Autodesk Inventor vs. DraftSight

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Autodesk Inventor
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Autodesk Inventor 3D CAD software offers professional-grade 3D mechanical design, documentation, and product simulation tools. These blend parametric, direct, freeform, and rules-based design capabilities. Inventor includes integrated tools for sheet metal, frame design, tube and pipe, cable & harness, presentations, rendering, simulation, and machine design. It also features TrustedDWG® compatibility and Model-Based Definition capabilities for embedding manufacturing information directly in…
$300
12 days over 1 year via Flex pricing 100 tokens
DraftSight
Score 7.2 out of 10
N/A
DraftSight is a 2D and 3D CAD solution for architects, engineers and construction service providers, as well as professional CAD users, designers, educators and hobbyists. DraftSight lets users create, edit, view, and markup any kind of 2D and 3D DWG file with greater ease, speed, and efficiency. Its familiar user interface helps to facilitate a quick transition from other CAD applications. DraftSight Offerings: DraftSight Professional: the advanced 2D CAD drafting…
$249
per year
Pricing
Autodesk InventorDraftSight
Editions & Modules
Subscription - Monthly
$305
per month per user
Subscription - Yearly
$2440
per year per user
Subscription - 3 Years
$7320
3 years per user
DraftSight Professional
$249
per year
DraftSight Premium (3D)
$549
per year
DraftSight Enterprise
Contact sales team
DraftSight Enterprise Plus
Contact sales team
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Autodesk InventorDraftSight
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsAlso available for limited use through tokens on a Flex plan.DraftSight Professional, and Premium are available to purchase online directly. DraftSight Enterprise and Enterprise Plus are available to purchase through local resellers.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Autodesk InventorDraftSight
Considered Both Products
Autodesk Inventor
Chose Autodesk Inventor
Autodesk seems more detailed and easier to use when it comes to the 3D side and the compatibility is easier to convert when needed.
DraftSight
Chose DraftSight
DraftSight is very similar to order versions of AutoCAD, so the learning curve was minimal. Of course the language and commands are different; which takes some getting used to. I still have to think "Sheet Mode" and "Model Mode". I haven't really used the 3D capabilities, but …
Chose DraftSight
Draftsight is so close to the benchmark of AutoCAD it's uncanny. At a glance, it is AutoCAD. Comparing it to TurboCAD, Draftsight for me is far more user friendly, I’m a keyboard shortcutter--Draftsight and AutoCAD keyboard commands are the same. I would rather draw my plans …
Chose DraftSight
We use Draftsight in conjunction with the above products. Some users are primarily reviewing drawings and they use DraftSght while others need the 3D modelers for conceptual work and more detailed analysis.
Chose DraftSight
More simple to use with self explaining menu without looking for functions for ages. DraftSight has everything in the right place.
Chose DraftSight
Absolutely can not compete, it is a night and day difference between this two software, although [DraftSight] claims they were equivalent, but the fact is not so. The reason why management pick the software is initially it bundled up with SOLIDWORKS as a free software, then why …
Chose DraftSight
DraftSight is the most competitive solution for 2D CAD drawing, with reasonable pricing and a complete list of features for many applications.
Chose DraftSight
It's easier to use and a lightweight program.
Chose DraftSight
Most free CAD alternatives had serious drawbacks. We used some of them for some time before we ended up choosing DraftSight. DraftSight is surprisingly more intuitive than other well known and used applications.

As a designer I've used more expensive and complex CAD applications …
Chose DraftSight
DraftSight blows AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT away with cost effective solutions and ease of use.
Three D modeling (SOLIDWORKS and Inventor) are way more complicated than our needs and the cost is way out of our budget.
Chose DraftSight
DraftSight is easier to use. And has a lower price which is better if you don't need all of the advanced 3D type drawings.
Chose DraftSight
We use both software packages with draftsight as the one we use for routecards and for customer overviews, and Inventor for the use of genrating CAM outputs.
Chose DraftSight
I think AutoCAD is probably the best program, for 2d drawing, but DraftSight stacks great against that, even more when it was free, but anyways is good
Chose DraftSight
The most similar would be AutoCAD. I used it before finding out about DraftSight. For my purposes it has slightly inferior funcionality at a much lower cost, so I can live with the limitations (mainly with regions and mass properties).

I put Inventor and SOLIDWORKS here because …
Chose DraftSight
Both have functions that DraftSight cannot perform, particularly concerning 3D. I do not consider DraftSight to be a platform intended to directly compete in a 3D environment. But my company does produce different documents that I am able to use and manipulate in other …
Chose DraftSight
Simpler interface, faster for most of the simpler things, fraction of the cost for commercial activities.
Chose DraftSight
I've used probably 10 different versions of AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT and other 2D vector CADs like microstation. DraftSight provides similar basic drafting capability at no purchase cost. AutoCAD LT is probably a lot faster to use for anyone with experience with AutoCAD products, …
Top Pros
Top Cons
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User Ratings
Autodesk InventorDraftSight
Likelihood to Recommend
8.7
(25 ratings)
4.0
(414 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.2
(2 ratings)
9.0
(22 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(1 ratings)
7.7
(19 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
8.7
(7 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
8.3
(6 ratings)
Support Rating
8.1
(12 ratings)
4.1
(14 ratings)
In-Person Training
6.0
(1 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.4
(15 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.4
(6 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
8.6
(4 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
7.6
(7 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
7.9
(4 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
6.3
(5 ratings)
User Testimonials
Autodesk InventorDraftSight
Likelihood to Recommend
Autodesk
Autodesk Inventor is a great tool for students and faculty for engineering areas that don't require great precision or development of more thorough scientific results. Is you are conducting research, or deal with very intricate and complex systems I would recommend a more robust platform that complies more to industry standards.
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Dassault Systemes
We put it through its paces with our drawings and it works fine. We do a lot of wiring diagrams and industrial control panel layout drawings, so we use a lot of its 2D capabilities. I would not use it in a multi-user environment where you have multiple designers working on one project at a time. This software makes no provisions for allowing multiple users to work at the same time on the same drawing and has no native version control. And because of their poor software control, DraftSight many times put out versions that are "crashy", which would make a lot of people very unproductive very quickly. I would look at other products for larger projects like that.
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Pros
Autodesk
  • The program is very good at simplicity. Each of the buttons, menus, and options has an explanation of exactly what the feature does, and even a more advanced description if you desire to learn more about what each one does.
  • Autodesk Inventor is a very fast program. Everything renders extremely quickly and there are no delays when examining a 3D model, part, or assembly. This is especially useful when giving a presentation about a product or design, and you need to be able to show a concept to an audience in real time.
  • The software has an extremely accurate simulation feature that lets users do stress analysis on a 3D model. It can calculate precisely where the stress concentrations are going to be in a particular model and even give you an accurate depiction of where the part could likely fracture and/or fracture during loading.
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Dassault Systemes
  • You can easily bring in a dwg format drawing into the programme and it will display the information just as well as AutoCAD.
  • The programme supports shortcut features or one-click buttons for the most commonly used operations.
  • Script files can be used which is a bonus.
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Cons
Autodesk
  • Inventor demonstrates a lack of fluidity in the process of transferring data between programs.
  • Inventor shows some lack of sophistication that certain features that are readily available in other design software packages are limited in use in Inventor.
  • Inventor can often have difficulty in creating models that show true color, as in blacks can come out as dark grays in certain renders, even when the material and appearance settings are the same from part to part.
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Dassault Systemes
  • Draftsight could run better on lower performace machines, even on high performance machines there can be some lag now and again.
  • There used to be a more basic subscription version which was perfect for our needs, now lowest subscription is more expensive. Bringing back the standard version would be great.
  • Including hash pattern files would be very useful.
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Likelihood to Renew
Autodesk
Inventor continues to meet our enterprise needs. I don't see a need to change unless we change our business model significantly.
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Dassault Systemes
It has given us, a small startup, the ability to compete effectively with far larger competitors by evening the playing field at a low cost.
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Usability
Autodesk
It’s easy and very good for mechanical design
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Dassault Systemes
Easy if you know how to use CAD software. But is not very difficult to learn using DraftSight if this is your first CAD software. As soon as you get in to it the work flow will save you a lot of time and its simple interface is very nice.
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Reliability and Availability
Autodesk
No answers on this topic
Dassault Systemes
Other than a bug created by a VAR tech support that didn't get resolved until I installed the next version, DraftSight has worked fine.
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Performance
Autodesk
No answers on this topic
Dassault Systemes
In general it's very quick to load drawings...now it depends a lot on the file we're opening or working on.
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Support Rating
Autodesk
I'm giving the overall support rating a 5 only because I rarely have to use it. Trying to find the answer on the help pages hardly ever helps me because any problem I have is usually too deep for what the help offers. Given the popularity of Autodesk, I have always been able to find an answer online after doing enough looking!
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Dassault Systemes
Technical support seems to be overseas with broken English and difficulty to read English. I asked for a trial license to try the fix but it was declined. Ask pratiksha.dahotre and gayatri.keskar for details. In summary, they released a broken version, I helped to fix by providing feedback and error logs. They claimed it is fixed but I can't test it.
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In-Person Training
Autodesk
I got the training during college, so mostly i learned on my own
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Dassault Systemes
Based on some knowledge of AutoCad, using Draftsight took a short time before I felt comfortable using it.
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Implementation Rating
Autodesk
No answers on this topic
Dassault Systemes
Take time to get used to where commands are and how the interface can be customized to suit your needs and work style. The keyboard commands are very helpful and can make work more efficient if time is taken to learn them.
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Alternatives Considered
Autodesk
When it comes to solid modeling, the bad choices died out years ago. So we looked at the total ecosystem and chose Autodesk Inventor because of the integration with Nastran, HSM (machining), Autodesk CFD, MoldFlow, and AutoCAD. This means our legacy data (2D) is still a valid part of our design methodologies going forward, and we have the full breadth of engineering tools at our disposal. Other solutions in this space have similar offerings but not nearly as potent of a portfolio in total. It's worth saying that we do not consider Inventor in the same space as CATIA or NX, but that the entire Autodesk portfolio (e.g. Alias, PowerMill, etc) includes a total toolset that exceeds these industry giants.
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Dassault Systemes
While SketchUp is free, DraftSights cost is minimal and its abilities are much greater. It is so much easier to layout and modifies a system design. Since DraftSight is compatible with all versions of CAD, it makes it easy to collaborate with customers on their specific system design. We spend less time and see greater sales on our projects.
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Scalability
Autodesk
No answers on this topic
Dassault Systemes
As a startup, we really appreciate scalable software or tools, and because we use it for diverse types of projects, flexibility is key.
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Return on Investment
Autodesk
  • Working on a project designed with Inventor provides a modular design platform that can quickly be configured or changed as required. This allows for the quick turn around time for the design and revision of drawings.
  • We've used Inventor over the years (since 2013) and the updates and newly released versions of Inventor do not require re-training or restrict use.
  • Autodesk follows an intuitive approach and users or designers who have worked on other design platforms like SolidWorks can transition easily to Inventor.
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Dassault Systemes
  • I have been able to save countless hours by making drawing corrections myself. Previously, I would have had to wait hours or days to get drawings back from our customers.
  • In the past year I would say that DraftSight has saved roughly 200 hours. That time would have been spent waiting for our customers to make corrections and then send them back to us.
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ScreenShots

DraftSight Screenshots

Screenshot of Plate InsertScreenshot of Image TraceScreenshot of 2D and 3D DWG filesScreenshot of HomeByMe Integration