Autodesk Inventor vs. 4Clicks for Federal

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Autodesk Inventor
Score 8.5 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
4Clicks for Federal
Score 5.0 out of 10
N/A
4Clicks for Federal provides quick access to full line item descriptions, notes, takeoffs, pricing info and more for federal engineers, estimators and facilities professionals. The software also includes RSMeans Data and can directly populate government forms. The platform can also be used to create budgets, all while keeping contracts and documents organized. 4Clicks for Federal is only available for purchase to federal and military professionals or AEC firms with current…N/A
Pricing
Autodesk Inventor4Clicks for Federal
Editions & Modules
Subscription - Monthly
$305
per month per user
Subscription - Yearly
$2440
per year per user
Subscription - 3 Years
$7320
3 years per user
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Autodesk Inventor4Clicks for Federal
Free Trial
YesNo
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.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Autodesk Inventor4Clicks for Federal
Features
Autodesk Inventor4Clicks for Federal
Computer-Aided Design Software
Comparison of Computer-Aided Design Software features of Product A and Product B
Autodesk Inventor
7.1
3 Ratings
1% below category average
4Clicks for Federal
-
Ratings
3D Modeling8.33 Ratings00 Ratings
2D Drafting6.73 Ratings00 Ratings
Rendering and Visualization7.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Parametric Design7.73 Ratings00 Ratings
Collaboration and Sharing5.33 Ratings00 Ratings
Compatibility with other software and formats7.43 Ratings00 Ratings
Assembly Design7.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Simulation and Analysis6.83 Ratings00 Ratings
Documentation and Annotation7.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Customization and Extensions7.73 Ratings00 Ratings
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Autodesk Inventor4Clicks for Federal
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User Ratings
Autodesk Inventor4Clicks for Federal
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(28 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.2
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.1
(12 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
6.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Autodesk Inventor4Clicks for Federal
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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The Gordian Group, Inc.
If you are considering purchasing this (very expensive) software, there is a 100% chance you are doing so because you have been awarded a Government contract that dictates you use 4Clicks Project Estimator. There are plenty of easier to use estimating packages out in the world, but you can't use any of them if you have a contract that requires 4Clicks.
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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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The Gordian Group, Inc.
  • The estimates it produces are simple and easy to follow. The formatting is good.
  • The tech support provided is very attentive.
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Cons
Autodesk
  • most if it still runs on a single core. Please fix this
  • Crashes. In our experience, too many crashes. We have high end machines and crashes are way too common.
  • Autosave. I think it is simply unacceptable that Autodesk Inventor combines common crashes with no autosave functionality. We feel this pain all the time.
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The Gordian Group, Inc.
  • The software feels 20 years old. It has not kept up with modern times, and practically functions like an old DOS program.
  • Clunky interface, arcane commands.
  • Even their training info focuses on hotkeys like this is 1995. Even though I am of an age to remember computers in 1995, the younger generations of managers/estimators are not. It is time to bring the software into the new century!
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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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The Gordian Group, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Usability
Autodesk
It is quite user-friendly as long as you have the computing power to download and use it. However, this makes it quite inconvenient if you are trying to access files on different devices, as Inventor has to be loaded on all of those devices. While the program itself works just fine, it would be much better for my application if it, or a version, were web-based and allowed users to access and modify projects from anywhere.
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The Gordian Group, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Autodesk
I think the support for Autodesk Inventor is very good. The staff at our reseller were very knowledgable and able to walk us through problems pretty easily. The training we received was very good also. I will say that there were a couple of times we reached out to support with a question or challenge we had, and the support agent was not able to resolve our problem, and after touching base back we found out that there was not a solution for the problems we were experiencing. One of them was just how Inventor represents colors inconsistently at times, all things being equal. Another was that Inventor would not let decals on parts transcend to the assembly level. they just would not show up.
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The Gordian Group, Inc.
No answers on this topic
In-Person Training
Autodesk
I got the training during college, so mostly i learned on my own
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The Gordian Group, Inc.
No answers on this topic
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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The Gordian Group, Inc.
WinEst uses much the same database (RS Means/Gordion type) and has a similar interface. It is a bit cheaper.
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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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The Gordian Group, Inc.
  • As stated before, if you are buying this software, it is because you have a contract forcing you to. While it does work, it is clunky, awkward, and very expensive.
  • The price of the software and databases has always been high, but with the fairly recent acquisition of 4Clicks by Gordion (who also bought RS Means for their databases), there is literally no competition. Prices will continue to be very high, with no check on how high they can go.
  • Again, can't fault 4Clicks tech support, as I think it is the best in the industry. They know their product and they respond to issues immediately. Considering what we spend a year for this product, however, you would expect nothing less.
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ScreenShots