Fusion360 VS Solidworks

[Temo57]

So it's time for me to decide between Fusion360 or Solidworks. The price of Solidworks Premium is absolutely grotesque, now coming in at more than $15000, but it's at least only a onetime purchase. Over a ten year period compared to Fusion 360 annually subscription it's about the triple price. 

So the question that remains to be answered are: what do I miss out on going the Fusion360 route compared to Solidworks and visa versa? I really like to hear your's input on this?!

What bothers me so fare are the sky/web solution, how good is my intellectually property secured when saving online.

[TrippyLighting]

Wouldn't the work you do determine what tool is best used to do that work?

SolidWorks might still be available as a perpetual license, but there are also substantial annual maintenance fees to be paid.

[karyeka]

On the topic of "how good is my intellectually property secured when saving online" - Autodesk uses best in class industry standards to secure user intellectual property. Please review the article and the resources mentioned in it - https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/fusion-360/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Are-m...

For example, the Fusion Security Whitepaper talks about data security, encryption, cloud infrastructure and physical security. etc.

[Temo57]

Yes, I think it's a perpetual license. I've been told that I only need to pay maintenance the first year if I want to stay on the 2020 version and not upgrade yearly.

What work I do, that's a tricky question, as I retired this year from more than 40 years in the building industri, and now are trying to lay out a new path where one hobby/partly income will come from drawing/3D-drawing. To do that I need to set me up with some tools/software.

I've tried for a year or so Solidworks online version, the Xdesign and like it, but I did not like the collaboration and online saving/shearing, you can not really be sure if your design is safe or shared, despite how many whitepapers and promises they make, and off course they can be hack'd as any other web service, this goes for both parties.

So I think for my part the best strategi wold probably be to not go cloud-based if I not get convinced from this forum or otherwise, but I'm still in the dark as to how user-friendly they are put up against each other and how steep the learning curve is. I'm also in the dark as to if one or the other are lacking some "got to have" functions.

[TrippyLighting]

If you don't quite appear to be able to answer the most important question when selecting a new tool my suggestion would be to start with Fusion 360. Fusion 360 is offered on a subscription basis and if you don't like it you simply cancel the subscription.

I am not going to be able to provide much "convincing" in terms of data security. 99% of personal internet-connected computers are much more vulnerable than the professionally maintained Amazon AWS servers Autodesk uses for the Fusion 360 could services.

If you cannot answer what exactly you are going to be using CAD for, then no one including yourself can answer the question of whether there are any must-have features that one might have over the other.

[HughesTooling]

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@Temo57 wrote:

Yes, I think it's a perpetual license. I've been told that I only need to pay maintenance the first year if I want to stay on the 2020 version and not upgrade yearly.

Are you likely to need to work with anyone that will have a newer version in the future? There's no way to save to an old version so you'd be stuck with using dumb formats from a newer version of Solidworks. If you ever need to get back on maintenance in the future to be able to have access to newer file versions you'll be in for a nasty suprise.

Mark

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@Temo57 wrote:

I'm also in the dark as to if one or the other are lacking some "got to have" functions.

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Wait a minute.

Does this mean that you do not have CSWP level experience (or even CSWA) with SolidWorks?

[Temo57]

Oh, I've not been told that, I've really don't know. By this I suppose you mean if I have to receive newer files from a future client, a step-file I guess is a dumb file.

Yes that's correct, not on Solidworks or Fusion360, just started to learn 3D-drawing. One say that when you retire you will have to start to learn new stuff or a new langue so you don't fall into the Alzheimer trap, so this will be my challenge. Why do you ask?

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@Temo57 wrote:

Oh, I've not been told that, I've really don't know. By this I suppose you mean if I have to receive newer files from a future client, a step-file I guess is a dumb file.

Most clients want back a native format file (SolidWorks, Inventor or Creo) rather than a "dumb" file with no history.

And Inventor, SolidWorks and Creo files are not backward compatible (with history, only as dumb solids).  Nearly everyone is going to subscription-based pricing rather than perpetual license format (if they haven't already).

Autodesk Inventor is the MCAD product equivalent of SolidWorks, not Fusion 360.

Depending on what you are doing, you might find Fusion is missing some functionality (still very basic in 2D drawings).

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@Temo57 wrote:
Yes that's correct, not on Solidworks or Fusion360, just started to learn 3D-drawing. 

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You have very very steep learning curve ahead of you.

I think you should first define your area of expertise - who will your clients be and what do they expect.

I don't think you have defined that here?

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@Temo57 wrote:

...but I did not like the collaboration and online saving/shearing, you cannot really be sure if your design is safe or shared, despite how many whitepapers and promises they make, and off course they can be hack'd as any other web service, this goes for both parties.

 I think for my part the best strategy would probably be to not go cloud-based

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How much of your world is already on-line?

Do you realize that Fusion 360 is cloud-based?

My entire financial world is on-line.

 Banking, credit card, mortgage, retirement account, most purchases except for food and gasoline...

[Temo57]

Yes I know, same for me, even my pension.

My area of expertise and who will my clients, I guess I should define that, but my retirements term prohibits me from earning to much money in the first tree years, so I was really thinking of using this period to survey and learn one 3D-tool. I think it's to much for me to learn both, so that's why I start this way, to narrow it down.

So I'm curios as I always thought Solidworks and Fusion360 was intended for the same purpose, but you say that's Inventor. So I will have to look into Inventor also then. What is the main marked for Fusion360?

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@Temo57 wrote:

So I'm curios as I always thought Solidworks and Fusion360 was intended for the same purpose, but you say that's Inventor. So I will have to look into Inventor also then. What is the main marked for Fusion360?

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They are, more or less - I refer to the purpose as MCAD (Mechanical CAD rather than architectural or civil, or...)

But Fusion 360 is relatively new and cloud-based while the mature products like Inventor and SolidWorks (and Creo Pro/E) date from the last century.  As far as the markets for these products, well my conclusions would be based solely on the users who post on their respective forums. (You are here, the SolidWorks forum here and the Inventor forum here.)  As a visitor here, some might not agree with my conclusions - so I will let you research the forums.  (As you have found, SolidWorks is working on their own cloud "solution" and Creo (Parametric Technology Corp) recently purchased another cloud solution start-up.

The foundation techniques in all of the programs are essentially identical - so techniques learned in one can be transferred to the others, so it isn't like completely starting over when you found you have reached a limit.

[M&GToolWorks]

The whole "online/cloud" bit is handy, and secure, until you can't get your file... Autodesk has been, sorta... working on that since last week. Just something to keep in mind. 

You guys have much more faith than me. I still use a checkbook. I still mail checks. I still get a paper bill in a paper envelope.

If you don't have a high speed internet connection, I would not recommend Fusion. Autodesk tells me that is why Fusion has so many issues for me. 

[TrippyLighting]

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@Temo57 wrote:

So I will have to look into Inventor also then. 

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Oh, well, in that case, you might add Spaceclaim, SolidEdge, ZW3D, Alibre Design, Onshape, IronCAD, and a number of others. That, however, will result in an endless and aimless search, because you have really no clue what you are looking for until you have a much better understanding of what kind of projects you are going to work with.

[Temo57]

Haha, yes, but that would really be to much. I have actually signed up for Onshape and used that a bit.