AutoCAD vs. Solid Edge

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
AutoCAD
Score 8.8 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
Solid Edge
Score 7.6 out of 10
N/A
Solid Edge is a software solutions for product development — 3D design, simulation, manufacturing, data management, and cloud collaboration. Solid Edge aims to combine the speed and simplicity of direct modeling with the flexibility and control of parametric design.
$110
per month
Pricing
AutoCADSolid Edge
Editions & Modules
Monthly Subscription
$245
per month per user
Yearly Subscription
$1975
per year per user
3-Year Subscription
$5925
3 years per user
Design and Drafting XaaS
$110.00
per month
Foundation XaaS
$267.00
per month
Classic XaaS
$335.00
per month
Premium XaaS
$481.00
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AutoCADSolid Edge
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
AutoCADSolid Edge
Considered Both Products
AutoCAD
Chose AutoCAD
AutoCAD has its own standards because this is originally designed for the quick 2d drawings.
Solid Edge
Chose Solid Edge
First, we were using AutoCAD in our industry then we switched it to Solid edge. AutoCAD isn't well suited for 3D drawing and it takes very much time to make 3D in AutoCAD. In Solid Edge, you can create 3D drawings and convert them into 2D instantly without much effort. You can …
Chose Solid Edge
Better usage, especially when using NX as CAM software as well.
Chose Solid Edge
I have used several programs to model but the one that I liked the most is Solid Edge. With this program you can do anything you need, you can also make assemblies very easily and make plans. Something that it does not have in comparison to others are the commands, if it had …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
AutoCADSolid Edge
Small Businesses
Onshape
Onshape
Score 9.0 out of 10
Onshape
Onshape
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Onshape
Onshape
Score 9.0 out of 10
Onshape
Onshape
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Rhino
Rhino
Score 9.1 out of 10
Rhino
Rhino
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
AutoCADSolid Edge
Likelihood to Recommend
9.3
(82 ratings)
9.1
(16 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(3 ratings)
5.3
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
7.2
(14 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
AutoCADSolid Edge
Likelihood to Recommend
Autodesk
I think AutoCAD is great for creating precise site plans that show the layout of buildings, roads, parking lots, and other features on a piece of land. you can use it for designing roads and highways, including lane configurations, intersections, signage, and pavement markings, as well as for designing utility systems like water, sewer, and stormwater drainage. Engineers can create detailed layouts and profiles for these systems. However, I think it is less appropriate for advanced 3D modelling tasks compared to dedicated 3D modelling software, BIM (Building Information Modelling), advanced geospatial analysis.
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Siemens AG
Well Suited for:
  • Integrated designs performed by multiple designers simultaneously (designs requiring a Product Lifecycle Management system);
  • Designs requiring a high degree of parameterisation;
  • Large companies where specific standards and best practices are applied to all models and drawings created.
Not Well Suited for:
  • Personal use in designing one-off models and drawings;
  • Small business use where very few of the expensive features are actually used.
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Pros
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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Siemens AG
  • It has very good user interface in classic or ordered environment.
  • In 2D or drafting, you can give any Geometric tolerancing and symbols to any dimension. There is a wide range of options available.
  • You can convert any files in step file (.stp) and can open it in other designing applications easily.
  • After converting 3D drawings in 2D you can make changes in 2D drawing by converting it in the draft. You can also add details like cross-sections and detailed view.
  • You can directly make threads without creating holes.
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Cons
Autodesk
  • It needs more help in 3D world, eventually some parametric support
  • Better connection with Revit or Inventor
  • Dynamic blocks could get some updates
  • Parameters can be more developed; excel capabilities could be added
  • Sheet set could be more evolved to support a workflow involving data management
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Siemens AG
  • Being used to 2-key and 3-key commands from the keyboard, it would be nice if this was more robust in Solid Edge. The capability of programming keystroke commands exists in Solid Edge, but it would be more user friendly in that regard.
  • Editing hatches can be a challenge.
  • I'm not a fan of the ribbon bar, but that seems to be a feature across software platforms in Windows.
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Likelihood to Renew
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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Siemens AG
No answers on this topic
Usability
Autodesk
Is an extremely usefull and accurate software , yo certainly can do almost every task requiered to document a project drawings and specifications , the only is that to be confortable with it you need a little of practice and to be familiarized with the commands and the core functioning to get expected results.
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Siemens AG
As mentioned previously, Siemens Solid Edge is not the most user-friendly of products at all. It requires intense training to make sure that the basics are understood, and after that, there are numerous other training interventions needed to be able to perform expert-level CAD functions. The GUI is not intuitive, as many other packages are, and the features built-in are not well defined. The process to use many of these features is counter-intuitive and requires a mind-shift.
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Support Rating
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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Siemens AG
I have been involved with support and training of Solid Edge for 24 years. Given that I based my business model on support, and have been successful for all these years, I know excellent support. Siemens support for Solid Edge, "GTAC", is the definition of support for a product in every aspect.
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Implementation Rating
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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Siemens AG
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Autodesk
I have experience with Autodesk Maya, and am familiar with their user interface with creating 3D objects. AutoCAD while from the same family, requires a steeper learning curve and more in-depth knowledge of the software.
I have experience with this software because it is the industry standard in the jobs that I applied to, and was required to the company that I interviewed for. Part of the interview process was a proof-of-work test to create a mock solution for a client, which would demonstrate knowledge and skill with using AutoCAD.
I have little experience with CorelCAD, but I found AutoCAD to be more in-depth with your options and what you could create.
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Siemens AG
FreeCAD is often better than Solid Edge 2021 when converting files, but I hope this changes with 2023 NX is overall more powerful, but that is to be expected (and you cant add it above because it is too short for whatever reason).
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Return on Investment
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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Siemens AG
  • It took about 20 hours of use to get the basics of Synchronous Technology, and with just a basic competency I was able to make useful changes to the design. One of those changes was impossible to do our other CAD program.
  • My use lately has mostly been on personal time and self-driven, so learning other aspects and features of Solid Edge has been slower. Creating a drawing for a part required a few hours to learn and do the first time, but luckily there were YouTube videos for examples. With practice, I would expect the time to reflect what it takes in SolidWorks (about 30 minutes).
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ScreenShots