Overview
What is Autodesk Fusion 360?
Autodesk Fusion 360 is a cloud-based 3D CAD, CAM, and CAE tool which integrates design, modeling, and simulation capabilities.
Lacks any support
Autodesk Fusion 360 - budget design software full of good surprises
Easy drawing, fast and accurate result
Affordable and yet extremely powerful tool
The best free CAD. With a very capable paid version.
Fusion 360 is definitely a good solution if you are a 3d designer or have 3d printers.
Industrial-strength parts modeling with a hobbyist-friendly price tag
Fusion360 - Professional CAD tools for the Beginner and Expert
Best design software for 3D printing
Fusion 360 - a great step in the right direction
Fusion 360 is the future of CAD. Start using it now - you won't regret it!
Basic Design and Prototype
Fusion360 is a very user-friendly 3D software. I love it!
Fusion 360, the easiest 3D modeling app you can find!
Fusion 360, the circle of the CADs
Pricing
Fusion 360 - Paid Monthly
$70
Fusion 360 - Paid Annually
$545
Fusion 360 - 3 Years
$1635
Entry-level set up fee?
- No setup fee
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Starting price (does not include set up fee)
- $70 per month
Product Demos
Maximizing Efficiency with the Flat Strategy in the Autodesk Fusion 360 Machining Extension
Fusion How-To: Design a First PCB | Autodesk Fusion 360
Fusion How-To: How To Configure PCB Manufacturing Files | Autodesk Fusion 360
Autodesk Fusion 360 Cloud | Dirt Bike Engineering Demo
Williams International FJ33 Powered Kanim X 1 Jet Aircraft - Autodesk Fusion 360
Airfoil Tools add-in for Fusion 360 demo video: Creating an under-water glider for my pool
Product Details
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- Competitors
- Tech Details
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What is Autodesk Fusion 360?
Some of its capabilities include:
- 3D design and modeling platform - Product engineering with a comprehensive set of modeling tools to ensure products' form, fit, and function with diverse analysis methods.
- Sketching - With sketch constraints, dimensions, and a powerful suite of sketch tools.
- Direct modeling - Editing or repair of imported geometry from non-native file formats. Make design changes without worrying about time-based features.
- Surface modeling - Creation and editing of complex parametric surfaces for repairing, patching, or designing geometry.
- Parametric modeling - Creates history-based features, including extrude, revolve, loft, sweep, etc., that update with design changes.
- Mesh modeling - Editing and repair of imported scans or mesh models, including STL and OBJ files.
- Freeform modeling - Creation of complex sub-divisional surfaces with T-splines and edit them with intuitive push-pull gestures.
- Rendering - Photo-realistic images of a model, leveraging local or cloud rendering.
- PCB design integration - Synchronization of bi-directional changes from electronics designs with Autodesk EAGLE interoperability.
- Design to manufacture - Fusion 360 makes it easier to program CNC machines using simplified controls for high-efficiency roughing, adaptive clearing, and tool orientation. Design for 2D up to 5-axis milling. Simplify probing, turning, mill-turning, and profiling operations with a post engine.
- 2D and 2.5D machining - Creation of 2D and 2.5D toolpaths to drive CNC routers, mills, water jet cutters, laser cutters, and more. Integrated CAD simplifies design revisions, reduces programming times and helps avoid mistakes.
- 3-axis machining - A range of 3-axis machining strategies to create NC code to rough and finish 3D parts. Its workflows make it simple to program individual features or entire parts. Some of these capabilities require a subscription to Fusion 360 and the Machining Extension.
- Integrated electronics - Brings designs to life with automation. Using schematic design, PCB layout, and routing capabilities built into Fusion 360.
- Schematic capture - A complete set of schematic tools with access to thousands of components. Interconnect circuits and create custom attribute assignments.
- PCB layout - The PCB editor lets users connect ideas together in the shortest time possible. Even the layout of dense boards is possible with a complete set of PCB layout tools.
- Additive manufacturing in 3D - Creation of physical prototypes to validate prior to manufacturing and build 3D printed parts using additive manufacturing in Fusion 360. Connect to a library of 3D printing machines including Ultimaker, EOS, and Renishaw.
- Fused filament fabrication - Manufacture parts using FFF in a seamless approach from design to print preparation. Reduce 3D printing time. Save material costs with infill pattern options and automatic part orientation. Simulate slices across a range of additive manufacturing machines before printing.
- Metal additive manufacturing - Additive manufacturing to fabricate metal parts with powder bed fusion. Reduces material wastage and cost. Offers 3D print parameters, automate part orientation and generate fully associative support structures.
Autodesk Fusion 360 Videos
Autodesk Fusion 360 Competitors
Autodesk Fusion 360 Technical Details
Deployment Types | Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
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Operating Systems | Unspecified |
Mobile Application | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
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(98)Community Insights
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Users have found Autodesk Fusion 360 to be a versatile tool that caters to a wide range of needs. One key use case is its ability to convert CAD files to a format suitable for 3D printing, making it essential for companies that heavily rely on additive manufacturing. Design engineers appreciate Fusion 360 for its ability to easily create and model their ideas, providing them with a visual representation of their designs. It is also a popular choice among tabletop gaming enthusiasts and product prototypers, who value the software's powerful CAD tools and hobbyist-friendly licensing terms.
With its seamless integration with MeshMixer, Fusion 360 allows users to repair faulty designs before they are printed, ensuring a smooth printing process. The software's CAM functionality enables users to generate G code for manufacturing purposes, further supporting their 3D work. Additionally, Fusion 360 proves useful in creating photorealistic renderings for branding and marketing visuals, offering more control and flexibility compared to pre-designed mockups in other programs.
For electronic development departments, Fusion 360's interface and ease of use make it a valuable tool in designing prototypes and confirming the proper fit of electronics within 3D printed models. The software has also proven effective in conceptualizing and visualizing 3D concepts, aiding in better communication with stakeholders and enabling rapid prototyping. However, some users have encountered challenges with customer service and technical support, which has led to frustration and prompted them to explore alternative CAD companies. Nonetheless, individuals working on hobby projects have praised Fusion 360 for its built-in Simulation and CAM functionality, which enhance their workflow and contribute to successful outcomes.
Modeling Tools: Users have praised the modeling tools in Autodesk Fusion 360, with many stating that they are really good and capable of building organic shapes with ease. Several reviewers have highlighted how these tools have helped them bring their ideas to life and create complex 3D models efficiently.
Ease of Learning: Many users appreciate the fact that the learning curve for Fusion 360 is not as steep compared to other design software. This accessibility has made it a popular choice even among less experienced designers, who find it easy to get acclimated to the software quickly. The availability of online tutorials further enhances the learning process and helps users grasp the software's functionalities in various industries.
Support and Community: The support provided by Autodesk for Fusion 360 has been widely recognized as amazing by users. Being owned by Autodesk gives users confidence in receiving timely assistance whenever needed. Additionally, Fusion 360 offers a vibrant community base for training and support, providing resources for learning and addressing questions. This strong support network adds value to the overall user experience.
Functionality Changes: Some users have found the frequent functionality changes in the middle of a project to be annoying and confusing, particularly for those new to 3D modeling or CAD software.
Sluggish Performance with Complex Models: The software's performance becomes sluggish and loses fluidity when working with more complex 3D models, leading to frustration for users.
Difficulty Importing Files from Maya: Users find it inconvenient that Fusion 360 does not allow them to directly open files created in Maya, requiring them to import old STL files instead. This can result in difficulty working on these files and adds an extra step to the workflow.
Users commonly recommend Fusion 360 for a variety of purposes, such as 3D modeling, structural layout mapping, and creating plans and drawings. They believe it is a complete, modern CAD software that can compete with more expensive options. Users advise taking pre-training due to its complexity and recommend using YouTube tutorials for learning. Fusion 360 is considered worth considering for CAD programs and as a backup tool, although not as a primary one.
In an educational environment, users suggest having a dedicated manager for the Fusion 360 computer lab. It is also highly regarded for product design, as it allows for professional project creation and enhances presentations. Startups, personal or small team projects, and hobbyists are encouraged to try Fusion 360, especially since it offers free access for students and is recommended for schools.
To ensure reliability, users caution against solely relying on Fusion 360 and recommend having a backup software in place. They also mention keeping Fusion 360 a secret and highlight the reasonable pricing of the software.
Fusion 360's capabilities extend beyond CAD, making it an attractive all-in-one manufacturing package with integrated PDM features. It is suggested to use Fusion 360 when creating 3D print models or connecting with 3D printing machines. As a backup tool, users suggest maintaining a seat of Inventor or Autocad for complex 2D drawings.
Overall, combining Fusion 360 with Blender can fulfill most needs, providing access to a solid CAD/CAM solution through the free version of Fusion 360.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(1-15 of 15)Lacks any support
The lost business and problems this package has cost me is way more than the total it costs for the year. I will be cancelling this subscription and finding a better more customer driven CAD company. You find out how good a company is when things go wrong and Autodesk/Fusion 360 have proved to me they are a really poor company.
- cost
- basic
- customer service
- technical support
- Leaving things how they were
- Direct contact
- Employing helpful people
- Autodesk Fusion 360 is great at top down design
- Design Flexibility
- Cloud Based/Great for collaboration
- Many different tools available for analysis
- Affordable subscription-based software
- Drawing environment could improve significantly, especially when compared to Inventor
- Would like to be able to replace parts within a design assembly
- Joints are sometimes limiting for assembly environments
Easy drawing, fast and accurate result
- Understanding the menus.
- Online account feature.
- Supporting the outputs of other drawing programs.
- The program is so useful that I didn't think of its shortcomings.
Affordable and yet extremely powerful tool
- Free for non-commercial use. Powerful, intuitive tools. Great for hobbyists, 3d printing, non-commercial projects. Huge body of information and tutorials. cloud based storage
- There is a free version for [Autodesk] Fusion 360 used for students, startups and teachers. - The modeling tools are really good they allow you to build organic shapes with ease. - The learning curve is not as steep. - It has an amazing support since is owned by Autodesk. - You can create machine code (G-Code) to send it to cut or 3D print. - There are several tutorials online and now is more used in the mechanical design industry.
- Some functionality changes and when you are in the middle of a project and your workflow changes, it is a little annoying.
- This can be particularly confusing for those unaccustomed to 3D modeling or CAD software.
The best free CAD. With a very capable paid version.
- CAM (CNC Programming)
- FEA simulation
- Top-Down 3D CAD design
- Free version is now limited to 3-axis machining
- Feature Tree/History is difficult to get used to coming from SOLIDWORKS
- Rendering seems simplistic. Or settings (such as custom color) are hard to find.
Fusion 360 is definitely a good solution if you are a 3d designer or have 3d printers.
- Fusion 360 is ideal for technical design jobs. Because it could work on the cloud with multiple users, you can work on the same file with your team-mate or your customer.
- Fusion 360's other great functionality is its assembly features. You could easily and effectively create assembly parts via Fusion 360.
- And its greatest feature: Parametric design. This gives a huge capability to a designer. You could change some design parameters after finishing your whole job. Thus, making last-minute changes is very easy on Fusion 360 after negotiating the final design with your customer.
- Fusion 360 comes free with full features. It's a great software solution for a budget restricted start-up company.
- Even though it has a very good cloud software, Fusion 360 gets very laggy when using slow internet connections.
- Fusion 360 uses a vast amount of your device's memory. It is recommended to select the RAM value as high as possible on your device.
- Fusion 360's sculpting and retopology features are behind the competing software on the market.
- Industry standard precision modeling tools
- Parametric design features for producing multiple variants of similar designs
- Steep learning curve for users without CAD experience
- Weak support for organic sculpting
That emphasis means it's fantastic for producing mechanical parts, and it can simulate how multiple separate parts will interlock and work with each other in 3D printed devices. This makes using it to design hinges and other moving mechanisms orders of magnitudes simpler; it also preserves an ongoing, editable history of the part being modeled. Realizing you need to tweak the tolerances on a part halfway through the design is fairly easy; you can go back any number of steps in the model's creation and modify the parameters used on a specific part, changing a hole's width or a groove's depth without altering any other parts of the model.
The downside of this CAD-like power is that it's much less capable of "sculpting" organic models. Tools like ZBrush, Rhino, and even Blender are a better choice there.
Fusion360 - Professional CAD tools for the Beginner and Expert
- Offer parametric modeling, but also has organic modeling features.
- The workflow is extremely easy to learn. You can start designing in minutes.
- The cloud upload is nice so that you do not have to bring files with you when working from other computers.
- I would like to see Fusion 360 have some kind of STL editor since it is used so much for 3D printing.
- Better mesh editing tools.
- More 3D printing tools.
Best design software for 3D printing
- History timeline is a life saver. You can correct almost any errors by just going few steps back in your design.
- You can use parametrical design like with OpenSCAD
- It has very intuitive UI.
- Works perfectly with MacBook's touch pads, even better then with a mouse.
- It is still under heavy development so it likes to crash from time to time.
- Working with some complex patterns can be a real challenge to your CPU and fan.
- More keyboard shortcuts would be nice.
Fusion 360 - a great step in the right direction
- Fusion 360 is incredible at enabling me to quickly and efficiently capture the ideas that I have in my head and output them as 3D models without having to do any intense drawings. I use this all the time to model small, less important parts of our products during the prototyping phase.
- The software is really good at helping even the least experienced designers get acclimated to the software extremely quickly. Having a quick-access help manual and easy to navigate functions made the software feel almost second-nature the first time I used it.
- Fusion 360 has the functionality to save all of your files online, so you can draw something out on one computer and move to another one that has the software and pick up right where you left off. I use this function all the time when I am when I work at a computer that is not mine.
- Fusion 360 is a very simple program, so once you begin to draw more complex 3D models, the software gets sluggish and loses its fluidity.
- It would be really nice if Fusion 360 could output a model as a SOLIDWORKS file so I can begin to draw something out in Fusion 360 and then pick it up in SOLIDWORKS when I need to do some more advanced functions.
- Because Fusion 360 is a simpler program, there are a few functions such as 3D sketches that are not intuitive like all the rest of the functions are.
- The first PRO of Fusion 360 that always comes to mind is how versatile it is. Fusion 360 is the first CAD/CAM software that also includes other key features that CAD programs of this size don't have.
- Fusion 360 has a generous licensing structure that gives those just starting out a place to start with a professional level CAD program. As a result, this has helped build up a huge community and user base around Fusion 360.
- Fusion 360 is updated on a monthly basis. This has proven to be a huge advantage over SOLIDWORKS (something else I use) which is only updated once a year. The nice thing about monthly updates, other than regular bug fixes, is that the team can adapt quickly and no one is taken by storm with a big overhaul of the UI or features at the beginning of the year.
- Fusion 360's UI is by far better than any other CAD program on the market. However, I think the engineers/designers working on Fusion 360 need to be careful with where they're taking it. On one hand, it's great that they have finally given CAD a modern look. On the other hand, they should really look into their user base more, and consider some of the fine details of the UI that could be improved -- icon size, tab layouts, dialog styling, etc.
- Fusion 360 could use some better copy for each feature's help text. I find that the help text often uses the feature's name within it...which means if someone doesn't know what the feature does they're probably not going to be able to understand the help text.
- Fusion 360 has random crashes...albeit, just about every CAD program does. I will say, however, Fusion 360's file backup structure is much better than most CAD programs.
Overall, Fusion 360 is best suited for rapid prototyping and product development. The cloud-based advantages of Fusion 360 make it extremely easy to work in agile product teams versus conventional CAD programs where sharing and backing up files is a job in itself. The Fusion 360 Hub, where files are backed up to, also provides additional collaboration tools such as notes, comments, and version control, which makes working with teams even more of a pleasure.
Basic Design and Prototype
- It is relatively easy to design a component or product.
- The design can easily be uploaded to be 3D Printed.
- Fusion 360 also provides a community base for training and questions.
- The interface is a bit cumbersome and outdated.
- I would like to see better integration of 3D file formates that can opened and can be exported.
- I would also like to see a customizable interface based on the file that was selected.
- Very intuitive interface for 3D modeling beginners
- FREE FOREVER if your organization makes under $100,000
- Very natural photorealistic rendering settings
- Local rendering and cloud rendering options
- Cannot directly open files created in Maya
Fusion 360, the easiest 3D modeling app you can find!
- Designing different 3D models
- Analysis of movement of objects that interact with them
- Exploring all angles of your design
- Choosing different materials in objects
- When you use the little box that's on your right upper corner, you can easily choose what angle you want to see, but when you use the specific tool designed to use for moving the camera across the object, usually fails or gets stuck.
- The force analysis is a little hard/anti-intuitive to use.
- When you use an operation in a wide angle of places (like rounding up all the corners of a cube) sometimes it doesn't work and you can't tell why. It would be awesome if there was a form to know what's the thing that's crashing your operation.
- It should be easier to copy/paste things.
Fusion 360, the circle of the CADs
- It's the perfect environment to create 3D models. It's very friendly with all the tools that you have to make powerful renders.
- The features to make inserts, hinges, gears, extrudes, etc., are very simple to use and have a perfect match between them.
- You have all the tools and a lot of shortcuts juts with a few touches of your mouse or keyboard.
- The transition of the different camera angles and the views of Fusion 360 are very smooth, even if your computer is not the best.
- Even the representation of complex parts is very fast, having the best machine or not having it.
- At the moment you have to import your old STL files that you have created with other CAD software. Fusion 360 imports the piece with many triangles and makes it very difficult to work on it. Sometimes, it's easier to start over with this directly in Fusion 360 and forget about the old.
- All the files that you create are saved in the Cloud, and you have to "download" them every time that you want to use them. It's a very good idea when you have an internet connection, but when you do not have it, like in a plane flight for example, you can not work on it.