ArcGIS CityEngine vs. Autodesk Civil 3D

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ArcGIS CityEngine
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
CityEngine is 3D modeling software for creating huge, interactive and immersive urban environments, according to the vendor in less time than traditional modeling techniques. The cities created using CityEngine can be based on real-world GIS data or showcase a fictional city of the past, present, or future. CityEngine is part of the ArcGIS suite of products, from Esri, the geomapping software specialist company headquartered in Redlands, California.
$2,000
per year
Civil 3D
Score 9.3 out of 10
N/A
Autodesk's Civil 3D is a computer aided design (CAD) application designed to support a variety of civil infrastructure projects including rail, roads and highways, land development, airports, drainage, storm and sanitary, and civil structures.
$335
per month
Pricing
ArcGIS CityEngineAutodesk Civil 3D
Editions & Modules
ArcGIS CityEngine Term License Subscription
$2000
per year
ArcGIS CityEngine Single Use Perpetual License
$4000
one-time fee
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ArcGIS CityEngineCivil 3D
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsCan be licensed monthly ($305), Annually ($2,430), or every 3 years ($6,560).Available free for one year on a student license.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ArcGIS CityEngineAutodesk Civil 3D
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User Ratings
ArcGIS CityEngineAutodesk Civil 3D
Likelihood to Recommend
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(8 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
ArcGIS CityEngineAutodesk Civil 3D
Likelihood to Recommend
Esri
No answers on this topic
Autodesk
Civil 3D is best suited for medium to large-scale projects, as it may be overkill for small projects. It is very efficient in design and drafting work, as well as creating reports. It also helps in creating surfaces using external data and building assemblies, as well as providing drainage for infrastructure projects. It can also provide outputs as DWG files to be directly used in the AutoCAD application.
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Pros
Esri
No answers on this topic
Autodesk
  • We use this software for the optimal and advanced design of pipelines and complex structuring, or it can also be said that we use it mainly for a geotechnical model, due to its high definition of the large proportion of the works that are carried out through of this application, since the tasks that are used with Civil 3D require extreme patience, precision and a lot of time to develop a model in its entirety, but we managed to acquire all the necessary and strategic points, to establish and start the production of a prototype digitized in particular.
  • Easy to export to normal AutoCAD or collaborate with most Autodesk products.
  • Vehicle Turning Simulation and Stormwater analysis is great addition to the package. Ability to use the all familiar AutoCAD tools, as well as LISP and SCR to automate some processes is one of the greatest advantages of the software.
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Cons
Esri
No answers on this topic
Autodesk
  • I think I need more experience in using Autodesk Civil 3D as it is a huge jump from the previous software that I had been using
  • Some functions could take less steps to complete
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Usability
Esri
No answers on this topic
Autodesk
It is one of the most standard Designing and drafting tools for infrastructure projects and is the go-to for including it with the Autodesk ecosystem. Its strong collaboration with GIS and Other tools helps us to create a software workflow as a digital twin platform as well. The Drawings and plans generated can be easily imported into other applications, allowing for full control over the workflow.
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Support Rating
Esri
No answers on this topic
Autodesk
They have a vast open community, which has helped us understand Autodesk Civil 3D from the beginning. They have provided many templates and tutorials videos to our team due to that we can learn every new feature from them. Autodesk Civil 3D has also helped us to interconnect all its software in an internal bridge, which helps us switch between software as we need.
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Alternatives Considered
Esri
No answers on this topic
Autodesk
As mentioned before, using Civil3D got its own pros such as creating different profiles that are interactive such if you change any level, the profile will be updated automatically while in AutoCAD you will suffer by updating them manually. In addition, creating models that also are interactive and help in clash detection for different utilities in a project.
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Return on Investment
Esri
No answers on this topic
Autodesk
  • positive: saved us time on setting up sheets/sheet set manager
  • positive: saved time and effort on cutting profiles
  • positive: saved us money on printing, since it is easy to bind the dgns it creates
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ScreenShots

Civil 3D Screenshots

Screenshot of Civil 3D - Infrastructure Software from AutodeskScreenshot of Civil 3D - Rail Alignments