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It was worth it when it was free. Is it still worth it now that it costs?
August 30, 2019

It was worth it when it was free. Is it still worth it now that it costs?

Christopher Alan Lewis | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with DraftSight

We primarily use SOLIDWORKS, but there are lots of legacy files that are AutoCAD DWG's. We use AutoCAD so rarely that it wasn't worth it to buy it. Instead, we use the free version of DraftSight. I am not sure how many people in my company use DraftSight, though.
  • Open up old and new DWG/DXF's.
  • It has many of the most used AutoCAD Commands.
  • If you're an AutoCAD person then the Command line is great to have.
  • Activation is a bear. It doesn't always work and sometimes it sends the activation email to your spam.
  • It wants to activate over and over again. Why? I do not know...
  • DraftSight only works online, that I know of. It fails if my laptop is not hooked up (I use the free version).
  • It's a great clone but clones are not that good. Dassault Systemes should really remake this program work with Catia and SOLIDWORKS.
  • Buttons are arranged in a way to not fully copy AutoCAD but are just enough off that it's annoying when searching for what you need.
  • The free version is no longer available in 2019. But the program doesn't look to have changed with the paid version.
  • I will keep using the free version until Dassault Systemes kicks me off and we buy it because it's still cheaper than AutoCAD LT. Sad Day!
  • I guess the ROI has been great as we didn't have to buy expensive software for minor edits.
  • Going forward it's going to cost $199 a year for DraftSight or $400 for AutoCAD LT. That's a hard sell if you only use it 10 times a year.
I've used AutoCAD and it's better. I selected DraftSight because it was free.
If DraftSight were still free I would recommend it if you are like me and only use it rarely. If it's your day to day program then please get AutoCAD or LT!
I wish Pro or Premium came free with DraftSight if you owned SOLIDWORKS or Catia. Those programs cost a ton and everyone who works at a long-lasting company knows that there are tons of Legacy DWG's. There are not many options for minor edits to DWG files. I know you can export it to SOLIDWORKS, but it's more of a pain than it is useful. Sometimes you just need to edit some text or print a file and you're done. That's what I like about DraftSight!