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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Solid Edge

    Score9.1 out of 10
    N/ASolid Edge is a software solutions for product development — 3D design, simulation, manufacturing, data management, and cloud collaboration. Solid Edge aims to combine the speed and simplicity of direct modeling with the flexibility and control of parametric design.

    $110

    per month

    Pricing
    Solid Edge
    Editions & Modules
    Design and Drafting XaaS
    $110.00
    per month
    Foundation XaaS
    $267.00
    per month
    Classic XaaS
    $335.00
    per month
    Premium XaaS
    $481.00
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Solid Edge
    Free Trial
    No
    Free/Freemium Version
    No
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    No
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Solid Edge
    Considered Both Products
    Siemens AG
    Chose Solid Edge
    Solid Edge was excellent at sheetmetal and fabrication design as well as having a good Teamcenter integration
    Incentivized
    Chose Solid Edge
    Better usage, especially when using NX as CAM software as well.
    Incentivized
    Chose Solid Edge
    FreeCAD is often better than Solid Edge 2021 when converting files, but I hope this changes with 2023 NX is overall more powerful, but that is to be expected (and you cant add it above because it is too short for whatever reason).
    Incentivized
    Chose Solid Edge
    First, we were using AutoCAD in our industry then we switched it to Solid edge. AutoCAD isn't well suited for 3D drawing and it takes very much time to make 3D in AutoCAD. In Solid Edge, you can create 3D drawings and convert them into 2D instantly without much effort. You can …
    Incentivized
    Chose Solid Edge
    What makes Solid Edge better than any other of the previously mentioned software is the Synchronous technology feature. This is the ability to integrate 2D and 3D sketching. Without planning ahead you can start modeling from a simple sketch. This makes this software a better …
    Incentivized
    Chose Solid Edge
    Solid Edge is an old technology of design. It is a pioneer of designing features.
    Incentivized
    Chose Solid Edge
    SOLIDWORKS has a really intuitive interface for a traditional CAD package. It is easy to use, easy to learn and is perfectly suited for any user. Solid Edge lacks this ease of use.

    Autodesk Inventor is great for personal use as well as in small businesses. It is easy to learn, …
    Incentivized
    Chose Solid Edge
    I have used several programs to model but the one that I liked the most is Solid Edge. With this program you can do anything you need, you can also make assemblies very easily and make plans. Something that it does not have in comparison to others are the commands, if it had …
    Incentivized
    Chose Solid Edge
    It's actually simple Solid Works wins the popularity contest, AutoCad has so many years of user base
    Solid Edge wins the functionality portion of any comparison ($ to performance) to any product. eventually, companies realize this after the barrage of marketing. As the owner of …
    Incentivized
    Chose Solid Edge
    I would say it is on par with DraftSight, and better and worse than TurboCAD in performance.
    Incentivized
    Chose Solid Edge
    Solid Edge and SOLIDWORKS can be very similar in the resulting output of parts, assemblies, and drawings.
    The difference lies in what goes into getting those results. SOLIDWORKS is held back by slower editing as the parts gain more and more features, and becomes dangerous when …
    Incentivized
    Chose Solid Edge
    I've used both SOLIDWORKS and Solid Edge. I prefer Solid Edge over SOLIDWORKS due to the ease of use. They are pretty similar, but the performance is the same as long as you have a good workstation. The price is less since Siemens owns the Parasolid kernel. It may just be a …
    Incentivized
    Chose Solid Edge
    Synchronous technology stands above the rest by a large margin. Having the ability to perform direct or parametric modeling in the same application is a huge benefit.
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    9 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    9 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    9 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    86%
    Implementation went as expected
    6 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    Solid Edge
    Small Businesses
    Onshape
    Score6.4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Onshape
    Score6.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    PTC Creo
    Score7.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Solid Edge
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.1
    (16 ratings)
    Usability
    5.3
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Solid Edge
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Siemens AG
    Well Suited for:
    • Integrated designs performed by multiple designers simultaneously (designs requiring a Product Lifecycle Management system);
    • Designs requiring a high degree of parameterisation;
    • Large companies where specific standards and best practices are applied to all models and drawings created.
    Not Well Suited for:
    • Personal use in designing one-off models and drawings;
    • Small business use where very few of the expensive features are actually used.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Siemens AG
    • It has very good user interface in classic or ordered environment.
    • In 2D or drafting, you can give any Geometric tolerancing and symbols to any dimension. There is a wide range of options available.
    • You can convert any files in step file (.stp) and can open it in other designing applications easily.
    • After converting 3D drawings in 2D you can make changes in 2D drawing by converting it in the draft. You can also add details like cross-sections and detailed view.
    • You can directly make threads without creating holes.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Siemens AG
    • Being used to 2-key and 3-key commands from the keyboard, it would be nice if this was more robust in Solid Edge. The capability of programming keystroke commands exists in Solid Edge, but it would be more user friendly in that regard.
    • Editing hatches can be a challenge.
    • I'm not a fan of the ribbon bar, but that seems to be a feature across software platforms in Windows.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Siemens AG
    As mentioned previously, Siemens Solid Edge is not the most user-friendly of products at all. It requires intense training to make sure that the basics are understood, and after that, there are numerous other training interventions needed to be able to perform expert-level CAD functions. The GUI is not intuitive, as many other packages are, and the features built-in are not well defined. The process to use many of these features is counter-intuitive and requires a mind-shift.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Siemens AG
    I have been involved with support and training of Solid Edge for 24 years. Given that I based my business model on support, and have been successful for all these years, I know excellent support. Siemens support for Solid Edge, "GTAC", is the definition of support for a product in every aspect.
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Siemens AG
    FreeCAD is often better than Solid Edge 2021 when converting files, but I hope this changes with 2023 NX is overall more powerful, but that is to be expected (and you cant add it above because it is too short for whatever reason).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Siemens AG
    • It took about 20 hours of use to get the basics of Synchronous Technology, and with just a basic competency I was able to make useful changes to the design. One of those changes was impossible to do our other CAD program.
    • My use lately has mostly been on personal time and self-driven, so learning other aspects and features of Solid Edge has been slower. Creating a drawing for a part required a few hours to learn and do the first time, but luckily there were YouTube videos for examples. With practice, I would expect the time to reflect what it takes in SolidWorks (about 30 minutes).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots