I can't recommend Fusion 360 enough (it's free for non-industrial use and cross-platform) for non-professionals looking to model 3D CAD for prototypes, POCs, hobbyist consumption, etc.
Fusion 360 doesn't have a concept of 'replace entity' like in solidworks, so, when you want to change the shapes in your sketches, they break parametric references downstream, and the entire thing becomes a huge, clunky mess. I swear, every time I make a minor tweak to my sketch, parametric references fail to update and the entire thing falls apart. The software doesn't feel very 'smart'.
Also, the sketch controls are super hard to use, clunky, etc. It's hard to make selections, hard to move objects. Ah! Maybe I'm missing something, I can't believe people are really able to create complex geometries with this software.
I since moved onto solidworks--it has it's issues, but I'm able to get it to do what I want it to do much more quickly and with much less headache. I am curious to know if others have experienced something similar or if I am missing something.
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/fusion-360/learn-expl...
It's nice that even if you are a commercial business, if you have <100k in revenue per year, the license is free as well.
I liked OnShape a lot, I think they got a lot of the UI right, but they priced themselves out of the market I'm in.
Agreed. I'm a little surprised at how OnShape doesn't want to price their product cheap enough that every new startup wants to use them with no questions asked. After you start using a certain CAD system, it is a huge P.I.T.A. to switch all your files over. Fusion360 takes advantage of this (no cost till you're above $100k in revenue), but the quality of their product just isn't quite there for me. And given the risks of using an entirely cloud-based system, if I were to make a startup & get funding tomorrow I'd still probably pick Solidworks.
I would not pick Solidworks anymore, unless I really required features that are only there. It used to be that you had to use Solidworks to keep your sanity while designing for injection molding, but these days it is no longer the case, unless your design is very complex.