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Manufacturing · head to head

QAD Redzone vs SolidWorks

QAD Redzone logo

QAD Redzone

Manufacturing

Connected workforce platform for food and beverage plants, sold per production line with coaching included

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SolidWorks logo

SolidWorks

Manufacturing

Parametric desktop 3D CAD from Dassault Systemes, now sold as named-user subscription on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform

From
$2820/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: QAD Redzone licensing is per production line and per site, so a plant running many short lines pays far more than a plant with a few long ones producing the same volume, and the pricing unit is not comparable with per user or per machine products.; SolidWorks the desktop application is Windows only, so Mac and Linux users need a virtual machine, a Windows workstation or the separate cloud xDesign product at 2,580 USD a year.
  • They diverge on capability: QAD Redzone covers Line side tablets, SolidWorks covers 3D solid modeling.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which QAD Redzone and SolidWorks actually diverge.

Attributes where QAD Redzone and SolidWorks differ
AttributeQAD RedzoneSolidWorks
Starting priceOn request$2820/year
Pricing modelquotePer user per year
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWindows
FoundedUnknown1993

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 QAD Redzone

  • Line side tablets
  • Crew based performance
  • Structured escalation
  • Digital quality checks
  • Coaching programme
  • Plant and network reporting

Only in SolidWorks

  • 3D solid modeling
  • Assembly design
  • Technical drawings
  • Simulation
  • Rendering
  • PDM systems
  • ERP systems
  • CAM software

What people use each for

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

QAD Redzone

  • A food plant losing output to unrecorded short stoppages that nobody escalates during a shiftnot SolidWorks
  • A CPG manufacturer wanting crews to own line targets rather than receive them from a weekly reportnot SolidWorks
  • A plant replacing paper food safety and quality check sheets with time stamped digital recordsnot SolidWorks
  • A multi site group looking for comparable productivity reporting across plants running similar linesnot SolidWorks

SolidWorks

  • Product designnot QAD Redzone
  • Engineering analysisnot QAD Redzone
  • Manufacturing documentationnot QAD Redzone
  • Prototypingnot QAD Redzone
  • Quality controlnot QAD Redzone

Where each one falls short

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

QAD Redzone

  • Licensing is per production line and per site, so a plant running many short lines pays far more than a plant with a few long ones producing the same volume, and the pricing unit is not comparable with per user or per machine products.
  • The result depends on a change programme, and where plant leadership treats it as a software rollout and skips the coaching discipline, the tablets become expensive downtime logs and the promised gains do not appear.
  • Data comes largely from crew input plus simple sensors rather than deep controller integration, so a plant expecting automatic capture from its process control system will need additional work or a different product.
  • QAD acquired it in 2022 and QAD is owned by a private equity firm, so buyers who do not run QAD ERP should ask directly how long standalone deployments remain a strategic priority and what integration commitments exist in writing.
  • It suits repetitive process lines and fits badly in low volume high mix discrete manufacturing, where crews, targets and changeover patterns do not have the regularity the model assumes.

SolidWorks

  • The desktop application is Windows only, so Mac and Linux users need a virtual machine, a Windows workstation or the separate cloud xDesign product at 2,580 USD a year.
  • Perpetual licences are no longer sold through the vendor online store and come only through resellers, and a perpetual licence still needs a paid annual service contract to get upgrades and support, so buying once and paying nothing again is not really on offer.
  • Named-user subscription is per person rather than floating, so an organisation where several engineers each use CAD occasionally pays full seats for part-time use unless it negotiates otherwise.
  • History-based parametric modelling breaks noisily: a change high in the feature tree can cascade rebuild errors through an assembly, which is a real productivity cost compared with direct modelling tools.
  • Large assemblies stress single-threaded desktop performance, and teams routinely resort to configurations, simplified representations and expensive workstations rather than the software scaling on its own.
  • The Maker licence watermarks its files so they can only be opened on other Maker licences, which means hobby work cannot be carried into a commercial seat later without exporting to neutral formats and losing the feature history.

Pricing, plan by plan

QAD Redzone

On request
  • QAD Redzone$undefined/year
    • Per production line and per site licensing
    • Line side tablet application
    • Initial coaching and deployment programme

SolidWorks

$2820/year
  • 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS Standard$2820/year
    • 235 USD per month billed annually, or 846 USD per quarter
    • Per named user, excluding local tax
    • Part and assembly modelling and 2D drawings
  • 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS Professional$3456/year
    • 288 USD per month billed annually, or 1,038 USD per quarter
    • Everything in Standard
    • Intelligent CAD libraries of standard fasteners
  • 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS Premium$4716/year
    • 393 USD per month billed annually, or 1,416 USD per quarter
    • Everything in Professional
    • Linear static analysis for parts and assemblies
  • SOLIDWORKS xDesign$2580/year
    • 810 USD per quarter
    • Browser-based cloud modelling, no local install
    • Runs on Mac, Chromebook and tablets as well as Windows

Which should you pick?

Choose QAD Redzone if

  • You need line side tablets.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want crew based performance.
QAD Redzone review

Choose SolidWorks if

  • You need 3d solid modeling.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want assembly design.
SolidWorks review

Questions people ask

Is QAD Redzone or SolidWorks better?
Neither clearly leads. QAD Redzone starts at On request and SolidWorks at $2820/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, QAD Redzone or SolidWorks?
QAD Redzone starts at On request and SolidWorks at $2820/year.
Does QAD Redzone or SolidWorks run on more platforms?
QAD Redzone runs on Web, iOS, Android. SolidWorks runs on Windows.
What is QAD Redzone best used for?
QAD Redzone is most often used for a food plant losing output to unrecorded short stoppages that nobody escalates during a shift, a cpg manufacturer wanting crews to own line targets rather than receive them from a weekly report, a plant replacing paper food safety and quality check sheets with time stamped digital records, a multi site group looking for comparable productivity reporting across plants running similar lines. Of those, a food plant losing output to unrecorded short stoppages that nobody escalates during a shift and a cpg manufacturer wanting crews to own line targets rather than receive them from a weekly report are not what SolidWorks is typically brought in for.
What can QAD Redzone do that SolidWorks cannot?
QAD Redzone covers Line side tablets, Crew based performance, Structured escalation, Digital quality checks. SolidWorks covers 3D solid modeling, Assembly design, Technical drawings, Simulation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

QAD Redzone: Who owns Redzone?

QAD acquired it in 2022. QAD itself is owned by Thoma Bravo.

SolidWorks: Can you still buy a SOLIDWORKS perpetual licence?

Not from the vendor online store, which sells only term subscriptions. Perpetual licences remain available through resellers, but they still require a paid annual subscription service contract for upgrades and support.

QAD Redzone: Is the coaching optional?

In practice no. The customers who skip it are the ones who report no measurable improvement.

SolidWorks: How much does SOLIDWORKS cost per year?

The 3DS store lists Standard at 2,820 USD, Professional at 3,456 USD and Premium at 4,716 USD per named user per year, excluding local tax. Quarterly terms are 846, 1,038 and 1,416 USD.

QAD Redzone: Does it connect to my PLCs?

It can take signals from equipment, but the model is built around crew input at line side tablets rather than deep controller integration.

SolidWorks: What is the difference between desktop SOLIDWORKS and the 3DEXPERIENCE cloud tiers?

The desktop application still does the modelling and installs locally on Windows. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform adds cloud storage, versioning, mark-up and shared review around it. SOLIDWORKS xDesign is the separate browser-native modeller at 2,580 USD a year, and it runs on Mac and Chromebook.

QAD Redzone: How is it priced?

Per production line and per site, not per user, which changes the comparison against most other manufacturing software.

SolidWorks: Is there a cheap version for hobbyists?

Yes. 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS for Makers is 48 USD a year or 15 USD a month, limited to personal use with project sales under 2,000 USD a year, and its files are watermarked for Maker licences only.

SolidWorks: Does SOLIDWORKS run on a Mac?

Not natively. Use the browser-based xDesign, or run the desktop application in a Windows virtual machine.

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