SOLIDWORKS vs. Ultimaker Cura

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
SOLIDWORKS
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Dassault Systemes offers SOLIDWORKS, a computer-aided design (CAD) system for education and manufacturing supporting 2D or 3D design, electrical design, simulations, and product development with collaboration tools.
$1,295
per year
Ultimaker Cura
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
Since 2011, Ultimaker has built solutions for 3D printers, software, and materials that enable professional designers and engineers to innovate. Ultimaker Cura is a 3D printing software that enables users to prepare prints with a few clicks, integrate with CAD software for an easier workflow, or dive into custom settings for in-depth control.N/A
Pricing
SOLIDWORKSUltimaker Cura
Editions & Modules
Solidworks Annual Subscription
1,295
per year
Solidworks Standard
3,996
per standalone license
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
SOLIDWORKSUltimaker Cura
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
SOLIDWORKSUltimaker Cura
Features
SOLIDWORKSUltimaker Cura
Computer-Aided Design Software
Comparison of Computer-Aided Design Software features of Product A and Product B
SOLIDWORKS
8.8
3 Ratings
16% above category average
Ultimaker Cura
-
Ratings
3D Modeling9.83 Ratings00 Ratings
2D Drafting9.43 Ratings00 Ratings
Rendering and Visualization7.93 Ratings00 Ratings
Parametric Design7.52 Ratings00 Ratings
Collaboration and Sharing9.52 Ratings00 Ratings
Compatibility with other software and formats9.83 Ratings00 Ratings
Assembly Design9.23 Ratings00 Ratings
Simulation and Analysis6.22 Ratings00 Ratings
Documentation and Annotation9.32 Ratings00 Ratings
Customization and Extensions9.43 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
SOLIDWORKSUltimaker Cura
Small Businesses
Onshape
Onshape
Score 6.4 out of 10
Onshape
Onshape
Score 6.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Onshape
Onshape
Score 6.4 out of 10
Onshape
Onshape
Score 6.4 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
SOLIDWORKSUltimaker Cura
Likelihood to Recommend
9.7
(58 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.9
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
5.2
(16 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
SOLIDWORKSUltimaker Cura
Likelihood to Recommend
Dassault Systemes
As a mechanical engineer, it is one of the best tools to just start modeling and engineering with. The UI tools are intuitive and engineering analysis such Mold Analysis, FEA, are great! Other 3D CAD modeling tools have a longer learning curve to master. All in all, if you're not planning to design an entire airplane with large assembly files, then Solidworks is your tool!
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Ultimaker
Cura is well suited with complex parts in the different business of our customers. For example Automotiv or mechanical engineering. The drag and drop feature is simple and verry fast. The import of .step. files doesen`t work without plug in. We create always a .stl file wit our CAD software at the first
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Pros
Dassault Systemes
  • The collaborative work environment is a cool and useful feature where groups of people can work on the same model at the same time, and SOLIDWORKS ensures that you don't overwrite each other's work.
  • The ease and amount of customization options are very useful for creating a personalized and intuitive user interface, whether SOLIDWORKS is your native CAD package or not.
  • It is very easy to quickly edit a model you have already created. The software allows sketch and feature editing without having to take the time to actually enter the sketch/feature environment.
  • The use of configurations and configurations-specific dimensions in the same sketch is very useful for creating different forms of the same part
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Ultimaker
  • intuitive
  • easy to lern
  • available in a lot of languages
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Cons
Dassault Systemes
  • Save DWG 2D files in inches or metric easily, defaults to metric and has to be manually converted to inches
  • When using the sketch feature, the ability to disable ALL references. If I don't know the exact shape and I want to draw/adapt my design, it harshly interprets the references which have no value to me. The easiest exact is to think about when you have a Microsoft Word document that has a lot of formatting, photos, tabs, etc. If you accidentally hit the "enter" key, you can explode the formatting and everything goes crazy. SW does this to me, I just want to "doodle" my sketches, edit/delete/etc and not be bound by arbitrary references.
  • For the sketch feature, ability to use a DraftSight plugin of some sort. I'm super fast in DS, if I could draw using the commands in SW then I would probably never open DS again and convert to SW full time. Currently, I only use SW as a way to convert 3D files so I can build everything in DraftSight.
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Ultimaker
  • sometimes the grafic is a litte bit hard to see for example the collor silver
  • support free areas are not so easy to define
  • cost estimation fpr the parts
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Likelihood to Renew
Dassault Systemes
We have absolutely no reasons to not keep with SolidWorks for the foreseeable future.
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Ultimaker
No answers on this topic
Usability
Dassault Systemes
I have been using SOLIDWORKS for around 12 years as of writing this review, so have learned where most things are and how they work. When first starting out it was quite daunting, but the interface is well laid out with like functions near each other which made finding new functions relatively easy.
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Ultimaker
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Dassault Systemes
We have an unusual arrangement. We don’t pay for support, but we’re partnered with a VAR for second-tier support.
I work with other users if I have questions but when we’ve had to ask the VAR, they always have answers. It appears that all of the VARs have access to a support platform from DS SOLIDWORKS that helps them answer most questions.
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Ultimaker
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Dassault Systemes
Onshape is a direct competitor. It has great entry level pricing and it is easy to access with no installation required. Being a web based app there is sometime some lag being based in NZ. Management also have concerns over where the data is stored on the cloud. With SW we can control where it is stored
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Ultimaker
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Dassault Systemes
  • Creation of small 3D pieces to generate cash flow.
  • Not being able to create 3D sculptures with this tool, and not being able to fulfill the client's requirements.
  • To be able to sell high visual quality simulations for companies that hire the service.
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Ultimaker
  • positive: we have the free version
  • positive: alway new Updates with new ans better features
  • positive: the prinitng setting for our 3d printers are verry fast and work verry reliable so we have no issues with the printers
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ScreenShots