Autodesk Inventor vs. NX CAM

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
NX CAM
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
NX CAM provides NC programming capabilities that enables the use of consistent 3D models, data and processes to connect planning and shop floor operations with a digital thread. It is used to streamline and automate NC programming, while reducing cycle time using application-specific tools.
$174
per month per seat
Pricing
Autodesk InventorNX CAM
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 CAM
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional DetailsAlso available for limited use through tokens on a Flex plan.To get information about all the available NX CAM configurations, please contact: Americas: 1 800 498 5351 EMEA: 00 800 70002222 Asia-Pacific: 001 800 03061910
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Autodesk InventorNX CAM
Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Features
Autodesk InventorNX CAM
Computer-Aided Design Software
Comparison of Computer-Aided Design Software features of Product A and Product B
Autodesk Inventor
6.8
2 Ratings
1% below category average
NX CAM
-
Ratings
3D Modeling8.52 Ratings00 Ratings
2D Drafting6.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Rendering and Visualization6.52 Ratings00 Ratings
Parametric Design7.52 Ratings00 Ratings
Collaboration and Sharing6.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Compatibility with other software and formats7.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Assembly Design6.52 Ratings00 Ratings
Simulation and Analysis5.52 Ratings00 Ratings
Documentation and Annotation6.52 Ratings00 Ratings
Customization and Extensions7.52 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Autodesk InventorNX CAM
Small Businesses
Onshape
Onshape
Score 9.4 out of 10
SOLIDWORKS
SOLIDWORKS
Score 8.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Onshape
Onshape
Score 9.4 out of 10
SOLIDWORKS
SOLIDWORKS
Score 8.4 out of 10
Enterprises
Rhino
Rhino
Score 8.5 out of 10
Autodesk Fusion
Autodesk Fusion
Score 7.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Autodesk InventorNX CAM
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(27 ratings)
7.9
(3 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.2
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(1 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 InventorNX CAM
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
35 years i work with nx
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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
  • User interface
  • Virtual Simulation
  • Automatic Roughing
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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
  • tool for design structure
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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
No answers on this topic
Usability
Autodesk
It’s easy and very good for mechanical design
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Siemens AG
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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Siemens AG
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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Siemens AG
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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Siemens AG
Powermill did not use model associativity or parametric so was not easy to respond to design changes but was good at toolpath strategies and collision avoidance
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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
  • Good product for us to resell
  • Sells itself due to nice integration within the digital twin bigger picture
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ScreenShots

NX CAM Screenshots

Screenshot of 5-axis roughing with NX CAMScreenshot of Adaptive milling with NX CAMScreenshot of Multi-channel turning with NX CAMScreenshot of Prime turning finish with NX CAMScreenshot of Prismatic part machining with NX CAM