I was a newbie...
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 …
Starting at $249 per year
View PricingOverview
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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Texas Sales Manager
Airsystem Concepts, Inc. (Environmental Services, 1-10 employees)
Pricing
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
Product Demos
DraftSight Demo Video
YouTube
DraftSight Demo (Engelsk)
YouTube
3DEXPERIENCE DraftSight Demo
YouTube
Product Details
- About
- Integrations
- Competitors
- Tech Details
- FAQs
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 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
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 Types | On-premise |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Windows, Linux, Mac |
| Mobile Application | No |
| Supported Languages | English, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese-Brazilian, Turkish, Russian |
Frequently Asked Questions
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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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!
- Business Problems Solved
- Pros
- Cons
- Recommendations
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
(26-50 of 414)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
I use DraftSight to make furniture details of new designs. I send these to manufacturers that I work for and they are produced in factories in the US, China and Vietnam. It is great for quick and accurate information on how to build new furniture samples and info can be exchanged back and forth.
- Works with other .dwg files - AutoCAD
- Shortcuts - I seldom even touch the keyboard for anything besides numbers
- Simple to learn
- Mouse gestures
- CUSTOMER SUPPORT !!!!!!!
- Video learning for EVERYTHING .
- When I search for a command, more generic terms - i.e. - you call it hatch, but I may be asking for cross-hatching or hatching and nothing shows up.
December 01, 2021
Shipbuilders
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
I mostly am reviewing drawings done by other engineers who use AutoCAD. I will make minor revisions and redline drawings for further work before issuing them to the client.
- Easy to install.
- Printing and making pdf views.
- Opens many formats of drawings and easy to scan around on the drawing.
- We like to be able to do some simple structural analysis with add-on programs and we are not aware of any that work with DraftSight.
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
DraftSight was installed as our primary CADD interface on four workstations to conduct 2D line-work for detailing and presentation of structural engineering plans.
- reads/writes DWG files
- provides an economical alternative to other CADD applications for plan processing
- closely mimics the command interface of a prominent DWG CADD application
- Tutorials are provided for use of the application [and] are introductory in scope.
- Open-source access to tool modification for user profiles does not consistently save user preferences.
- During a 3-year period of application assessment, we were unable to secure direct customer service for the application (i.e. "how do I...").
November 23, 2021
Draftsight is good for what I use it for
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use Draftsight to convert SOLIDWORKS Dxf drawings into valid .dwg files for our plasma table cutter crew to utilize to burn steel shapes. The plasma machine takes the .dwg files from Draftsight with no troubles and works very well. I do not use Draftsight to draft complicated parts or assemblies. I use SOLIDWORKS for all of our modeling and drafting, we only use draftsight for external applications.
- Writing useful .dwg files
- Lightweight footprint, easy to configure
- The lower cost versus AutoCAD
- Customization could be easier
- Implementation over enterprise applications could be better
- Customer service has been spotty
November 19, 2021
The Best 2D CAD Software
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use DraftSight every day, with all my colleagues in the department. I think DraftSight is the best 2D CAD software, very simple to use but with a lot of tools and features. I use it since 2011 when I started my first job, and I had no problem with this software.
- Simple to use.
- A lot of features.
- Very fast.
- Is just a 2D CAD not 3D.
November 16, 2021
Contentified
Score 4 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use Draftsight to produce plan view layout drawings for equipment sales. We use SOLIDWORKS for the design and engineering of the equipment we build. We have 4 users in our sales department that use Draftsight and 2 users in engineering that use SOLIDWORKS. We all work simultaneously therefore sharing a license isn't possible. The problem the product addresses is the cost for a small business. We have multiple people who use it part-time to produce layouts using basic functions. We need a low-cost solution.
- Low cost.
- Get rid of pop-up tools.
- Program stalls/buffers on large drawings at times requiring reboots.
November 16, 2021
Could not do my job without it
We use Draftsight to create dxf files for use in programming machine codes in the factory. Also used for creating geometry and wire paths for our wire edm machine.
- 2D geometry works very well.
- For what we use Draftsight for, it works very well. Don't know how to improve.
November 16, 2021
Excellent CAD Solution for 2D Rendering.
We use as individuals across the company for 2D drafting, specifically plan view maps for facilities. The software is an economical solution for having an enterprise-level drafting solution without the hefty price tag other name-brand providers charge for a base package with add-ons we don't use.
- Works with industry-standard file formats
- User interface familiar to those using other brands
- Common tools and formats
- Better overlap of tools name/function/etc. with leader software
- Linux support cancelled end of 2019; need to rejuvenate.
November 15, 2021
Draftsight is great to use.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
It is currently used only by myself for 2D layout work.
- Working with DWG files.
- Working with PDF files.
- Great for 2D layouts.
- It would be helpful to be able to "select last" when having to select the same entities for functions like move and copy.
November 15, 2021
DraftSight
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
I use DraftSight for any construction of special motorsport equipment like sensor brackets, or complete constructions like high-performance setup equipment, for example, setup wheels, setup tables, and many other products. Besides that, I am using DraftSight for planning special cases, frames, and holders for all motorsport equipment.
- Handling
- Performance
- Price
- 3D
- Support
- Tutorials
November 14, 2021
Great Lightweight DWG creation Tool
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use DraftSight to create power and control system schematic, single line, and configuration drawings as "shop drawings" for projects and as "record" drawings for future modifications and maintenance. We share PDF and paper copies of drawings to our customers for their use in operations and maintenance.
- Opens DWG drawing files created by others and is more lightweight than TrueView
- Interface is easy to learn and to use
- Tabbed drawing are very helpful
- Process for adding tools to toolbars is not very intuitive
November 12, 2021
Love it and won't go back!
DraftSight is instrumental to my work. I am an independent contractor and I rely on DraftSight for all of my drafting needs. It provides a drafting platform that is easy to use and also works well with other software that my clients use. It allows me to operate at a level of professionalism comparable with other software but without the heavy price tag so that I can actually afford to be competitive.
- Very similar to other programs so learning it is easy
- Subscription fees are affordable
- Files produced have no trouble being transferred to other software programs so that my clients and I can both work on them even though they are using other programs
- Some features are being reserved for the highest paid subscriptions which I understand, but I really miss dynamic blocks. If that could be included in the basic subscription, I would have everything I need.
November 12, 2021
IT Review of DraftSight
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use this for on the fly modification of drawings and creating parts for our machinists to use in their machines. This is a great asset for design and manufacturing that allows our people to get their work done fast and efficiently. The setup of the menu bar is easy to use and the ability to save and share parts are great.
- 2D drawings
- 3D drawings
- easier list of quick menu items.
November 09, 2021
DraftSight on Mac for Interior Design Consultant is a lifesaver!
We utilize DraftSight to create all of the drawings for our Interior Design projects including presentation docs for clients and construction docs for vendors and contractors. It is the backbone of our small business and we couldn’t operate without it!
- Scaled drawings
- Importing blocks
- Template generation
November 08, 2021
Great addition to the company!
I am the sole user for the company. It is used to help design and calculate dimensions on designs
- easy to layout design
- auto dimension feature is great
- printing is easy
November 07, 2021
DraftSight is an amazing contribution to the AEC community in terms of both affordability and usability
In Architectural Design & Drafting
- CAD Drawing work
- Excellent User Interface
- User Friendly
- Standard License needs to be truly floating between machines used by same user
- no major issues otherwise
- signing out from one machine to sign into another , say between a laptop and pc, is inconvenient. The license should float, whichever machine is in use, license can be active for that machine.
November 07, 2021
I always drift back to DraftSight
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Excellent usability and performance. Good export function and compatible functionality. It’s great for already skilled users as well as for beginners. It’s almost self explaining if you come from another known platform.
- Data handling
- Not crashing down
- Usability
- Help function
- Detailed Example videos
- Better editing if layers
November 06, 2021
Draftsight simple but a complete drawing package
We use Draftsight to prepare our working drawings and as fit drawings in construction, mainly used by myself and 1 other, it is easy to use and has proved very reliable, competitive pricing makes it a no brainer, we have had no issues with opening drawings provided by other organisations for preparing design, construction and finally as fit records. I highly recommend this product.
- Opening and reviewing
- Dimensioning
- Editing
- I have not experiences any issues
November 06, 2021
Great CAD at a low cost!
I've been using Draftsight since 5 years ago. It's been used just by my department. It has been an excellent substitute for AutoCAD which was my previous program. It is light and practically I can use it for the same kind of jobs. I use the more basic paid version, because I'm not a full time designer, and is enough for me to review jobs and basics designs and modifications.
- Very light, opens very fast any model
- Excelent for 2D drawings
- Import PDF in Professional Version
November 04, 2021
Review of DraftSight
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
[DraftSight is used] across the whole organization. It provides a cost-effective solution compared to AutoCAD. It does not have all the functionality of AutoCAD, but it has what we need to provide quality drawings to our customers.
- Accepts CAD files from other systems
- Easy to change and manipulate drawings
- Prints a quality end product
- ability to work with larger files
November 02, 2021
DraftSight gets it done
DraftSight is a very useful program to be able to quickly view and manipulate mechanical drawings on the fly. It is easy to use and has simple tools that allow me to get the job done quickly and properly. It has everything I need in a simple to use format which allows me to get my work done quickly and efficiently without having to look up a plethora of tutorials and how-to's.
- Opens quick, runs well
- Has tools necessary to figure out problems
- Allows switching of sheets and configurations
- I don't have any particulars, as it does what I need it to do.
November 01, 2021
Intuitive, adaptable software for those new and old CAD users.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Draftsight is the go-to software we use when editing our .dwg and .dwt files. It allows easy transferability between these files and our survey software through which the bulk of our onsite work takes place, but its real advantage over other more expensive CAD programs is its intuitive interface, which makes training new users easy. Add to that its customizable desktop and simple to use functions and regular users of AutoCAD feel very comfortable migrating over to it.
- Importing and exporting different CAD formats
- Intuitive interface.
- Customizable workspace.
- Simple to us functions.
- Uncluttered workspace.
- Some of the printing features are a bit clunky. Reviewing print results can be onerous.
October 26, 2021
You get what you paid for
[DraftSight is] used by our engineering department to create 2D line drawings, for example presentation drawings for the customers, parts drawings for purchasing department and shop floor, assembly drawings for the welder/ fitters, etc. The software was used not only on conceptual designs but also detailed designs, to assist finding components interference
- Making sketches
- Calculating material usage
- Nesting
- Annotation style not easy to change
- Extending command fails from time to time
- Unresolved bugs affect performance
October 25, 2021
Excellent software
We use DraftSight for technical drawings to be used in our job travelers and work instructions. DraftSight provides an easy and flexible way for engineers to highlight the technical aspects of a job and present it in an easy-to-follow format within the work instructions that our operators use to perform their duties daily. The use of DraftSight is limited to our engineering department.
- Easy to create 2D drawings
- Easy to add notes for increased clarity
- Less computer resources needed than something like SOLIDWORKS
- Could be a little more intuitive. Many functions that I am pretty sure are possible but I haven't figured out yet.
- Easier to implement layers in a drawing
- An introductory walkthrough or tutorial to serve as a guide when starting out
October 25, 2021
Draftsight vs AutoCAD
Draftsight has been an amazing product. As a qualified AutoCAD professional I would highly recommend this software as it is a seamless transition from AutoCAD to Draftsight with compatibility right down to the command line level. Workflow is as good as the more expensive alternative and I have had zero issues transitioning with a very flat learning curve.
- Does everything more expensive alternatives do in exactly the same manner
- Seamless transition from AutoCAD
- Massive cost savings
- Nothing to report