate licence tiers for full analyst users and view-only dashboard consumers
    • Historian connectors quoted per source system

Which should you pick?

Choose Fusion 360 if

  • You need 3d cad modeling.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Windows, macOS.
  • You also want simulation.
Fusion 360 review

Choose TrendMiner if

  • You need pattern search.
  • You work on Web, Windows, Linux.
  • You also want value-based search.
TrendMiner review

Questions people ask

Is Fusion 360 or TrendMiner better?
Neither clearly leads. Fusion 360 starts at Free and TrendMiner at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Fusion 360 or TrendMiner?
Fusion 360 has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Fusion 360 and On request for TrendMiner.
Does Fusion 360 or TrendMiner run on more platforms?
Fusion 360 runs on Web, Windows, macOS. TrendMiner runs on Web, Windows, Linux.
Can I use Fusion 360 for free?
Yes. Fusion 360 has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. TrendMiner starts at On request.
What is Fusion 360 best used for?
Fusion 360 is most often used for product design, prototyping, manufacturing, 3d printing. Of those, product design and prototyping are not what TrendMiner is typically brought in for.
What can Fusion 360 do that TrendMiner cannot?
Fusion 360 covers 3D CAD modeling, Simulation, CAM programming, PCB design. TrendMiner covers Pattern search, Value-based search, Monitors, Soft sensors.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Fusion 360: Is Fusion 360 free?

Fusion 360 is free for students, educators, and academic institutions with full features. It offers a 30-day free trial for all users, and a limited personal-use license for hobbyists and makers.

Source
TrendMiner: Who owns TrendMiner now?

Proemion, a German industrial analytics company backed by Battery Ventures, which bought it from Software AG for 47 million euros in 2024.

Fusion 360: How much does Fusion 360 cost for professionals?

Fusion 360 professional subscriptions start at $85/month, $680/year, or $2,040 for a 3-year commitment. Startups that qualify can get a discount starting at $150.

Source
TrendMiner: Does it replace my historian?

No. It connects to PI, IP.21, PHD, Exaquantum and others and reads from them. The historian remains the system of record.

Fusion 360: Does Fusion 360 support 3D modeling, CAD, and CAM?

Yes. Fusion 360 is a cloud-based platform that integrates 3D modeling, CAD, CAM, CAE (simulation), and PCB design in one software.

Source
TrendMiner: Do I need a data scientist to use it?

No, and that is the point. The pattern search and soft sensor tooling are aimed at process engineers with no coding background.

TrendMiner: Is pricing per user?

Yes, largely, with tiers for analyst and view-only access plus charges for historian connectors and data volume.

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