FreeCAD
By FreeCAD Team * Free * ★★★★☆ (4.5/5) * Last updated on August, 2022
| Reviews: | 53K |
| License: | Free |
| Downloads: | 139K |
| Version: | 0.21.2 |
| Compatible: | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Operating System: | Windows 7 or later / macOS 10.12 or later / Linux distributions |
| Processor: | Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 |
| Storage: | 1GB of storage space |
| RAM: | 8GB or more recommended |
| Screen Resolution: | Any |
Being an aircraft engineering student, I wanted to find a really multifunctional yet relatively inexpensive solution for practice with a student discount, etc. I downloaded FreeCAD. First of all, what I have noticed about the tool is its wide features set, a lot of which was open source – which is a great plus for my tasks.
With parametric modeling in FreeCAD, it is the best open source CAD software in the market for students like me. This allows me to easily adjust numerous settings and observe their effect on my design in real-time, thus saving a lot of my time and increasing my productivity twice.
In addition to that, FreeCAD can design elaborate assemblies and has the capability of simulating their operation, a feature that has proved quite crucial during my work on aircraft designs and helps to improve or fine-tune projects with perfect precision.
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freecad_for_windows.exe (download) |
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488MB |
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freecad_download.7z (download) |
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461MB |
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freecad_for_macos.dmg (download) |
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751MB |
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freecad_download.dmg (download) |
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883MB |
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freecad.AppImage (download) |
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739MB |
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freecad_for_linux.AppImage (download) |
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807MB |
Highly accurate design iterations
I utilized the available parametric modeling tools to easily tweak and fine-tune my designs, significantly increasing the quality of the final model. For instance, when I was working on a project for a private airline and designing a wing, I used FreeCAD to change its dimensions while instantly witnessing how that would affect the aerodynamics of the model. Such functionality is essential for ensuring I produce highly precise and reliable designs for my aircraft projects.
Personalized workbenches
The provided customizable workbenches make this solution the best free CAD software for any user who likes to personalize the UI to fit their current project needs.
Whenever I’m designing a rocket engine or an aircraft part for my studies, I can rearrange the workspace to ensure I have instant access to the features I need the most. Such versatility helped simplify the modeling workflow, making the process of producing elaborate designs a lot smoother and more intuitive.
Convenient integration
This software is compatible with all industry-standard file formats, meaning I didn’t have any trouble opening projects created in other applications and vice versa.
Whenever I need to share my creation with my professors or send it to the experimental manufacturing stage, I can do so effortlessly. Such versatility was very important for me to ensure I could complete my aircraft engineering projects successfully without having to make any time-consuming conversions.
Collaborative functionality for small groups
The open-source structure of FreeCAD makes it suitable for collaborative design, as its functionality is continuously refined and expanded by a large community of experienced developers.
Becoming a part of this large community helped me not only learn the software better, but also hone some of my aerospace engineering skills by connecting with fellow users and seeking guidance from them.
Hard to learn and master
This software has impressive functionality but it’s hard for me to recommend FreeCAD to anyone who isn’t willing to dedicate a lot of time to learning how to use it. I had to watch dozens of hours of tutorials to make sense of all the features I needed to use for my aerospace design projects.
Even after that, it was sometimes difficult to model elaborate structures or technical parts. Such a challenging learning curve can dissuade a lot of students from trying FreeCAD.
Unstable performance
Probably my biggest frustration with this software stems from the multiple crashes I’ve experienced, sometimes making me lose hours of progress on a complex design project. Such instability can be a deal-breaker when handling important or elaborate projects since oftentimes one can’t afford to suffer any delays just because the software suddenly became unresponsive. The fact that certain commands in FreeCAD can lead to crashes on their own only makes the situation worse.
