Decent 3D cad software for a reasonable price

I am looking for a decent cad software I can use with a 3D printer / export files for CNC quote etc. I don't need mechanisms, or high end rendering. I have used Unigraphics pretty extensively at work, and ProE at a former job, but I am a pretty adaptable guy and think I can learn anything that has a halfway decent interface.

Does anyone have experience with a decent product for a reasonable price for home use? (sub $500)

Thanks,
-Joe

Fusion360 is probably the best deal going in that price bracket.

Former UG user here too. I havent tried the Fusion 360 product but I was really into their previous product that they no longer support. I think it was called Inventor Fusion? If F360 is similar you will have no problem picking it up and it will do what you want.

I am learning and using Fusion360 with the free license. It is the full version with no limitations. And the price, if you use it commercially, is right in your ball park. I suggest you download it and give it a try. Then buy it if you like it. There are numerous tutorials by AutoDesk and many others on the web.

Bobcad, Rhinocad.

Wildfire 2 on an Onyx 350

A lot of people use Fusion360 at home and seem to like it. I use Solidworks daily at work so that's what I wanted at home. The student addition is available free with a membership in the EAA which is something like $35/year. I've been a member for years and just found out about this benefit recently.

For home use? For 3d printing? Low cost, like really, really, really low?

1) You might see if OpenSCAD floats your boat. It has distinct strengths and limitations - the former is that it is absolutely and completely parametric, and it is FREE. The latter is that it is purely CSG (though it can import sketches made in a 2d CAD or Inkscape or similar) and that it is purely oriented towards producing STL files. The fact that it is a programming paradigm rather than a draw-on-the-screen paradigm is both a strength and a weakness; sometimes it is so much faster to produce something this way, but it does require a different sort of learning curve.

2) I like FreeCAD, but it too has some strengths and limitations. Strengths include a flexible variety of ways to model - CSG, sketch and extrude, sweep, loft, etc. - and it too is FREE. Both a strength and a limitation is that it is under active development - if a feature is lacking today, it might be implemented tomorrow. But there are quite a few places where the UI is inconsistent across different modules, and sometimes an update will be unstable.

I suspect that both of these run the risk of falling into the "hobby" category, but not sure that is fair; they are both surprisingly capable, and there are very few (if any) things you can do with Fusion 360 that you can't do with these.

I have been trying to like Fusion 360 since the early betas, but every time I go back to it I come away with the feeling that it is just bad. Aside from the whole "cloud" BS, it just breaks far too easily to be useful for me. I mean, simple things like trying to draft a sketch or radius a corner turn into weeks long ordeals trying to figure out why the software is crashing, locking up, or straight up not doing anything. I tried to render out a simple wooden platform and the thing locks up with only 60 or so simple shapes. I'm on a damn 12 core i75820, nothing this program is capable of generating should ever be taxing my CPU.

That said, I have tried every "free" cad package I could find, and they were all pretty terrible. I grew up with ACad and Solidworks, it's hard to give up all that usability and functionality. I really wish I could have kept my old Win XP version of Solidworks, the new subscription based BS is really a kick in the teeth for old users.

Joe,

If your not into a cloud based software, look at Alibre. Fits your budget too. From their site:

"Alibre Atom3D
Unlike some other software, you own your license of Alibre Atom3D and you can store your files where you please. There are no mandatory monthly or yearly fees. Like your other tools - it's better to own.
$199 / license"

Quick YouTube video: YouTube

Chuck
Burbank, CA

Simple and free, and my shitty old laptop would run it.

DesignSpark Mechanical Software

I tried Fusion 360. Was able to make a few parts without reading any of the manuals or help files. Seems straight forward enough.

Joe

The local makerspace recommends https://www.tinkercad.com/ (free, online Autodesk product) for their (very low end) 3D printer.

No personal connection, haven't used it, etc, etc.

ViaCad Pro. You have catia kernel (back history is catia is running it depending on view). Full feature based modeling, ability to turn nasty stl into nurbs, full g2 and g3 surface features. Level up to shark and get sub d pixel (the movie studio) abilities.

Downside, you really need pro (Quadro or fire/radeon pro open gL tuned) graphics card - even an old one is better than a new gamer card. No command line, more for design, not drawing. Text bogs it in to snail pace. Outside virgin galactic and 12 meter sail boat sails it is not widely used. It is not friendly on simple, stay with acad or even Paint3d, it is friendly on compound curves. Photo rendering is blagh. bill of materials generator is blagh, no KSS file export either. Will eat all 500 dollars without only add on (unwrap, some 3d printer tools, abilities to find bad stl surfaces, and some split screen merge features, and water line slicing).