AutoCAD Reviews and Ratings

Rating: 8 out of 10

Score

8 out of 10

Community insights

TrustRadius Insights for AutoCAD are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.

Business Problems Solved

AutoCAD is a versatile software widely used in various industries for its ability to create detailed 2D and 3D models. Many users rely on AutoCAD for Bim modeling, specifically for creating 3D models of building services like HVAC, plumbing, and fire protection. Engineers and architects appreciate its features in preparing engineering drawings, such as spool drawings, 2D sheets for construction sites, and detailed connections of plumbing and HVAC. Its ease of use and fast documentation make it a favorite among professionals for managing multiple project drawings.

AutoCAD is highly regarded for its role in architectural and interior projects, allowing designers to create high-quality and easy-to-interpret engineering drawings. Architects, engineers, and designers also utilize AutoCAD to exchange files between teams seamlessly. The software's versatility extends beyond construction-related projects as well; it is used for vehicle turn radius studies, traffic flow analysis, PCB mechanical drawings, panel forms, electrical meter items in 2D, and editing and cleaning up drawings received from customers.

Additionally, AutoCAD plays a primary role in design teams' processes by producing engineering drawings for client approval and construction purposes. It is also extensively used in educational settings to prepare students for their field of study. Its applications reach beyond designing and drafting; AutoCAD is utilized in laser cutting for precise design verification before sending the designs to the laser cutter. With compatibility with other file formats and seamless integration with other Autodesk software packages, AutoCAD has become a staple tool in many organizations across different disciplines.

Reviews

87 Reviews

the best software

Rating: 8 out of 10

June 12, 2025

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use AutoCAD for the design and layout of HVAC and plumbing systems in construction projects such as hospitals. The software allows us to produce accurate, standards-compliant plans and to coordinate effectively with other trades. It meets the needs of modeling techniques, documentation and error reduction during the execution phase.

Nous utilisons AutoCAD pour la conception et la mise en plan de systèmes CVC et plomberie dans le cadre de projets de construction tel que les hopiteaux . Le logiciel permet de produire des plans précis, conformes aux normes, et de coordonner efficacement avec les autres corps d'État. Il répond aux besoins de technique de modélisation, de documentation et de réduction des erreurs en phase d'exécution.

Pros

architectural drawing
HVAC design
electrical design
déssin architectural
concéption CVC
concéption électrique

Cons

add electrical MEP plugins
improved XREF functionality with large files
rajout des plugin MEP
amélioration de la foncionnalité XREF evec les fichiers volumineaux

Likelihood to Recommend

AutoCAD is particularly well-suited for creating detailed 2D plans in HVAC and plumbing, particularly during the preliminary design phase. It facilitates communication with other disciplines thanks to its DWG file compatibility. Its flexibility and accuracy are highly appreciated for surveys or quick modifications. However, it is less suited for advanced 3D modeling or complex BIM projects, where Revit is more relevant. Furthermore, managing changes in real time can become tedious on large projects without a coordination tool.

AutoCAD est particulièrement bien adapté pour la création de plans 2D détaillés en CVC et plomberie, notamment lors de la phase de conception préliminaire. Il facilite les échanges avec les autres disciplines grâce à la compatibilité des fichiers DWG. Lors des relevés ou modifications rapides, sa souplesse et sa précision sont très appréciées. En revanche, il est moins adapté pour la modélisation 3D avancée ou les projets BIM complexes, où Revit est plus pertinent. De plus, la gestion des changements en temps réel peut devenir fastidieuse sur de gros projets sans outil de coordination.

This review was originally written in French and has been translated into English using a third-party translation tool. While we strive for accuracy, some nuances or meanings may not be perfectly captured.

Verified User

Engineer in Engineering (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

8 years of experience

AutoCAD the industry best software for Modeling and Development

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

April 25, 2025

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

AutoCAD has become an integral part of AEC industry over the years and being a part of software development as well as architectural team, I can definitely say that it is one of the most developer friendly and robust application out there. There are a number of viewer or model creating software but the wide range of functionalities AutoCAD provides are unmatched.

Pros

Compatibility of different file formats, and also exports to different file formats.
CLI Commands as well as internal functions which are exposed can be used for automation of various tasks.
The new 2025 comes with .NET Core support which helps AutoCAD to connect with Cloud based features.

Cons

AutoCAD can improve on optimization of loading large model but it is already industry best.
AutoLisp or commands can be provided in form of Document while purchase.
AutoCAD can be better integrated with environment of AutoDesk.

Likelihood to Recommend

AutoCAD is the Industry best and standardized software used industry wide. This comes with support of some free to use plugins which can be downloaded form AutoDesk Store. AutoDesk has already nurtured a strong community of Developers, Students and Architects this helps any one new with Forms which help them get integrated with the commiunity very quickly.

Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology (201-500 employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

AutoCAD review

Rating: 5 out of 10

April 25, 2025

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use AutoCAD to draft layout and materials plans for design. AutoCAD allows us to create construction documents that a contractor can then build from. It also allows for precision drafting which is very important in our field. It also lets us coordinate our drawings with other disciplines and update our own drawings with them.

Pros

Curved lines on a specified radius
External reference management
Showing what has changed in a drawing in the xref

Cons

Dimensioning
Annotative scales
References breaking

Likelihood to Recommend

It is well suited for drafting in plan view. If you are looking for exact drafting that is the best for you to use. If you are looking to sketch and design, I would recommend you do not use AutoCAD first and instead use another app before transferring your work into AutoCAD.

Verified User

Employee in Engineering (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

8 years of experience

AutoCAD: 2D Drafting as Never Before

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

August 26, 2024

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

AutoCAD in our organization is mainly used for electrical circuit diagrams, hydraulic circuit diagrams and for accessing DXF files as well. Also, it is sometimes used for creating 2D drawings of the parts. It is also used in creating layout sketches for the deciding the optimal placement of different components inside the product. But most often, it is used by electrical and hydraulic team in their day to day work.

Pros

In AutoCAD, we can make detailed 2D parts as well as assembly drawings of complex to complex parts with the presence of vast ocean of different useful tools.
AutoCAD is useful in creating electrical circuit diagrams, hydraulic circuit diagrams, pipeline diagrams in a plant, layout diagrams, etc.
AutoCAD is highly useful in Civil Engineering as it helps in creating the floor plans, layout plans and detailed design of steel reinforcements ,etc.

Cons

First of all, AutoCAD is not suitable for creating 3D CAD models but indeed it is famous for creating 2D drawings of these 3D parts.
The functionalities available for 2D drawings are so much vast that sometimes it can get difficult for a new user to get it familiar by itself and for sure, a new user need a training.
If the functionalities of creating 3D models are made as competing with other CAD software like Creo and SolidWorks, then that package of AutoCAD will be unbeatable in the market.

Likelihood to Recommend

I will highly recommend any of my colleague to use AutoCAD for the tasks which somehow involve creating 2D drafting / sketches which may come when creating electrical circuit diagrams, hydraulic circuit diagrams, pipeline planning, 2D part and assembly drawings. I will also highly recommend to learn the shortcut the various commands which are frequently used in AutoCAD which will enable a higher efficiency.

Ronit Jain

Mechanical Design Engineer in Research & Development at Epiroc (10,001+ employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

Verified on LinkedIn

Great tool that is reliable and simple

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

August 21, 2024

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I am a VDC senior manager in the BIM department of a general contractor. We use AutoCAD when dealing with subcontractor models. I mostly use it to manipulate an existing model. I have subs who use AutoCAD for all of their 3D modeling and I wonder why they don't just use Revit. The AutoCAD plugin, Hydracad, is still preferred by fire protection subs.

Pros

Simple linework modeling
understanding coordinate systems in Revit
large scale formatting and printing

Cons

I don't see room for improvement. AutoCAD is an excellent tool, but I do think that Revit is replacing it for a lot of applications.

Likelihood to Recommend

AutoCAD is great for large-scale printing, simple drawing, and manipulating exports from Revit to understand coordinate systems. We often use AutoCAD to create overlays that we then take into Navisworks. Understanding AutoCAD is crucial when working with subcontractor models. I have subs who only work in AutoCAD and I use it to make sure their models will work in my process.

Gautham Prasad

Senior VDC Manager in Engineering at Messer Construction Company (1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

10 years of experience

View profile

AutoCAD stability is great.

Rating: 5 out of 10

Incentivized

June 27, 2024

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use AutoCAD for structural steel detailing and custom fabrication design/detailing. The biggest issue for AutoCAD is the price point, with other programs available at a significantly lower price. AutoCAD is very stable and doesnt have the quirky bugs that the other programs have, but at ten times the cost, it makes it difficult to justify its ROI.

Pros

Easy to use.
Stable
Simple 3D.

Cons

price
price
price

Likelihood to Recommend

AutoCAD is very customizable, and LISP routines are easy to write and incorporate into the software. Without the LISP routines, it would just be cumbersome and not very helpful in speeding up the drawing process. Compared to other programs available, the cost per year is prohibitive for small businesses or individuals.

David Yerks

Estimator/Project Manager in Engineering at Bills Custom Fab, Inc. (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

25 years of experience

View profile

A review of AutoCAD

Rating: 9 out of 10

September 18, 2023

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use AutoCAD for 2D drafting, and creating drawing deliverables for multiple clients. We import data from other engineering/design programs that don't have great (or any) drafting capabilities to output clean, readable prints for clients to use in office or out on site. AutoCAD accepts many different inputs and allows for great collaboration between other disciplines.

Pros

Design and Drafting
Site Planning
Quantity Estimation
Visualisation and Rendering

Cons

User Interface Customisation: AutoCAD's user interface could benefit from more robust customisation options. Allowing users to rearrange toolbars, menus, and panels according to their specific workflows and preferences would enhance productivity.
Enhanced 3D Modeling Tools: While AutoCAD is capable of 3D modeling, it's not as intuitive or feature-rich as dedicated 3D modeling software. Streamlining the process and adding more advanced modeling tools would be a welcome improvement.
Enhanced Collaboration and Version Control: AutoCAD could improve its collaboration tools, such as real-time editing and version tracking, to facilitate smoother teamwork, especially in multi-disciplinary projects.
Intelligent Object Libraries: AutoCAD could benefit from an expanded and more intelligent library of standard objects and components. This would save time for designers who often have to create custom components from scratch.

Likelihood to Recommend

I think AutoCAD is great for creating precise site plans that show the layout of buildings, roads, parking lots, and other features on a piece of land. you can use it for designing roads and highways, including lane configurations, intersections, signage, and pavement markings, as well as for designing utility systems like water, sewer, and stormwater drainage. Engineers can create detailed layouts and profiles for these systems. However, I think it is less appropriate for advanced 3D modelling tasks compared to dedicated 3D modelling software, BIM (Building Information Modelling), advanced geospatial analysis.

Verified User

Professional in Engineering (10,001+ employees)

Vetted Review

14 years of experience

AutoCAD Review

Rating: 7 out of 10

July 10, 2023

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

AutoCAD is one of the most used software for desigining and and preparing the civil Engineering design in my firm. As of AutoCAD I use it daily for projects. The pros of software are- It helped me prepare drawings on large scale with ease and in short period of time. the commands are easily acessible. Most of the basic drawings or say the first ever drawing of project to be prepare is done on AutoCAD. And the cons I would like to say is a large projects gets hang using hatches on large scale and aslo the 3D modelling in AutoCAD also lags some time with respective of quantity of project. the hatch lag is the most problem I face. I hope it changes soon

Pros

Well I love the way its all commands work
The Layers and properties style is very helpful for differentation
The page setup and Layout styles plus the use of dynamic Blocks

Cons

It need to work on lags caused due to Hatches
Need to work on 3D modelling material renders and its animations
Also for 3D modelling it has to prepare some easy shortcuts keys abd the command acces

Likelihood to Recommend

Well for me I regulary use AutoCAD as I all my clients prefer AutoCAD to complete their drawings. So based on Data AotoCAD is used for Engineering Designs and most use it as logo provigind service as well. So mostly AutoCAD is used as Desigining and drafting software as you can Draft anything using it. Well the less appropiate for creating 3D models as pepole prefer high defination details of models so. i wouls say a 3D model in AutoCAD would be less useful.

Osman Shaikh

Design Engineer in Engineering at Indovance (501-1000 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

View profile

Good Software for CAD Drafting, just get ready to learn or have experience

Rating: 9 out of 10

January 20, 2023

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I used AutoCAD in the period to be accept for employment at a mechanical and electrical engineering company. They were using the software to design electrical solutions for their company, such as circuit boards, breaker boxes and circuit diagrams. An engineer would take client specifications, come up with a design then hand it over to the AutoCAD drafter to visualize the design. Once it looked operable, their shop team would then build the end product.

Pros

Drafting
Clear System Requirements
Keyboard Shortcuts
Visual Standard to older versions

Cons

System optimization
User Interface
User Intuitive
Flexibility of end user

Likelihood to Recommend

<div>AutoCAD is a good applicant for most technical drawing needs. The additional version of the software cover electrical wiring, and even architectural design. Someone who knows what they're doing and has a good grasp of the software will be able to create the appropriate solutions that they need.</div><div>

</div><div>This software is not suited for beginners, someone less technologically inclined and someone who doesn't memorize shortcuts, workspace setups and understands system requirements. Simple things such as viewports and layers can confuse a new user and even one with basic understanding of AutoCAD. Training and education is required to use this software.

</div>

Janeil Harricharan

Freelancer at Cross Company (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

AutoCAD as a fundamental basis of architectural design

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

November 15, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

In my workflow the use of AutoCAD is extremely important, not only on the beginning of every project but also on the development of the following steps. At this point, the resourcefull library of commands available on AutoCAD makes the drawing process much easier and intuitive in comparison to other drawing software. This one of the main reasons why I have always choose to work with AutoCAD on the development of my projects.

Pros

simple but very well organised interface for users
very intuitive comands that make the workflow with the software very easy, also for starter users without too many experience
the software responds very well to large and hard to read files, without slowing down or interrupting the workflow due to reading erros that normaly disrupt users and make the experience with the software more stressfull

Cons

improvements on the 3D modelling area, making the interface easier to deal with
an easier possibility to change the language settings of the software
improving the array command, making it more easier to handle with, considering that it often causes unespected erros to the software, interrupting the constant worflow

Likelihood to Recommend

when it comes to almost all drawing components of an architectural or engineering project, AutoCAD is definitely one of the most suitable softwares in the world to use, due to its very intuitive and well organized layout and user interface, making the workflow with the software very easy. Otherwise, when it comes to the 3d visualization of projects, it is necessary to use other software like archicad and revit, which are more oriented to the 3D components of a project and therefore are more suited for this type of visualization

Verified User

Manager in Marketing (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

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Reviews and Ratings

AutoCAD as a fundamental basis of architectural design

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

November 15, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

simple but very well organised interface for users
very intuitive comands that make the workflow with the software very easy, also for starter users without too many experience
the software responds very well to large and hard to read files, without slowing down or interrupting the workflow due to reading erros that normaly disrupt users and make the experience with the software more stressfull

Cons

improvements on the 3D modelling area, making the interface easier to deal with
an easier possibility to change the language settings of the software
improving the array command, making it more easier to handle with, considering that it often causes unespected erros to the software, interrupting the constant worflow

Likelihood to Recommend

Verified User

Manager in Marketing (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience