Overview
What is DraftSight?
DraftSight is a 2D and 3D CAD solution for architects, engineers and construction service providers, as well as professional CAD users, designers, educators and hobbyists. DraftSight lets users create, edit, view, and markup any kind of 2D and 3D DWG…
It works good!
Simple CAD software to compete with Autodesk.
I was a newbie...
Easy to Share
TrustRadius Insights
DraftSight helps small company evolve into a global designer
Drawing clear and accurate schematics is a large part of …
Cost-effective drafting solution
DraftSight is cheaper and as efficient as AutoCAD in 2D.
DraftSight: good at sharing with others
DraftSight! You could be so much better if.....
DraftSight? Good program but you are on your own, especially at license renewal time when it locks up.
DraftSight Review
DraftSight Professional vs AutoCAD Full version
DraftSight as a daily program that is simple to use but very complete.
Overpowered
Awards
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Reviewer Pros & Cons
Pricing
DraftSight Professional
$249
DraftSight Premium (3D)
$549
DraftSight Enterprise
Contact sales team
Entry-level set up fee?
- No setup fee
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Product Demos
DraftSight Demo Video
DraftSight Demo (Engelsk)
3DEXPERIENCE DraftSight Demo
Product Details
- About
- Integrations
- Competitors
- Tech Details
- FAQs
What is DraftSight?
DraftSight Offerings:
- DraftSight Professional: the advanced 2D CAD drafting solution with time-saving functionalities and an API to help bring designs to life quickly and easily. Ideal for companies, individuals and designers.
- DraftSight Premium (3D): a robust 2D drafting and 3D design experience with full 3D capabilities and constraints features to help meet any drafting, modeling, prototyping, manufacturing, laser cutting and 3D printing needs. Created for individuals, designers, companies, manufacturers and makers.
- DraftSight Enterprise and Enterprise Plus: a comprehensive 2D drafting and 3D design solution created to meet various drafting, modeling, prototyping, manufacturing, laser cutting, and 3D printing requirements. Designed for large organizations with many users or multiple sites.
DraftSight Screenshots
DraftSight Video
DraftSight Integrations
- GEOVIA Surpac
- SOLIDWORKS PDM
- SOLIDWORKS Electrical
- 3DEXPERIENCE Platform
DraftSight Competitors
DraftSight Technical Details
Deployment Types | On-premise |
---|---|
Operating Systems | Windows, Linux, Mac |
Mobile Application | No |
Supported Languages | English, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese-Brazilian, Turkish, Russian |
Frequently Asked Questions
Comparisons
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Reviews and Ratings
(1340)Community Insights
- Business Problems Solved
- Pros
- Cons
- Recommendations
DraftSight is a versatile and user-friendly 2D CAD tool that is highly valued by organizations across industries. Users find it to be a cost-effective solution for a wide range of design and drafting needs. It is particularly suitable for creating and exchanging files with other companies and professionals, making it an ideal choice for collaboration in the furniture industry. Design teams appreciate DraftSight's simplicity and power, as it allows them to collaborate on the creation of new products, improving speed and focus. The software has also been instrumental in various charity projects, such as designing and rebuilding a temple. Engineering departments rely on DraftSight for electrical and mechanical design, taking advantage of its performance and cost-effectiveness. Moreover, DraftSight is widely used as a replacement for AutoCAD in the transition to SolidWorks, enabling quick and easy modification of existing drawings. The software caters to a diverse range of applications, from generating geometry for CAM files to performing geometric layouts for inspection or small construction projects. It is also favored by users for build floor plan layouts, partnering with molding companies, verifying client or vendor drawings, and even creating aircraft floorplans. Users appreciate DraftSight's simplicity, power, and ability to open and edit designs of all kinds while serving as a cost-effective alternative to more expensive software options. Whether it is designing tooling or creating shop floor drawings, DraftSight proves to be reliable for daily tasks and future designs. Furthermore, drafting departments benefit from DraftSight's compatibility with common 2D file formats and its ability to handle technical aspects effectively when preparing 2D CAD drawings for customers provided by vendors. The software is also recommended for architectural projects with no issues, the design and development of engineering projects, the creation of system block diagrams and schematic development, manufacturing drawings, custom drawings conversion from Gerber data into DXF format, mechanical design layouts, die-making models, CNC programming models as well as creating and reviewing basic 2D drawings within the organization. DraftSight is highly valued for its simplicity, affordability, and compatibility with different file types, making it a perfect fit for microbusinesses and individual users. Users appreciate its efficiency in creating professional-grade detailed drawings while reducing installation problems. Moreover, DraftSight's API is utilized for extracting details from drawings and creating BOMs. Cabinet design and construction benefit from using DraftSight, leading to improved manufacturing accuracy and reduced installation issues. The software is relied upon as primary 2D CAD software for creating and
Cost-effectiveness: Many users have praised DraftSight for being an economical option compared to similar CAD software, making it a cost-effective choice for small businesses. Some reviewers have mentioned that the affordability of DraftSight played a significant role in their decision to choose it over other options.
Stability and performance: Users consistently mention that DraftSight is stable and reliable, with no crashes or technical issues. Several reviewers have specifically highlighted the software's stability, noting that they have not experienced any crashes while using it. This aspect has greatly contributed to the positive sentiment surrounding DraftSight.
Compatibility with AutoCAD: The ability of DraftSight to open both old and new DWG/DXF files has been highly appreciated by users. Many AutoCAD users feel that this feature makes the transition to DraftSight seamless and efficient. Additionally, several reviewers praise the inclusion of commonly used AutoCAD commands in DraftSight, which further enhances its compatibility with industry-standard drawing file types.
Confusing User Interface: A significant number of users have expressed frustration with DraftSight's user interface, finding it confusing and experiencing difficulties while completing tasks. They feel that the layout and organization of features could be improved to enhance usability.
Crude Text Search and Replace Function: Users have criticized the text search and replace function in DraftSight, describing it as crude and barely functional. Many users find it difficult to perform accurate searches or efficiently replace text within their documents.
Issues with Software Updates: Several users have voiced their dissatisfaction with DraftSight's update control. They claim that although updates address certain problems, new issues are introduced in later versions. This inconsistency affects user experience and undermines confidence in the software's stability.
Users have made several recommendations for DraftSight based on their experiences. The most common recommendations include shopping around for options in 2D CAD software. Users suggest exploring different options available in the market before deciding on DraftSight. This recommendation highlights the importance of evaluating different tools to find the best fit for specific needs or preferences.
Another recommendation is to utilize the free trial of DraftSight. Users recommend taking advantage of the free trial offered by DraftSight. This allows potential users to test the software's capabilities and determine if it meets their requirements before making a purchase.
Users also recommend using DraftSight for beginners, students, small businesses, and hobbyists. Several users have recommended DraftSight as an ideal choice for individuals or organizations with limited budgets or less complex drafting needs. This cost-effective solution is often suggested for beginners, students, small businesses, and hobbyists who want to perform 2D CAD tasks without investing heavily in high-end software.
These recommendations highlight the flexibility and affordability of DraftSight as an alternative to AutoCAD. Users also emphasize the importance of checking hardware requirements and testing all functionality before implementing the software. Additionally, tutorials are suggested as a time-saving resource when working with DraftSight, particularly for editing legacy DWG files. Overall, these recommendations present DraftSight as a lightweight and low-cost option comparable to other drafting software available in the market.
Attribute Ratings
- 9Likelihood to Renew22 ratings
- 8.6Availability7 ratings
- 8.3Performance6 ratings
- 7.6Usability19 ratings
- 3.7Support Rating14 ratings
- 9.1In-Person Training1 rating
- 8.6Implementation Rating16 ratings
- 8.5Configurability6 ratings
- 7.7Product Scalability7 ratings
- 8.6Ease of integration4 ratings
- 6.3Vendor pre-sale5 ratings
- 8.4Vendor post-sale4 ratings
- 7.4DraftSight Learning366 ratings
- 7.3Contract Terms and Pricing Model1 rating
Reviews
(1-25 of 415)DraftSight vs AutoCAD
- Integrate LISP routines
- save into multiple DWG and DXF versions
- commands are almost all the same as AutoCAD
- In my opinion, stability is slightly lacking
- In my experience, auto-stack dimension feature doesn't seem to work as it should
- In my experience, rendering with materials is lacking capability
It works good!
Simple CAD software to compete with Autodesk.
- PDF underlays are useful to help create CAD data when the is no DWG option.
- Image tracing is also helpful for the same reason.
- Block editing is pretty simple to use.
- The software can be buggy from time to time. Would be good if DraftSight could clean up after itself, I traded "Good " folder remnants for "ac-system-logfile" text files that need to be deleted manually.
- Have yet to get 3D ContentCentral to drag and drop models into drawings.
- Custom paper sizes for plotting. We use a laser engraver that insists on using a square paper size to reorient the zero point.
I was a newbie...
- Ease of learning
- Easy to navigate
- User friendly
- I'll leave that up to the experts, I like it just like it is.
Easy to Share
- Increases Productivity
- Easy modification and change of design
- Task bar emblems could be larger
- Better printing control for older plotters
DraftSight helps small company evolve into a global designer
Drawing clear and accurate schematics is a large part of what we do to help installation of systems go quickly and correctly.
Mounting drawings have the same value, the speed and accuracy of global installations counts on our drawings to be clear and correct for each installation we support.
- Runs smoothly
- Minimal lockups
- Runs lean and starts quickly
- In my experience, it crashes when copying text information into a text element
It's easy to use and the learning time is short compared to other CAD software.
Also the transition from AutoCAD to DraftSight is very quick. For those that have used AutoCAD before, the transition is very easy because many of the functions are similar and a lot of the commands are also very similar.
The startup and processing time for actions is short and speeds up the design process.
The cost impact is also significantly less than other CAD software, this helps a lot with multiple users and our operating costs.
Cost-effective drafting solution
- It's easy to use.
- Interface is customizable.
- Price is reasonable.
- I would like to see it interact with inventor files better, but that is more of an inventor issue.
DraftSight is cheaper and as efficient as AutoCAD in 2D.
DraftSight: good at sharing with others
- Handles DWG files very well.
- It is a robust program and handles large files better than some other similar programs I've used.
- It is more responsive than other similar programs I've used.
- I like the two-key and multilple-key command structure. It is intuitive.
- It has some great tools for drawing bolts and other types of fasteners.
- Recognizes and uses 3D Connexion controller.
- Interface could be optimized to provide more screen space for drawings.
- Zooming in and out using the mouse wheel could be improved.
- Inserting viewports and setting them up could be made easier and more intuitive
DraftSight! You could be so much better if.....
- Reads and writes Autocad files without a problem.
- Flexible user interface with lots of options.
- Good tools for 2D design.
- The text search and replace is very crude and barely works. Needs a major revamping.
- The layout tabs are very clunky and hard to use. Needs to be fixed.
- DraftSight will fix a problem in one version, mess it up in another version, then fix it again later on. And so forth, and so forth, and so forth. Very poor software update control.
DraftSight? Good program but you are on your own, especially at license renewal time when it locks up.
- Provides 2.5 dimensional drafting at a fraction of the cost of AutoCAD.
- No learning curve when switching from AutoCAD.
- Annual license renewal system is still broken; has been broken for years.
- Support for the program is now totally worthless.
- Subscribers are harassed for a solid month before their anniversary date, even if they are set up to automatically renew.
DraftSight Review
- handling graphic files
- share graphic files
- send graphic files
- identify issues
- optimizing press approval of new products
DraftSight Professional vs AutoCAD Full version
- Ease of use.
- Very complete.
- Very reliable automatic functions.
- For certain needs, expensive.
Overpowered
Draftsight is amazing!
Cheap software
- Imports legacy CAD data
- In my opinion, customer support is too time-consuming. When you do get an answer half the time it is related to your question which is pretty good, but who has 16 hours to wait for that?
- Interface could be far more stable
- Snap settings turn themselves off
- Dimension in "paper space" may or may not provide accurate dimensions
- Same line weight issues as AutoCAD. by block, by layer, has little effect. Printing line weights can be a guessing game.
- Block access is fixed to one location, instead of last used location.
- Extreme care is required when mouse picking. Make sure you are not picking in air, instead of the end of a line that is a millimeter away. Even with snap on.
Using DraftSight in chemical engineering
- It allows me to quickly fit equipment into tight spaces because it is very flexible.
- It is easy to learn and use, and its numerous features give me many options in the design phase.
- It provides me with a single tool to design everything from layouts to instrumentation drawings.
- It enables independent small users like me to wield the design capability of a large enterprise.
- It would be more efficient to have direct access to Help Support, although the Help feature and Forum can often answer questions.
- For instrumentation, an embedded symbol library would be valuable. I currently have to create my own library.
- For layouts, an embedded equipment symbol library (for example, pumps, motors) would be helpful.
No Regrets
- Universal compatibility with other programs
- Ability to insert parts from individual manufactures
- The tool box feature is a definite plus
- It has minor problems when saving drawings - Crashes if you initiate certain commands while program is saving a drawing
Great value, even with few bugs
- Very similar to AutoCAD
- Professional is a very powerful program
- Power trim is great for cleaning up drawings
- There should be technical support for all users. It is very frustrating to have failures occur over and over with no help.
- Training videos could be more detailed.
- Image Tracer is a nice addition, but I have not been able to figure it out.
Great features and functionality at a great price!
- Layer Management
- Contextual application (Right mouse click)
- Print layout
- Home by Me window always pops-up on startup! Annoying in my opinion
- Why open a No-Name_0 window? I am almost always going to open a file!
- Slow to open
DraftSight Professional with LISP capability
- Integrates AutoCAD drawings into DraftSight seamlessly.
- Capable of using LISP routines that I have used for years.
- Opens DWG files from files sent to us that we would not normally be able to open.
- 3D capability is lacking.
- Stability can be an issue sometimes
- Newest version doesnt run LISP as well as previous versions did
DraftSight Review
- Cost-effective
- Can use and save documents to a usable DWG format
- New versions of DraftSight change (eliminate) features that I like to use.
- Customer Service is non-existent so issues cannot be resolved.
- Blogs are not a solution to customer service questions.
Great Product
- Opens newer .dwg and .dxf files.
- Easy to use menus.
- Similar to AutoCAD style for easy transition.
- Features.
Awesome experience; CAD at its best
- User friendly
- Clear user interface (GUI)
- 3D in the basic form