TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    LabVIEW

    Score9.2 out of 10
    N/ANational Instruments headquartered in Austin offers LabVIEW, a systems engineering software platform and toolkit.

    $407

    per year

    SketchUp

    Score8.3 out of 10
    N/ASketchUp is 3D modeling software with an emphasis on usability. SketchUp is a Trimble product.

    $119

    per year

    Pricing
    LabVIEWSketchUp
    Editions & Modules
    LabView Base
    $407
    per year
    LabView Full
    3,206
    per year
    LabView Professional
    5,344
    per year
    Free
    $0.00
    per year
    For Schools (free with G Suite or Microsoft education account)
    $0
    For Students
    $55.00
    per year
    For Educators
    $55.00
    per year
    Studio for Students / Educators (Desktop version)
    $55
    per year
    Shop
    $119.00
    per year
    Pro
    $299.00
    per year
    Professional
    $299.00
    per year
    Studio (Windows only)
    $699
    per year
    Studio
    $1199.00
    per year
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    LabVIEWSketchUp
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    LabVIEWSketchUp
    Considered Both Products
    NI (National Instruments)
    No answer on this topic
    Trimble
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    96%
    Would buy again
    23 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    22 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    92%
    Happy with the feature set
    22 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    89%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    17 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    95%
    Implementation went as expected
    18 Answers
    Features
    LabVIEWSketchUp
    Computer-Aided Design Software
    Comparison of Computer-Aided Design Software features of National Instruments LabVIEW and SketchUp
    Feature
    National Instruments LabVIEW
    8.0
    1 Ratings
    7% above category average
    SketchUp
    -
    Ratings
    Rendering and Visualization8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Parametric Design8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Collaboration and Sharing6.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Compatibility with other software and formats6.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Assembly Design6.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Simulation and Analysis10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Documentation and Annotation10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customization and Extensions10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    LabVIEWSketchUp
    Small Businesses
    Onshape
    Score6.4 out of 10
    Autodesk Maya
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Onshape
    Score6.4 out of 10
    Navisworks
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    PTC Creo
    Score7.5 out of 10
    Navisworks
    Score9.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    LabVIEWSketchUp
    Likelihood to Recommend
    10.0
    (6 ratings)
    8.0
    (47 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.5
    (14 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    LabVIEWSketchUp
    Likelihood to Recommend
    NI (National Instruments)
    LabView is a great tool to connect your sensors to your data aquisition hardware. It makes it really easy to set-up a data acquisition routine that meets your individual requirements. I, as an engine researcher, find it very well suited for engine experimentation. For any other programming needs, i.e. not data acquisition, I would not recommend using LabView because of its graphical programming architecture. The architecture makes it a great tool for Data Aquisition but puts at a disadvantage when it comes to other computational tasks, e.g. making a thermodynamic engine model. For those applications having text-based programming is better suited
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Trimble
    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
    Read full review
    Pros
    NI (National Instruments)
    • Being a graphical programming language, it is a little easier for a layperson to understand than text based programming languages.
    • The program has very good debugging features.
    • Support is good.
    • There are a variety of tutorials which make it easier to do something that you aren't sure about.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Trimble
    • 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
    Read full review
    Cons
    NI (National Instruments)
    • improve the management of pc resources to use the minimum amount of resources
    • add a utility for zooming in the block diagram window
    • Improve management of complementary applications, such as real time module or dsc
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Trimble
    • 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
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    NI (National Instruments)
    No answers on this topic
    Trimble
    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.
    Read full review
    Usability
    NI (National Instruments)
    No answers on this topic
    Trimble
    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
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    NI (National Instruments)
    No answers on this topic
    Trimble
    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
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    NI (National Instruments)
    We chose LabVIEW over MATLAB due to the integration with hardware and the graphical programming interface. Also, the ability to use LabVIEW with FPGAs and real-time processors without having to make large changes to the code base or swapping to a separate programming environment was a big benefit since we don't know what hardware will be suitable for each customer application.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Trimble
    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
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    NI (National Instruments)
    • We use NI's data acquisition hardware as well which has made it possible to get whatever experimental data we need to get for our studies.
    • LabView has made it possible for us to post-process and tailor the raw data to our specific needs.
    • With a responsive customer support team, NI allows us to expand our data acquisition and post-processing capabilities to carry out the kind of research projects that we would want.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Trimble
    • 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
    Read full review
    ScreenShots