Which is best Solidworks or Inventor?

[Anonymous]

Hi, I am currently using Inventor Pro 2018 and it is great software for mechanical engineering design. But some of my friends recommends Solidworks is good for 3d design. So I posted this question.

[JDMather]

Why?

[Mark.Lancaster]

@Anonymous

All software has its pros and cons..  You have to decided which application fits your needs.  Weight the pros and cons.  Just because your friends say this package is better doesn't mean it better for you. 

[Curtis_W]

Hi SAIMUL,

Much has been discussed on this topic in the past, please spend some time reading those discussions first, and then return to ask more specific questions if needed. See link:

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/forums/searchpage/tab/message?advanced=false&allow_punctuation=false&...

In general "which is better product X or product Y?"  type question just becomes a distraction and invites internet trolls and nonconstructive bickering, and so it's generally considered poor form to post that type of question on a discussion forum, but it happens from time to time on this forum. Again you can find those topics at the link I posted above.

I hope this helps.
Best of luck to you in all of your Inventor (or Solidworks) pursuits,
Curtis
http://inventortrenches.blogspot.com

[cbenner]

@Anonymous

I do have to point out that you posted this question to a group of individuals on an Autodesk forum, most of whom make their living using Inventor.  Your responses MIGHT be just a bit biased.  

That said, I think you should maybe give us a little more information about what you want to use this for, as some software is better at one thing than others.... and vice versa.  So, knowing what you will use it for may help us to advise you better.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for reply. I want to use inventor for motor car engine design and manufacturing, heat and thermal effects analysis.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for this link.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! This is an interesting question but I am not sure how you would be able to find the answer anywhere. My question is how you define "best." There is a reason why there are only four major 3D feature-based parametric solid modelers on the market after 20 years of 2D -> 3D transformation. If one of them was not up to the task, it should have been gone by now.

You might be able to find an answer of which is better of the two in terms of a specific workflow or a specific design. There is nothing wrong using SWX. Nor is nothing  wrong using Inventor. Nowadays, these major players support associative interoperable workflows. One can read the other's file somewhat associatively. It is a multi-CAD world. We have customers using multiple tools. At the end of the day, it is about how to get the job done reliably and quickly. I work for Inventor team. You know my answer.

Many thanks!

[Anonymous]

Please remove. 

[mdavis22569]

Chevy / Ford / Chrysler ... who's best ...

They each have their own followers ... some will vow not to drive / use one of the other brands...(example I won't own a Ford)

Which one does what you're looking to do best, that should be the question.

However, why not ask ..who has the best over all packages for the masses:  Autodesk or Dassault....

[smokes2998]

Just be aware big automotive engineering companys use  NX Pro/e creo Catia.

VW group Catia

Porsche may use NX

BMW Pro/e Creo

Mercedes Own CAD but moving to NX

Nissan NX

Redbull racing NX

Williams f1 Catia

This tend to be due to the huge data sets they have manage and deploy

Smaller comapanys

like Koenisegg use Solid works

Dax use solidedge

BAC use Inventor

They will prefer to take on someone who is trained in these tools and has an official training Certificate to prove it.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! It is a multi-CAD world. A lot of companies you listed here use different CAD systems for different purposes at different divisions. I don't think they use singular solution. Some also use Inventor. Take the ultra high performance race car maker Koenigsegg Engieering for example. They also use Inventor along with other CAD systems. Please see the public link below.

http://koenigsegg.com/engineering/

Many thanks!

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Thanks everyone for great replies.

[Anonymous]

Used SWX for 6 year and now Inventor from 2 year.

SWX in on another planet.

With both you can go from A to B...for sure...but with Inventor you need 3x time and 3x operations to do it, and often without a specific command or way.

Inventor isn't multicore (in 3d modeling) and in 2018 it's absolutely not normal.

Do not listen who tell you that all cad are the same, like here. I suppose they never used and tested (for at least 2 years...) other CAD.

My 2 cents

[Anonymous]

I used to work with Solid Edge and I also have the impression things go much faster in SE. I might have to do with time spent in the package, but even now I feel you need much more clicks to do the same. After some time these little annoyances might disappear.

It is also difficult to find the package that belong to your needs, when you don't know the package is able to do.

If I am not wrong Autodesk jumped on the 3D market long after other players

[Thomas_Savage]

Hello @Anonymous

I don't think you can say it is on another planet. There are pros and cons with both. 

I have attended most the Solidworks courses. And passed the Associate, and Sheet Metal Professional exams. So i used Solidworks a lot.

And in my opioin Inventor is a lot better. But like people have said, it depends what you want it for.

For me i wanted Sheet Metal and iLogic. Solidworks can't change models as good as Inventor. iLogic for me is amazing. I can change my models in seconds. And on the courses i went on no one could get my model to change that quick in Solidworks. They could not even get it to change how i wanted it to.

Also i had to pay £100 for a student license. When Inventor is free.

I also found the people teaching in the training courses wasn't as knowledgeable as they were on the Inventor courses. And i went to 3 different training centers, and it was the same at all of them. This is partly due to they was straight out of university, so hadn't used the software in a real design environment. So did not understand a lot of questions i asked them. Whereas the people training the Inventor courses had all worked in a design area for a number of years. So understood more.

Solidworks is a good software. Just for me, and what i need it for, Inventor is better.

Thomas.

[TheCADWhisperer]

---

@Anonymouswrote:

1. .......but with Inventor you need 3x time and 3x operations to do it, and often without a specific command or way.

2. Inventor isn't multicore (in 3d modeling) and in 2018 it's absolutely not normal.

3.  Do not listen who tell you that all cad are the same, like here. I suppose they never used and tested (for at least 2 years...) other CAD.

---

1. I noticed that you did not post any examples?

2. Does SolidWorks?  (The correct answer is - No.)  (If that is not normal - which CAD programs do?)

3. I have used both daily for 15-16 years and am a certified professional in both.  Would you recommend that the OP listen to my opinions (which I can back up with examples in both softwares)? 

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Used SWX for 6 year and now Inventor from 2 year.

SWX in on another planet.

With both you can go from A to B...for sure...but with Inventor you need 3x time and 3x operations to do it, and often without a specific command or way.

Inventor isn't multicore (in 3d modeling) and in 2018 it's absolutely not normal.

Do not listen who tell you that all cad are the same, like here. I suppose they never used and tested (for at least 2 years...) other CAD.

My 2 cents

---

If I may, if you are needing 3x the steps and operations in Inventor vs SWX, I'd say you're not doing it correctly and may need professional training. Typical Adesk software, if you know one way to do it, there's at least another 4 other ways.

Not sure what you mean by "often without a specific command or way". Can you explain? Better yet, have you posted the issues on the main board?

Your comment of "Inventor isn't multicore (in 3d modeling)" is false, sorry. Inventor does in fact access and use multi-core, but only for commands that require it. Think a basic linear Extrude, versus Stress analysis .

In general terms SWX and Inventor are the same, but they each have their differences. You have 6 years on SWX and 2 years on Inventor, what was your take of SWX at the 2 year mark? Were you professionally trained on SWX? Had you worked on any other CAD program prior to SWX? If so, I'll bet you compared the two back then as well.

I've worked with both, often at the same time. What killed SWX for me/us was when we determined (or actually a 3rd party did) that SWX files were randomly off as of the 3rd decimal a whopping 60% of the time. Our parts were being held or had to be held to the 4th decimal and this type of failure rate was and would have killed us. That was SWX's 2009 release. Haven't used it since. The other main issue he had was while in Inventor we were able to easily use equations in parameters and elsewhere, SWX (until very recently) didn't offer such. We used it extensively. Again, it all comes down to how you use the software. You may not have the same needs we do and thus SWX or Pro/E or whomever may be a better fit.

The best advice I can give is get a trial version (30 days typically isn't enough, but that's all you'll get) and run the softwares thru your typical daily routines. But, and this is a biggie, understand that you simply don't know the more advanced abilities of these softwares and therefore will be stuck dealing with the basics. It's extremely hard to not compare the basics of a software you aren't well versed with to the more advanced commands you typically use on a software you are well versed with.

Quick example of that, a few years back I started teaching an Inventor Intro class, the first few classes I struggled and the students actually questioned if I knew the software or not. At that point I showed them the more advanced commands I'd use to do what the lesson was covering, jaws dropped. The issue was I hadn't used those basic commands in many years, I had moved on to the move advanced and more efficient way of creating the same features. I literally had to relearn the software basics.

Hope all that makes sense. Just my $0.03

[TheCADWhisperer]

---

@Anonymouswrote:

---

.. That was SWX's 2009 release. Haven't used it since. .
Hope all that makes sense. Just my $0.03

---

In my opinion your experience as stated isn't relevant to the OP's question.

You might have over-valued your contribution to the discussion.  

[Anonymous]

I disagree.

I was making the case of when I was comparing the two.

I'm not comparing 2009 SWX to Inventor 2018.

Plus, I wasn't responding to the OP's post but rather someone else's here...clearly shown in my post.