Softwr

Manufacturing · head to head

Seeq vs SolidWorks

Seeq logo

Seeq

Manufacturing

Self-service analytics for process manufacturing time-series data sitting on top of existing historians

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: Seeq named-user pricing suits a small core team but scales badly: a site wanting a hundred engineers with occasional access pays for a hundred licences that mostly sit idle, which is why deployments often stay artificially narrow.; 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: Seeq covers Query in place, SolidWorks covers 3D solid modeling.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Seeq and SolidWorks actually diverge.

Attributes where Seeq and SolidWorks differ
AttributeSeeqSolidWorks
Starting priceOn request$2820/year
Pricing modelquotePer user per year
PlatformsWeb, Cloud, On-premise, Windows, LinuxWindows
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 Seeq

  • Query in place
  • Capsules
  • Asset trees
  • Seeq Data Lab
  • Organizer
  • Multi-source joins

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.

Seeq

  • A pharmaceutical plant comparing hundreds of batches against a golden batch profile without exporting historian data into spreadsheetsnot SolidWorks
  • A reliability engineer investigating why a compressor trips, needing to overlay vibration, process and maintenance data across two years of historynot SolidWorks
  • Refinery process engineers building a recurring shift report that pulls live values rather than being rebuilt by hand each weeknot SolidWorks
  • A site whose data lake project has stalled and that needs engineers analysing plant history now, without waiting for an ingestion pipelinenot SolidWorks

SolidWorks

  • Product designnot Seeq
  • Engineering analysisnot Seeq
  • Manufacturing documentationnot Seeq
  • Prototypingnot Seeq
  • Quality controlnot Seeq

Where each one falls short

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

Seeq

  • Named-user pricing suits a small core team but scales badly: a site wanting a hundred engineers with occasional access pays for a hundred licences that mostly sit idle, which is why deployments often stay artificially narrow.
  • Seeq inherits whatever quality exists in the historian, so plants with unstructured tag names and no asset model spend real effort building asset trees in Seeq that should have been fixed upstream.
  • Certain historian connectors are charged separately, so the licence quote and the actual cost of connecting your specific data sources are two different numbers.
  • It is analysis, not control or action; findings still have to be carried into a CMMS or a control change by hand, so value depends on a workflow Seeq does not provide.
  • The product assumes competent process engineers. Organisations without that skill in-house get little from it, because Seeq deliberately does not ship prebuilt failure models the way condition monitoring vendors do.

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

Seeq

On request
  • Seeq$undefined/year
    • Licensed per named user, not per tag
    • Separate charges for certain historian connectors
    • Cloud-hosted and self-hosted deployments quoted differently

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 Seeq if

  • You need query in place.
  • You work on Web, Cloud, On-premise, Windows, Linux.
  • You also want capsules.
Seeq review

Choose SolidWorks if

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

Questions people ask

Is Seeq or SolidWorks better?
Neither clearly leads. Seeq 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, Seeq or SolidWorks?
Seeq starts at On request and SolidWorks at $2820/year.
Does Seeq or SolidWorks run on more platforms?
Seeq runs on Web, Cloud, On-premise, Windows, Linux. SolidWorks runs on Windows.
What is Seeq best used for?
Seeq is most often used for a pharmaceutical plant comparing hundreds of batches against a golden batch profile without exporting historian data into spreadsheets, a reliability engineer investigating why a compressor trips, needing to overlay vibration, process and maintenance data across two years of history, refinery process engineers building a recurring shift report that pulls live values rather than being rebuilt by hand each week, a site whose data lake project has stalled and that needs engineers analysing plant history now, without waiting for an ingestion pipeline. Of those, a pharmaceutical plant comparing hundreds of batches against a golden batch profile without exporting historian data into spreadsheets and a reliability engineer investigating why a compressor trips, needing to overlay vibration, process and maintenance data across two years of history are not what SolidWorks is typically brought in for.
What can Seeq do that SolidWorks cannot?
Seeq covers Query in place, Capsules, Asset trees, Seeq Data Lab. SolidWorks covers 3D solid modeling, Assembly design, Technical drawings, Simulation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Seeq: Does Seeq store my data?

No. It queries connected historians and databases in place. Removing Seeq leaves your data exactly where it was.

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.

Seeq: Who owns Seeq?

It is an independent private company in Seattle, most recently funded by a 2024 growth round led by Sixth Street. It has not been taken over by a private equity buyer.

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.

Seeq: How is it licensed?

Per named user, with some historian connectors charged separately. Nothing is published; every number comes from a quote.

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.

Seeq: Do I need a data scientist?

No, and that is the point. Workbench is aimed at process engineers. Data Lab exists for the minority who want Python.

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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