CAD Alternatives in 2022

[nrz13]

I'm exploring AutoCAD alternatives now that Autodesk no longer offers the Maintenance plan to update our software (we do not want subscription).

I'm currently looking at BricsCAD Pro, IntelliCAD PE+, DraftSight Premium, and ProgeCAD Professional, which all still offer perpetual licenses.  If anyone has experience working with any of these programs and are familiar with their interoperability (or lack thereof) with AutoCAD .dwg files and features, I'd appreciate your insight.  There would likely be an interim period where drawings are being edited by both AutoCAD and an alternate program.  I'll begin testing these programs in a Windows Sandbox later this week, but if anyone knows of any showstoppers right off the bat with one or more of them, then that would save me some testing time.

Features we need:
● Runs on at least Windows 10 x64 (with Windows 11 support available or expected)
● Opens and saves natively in .dwg format (preferably 2018 format compatible)
● LISP support, or at the very least, custom keyboard commands
● Customizable user interface (remove toolbars/ribbon, model space & paper space colors, cursor, etc.)
● X-ref support (in model space and paper space)
● Dynamic block and block support that's compatible with AutoCAD
● Wipeouts and compatibility with AutoCAD's wipeouts
● 2D OSNAP support (at least endpoint, midpoint, center, and intersection); 3D OSNAP would be a plus
● Polyline grips with editing (moving/adding/removing grips, converting from line to arc and vice versa)
● Support inserting, displaying, and printing .pdf, .png, and .jpg files at full quality
● Assign RGB colors by layer as well as by object (manual override)
● Assign printing thicknesses to linework based on color (i.e. .ctb system of some sort)
● Hatch support
● Full mouse wheel/button support (for in-command zoom and pan)
● Basic 3D modeling with at least basic shading/rendering
● MTEXT features and interoperability (style, font, bold, italics, underline, etc.)
● Customizable dimension settings (suffix, units, etc.)
● Floating Layers and Properties palettes that allow working while left open

I'm sure there will be some other things I think of later, but this should be a good start.  Our focus is architecture, but we use vanilla AutoCAD and do not need BIM features at this time.  We don't need sheet sets.  We also don't need any online features (work off of a local server only).  If you know of any other core functionality features (whatever you think that means) that you know these alternatives can't do (or do well), please let me know.  Conversely, if you know of any really useful features one or more of the alternates have that AutoCAD doesn't, I'd be interested in that as well. 

I'd like to narrow my shortlist down to one or maybe two programs to thoroughly test. Thanks!

[Dmytro.Torianyk]

you forgot about ZWCAD

Greetings,

ZWCAD today:
Cost-effective (Perpetual, Network, flexible non-mandatory upgrade licensing)
DWG compatibility
Light weight installer
Zero learning cost
Innovative “Smart series”
Loading and operating big drawing time is faster than other CAD

[nrz13]

I didn't forget it. See message 7 of this thread.

[jmyersYFLYF]

@nrz13 : Thank you for posting your results.  I'm not sure why people jump on your post and want to argue.  I appreciate you posing the question AND sharing your experience.  I am looking for the same thing - a perpetual license.  If you wouldn't mind sharing, I would be interested in what your current situation is.  Still using Autocad, switched to ProgeCAD, other?

[nrz13]

@jmyersYFLYF 

We're still using our perpetual licenses of AutoCAD 2022 and that meets our needs.  I don't expect it to not meet our needs until Windows literally just doesn't support it anymore.  There haven't been any must-have updates to the software for us in many years and nothing we would find useful so far in 2023 and 2024.

As I recall, the lack of proper support for dynamic blocks was probably the biggest dealbreaker from using the CAD alternatives for us.  We have an extensive library of dynamic blocks.