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DraftSight

Score8.6 out of 10

1,342 Reviews and Ratings

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Community insights

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

Pros

Cost-effectiveness: Many users have praised DraftSight for being an economical option compared to similar CAD software, making it a cost-effective choice for small businesses. Some reviewers have mentioned that the affordability of DraftSight played a significant role in their decision to choose it over other options.

Stability and performance: Users consistently mention that DraftSight is stable and reliable, with no crashes or technical issues. Several reviewers have specifically highlighted the software's stability, noting that they have not experienced any crashes while using it. This aspect has greatly contributed to the positive sentiment surrounding DraftSight.

Compatibility with AutoCAD: The ability of DraftSight to open both old and new DWG/DXF files has been highly appreciated by users. Many AutoCAD users feel that this feature makes the transition to DraftSight seamless and efficient. Additionally, several reviewers praise the inclusion of commonly used AutoCAD commands in DraftSight, which further enhances its compatibility with industry-standard drawing file types.

Reviews

417 Reviews

DraftSight Review

Rating: 8 out of 10
Incentivized

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Draftsight is used by myself and one other designer for 2D CAD purposes to aid us with the technical designs of our products.

Pros

  • Precise and detailed drawings for use in manufacturing
  • Examining files/drawings we receive from our supplies and companies we work with

Cons

  • The user interface is less smooth than some competitors'
  • Hard to get support if you can't resolve issues yourself

Likelihood to Recommend

DraftSight is useful in 2D drafting situations such as creating floorplans or interior elevations. Also, it is useful when creating detailed drawings to instruct on the manufacturing of an item. It would not be useful if you were looking to create 3D models of an item.
GD
Greg Daulby
Technical designer in Manufacturing at Daulby and Tickle (1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
DraftSight
1 year of experience

DraftSight Gives AutoCAD a Run For Its Money

Rating: 8 out of 10
Incentivized

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

It is being used as an individual. I downloaded after my company went through a restructuring of software and wanted to wait to determine how we were going to utilize AutoCAD within our company. I found DraftSight after looking for a company AutoDesk alternative to CAD with similar functionality and DraftSight came highly recommended by many review sites. It helped our team do solar construction designs and work up simple details to aid us in building large projects.

Pros

  • Similar functions/keystrokes to AutoCAD/AutoDesk.
  • Beginner to Intermediate level users won't notice a difference to AutoCAD.

Cons

  • 3D functionality.
  • Missing many of the higher level functionality that AutoDesk/AutoCAD provided.

Likelihood to Recommend

I enjoyed using this software as an AutoCAD/Autodesk replacement for close to three years. I used it for work to design 2D solar layouts, solar details, wiring diagrams, etc. I also used this to make a CAD design of my home and wiring diagrams for renovation projects within my house. I found it very easy to use and beginner level tasks and functionality.
MB
Michael Bufalini
Senior Project Manager in Professional Services at Gordian Energy Systems, LLC (11-50 employees)
Vetted Review
DraftSight
2 years of experience

DraftSight: simple and easy

Rating: 9 out of 10
Incentivized

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

DraftSight is being used in manufacturing to create shop drawings.

Pros

  • A cheap, simple solution.

Cons

  • Simple to use just like any other software. Get to know the icons.

Likelihood to Recommend

I like it because its simple to use. They have added more functions in the latest releases.
VU
Verified User
Engineer in Manufacturing (1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
DraftSight
4 years of experience

All in all, a good fit for a small design firm

Rating: 8 out of 10
Incentivized

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Draftsight on a daily basis to create interior architectural drawings for high-end residential design projects. I work together with architects, across a variety of drafting/design platforms, to create design details to be built in new construction and renovations.

Pros

  • When I started using Draftsight it was attractive because it was free. As a small business start-up, keeping my costs down was a huge plus. As my business has grown, I now pay for the professional version.
  • The interface is clear and user-friendly.

Cons

  • I am not really sure what benefits there are to the professional version over the free version.
  • The program tends to crash pretty frequently which sometimes causes work to be lost.

Likelihood to Recommend

If you were taught drafting on AutoCAD and have not transitioned to a more BIM-type of drafting program, Draftsight is a great alternative. More cost-effective, and a good solution for a small business. Our in-office design standards and line weights work fine when we work with architects who are operating in other systems the drawings get a little funky when sharing files. It takes more work to get them to be legible and look professional moving between programs.
EM
Emily Mattei
Owner & Principal Designer in Professional Services at e4 Interior Design, LLC (1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
DraftSight
5 years of experience

Affordable user-friendly drawing needs solution

Rating: 10 out of 10
Incentivized

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use DraftSight for the beginnings of the start of creative engineering ideas, brainstorming pieces, making templates for model workup and the cutout and assembly of paper, cardboard, balusa mockups that will provide and prove in 3D, concept dimensions and visual true size aids to team members from other contributors and other interested members to touch and hold visualize.

Pros

  • Easy to learn.
  • Accurate.

Cons

  • Remember last printer settings/selections for repeating printing.
  • Quick access to modifying/adding default starting documents settings, like right click to disable showing.

Likelihood to Recommend

Very well suited for dimensional specific detailed drawing. I'd like to see adding an import of sketches, napkin/notes as ideas to preserve original thought sources. Excellent for paper pattern creation to scale for cutout and assembly to share visually with other people.
RF
Reggie Freedman
President in Corporate at CPI of South Florida (1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
DraftSight
5 years of experience

DraftSight a great affordable solution

Rating: 9 out of 10
Incentivized

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

It is being used by the engineering department in conjunction with Solid Works. The DraftSight application is primarily used to manage older drawings and was purchased for the purpose of dropping AutoCad licenses.
It has been deployed at our manufacturing site for 2 years now. Initially, we started with one license and have since added five more.

Pros

  • Has a good tool set that provides the needed functions for DWG files.
  • Icons and commands are easy to pickup and are more intuitive.

Cons

  • Limited tool set.
  • Could use more documentation.

Likelihood to Recommend

DraftSight software seems to be easily adaptable from AutoCAD with almost all features still available and a similar interface. It seems to be geared for simpler tasks and does not handle complicated tasks well. DraftSight doesn't have the same range of specific toolsets for certain industries like AutoCAD does, such as simulation and mechanical.
VU
Verified User
Professional in Information Technology (51-200 employees)
Vetted Review
DraftSight
2 years of experience

DraftSight, a great lower cost alternative to AutoCAD.

Rating: 9 out of 10
Incentivized

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use DraftSight as our primary 2D CAD system and we have 12 users.

Pros

  • The Toolbox feature is very useful. Adding in fasteners, weld symbols and machine finish symbols make things much easier.
  • The Annotative scale option is very helpful keeping track of things.
  • The fact that this is very similar to AutoCAD is very helpful. I was only trained in AutoCAD and was able to pickup DraftSight immediately.

Cons

  • I have unexpected crashes in many different situations.
  • Some of the program's behaviour is unexpected when a feature should be available.
  • The licensing system has been a problem.

Likelihood to Recommend

It is great for Mechanical Design/Engineering, heavy-duty equipment, and mill layout work. I can't see it being useful in interior design where finished rendered images are required.
SN
Sean Nutley
Mechanical Designer in Engineering at Kadant Carmanah Design (51-200 employees)
Vetted Review
DraftSight
5 years of experience
View profile

Well rounded 2D cad

Rating: 10 out of 10
Incentivized

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Design parts for my projects.

Pros

  • Easy interface with minimal menu nesting
  • Fast
  • Does basic things well

Cons

  • Subscription levels are not logical at all!
  • Lack of basic 2D constraints at basic subscription levels.
  • Toolbars are not organized with workflow in mind.

Likelihood to Recommend

Basic part design.
VU
Verified User
Retiree (1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
DraftSight
7 years of experience

Solid performance at an attractive pricepoint!

Rating: 10 out of 10
Incentivized

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Used as a cost-effective alternative to AutoCAD, across the whole company.

Pros

  • Similarity of interface to AutoCAD.
  • Simplicity of use.
  • Does not require a workstation class PC to operate effectively.

Cons

  • There are some features that are difficult to navigate or find commands in multi-screen environments.
  • Difficulty in finding support online for commands that differ from autocad.
  • Cannot find a way to force updated dimension schemes to existing dimensions without recreating them.

Likelihood to Recommend

DraftSight is good for simple drafting, 2D layouts, etc. For complex work we use Solidworks, which it pairs well with.
VU
Verified User
Engineer in Engineering (11-50 employees)
Vetted Review
DraftSight
4 years of experience

I was a newbie...

Rating: 10 out of 10
Incentivized

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use it strictly for my own benefit. I have an offsite design engineer that does the bulk of the design work, then he sends it to me and I'm allowed to review and tweak as needed. Being around ACAD for 20 years but never actually learning it completely and the ease of this software to learn has been excellent. And the help references are really good.

Pros

  • Ease of learning
  • Easy to navigate
  • User friendly

Cons

  • I'll leave that up to the experts, I like it just like it is.

Likelihood to Recommend

DraftSight is well suited when you need something that works well with other software and allows you to add and/or modify drawings.
SP
Steve Pennock
Owner in Manufacturing at SCP Products Company (1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
DraftSight
2 years of experience
View profile