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SOLIDWORKS

SOLIDWORKS

Overview

What is SOLIDWORKS?

Dassault Systemes offers SOLIDWORKS, a computer-aided design (CAD) system for education and manufacturing supporting 2D or 3D design, electrical design, simulations, and product development with collaboration tools.

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Learn from top reviewers

SOLIDWORKS in Aerospace

Rating: 9 out of 10
January 15, 2025
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
We use SOLIDWORKS to create 3D drawing for mainly aerospace fasteners. We need to create drawings for First Article Inspection Reports AS9102, and SOLIDWORKS is very helpful i...
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Kevin Skariah
Engineer - Quality Assurance
Quality Assurance Engineer
Av-Tech Industries, Division of Fastenal
SOLIDWORKS5 years of experience

Good CAD software

Rating: 10 out of 10
July 8, 2024
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
Mechanical design. We design a few standalone mechanical parts, for a variety of production processes. Injection moulding, 3D print, laser cut, CNC etc. Most of our projects r...
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Verified user
Engineer
SOLIDWORKS12 years of experience

A perfect software for 3D modeling and large assemblies

Rating: 10 out of 10
February 16, 2023
Vetted ReviewVerified User
We use SolidWorks for 3D design of mechanical components and assemblies. We sometimes use SolidWorks also for rendering creating the images for out catalogues
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Giuliano Peressini
Director - Engineering
CTO (Chief Technical Officer)
Casagrande
SOLIDWORKS4 years of experience

A student's perspective on SOLIDWORKS

Rating: 9 out of 10
September 16, 2022
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
SOLIDWORKS is used at my institution in order to help 3d model complex objects or new designs that are being conceptualized. For example, my formula hybrid team has used SOLID...
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Prey Patel
Engineer - Engineering
Student
Milwaukee School of Engineering
SOLIDWORKS5 years of experience

SOLIDWORKS - Best Companion for Mechanical Engineers

Rating: 10 out of 10
March 9, 2022
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
I have started using SOLIDWORKS during my college days, and from the experience I can say that it is the first software that a Mechanical Engineer requires to study for differ...
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AAKIF SHAIKH
Employee - Other
Subject Matter Expert
Chegg Inc.
SOLIDWORKS4 years of experience
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Video Reviews

1 video

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User Review: Efficiency Excels When Robotics Developer Can Depend on Solidworks For Accuracy
05:00
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Pricing

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Solidworks Annual Subscription

1,295

On Premise
per year

Solidworks Standard

3,996

On Premise
per standalone license

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

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

What is SOLIDWORKS?

SOLIDWORKS Video

SOLIDWORKS Features

SOLIDWORKS Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise
Operating SystemsWindows, Mac
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

Dassault Systemes offers SOLIDWORKS, a computer-aided design (CAD) system for education and manufacturing supporting 2D or 3D design, electrical design, simulations, and product development with collaboration tools.

Reviewers rate Usability highest, with a score of 9.

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

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Reviews From Top Reviewers

View all reviews
(1-5 of 35)

A user-friendly modelling software

Rating: 8 out of 10
Incentivized
February 05, 2019
SD
Saransh Dikshit
Graduate Research Assistant
Iowa State University (Higher Education, 5001-10,000 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
SOLIDWORKS
2 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
I am using Solidworks for my Ph.D. research. I have used it to make 3D models for various things which I 3D print later on and test in the laboratories at Iowa State University. I have used Solidworks for making 3D models of poles and transmission towers.
Pros
  • It has very good graphical user interface and thus is very user friendly.
  • It offers a lot of options to create your models and for each option, there are examples and suggestions as to how these options work.
  • It can be easily integrated with any finite element software and allows the user to print the model which can be used for testing in labs.
  • It enables the user to make very complex 3D parts with minimum effort. There are a lot of tutorials also available for the software.
Cons
  • I would want Solidworks to add a library within itself where users can see examples and solve their problem.
  • While working with very heavy models, the software becomes slow and leads to unnecessary lag while moving around the model.
  • It should allow a person to easily integrate their models with models from other users.
Likelihood to Recommend
It is very good for making complex 3D models. I have used it for making numerous models of welds and connections. I would want a better explanation for the various options that are listed in the software.

SOLIDWORKS is the industry leader in 3D software

Rating: 10 out of 10
Incentivized
January 30, 2019
AJ
Aaron Jackson
Design Engineer
Spray Equipment & Service Center (Industrial Automation, 51-200 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
SOLIDWORKS
12 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
  • 3D layouts of systems.
  • Verify equipment fits in the environment, access to other equipment, ergonomics of the system, etc.

[It's] Used by the engineering department. We do not use the majority of the software's features at this company. When I was with another company, we used it to its full potential. This company does not need some of the features it has. Still the best software for the company.
Pros
  • Very user friendly
  • Easy and quick to sketch simple designs
  • Very powerful software for FEA and CFD
  • Basically universal software used by our customers as well.
Cons
  • Cost for new users, which they seem to be addressing
  • Not many other issues I can think of.
Likelihood to Recommend
Very common in multiple industries, easy to learn and use.

SOLIDWORKS! From a Solid User

Rating: 8 out of 10
Incentivized
March 13, 2020
JS
Jacob Smith
Mechanical Engineer
Santa Barbara Imaging Systems, Inc. (Medical Device, 11-50 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
SOLIDWORKS
5 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
Our R&D department uses SOLIDWORKS daily for design, validation and training. New products come to life in SOLIDWORKS, before being manufactured. Drawings are utilized in SOLIDWORKS to send parts out to suppliers or create instructions for the technicians. Tools and fixtures are designed and validated in SOLIDWORKS as well.
Pros
  • Part design.
  • Instructional drawings.
  • Ease of use.
Cons
  • Slow.
  • Expensive.
  • Buggy.
Likelihood to Recommend
SOLIDWORKS is very well suited for part creation, design work and large assembly. SOLIDOWORKS effortlessly manages complex designs, multi-part assemblies and large simulations all at the same time. Its built-in simulation tools offer the best all in one solution. Design itereations, drawings, and testing can be completed all within the same program.

SOLIDWORKS Review

Rating: 7 out of 10
Incentivized
April 08, 2021
Verified User
Engineer in Engineering
Design Company, 1-10 employees
Vetted Review
Verified User
SOLIDWORKS
5 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
SOLIDWORKS is being used to design skid mounted, pre-piped, water systems - for labs, manufacturing companies, and industrial buildings. Not only is it used to just design the skid frame, which we send to an outside welding company, but actually all of the components that make it up. It helps drastically which manufacturing and knowing how parts fit in addition to being able to show customers what they'll be receiving. As a small company only I use it.
Pros
  • Generate bill of materials that can be sent to Microsoft Excel
  • It has a very user friendly interface
  • It gives the ability to visually depict a design
Cons
  • Large assembly load time could be improved
  • Importing .dwg files is fairly clunky
  • File management without having to buy an add-on program
Likelihood to Recommend
SOLIDWORKS is well suited for any company that designs and manufactures basically anything. It is not the cheapest option and it is not the most expensive one either but it definitely has its uses with an experienced user. From basic sheet metal parts that need to be cut and welded or bent to complex thousand-part assemblies it allows visualization of an idea or product.

I know for building construction there are better suited, more specific computer applications that work far better.

Best 3D prototyping software

Rating: 10 out of 10
Incentivized
June 16, 2020
Verified User
Engineer in Engineering
Apparel & Fashion Company, 10,001+ employees
Vetted Review
Verified User
SOLIDWORKS
6 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
I use SOLIDWORKS to make prototypes and create actual drawings related to machine developments.
Pros
  • Easy to model ideas due to user-friendly interface and multitasking tools.
  • Can save work with many available formats which can be referred to many other compatible software and devices.
  • Lots of learning and helping materials are readily available when issues are raised.
Cons
  • Needs to be lightweight in order to run on low performance machines with out sticking.
  • Needs to improve 2D drawing tools to be more user friendly.
  • Needs to improve inbuilt rendering software to be more realistic.
Likelihood to Recommend
Designing 3D models of working prototypes of a machine, this is excellent. By starting from parts modeling, it provides the ability to assemble and analyze the model. It provides options to convert drawings directly from 3D models. If we need only to make 2D drawings, this is not the best but for 3D, excellent.
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