Autodesk Inventor vs. NX CAD

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Autodesk Inventor
Score 8.4 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
NX CAD
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Siemens NX software is an integrated product design solution that helps deliver products faster and more efficiently. NX delivers design, simulation, and manufacturing solutions that enable companies to realize the value of the digital twin.N/A
Pricing
Autodesk InventorNX CAD
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 InventorNX CAD
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.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Autodesk InventorNX CAD
Considered Both Products
Autodesk Inventor

No answer on this topic

NX CAD
Chose NX CAD
The only reason why NX was chosen was due to the process management, and revision control that's built-in. And being able to limit access to files and if they can be modified.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Autodesk InventorNX CAD
Computer-Aided Design Software
Comparison of Computer-Aided Design Software features of Product A and Product B
Autodesk Inventor
6.8
2 Ratings
3% above category average
NX CAD
7.6
5 Ratings
14% above category average
3D Modeling8.52 Ratings8.65 Ratings
2D Drafting6.02 Ratings8.65 Ratings
Rendering and Visualization6.52 Ratings6.34 Ratings
Parametric Design7.52 Ratings8.35 Ratings
Collaboration and Sharing6.02 Ratings6.44 Ratings
Compatibility with other software and formats7.02 Ratings7.65 Ratings
Assembly Design6.52 Ratings8.35 Ratings
Simulation and Analysis5.52 Ratings7.43 Ratings
Documentation and Annotation6.52 Ratings7.15 Ratings
Customization and Extensions7.52 Ratings7.25 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Autodesk InventorNX CAD
Small Businesses
Onshape
Onshape
Score 9.3 out of 10
Onshape
Onshape
Score 9.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Onshape
Onshape
Score 9.3 out of 10
Onshape
Onshape
Score 9.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Rhino
Rhino
Score 8.7 out of 10
Rhino
Rhino
Score 8.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Autodesk InventorNX CAD
Likelihood to Recommend
8.1
(27 ratings)
8.4
(28 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.2
(2 ratings)
8.5
(7 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(1 ratings)
7.1
(8 ratings)
Support Rating
8.1
(12 ratings)
7.3
(3 ratings)
In-Person Training
6.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
7.4
(3 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Autodesk InventorNX CAD
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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Siemens AG
There is perfect integration between NX CAD and NX CAM modules with less data loss. Better graphical interface and simplified commands makes NX CAD a better software then others. The tool has scope to develop an algorithm for generating surfaces from the point data. Include of option to convert .STL to any CAD format will be helpful. The connectivity of splines laying in different planes can be improvised.
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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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Siemens AG
  • Seamless interaction across multiple departments.
  • The software allows you to create a very high level of control and organization within your engineering staff. This reduces the companies mistakes and maximizes productivity.
  • The software makes it very easy to track your product through every phase of the production cycle.
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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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Siemens AG
  • Keeping the colors of surfaces if volume bodies are linked
  • Show and keep symbolic threads
  • For me, I miss more information why a surface can't be deleted or a radius is not possible. And maybe a solution, how could it look like, if NX CAD adds a new surface.
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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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Siemens AG
possibility of integration and customization
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Usability
Autodesk
It’s easy and very good for mechanical design
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Siemens AG
Siemens NX CAD has been has been simple in design & user interface. It is best among the competitors. It can develop heavy models & designs with very ease. It has Layers options for arranging multiple assemblies in the same file. It does not require heavy system investment & works fine on professional PCs
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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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Siemens AG
NX CAD version is going out of support after only 12 months. Changes will not be implemented after 12 months from prodcution
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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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Siemens AG
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Autodesk
No answers on this topic
Siemens AG
the manitenance period is too small for our implementation timeline
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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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Siemens AG
NX CAD is very good for interoperability between different three dimensional modelling softwares, it can convert to .jt models, from native format such as .CATPart, .CATProduct, and ones from SOLIDWORKS. Also it is integrated to Siemens Teamcenter, which also enables other downstream workflow, such as Tecnomatix Process Simulate. Other software packages would need more integration effort to make this possible
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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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Siemens AG
  • The software itself is pretty expensive compared to other CAD-systems.
  • Implementation is not out of the box, it requires a lot of consulting and iteration cycles.
  • On the positive side is to mention the seamless of downstream functionalities, from product development to manufacturing and visualization, etc.
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ScreenShots

NX CAD Screenshots

Screenshot of NX technology can generate multiple design options. (It's like having an extra employee dedicated to "trying out" different designs.) Then Additive Manufacturing (3D printing) can be used to generate the part.Screenshot of Studies show an inordinate amount of time can be spent by designers as they look for previous or similar parts. The software can search for similarly-shaped parts.Screenshot of NX has the ability to validate a part (or assembly) and its adherence to standards, collisions, and manufacturability.Screenshot of Virtual inspection and mark up full sized assemblies.Screenshot of a rendering created from the actual product design. Notice the lighting and surface realism.