Autodesk Civil 3D vs. FreeCAD

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Civil 3D
Score 8.5 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
FreeCAD
Score 7.8 out of 10
N/A
FreeCAD is an open-source CAD software that specialized in 3D design. New features are added to FreeCAD by an active community of developers.N/A
Pricing
Autodesk Civil 3DFreeCAD
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Civil 3DFreeCAD
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
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
Best Alternatives
Autodesk Civil 3DFreeCAD
Small Businesses
AutoCAD
AutoCAD
Score 8.8 out of 10
Onshape
Onshape
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
AutoCAD
AutoCAD
Score 8.8 out of 10
Onshape
Onshape
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
AutoCAD
AutoCAD
Score 8.8 out of 10
Rhino
Rhino
Score 8.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Autodesk Civil 3DFreeCAD
Likelihood to Recommend
9.7
(7 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Autodesk Civil 3DFreeCAD
Likelihood to Recommend
Autodesk
Well suited:
  1. Simple and self-explanatory user interface.
  2. Inter usability between other software such as MicroDrainage and Bentley CivilStorm.
  3. Autodesk customer service.
  4. Easily customizable.
Not suitable: The software is still very resource intensive on the machines and often crashes when too much data is being shown. Though significant improvements have been made in other Autodesk software like Revit, older applications like AutoCAD and C3D seem to be stuck on old, inefficient source codes.
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FreeCAD
It is a great cad software if you are wanting to try something without the commitment of a payment plan. It has the ability to do most of what other cad systems do and has some functionality that is way superior to other cad systems. It could be better with things like assemblies and larger part count developments
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Pros
Autodesk
  • Ease of functionality
  • Templates make design and drawings easier to complete
  • The ability to design and setup drawings simultaneously, where the drawings will be updated as the design is updated should there be changes
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FreeCAD
  • Importing CAD formats
  • Converting mesh formats to solid and surface objects geometry
  • Fixing errors in geometry cad
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Cons
Autodesk
  • The processing of huge sized files in such in big projects, the delay of opening a sheet in Civil3D would burn time
  • Sometimes, it crashes while opening or processing
  • The vast number of tools and functions which make it difficult to use at times hence decent amount of training may be required
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FreeCAD
  • Would be great if it was cloud based
  • If it had some basic analysis tools
  • Had a rendering function
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Support Rating
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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FreeCAD
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Autodesk
Nothing compares to the ease of learning for Autodesk Civil 3D. It is very intuitive and easy to pick up. However, most DOTs require the use of MicroStation for roadway and transportation modeling. Autodesk Civil 3D does NOT integrate well with GIS or Bentley products. However, most aviation jobs and land development firms use the software and most students learn to model on a student trial of the software.
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FreeCAD
Freecad is used often when receiving files from multiple sources and the need to work with cad in various forms from meshes to solid cad. Often when receiving scans of 3d objects the format is easy to work with and convert to traditional cad later on. There is no other cad that can bridge the gap between all the cad formats that we found yet.
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Return on Investment
Autodesk
  • Possibility to analyze different scenarios of underground infrastructure design
  • Fast material volumes and quantities reports
  • Easiest way to achieve BIM mandate's objectives
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FreeCAD
  • It has allowed us to do some cad work that no other systems has allowed us to do and is key to getting that done fast
  • It has lots of online support through forums and blogs for trouble shooting
  • It could have an updated interface to make the functionality more user friendly for first time users
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ScreenShots

Civil 3D Screenshots

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