FreeCAD vs. SketchUp vs. zeroheight

I see FreeCad as the perfect solution for a startup with limited resources that want to save as much as possible and doesn't mind using non-standard 3D CAD software, i.e., it's not required by customers to use specific software for compatibility. It's perfect for hobbyist use and makers who don't care about brands and pay monthly fees. I see it as very well suited for small businesses that need FEA (finite element analysis) and can't/don't want to pay huge amounts of money for it, just like us. I see FreeCad as less appropriate for big corporations or well-established businesses that need standardized solutions, compatibility with clients or good version management. Don't get me wrong, it can get the job done, but it will be much slower than state-of-the-art CAD systems.

Incentivized

SketchUp is great for individually studying options for building design. It is an awesome conceptual tool to be able to quickly model and manipulate a building to study different designs. It is not good for complex geometries, especially curves. Surfaces have a hard time registering and cutting into one another. It also eventually needs to go into Revit to be more realistic as it is not good as a documentation tool

Incentivized

For creating and maintaining a component library, it is a fantastic tool that creates an interface between Developers, UX Engineers and Designers. It is easy to get both general information about a component, but also incredibly detailed information when looking at the component on a pixel-level, where information on paddings, margins, colors, fonts etc. can be easily accessed.

Incentivized

• Importing CAD formats
• Converting mesh formats to solid and surface objects geometry
• Fixing errors in geometry cad

Incentivized

• Quickly exploring solutions in 3D: We get a lot of "what if" and "what would that look like" questions. While hand-sketching and hand-drafting can be fairly quick, SketchUp allows me to quickly create 3D and 2D views of a detail or solution, change dimensions and materials in a flash, and show a client or installer the plan in minutes.
• Creating professional design documents in LayOut: Projects of any scale need good documentation. Using a combination of SketchUp and LayOut, I can create a Design Intent Set, plans for permitting, a set for mechanical trades to mark-up, etc. Having clear, appropriately-scaled drawings with dimensions or notations is a must, and we don't always have the time or budget to get an architect involved!
• Using live files to guide discussions: Not all clients are "visual" people, so opening their model and orbiting around their space in real time has been extremely helpful. Clients and trades enjoy the perspective views so much that we often include them in the full-sized drawing sets to give a good "overall" view of the project intent. For complex or tight spaces, sometimes un-rendered plans and elevations just aren't enough!

Incentivized

• showcasing components and other topics
• ease of seeing detailed information on components (colors, paddings, sizes etc.)
• ease of finding information
• possibility of going to previous versions of the design guideline

Incentivized

• Overall, the UI feels very old and non-polished.
• There are some quirky behaviors, like being unable to select a plane by having the cursor over it; it has to be over the edges of the plane.
• It's overwhelming having those many modules and options for doing things that appear to be similar.

Incentivized

• Ability to import Revit files and libraries.
• Ability to export true curved vector linework. There are some workarounds, needs to be refined.
• Create an OPEN MAPS connection. Since the split from Google, the source for high-quality aerials is limited.
• Ability to dock all menus to the master window on a Mac
• Ability to develop dockable menu trays on a Mac

Incentivized

• when opening a component image (which opens a new page where the detailed information like paddings and colors are shown), the zoom can only be done by buttons, I'd prefer to be able to use my mouse scroll and for vertical / horizontal scrolling to do ctrl+scroll or ctrl+shift+scroll or something like that

Incentivized

We typically wait a few years in between renewing, as even older versions are powerful tools for modeling, and we make sure the amount of feature changes are worth the re-investment.

Usability is awkward. Perhaps if you learn it as your first CAD, it will feel OK. Still, it comes from commercial CAD products like mine (Onshape, Solid Works, Inventor, Solid Edge). You will feel it is less intuitive, with a less polished UI, difficult to customize and, this is a subjective one, less serious. I'd love to see it improve the usability and UI. I believe the engine behind it is powerful, but how you interact with the software is still lacking.

Incentivized

It is very user friendly and easy to learn. It's simplicity allows for a low learning curve so more people can learn it faster. The downside is that most schools are no longer teaching it, so many younger professionals come out of school not knowing it and knowing more complex software and they have a hard time "dumbing down" their skillsets

Incentivized

Sketchup is so intuitive; I can't recall ever looking for official support. However, there are many user forums online that can answer more questions. The usefulness of the online forums is, however, tempered by the fact that there have been many versions of the software under different ownership and support regimes, and thus finding the right information for the right version of the software can be a challenge.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

We have not evaluated any other competing software to this one. I heard about this software from a friend who teaches how to use it. She showed me in just a few minutes and I was HOOKED. I saw immediately the possible help it would be to my business. Thank you.

Incentivized

I have used and still use Sketch and Zeplin too, but they serve other purposes for us. Sketch is used to design the components themselves and they are then exported to Zeroheight where they are showcased and enriched with textual information. Zeplin is used to design application pages, and again the components are exported to Zeplin from Sketch. But Zeroheight is mainly used for the development of the components themselves as well as a documentation for our design guideline in general. It is also used by us for design tokens and patterns, as well as other information on the design guideline, so if someone wants to understand the "why" of a design decision, the explanation can be usually found in Zeroheight too.

Incentivized

• 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

Incentivized

• It's good in the sense that you can quickly make a drawing and speeds up the design process. Not sure how to quantify that from a ROI perspective.
• Also, good for editing an image after the fact. We can easily add a dimension that was forgotten in the original image.
• Allows team members to understand a design easier than on other software platforms.

Incentivized

• increased quality, as less misunderstandings or communication problems occur
• increased speed of development, as it is a single source of truth for us. The developer can rely on the information in Zeroheight being correct so that he doesn't have to iterate his code again and again.

Incentivized