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AutoCAD

AutoCAD

Overview

What is AutoCAD?

AutoCAD is a CAD product from Autodesk. It allows designers to work in 2D and 3D, and is available on Windows and Mac, but with extensive online collaboration tools.

Read more

Learn from top reviewers

the best software

Rating: 8 out of 10
June 12, 2025
Vetted ReviewVerified User
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-complia...
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Verified user
Engineer
AutoCAD8 years of experience

AutoCAD Review

Rating: 7 out of 10
May 27, 2025
Vetted ReviewVerified User
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 softw...
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Osman Shaikh
Employee - Engineering
Design Engineer
Indovance
AutoCAD3 years of experience

AutoCAD the industry best software for Modeling and Development

Rating: 10 out of 10
April 25, 2025
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
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 ...
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Verified user
Engineer
AutoCAD2 years of experience

AutoCAD review

Rating: 5 out of 10
April 25, 2025
Vetted ReviewVerified User
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 pre...
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Verified user
Employee
AutoCAD8 years of experience

Industry Standard for Drafting and Designing

Rating: 8 out of 10
March 11, 2025
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
We use AutoCAD for making changes and additions to existing jobs as it was our legacy software before we switched to Visio. We have over 4,000 jobs with multiple AutoCAD files...
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Verified user
Engineer
AutoCAD10 years of experience
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Pricing

View all pricing

Monthly Subscription

$245

On Premise
per month per user

Yearly Subscription

$1975

On Premise
per year per user

3-Year Subscription

$5925

On Premise
3 years per user

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://www.autodesk.com/products/autoc…

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Starting price (does not include set up fee)

  • $245 per month
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Product Demos

AutoCAD 2010 Demo: Block Tables

YouTube

AutoCAD 2010 Demo: 3D Printing

YouTube

Demo AutoCAD 2010 en Español

YouTube

AutoCAD 2010 Demo: PDF Output

YouTube

AutoCAD 2010 Demo: PDF Underlay

YouTube

AutoCAD Architecture 2010 Demo

YouTube
View more demos
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Features

Computer-Aided Design Software

Computer Aided Design Software features aid in automating the design processes.

6.4
Avg 7.2
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Product Details

What is AutoCAD?

AutoCAD is a CAD product from Autodesk. It allows designers to work in 2D and 3D, and is available on Windows and Mac, but with extensive online collaboration tools.

It can be used to
  • Design and annotate 2D geometry and 3D models with solids, surfaces, and mesh objects
  • Automate tasks such as comparing drawings, replacing blocks, counting objects, creating schedules, and more
  • Create a customized workspace to maximize productivity with add-on apps and API

AutoCAD includes 7 toolsets:

  • Architecture toolset
  • Mechanical toolset
  • Map 3D toolset
  • MEP toolset
  • Electrical toolset
  • Plant 3D toolset
  • Raster Design toolset

Key Features of AutoCAD 2024 now include:

  • Smart Blocks - Automatically place blocks based on previous placements or quickly find and replace existing blocks
  • My Insights - Faster project completion with helpful tips and features from My Insights
  • Floating windows - Displays drawing windows side by side or on multiple monitors within the same instance of AutoCAD
  • Activity Insights - Keeps the user informed of recent changes to a shared DWG through an activity log
  • Drawing History - Comparison of past and present versions of a drawing to see how work has evolved
  • Sharing - A controlled copy of a drawing can be sent to teammates and colleagues for viewing or editing from anywhere
  • Markup Import and Markup Assist - Imported feedback from paper or PDFs and add changes automatically, without altering an existing drawing
  • AutoCAD anytime, anywhere - CAD drawings can be created, edited, and viewed with a browser using AutoCAD on mobile or on web
  • Push to Autodesk Docs - CAD drawing sheets can be pushed as PDFs directly from AutoCAD to Autodesk Docs

AutoCAD Videos

Introducing AutoCAD
Introducing AutoCAD 2023
Introducing AutoCAD 2024

AutoCAD Competitors

AutoCAD Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise
Operating SystemsWindows, Mac
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

AutoCAD is a CAD product from Autodesk. It allows designers to work in 2D and 3D, and is available on Windows and Mac, but with extensive online collaboration tools.

AutoCAD starts at $245.

ZWCAD, BricsCAD, and FreeCAD are common alternatives for AutoCAD.

Reviewers rate 2D Drafting highest, with a score of 9.

The most common users of AutoCAD are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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Comparisons

View all alternatives

Compare with

SOLIDWORKS

SOLIDWORKS

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AutoCAD LT

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Revit

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BricsCAD

BricsCAD

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DraftSight

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FreeCAD

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Autodesk Inventor

Autodesk Inventor

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CorelCAD

CorelCAD

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Reviews From Top Reviewers

View all reviews
(1-5 of 79)

AutoCAD: the most widely familiar and used

Rating: 9 out of 10
Incentivized
January 30, 2019
Verified User
Professional in Other
Design Company, 201-500 employees
Vetted Review
Verified User
AutoCAD
15 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
AutoCAD is our default or go-to drafting program for all things architecture, interiors, and sometimes even graphic design/signage wayfinding. We use it in all of our studios as our primary drafting or CAD solution for creating design, presentation, and construction drawings. It is the most universally used program by designers throughout our company.
Pros
  • Drafting clear drawings
  • Initial design exploration
  • Detail and design development
Cons
  • Annotative scaling automatically
  • Computer memory usage is often high
  • User interface and settings profiles are hard to set up and frequently get reset
Likelihood to Recommend
We use AutoCAD for everything from urban and site planning to floor plans, sections, and elevations, to zoomed in design detailing, schedules and code documentation. It is well suited for setting up contract documents as well as initial design exploration including programming, site planning, and coordination of trades. I would say its less appropriate where 3D design consideration is required.

Best for 2D Drafting work

Rating: 7 out of 10
April 23, 2019
MP
Mohit Prasad
Automation and Design Engineer
Eureka Electrosoft Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (Mechanical or Industrial Engineering, 11-50 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
AutoCAD
2 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We use this for designing different models and drafts of our project prototype. We also provide training in the field of design to engineering students. This is mainly used by the Mechanical and Electrical Design Department for 2D and 3D drafting as well as rendering. This helps us to provide proper dimensions for prototype development, training students about design concepts and 2D drafting.
Pros
  • Command line as well as GUI helps both new and professional users.
  • Simple commands and ribbon menu.
  • Block and data importing is easy.
Cons
  • Requires training for getting started with AutoCAD.
  • The use of TEXT and MTEXT properties are confusing.
Likelihood to Recommend
For designing the 2D drafts it is one of the best software. But when it comes to detailing the drawing and designing the 3D models, the software can be bit improved. For getting started with the design work, I generally recommend this software so that people get familiar with the basics of the design process.

Solid software, industry standard for design work.

Rating: 9 out of 10
Incentivized
April 12, 2019
TB
Tracy Burton
Network Administrator
Insight Lighting (Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing, 51-200 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
AutoCAD
12 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
AutoCAD is used for our design projects. It is used along with other software that does the 3D portion of designs but AutoCAD does the 2D portions. It works well and the administration side of things is extremely easy to manage.
Pros
  • 2D design work
  • Compatibility which was a big problem in older versions of the software.
  • It's what is taught in educational arenas which makes it easy to find employees with experience.
Cons
  • It can be a bit of a resource hog with multiple drawings open at once.
  • Sometimes getting new licenses takes a few days.
Likelihood to Recommend
Works very well for our usage of the program. Compatibility and it being an industry standard makes it an easy choice.

AutoCAD is an industry standard that is easy to learn and use

Rating: 9 out of 10
Incentivized
January 03, 2019
MP
Mark Perry
Teacher
Prairie Spirit School Division (Education Management, 1001-5000 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
AutoCAD
5 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
AutoCAD is a drafting software that has both 2D and 3D applications. Currently, I am using both the 2D and the 3D applications and teaching students how to draft. The students draft many small projects that culminate in them designing their dream house. The program is the same that is used in the industry. This means that the plans that students make can be applied in the real world as they use building code specifications that are currently being used in the industry. On the 3D side we recently have been drafting simple projects to be printed on our 3D printer.
Pros
  • The tools are easy to use and the learning curve is fairly minimal to be able to create blueprints.
  • The 3D application is very fun to use and it is nice to be able to see your product instead of having to imagine what it will look like.
  • The speed and accuracy in which students can create plans is a huge bonus. Students can plan their industrial art projects out and use their own set of plans to build them.
Cons
  • Sometimes creating complex shapes can be difficult as you can only manipulate one spine or point at a time. Although this can be slow it also cuts down on errors, so overall maybe it's not that bad.
  • It can take some people longer than others to learn the basics although, again, I think overall it is pretty user-friendly.
  • Rendering 3D images sometimes isn't as smooth as it could be and there are render points that become an issue and tricky to fix.
Likelihood to Recommend
AutoCAD is a great program to use to introduce real-life software that students could potentially use for jobs in the future. I used AutoCAD to design the house I am living in right now. If you aren't planning on doing anything in the future with 3D printing or drafting than the program is not something that I would recommend.

AutoCAD - Good introductory Design Application.

Rating: 7 out of 10
Incentivized
April 07, 2019
NT
Nick Tanner
BIM Specialist
Jacobsen Construction (Construction, 501-1000 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
AutoCAD
20 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
Our company uses AutoCAD to supplement other construction workflows. If and when digital plan files for projects are not done in a 3D workflow, we receive 2D DWG files. Survey and layout teams start with AutoCAD Civil files to establish points for project control. The Virtual Design and Construction Department uses CAD files from Mechanical, Electrical, Structural and Architectural disciplines for an overlay style coordination. Our Estimating Department will then have DWG files received from the design teams converted to PDF, so that they can do a quantity take-off review.
Pros
  • Layer management and organizing lots of information in one spot. This is helpful to see how things 'stack' up the various levels in a building.
  • File size usually remains fairly small.
  • External reference linking of other files, so that many people can work on different parts of a project at the same time.
Cons
  • For its primary use as a 2D design application, it works well.
  • Autodesk has done a great job of improving the product over its very long product lifecycle.
Likelihood to Recommend
Its a great application for quick sketches or basic layouts of something where simple linework would be the best scenario.
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