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DraftSight

DraftSight

Overview

What is DraftSight?

DraftSight is a 2D and 3D CAD solution for architects, engineers and construction service providers, as well as professional CAD users, designers, educators and hobbyists. DraftSight lets users create, edit, view, and markup any kind of 2D and 3D DWG…

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Recent Reviews

Easy to Share

10 out of 10
December 18, 2023
Our company uses DraftSight to layout systems for our customers. This allows our customers to see a professional representation of how …
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TrustRadius Insights

DraftSight is a versatile and user-friendly 2D CAD tool that is highly valued by organizations across industries. Users find it to be a …
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DraftSight Review

9 out of 10
June 01, 2023
Handle customer graphic requirements of customers accurately and efficiently as it makes it easier to manage and share graphic files. we …
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Overpowered

10 out of 10
December 09, 2022
I have used AutoCAD for over 5 years. My company uses Draftsight as an alternative of AutoCAD sometimes. It is way less expensive with …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Pricing

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DraftSight Professional

$249

On Premise
per year

DraftSight Premium (3D)

$549

On Premise
per year

DraftSight Enterprise

Contact sales team

On Premise

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttp://www.draftsight.com/BuyProfession…

Offerings

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

DraftSight Demo Video

YouTube

DraftSight Demo (Engelsk)

YouTube

3DEXPERIENCE DraftSight Demo

YouTube
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Product Details

What is DraftSight?

DraftSight is a 2D and 3D CAD solution for architects, engineers and construction service providers, as well as professional CAD users, designers, educators and hobbyists. DraftSight lets users create, edit, view, and markup any kind of 2D and 3D DWG file with greater ease, speed, and efficiency. Its familiar user interface helps to facilitate a quick transition from other CAD applications.

DraftSight Offerings:
  • DraftSight Professional: the advanced 2D CAD drafting solution with time-saving functionalities and an API to help bring designs to life quickly and easily. Ideal for companies, individuals and designers.
  • DraftSight Premium (3D): a robust 2D drafting and 3D design experience with full 3D capabilities and constraints features to help meet any drafting, modeling, prototyping, manufacturing, laser cutting and 3D printing needs. Created for individuals, designers, companies, manufacturers and makers.
  • DraftSight Enterprise and Enterprise Plus: a comprehensive 2D drafting and 3D design solution created to meet various drafting, modeling, prototyping, manufacturing, laser cutting, and 3D printing requirements. Designed for large organizations with many users or multiple sites.

DraftSight Screenshots

Screenshot of Plate InsertScreenshot of Image TraceScreenshot of 2D and 3D DWG filesScreenshot of HomeByMe Integration

DraftSight Video

DraftSight: A Better 2D Drafting and 3D Design Experience

DraftSight Integrations

  • GEOVIA Surpac
  • SOLIDWORKS PDM
  • SOLIDWORKS Electrical
  • 3DEXPERIENCE Platform

DraftSight Competitors

DraftSight Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise
Operating SystemsWindows, Linux, Mac
Mobile ApplicationNo
Supported LanguagesEnglish, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese-Brazilian, Turkish, Russian

Frequently Asked Questions

SketchUp, TurboCAD, and AutoCAD LT are common alternatives for DraftSight.

Reviewers rate Availability highest, with a score of 8.7.

The most common users of DraftSight are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(1339)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

DraftSight is a versatile and user-friendly 2D CAD tool that is highly valued by organizations across industries. Users find it to be a cost-effective solution for a wide range of design and drafting needs. It is particularly suitable for creating and exchanging files with other companies and professionals, making it an ideal choice for collaboration in the furniture industry. Design teams appreciate DraftSight's simplicity and power, as it allows them to collaborate on the creation of new products, improving speed and focus. The software has also been instrumental in various charity projects, such as designing and rebuilding a temple. Engineering departments rely on DraftSight for electrical and mechanical design, taking advantage of its performance and cost-effectiveness. Moreover, DraftSight is widely used as a replacement for AutoCAD in the transition to SolidWorks, enabling quick and easy modification of existing drawings. The software caters to a diverse range of applications, from generating geometry for CAM files to performing geometric layouts for inspection or small construction projects. It is also favored by users for build floor plan layouts, partnering with molding companies, verifying client or vendor drawings, and even creating aircraft floorplans. Users appreciate DraftSight's simplicity, power, and ability to open and edit designs of all kinds while serving as a cost-effective alternative to more expensive software options. Whether it is designing tooling or creating shop floor drawings, DraftSight proves to be reliable for daily tasks and future designs. Furthermore, drafting departments benefit from DraftSight's compatibility with common 2D file formats and its ability to handle technical aspects effectively when preparing 2D CAD drawings for customers provided by vendors. The software is also recommended for architectural projects with no issues, the design and development of engineering projects, the creation of system block diagrams and schematic development, manufacturing drawings, custom drawings conversion from Gerber data into DXF format, mechanical design layouts, die-making models, CNC programming models as well as creating and reviewing basic 2D drawings within the organization. DraftSight is highly valued for its simplicity, affordability, and compatibility with different file types, making it a perfect fit for microbusinesses and individual users. Users appreciate its efficiency in creating professional-grade detailed drawings while reducing installation problems. Moreover, DraftSight's API is utilized for extracting details from drawings and creating BOMs. Cabinet design and construction benefit from using DraftSight, leading to improved manufacturing accuracy and reduced installation issues. The software is relied upon as primary 2D CAD software for creating and

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.

Confusing User Interface: A significant number of users have expressed frustration with DraftSight's user interface, finding it confusing and experiencing difficulties while completing tasks. They feel that the layout and organization of features could be improved to enhance usability.

Crude Text Search and Replace Function: Users have criticized the text search and replace function in DraftSight, describing it as crude and barely functional. Many users find it difficult to perform accurate searches or efficiently replace text within their documents.

Issues with Software Updates: Several users have voiced their dissatisfaction with DraftSight's update control. They claim that although updates address certain problems, new issues are introduced in later versions. This inconsistency affects user experience and undermines confidence in the software's stability.

Users have made several recommendations for DraftSight based on their experiences. The most common recommendations include shopping around for options in 2D CAD software. Users suggest exploring different options available in the market before deciding on DraftSight. This recommendation highlights the importance of evaluating different tools to find the best fit for specific needs or preferences.

Another recommendation is to utilize the free trial of DraftSight. Users recommend taking advantage of the free trial offered by DraftSight. This allows potential users to test the software's capabilities and determine if it meets their requirements before making a purchase.

Users also recommend using DraftSight for beginners, students, small businesses, and hobbyists. Several users have recommended DraftSight as an ideal choice for individuals or organizations with limited budgets or less complex drafting needs. This cost-effective solution is often suggested for beginners, students, small businesses, and hobbyists who want to perform 2D CAD tasks without investing heavily in high-end software.

These recommendations highlight the flexibility and affordability of DraftSight as an alternative to AutoCAD. Users also emphasize the importance of checking hardware requirements and testing all functionality before implementing the software. Additionally, tutorials are suggested as a time-saving resource when working with DraftSight, particularly for editing legacy DWG files. Overall, these recommendations present DraftSight as a lightweight and low-cost option comparable to other drafting software available in the market.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(101-125 of 414)
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Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Our estimators take turns using it for basic shop drawings and sketches needed for clients. They both utilize it for basic drawings, and it's easy to use. We had been using the free version in the past, but last year needed to use more often for WFH items and this has proved very beneficial.
  • Shop drawings.
  • Sketches.
  • Plans.
  • Ability to load it on more than one computer.
DraftSight is well suited for those without CAD access, for those needing it to do basic sketches, plans and shop drawings. It's easy to use and functions well.
Score 4 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
It is being used by an individual.
  • Cheap.
  • Fill management.
  • Opens files that other programs cannot view.
  • Easy to use.
  • Pointer.
  • Bugs.
  • Slowness in the management of some files.
Suitable when you are not in a hurry, not suitable when you are in a hurry.
July 19, 2021

Great Software

Davide Facchi | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use it to manage 2D drawings (from our SOLIDWORKS or from customers) to arrange and prepare for CAM.
  • Manage layers.
  • Save drawings in DXF.
  • Open drawings from our customers.
  • CAM part.
Open various releases of DWG an DXF drawing, modify and purge drawings, prepare drawings for CAM software, that means assign different layers for different tools and different works, sketch new 2D part to import in SOLIDWORKS, save them in various releases and formats are the best things. Uses of CAM part I think could be improved and simplified. Anyway, great software.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
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.
  • Has a good tool set that provides the needed functions for DWG files.
  • Icons and commands are easy to pickup and are more intuitive.
  • Limited tool set.
  • Could use more documentation.
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.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I'm the only person using DraftSight.
  • Intuitive.
  • Good price-quality ratio.
  • Intuitive.
  • Good price-quality ratio.
  • Good support.
The perfect program even for someone who has used AutoCAD so far, it is easy to switch, and it is much cheaper, at the same time giving the same possibilities.
July 09, 2021

Great product

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Design preparation of drawings for cutting and burning machines. Furthermore, for the preparation of own engineering production. Drawing is only in 2D. <br>
  • Simple operation - intuitive.
  • And it is a Czech localization.
  • New updates address bugs from the previous version.
  • I don't know about anything.
I'm happy with DraftSight.
July 09, 2021

DraftSight Review

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Great software for design. Would recommend it to anyone interested in having an easy and interactive software.
Easy to create SMT drawing as well as THT drawings.
Our company has been using this software for the past 5 years and we will keep using it for years to come.
Thank you, DraftSight team, for all the good work.
  • Easy to use.
  • Variable tools.
  • Interface very appealing.
  • More tools to use.
  • Interface improvement.
  • Continuous improvement.
Draftsight is good for a better 2D drafting and 3D design experience.
Very easy to use and understand the tools.
Easy to transited files from old CAD software.
Draftsight is not very suitable for PCB design.
July 06, 2021

Overall 8/10

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Both my coworker and I use DraftSight as a design tool to size our customers' PV solar systems. It helps create plan sets and electrical drawings to prepare for permitting and interconnection.
  • Easy to use
  • Clear designs
  • Whenever I save a file, a folder named "good" is created. I can't figure out how to stop that
DraftSight is very helpful to sketch up plans and clearly show our customers what the system will look like. It does not let the customer look at a 3D model or check the solar irradiation.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
DraftSight is an easy to use, 2D drawing program yielding accurate, industry standard drawings for export. I can use this program to make quick accurate, dimensioned drawings for communications, or more detailed drawings for manufacturing PCB's and mechanical components. We all use it at some level.
  • Dimensions.
  • Repeated units.
  • Scale.
  • Ease of use.
  • Sometimes I find the language in the help function a little challenging to follow. More step by step examples with screen grabs could help.
I have done architectural drawings (not work related) as easily as have done my micro-PCB work! It's good for the whole scope.
July 06, 2021

DraftSight review

Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
DraftSight is being used by an individual to create new projects. We also used it to edit some projects we get from other organisations.
  • Measuring.
  • Drawing.
  • Printing.
  • Opening files from new AutoCAD.
  • Filling hatch - program jams frequently.
  • Keyboard shortcuts do not work smoothly.
Well suited:
  • Edit existing DWG.
  • 2D projects.
  • Dimensioning of objects.
  • Simple design steps.
Less appropriate:
  • Big, advanced projects.
  • 3D projects.
  • Hatching.
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I use DraftSight to complement my other software packages and also for producing electrical schematic diagrams.
  • 2D drawings.
  • Setting out.
  • Electrical schematics.
  • Some commands 'stick on' - e.g. Pan.
  • Difficult or not obvious to find some settings.
Good for quick setting out and schematic diagrams.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use DraftSight in several departments of the company.
  • Sales department: To create layouts of our machines in order to send an offer to a customer.
  • Engineering department: Create 2D files and modify layouts.
  • Manufacturing department: Add modifications that have been done during commissioning.
  • Laser department: Edit files in order to adapt them to other programs.
  • Easy export to other formats.
  • Friendly user interface.
  • Autosave.
  • Blocks are not good enough.
  • The program freezes without high demand of resources.
DraftSight is perfect for companies with that are already working with other 3D software. It works really well and allows you to do the same projects as other software of higher prices.
Even with the cheapest version of the software, you can work without major problems.
Customer support answer fast and solve any problems.
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Reviewing and checking 2d prints.
  • Works well with SOLIDWORKS.
  • Easy to learn and use.
  • Dimensioning.
  • No place to easily ID where the product is activated so impossible to deactivate.
  • If you ever need to reset your pc because of malware you can not reactivate your current licenses.
  • The activation email/invoice does not contain any info to be able to tell where the product is installed.
  • Reactivating and getting tech support is a nightmare.
  • It takes days and you normally need to spend another hundred dollars just to get the product to work.
  • Buyer Beware when installing product from reseller impossible to contact.
If you ever need tech support you can only talk to a bot and have no way to find a human to help.
July 05, 2021

Easy to use!

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
DraftSight is being used by one department. We used to make drawings of various products, and this last update included tools that greatly facilitate projects, such as commercial fastening items, screws, nuts, and washers that save a lot of designers' time when preparing the parts.
  • Simple to use
  • Nice interface
  • No crashes
  • Support for multiple file formats
  • could have support viewing solid, STP, and IGS files
For basic drawings, DraftSight is the best for daily use. It is a very light software, which can be used in more modest machines.

It is not suitable for more complex projects that contain many moving parts. For this, the ideal is to use some application for drawings on 3D platforms for better visualization of the assembled sets.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We have a few project engineers and service engineers who use DraftSight in our company. In the past we used another CAD drawing solution but often found problems with speed and compatibility. Switching to DraftSight saved us lots of trouble. We mainly use DraftSight for layout drawings and electrical schematics.
  • Compatibility with most versions of the CAD files from AutoCAD
  • Object snapping is much easier to use
  • It works smoothly even with slower/older PCs
  • Built-in conversion to 3D-software-compatible file
  • PDF integration in a more direct way
  • More customization for the layout of the icons
If you don't want to spend a ton on the CAD software, and upgrade your workstation to a high performance machine, the DraftSight is your solution. It works exactly the same as other popular CAD software without breaking the bank; and on some slower machines it still runs quite well.
Colin Tooze | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Used by an individual to produce CAD drawings for construction.
  • Cheap.
  • Renewal process is horrendous. Dialogues give conflicting messages, can't upgrade or renew unless you deactivate it first (but it doesn't tell you that) and zero support except a chat bot that refuses to do anything unless you are using DraftSight Premium.
Unsuited to any scenario where you actually need it to work after renewal. Use once then discard. Piece of junk that the developers don't seem to bother testing.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
DraftSight is a robust alternative to other, more expensive software. It's a good replacement for AutoCAD with similar commands. Easy to make to learn the basics, if you want a more advanced experience it's a steep learning curve. But fear not, the community and available resources are enormous. I've been using it for about 3+ years and the overall experience is good. Be aware that the different versions have different functionalities, so before buying do read the comparison chart the offer on the products webpage.
  • Fast.
  • Compatibility.
  • Feature packed.
  • Printing could be easier.
Fast on the site drawing.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
DraftSight is used to create technical drawings in the engineering department.
It also helps view other technical drawings in order to assess the capabilities of it being coated in our chambers. It's also great at converting files into DXF format for third party laser cutting which have a much quicker lead time than your standard machining third party.
  • Not computing power intensive.
  • Very quick to view/modify.
  • Customisability.
  • Needs an easier way to set a dimension.
DraftSight is well suited for 2D and layout schematics. You can go from a small micro component all the way to a large warehouse. However, the 3D usability is not as concrete as actual 3D software. DraftSight benefits mainly in terms of getting a quick technical drawing as opposed to having to draw it in 3D and then converting it into a 2D technical drawing.
June 21, 2021

Positive

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Product design, prepare CNC programs, customer design reviews, customer approval.
  • Easy to use.
  • Same keyboard commands as other CAD products.
  • Good product support.
  • Don't change a thing.
Would like to see more file import options.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
DraftSight is primarily used by our electrical engineering team to specify custom cables and wiring harnesses. These are ultimately used to quote and order both prototype and production quantities from various suppliers. These drawings are used in conjunction with SolidWorks drawings from our engineering team.
  • Easy to edit.
  • Good formatting options.
  • Clean and simple.
  • Annoying renewal process.
  • Not the cheapest option.
  • Doesn't integrate with our revision management system.
For our needs (specifying cables and wiring harnesses up to ~10 wires) it's quick and easy to use. I expect more complex solutions may have more difficulty, but for simpler integrations where speed and simplicity are required it's excellent. I find the price just a bit high for the functionality, but it's by no means an expensive software.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
DraftSight is used by several people in our organization, mostly designers and developers CNC.
  • Opening and editing CAD files.
  • Control over printouts.
  • Speed of action.
DraftSight is appropriate in every situation, especially for designing and editing drawings.
June 21, 2021

DraftSight Up

Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Every day I use DraftSight for the design of custom-made furniture, interior and exterior doors and windows, to design wooden floors that have to be restored and integrated.
  • It's an intuitive program.
  • It's compatible with many other programs.
  • After using other programs you can start using it immediately.
  • I would like to be able to edit fills, being able to stretch them, add vertices.
  • II would like to be able to compare two similar designs and have an indication of the differences.
  • I would like to be able to cut the extension lines of the quotes, so they don't interfere with the design.
  • I would like to use curved polylines.
  • I would like to be able to have an indication of double entities, overlapping.
DraftSight is less suited in the management of the fills. Often they generate crashes. The fills generate much Kb.

It would be great to be able to use formulas in the tables.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use DraftSight between three people. It is primarily used for cable design or simple 2D CAD.
  • User interface is intuitive and simple to pick up.
  • Reliable - does not crash.
  • .dxf conversion is flawless.
For 2D CAD - it is great. I do not recommend it for complex drawings for fabrication.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
It's being used by the industrial designers and engineers to view drawings from clients
  • Can accurately measure parts
  • Can open lots of files types
  • UI is a little confusing
It's the fastest DXF viewer and easiest to navigate that I have used.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Within our organization, we have two individuals including myself that use DraftSight on a daily basis. I am fairly new to CAD and DraftSight but I find that DraftSight is very easy to use and has all the features I need and more. We primarily use DraftSight to make minor drawing corrections. This helps us avoid delays in shipping and ensures our customer receives an accurate drawing package.
  • When I need to bring in CAD files from different sources I don't have any issues with compatibility.
  • Copy, Paste, and Move are features I use the most and they are very easy to use.
  • Exporting a DWG. file to PDF is simple and can be completed in less than a minute.
  • The only area I have had any trouble with is printing. Once in a while I have trouble with line weights printing to dark. It is more of an issue with the designer that created the drawings originally.
DraftSight is great for making corrections to existing drawings or starting from scratch to make a new set of drawings. I primarily use DraftSight for corrections but recently I have started to use it for creating drawings from scratch. DraftSight is very intuitive and the help feature has been great when I have questions.
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