Altair Inspire vs. AutoCAD

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Altair Inspire
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Altair Inspire, developed by SolidThinking which was acquired by Altair, is software for Generative Design/Topology Optimization, and rapid simulation solution for design engineers. It is designed to enhance the concept development process by enabling simulation-driven design to increase a product’s efficiency, strength and manufacturability. This can lead to reduced costs, development time, material consumption, and product weight.N/A
AutoCAD
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
AutoCAD is a CAD product from Autodesk. It allows designers to work in 2D and 3D, and is available on Windows and Mac, but with extensive online collaboration tools.
$245
per month
Pricing
Altair InspireAutoCAD
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Monthly Subscription
$245
per month per user
Yearly Subscription
$1975
per year per user
3-Year Subscription
$5925
3 years per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Altair InspireAutoCAD
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Altair InspireAutoCAD
Features
Altair InspireAutoCAD
Computer-Aided Design Software
Comparison of Computer-Aided Design Software features of Product A and Product B
Altair Inspire
-
Ratings
AutoCAD
6.4
6 Ratings
12% below category average
3D Modeling00 Ratings5.36 Ratings
2D Drafting00 Ratings9.06 Ratings
Rendering and Visualization00 Ratings5.56 Ratings
Parametric Design00 Ratings6.46 Ratings
Collaboration and Sharing00 Ratings7.16 Ratings
Compatibility with other software and formats00 Ratings8.06 Ratings
Assembly Design00 Ratings5.86 Ratings
Simulation and Analysis00 Ratings3.55 Ratings
Documentation and Annotation00 Ratings7.56 Ratings
Customization and Extensions00 Ratings6.26 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Altair InspireAutoCAD
Small Businesses
Onshape
Onshape
Score 8.0 out of 10
Onshape
Onshape
Score 8.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Onshape
Onshape
Score 8.0 out of 10
Onshape
Onshape
Score 8.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Rhino
Rhino
Score 8.5 out of 10
Rhino
Rhino
Score 8.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Altair InspireAutoCAD
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(2 ratings)
7.6
(87 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.4
(8 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
6.9
(13 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
Altair InspireAutoCAD
Likelihood to Recommend
Altair Engineering, Inc.
This software is incredibly intuitive and really does provide a great finished product. The software runs relatively quickly and will usually throw an error right away, which is a nice feature. I didn't use the geometry editing parts of the software, but it looks promising to be able to edit files directly in the program.
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Autodesk
AutoCAD is the Industry best and standardized software used industry wide. This comes with support of some free to use plugins which can be downloaded form AutoDesk Store. AutoDesk has already nurtured a strong community of Developers, Students and Architects this helps any one new with Forms which help them get integrated with the commiunity very quickly.
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Pros
Altair Engineering, Inc.
  • Defining the actuators, pin joints, sliding joints is very easy.
  • Defining a motion sequence is straightforward.
  • The UI tends to make you follow a sequence of steps to be successful in doing a motion simulation and finite element analysis study on a design.
  • The motion simulation results are automatically transferred to the FEA solver.
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Autodesk
  • The tools are easy to use and the learning curve is fairly minimal to be able to create blueprints.
  • The 3D application is very fun to use and it is nice to be able to see your product instead of having to imagine what it will look like.
  • The speed and accuracy in which students can create plans is a huge bonus. Students can plan their industrial art projects out and use their own set of plans to build them.
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Cons
Altair Engineering, Inc.
  • I think the tools to create CAD are a bit difficult to use. Consequently, it is now easier to develop the part in other software, which is bad since we need to use more than one tool at a time.
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Autodesk
  • User Interface Customisation: AutoCAD's user interface could benefit from more robust customisation options. Allowing users to rearrange toolbars, menus, and panels according to their specific workflows and preferences would enhance productivity.
  • Enhanced 3D Modeling Tools: While AutoCAD is capable of 3D modeling, it's not as intuitive or feature-rich as dedicated 3D modeling software. Streamlining the process and adding more advanced modeling tools would be a welcome improvement.
  • Enhanced Collaboration and Version Control: AutoCAD could improve its collaboration tools, such as real-time editing and version tracking, to facilitate smoother teamwork, especially in multi-disciplinary projects.
  • Intelligent Object Libraries: AutoCAD could benefit from an expanded and more intelligent library of standard objects and components. This would save time for designers who often have to create custom components from scratch.
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Likelihood to Renew
Altair Engineering, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Autodesk
Because rarely we [would] rather wait for a whole year to update, sometimes the new updates don't bring many new features and we are still ok with the current version. Also the change of interface is always something that takes time for every partner in the company to get comfortable with. So those are the main reasons we may want to keep the same version.
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Usability
Altair Engineering, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Autodesk
It is very usable once you understand the program. I believe there is room for improvement in the 2D to 3D modeling capability. We have to use other apps to 3D model and that can be time consuming and sometimes AutoCAD doesn't transfer work that well between apps. They can improve there.
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Support Rating
Altair Engineering, Inc.
When I needed clarification on how do use a feature or best way to define the constraints for a design problem, the response was quick and solved my needs.
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Autodesk
AutoCAD has the issue of crashing or slowing down the design procedure once a heavy design that includes several disciplines or multiple families/blocks is involved. Customer services gets the feedback from the crash reports but this issue seems like it has never been addressed in the software updates past several years.
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Implementation Rating
Altair Engineering, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Autodesk
the implementation was realy easy , to set up our workstation we pay for the licenses we are about to use , there was a little bit of delay to get the payment processed to receive the serial but after that the install runs without any problem , so you can fell secure there will be not issue with the implementation.
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Alternatives Considered
Altair Engineering, Inc.
Working Model, MathCad, Dynamic Designer, Algor, and Mathlab had poor UI's and poor ways to define actuator and motor motion profiles. The force results and vectors were not easy to input into the FEA software. SOLIDWORKS Motion does not have an excellent way to define a linear actuator or its motion profile. Altair provides a UI that guides you through defining your linear actuator or motor's motion profile quickly.
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Autodesk
I use Revit far more than I use AutoCAD. AutoCAD is great for simple linework, but even then I will often create the lines in Revit and then export to AutoCAD for final touches and printing. AutoCAD is a bit easier for large-format prints, which is why I almost always end up using it after starting in Revit.
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Return on Investment
Altair Engineering, Inc.
  • In my personal opinion, we think that this product does not have any negative aspect that makes us feel very uncomfortable.
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Autodesk
  • AutoCAD has helped our smaller firm produce lots of finished products matching that of a much larger size firm. With its many features, we have been able to do so much more and meet deadlines that much faster.
  • Since we do use AutoCAD, we're able to work with many other engineering firms to collaborate together to complete various building projects.
  • We have many clients now who expect us to provide for them at the end of a project not just printed construction drawings but also the digital AutoCAD drawing so they can in turn use it for future modifications themselves.
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ScreenShots