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Manufacturing · head to head

SolidWorks vs TrendMiner

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
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

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; 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: SolidWorks covers 3D solid modeling, TrendMiner covers Pattern search.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which SolidWorks and TrendMiner actually diverge.

Attributes where SolidWorks and TrendMiner differ
AttributeSolidWorksTrendMiner
Starting price$2820/yearOn request
Pricing modelPer user per yearquote
PlatformsWindowsWeb, Windows, Linux
Founded1993Unknown

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 SolidWorks

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

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.

SolidWorks

  • Product designnot TrendMiner
  • Engineering analysisnot TrendMiner
  • Manufacturing documentationnot TrendMiner
  • Prototypingnot TrendMiner
  • Quality controlnot 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 SolidWorks
  • Comparing golden batches against off-spec ones in a pharmaceutical process without exporting to a data science teamnot SolidWorks
  • Building a monitor that flags the early temperature signature that preceded the last three compressor tripsnot SolidWorks
  • Giving a process engineer a way to answer a question in an afternoon that previously required a historian export and a spreadsheet weeknot SolidWorks

Where each one falls short

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

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.

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

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

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 SolidWorks if

  • You need 3d solid modeling.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want assembly design.
SolidWorks 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 SolidWorks or TrendMiner better?
Neither clearly leads. SolidWorks starts at $2820/year and TrendMiner at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, SolidWorks or TrendMiner?
SolidWorks starts at $2820/year and TrendMiner at On request.
Does SolidWorks or TrendMiner run on more platforms?
SolidWorks runs on Windows. TrendMiner runs on Web, Windows, Linux.
What is SolidWorks best used for?
SolidWorks is most often used for product design, engineering analysis, manufacturing documentation, prototyping. Of those, product design and engineering analysis are not what TrendMiner is typically brought in for.
What can SolidWorks do that TrendMiner cannot?
SolidWorks covers 3D solid modeling, Assembly design, Technical drawings, Simulation. TrendMiner covers Pattern search, Value-based search, Monitors, Soft sensors.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

TrendMiner: Is pricing per user?

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

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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