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SolidWorks Premium vs ActCAD: Which is a better fit?

Updated on December 2nd, 2024
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Summary
Key features rated by users
Features selected based on 2,385 reviews from Engineering CAD users.
% Fit
High performer
Feature ratings
CAD Tools
4.6
Document Generation
4.5
2D Drawing
4.4
Data Import/Export
4.2
Design Analysis
4.3
% Fit
Missing features
Feature ratings
CAD Tools
4.3
Document Generation
NA
2D Drawing
4.6
Data Import/Export
4.0
Design Analysis
3.8
User satisfaction
4.6
User reviews738
Ease of use
4.2
Functionality
4.6
Value for money
4.1
Customer support
4.2
4.2
User reviews213
Ease of use
4.3
Functionality
4.2
Value for money
4.6
Customer support
4.1
Price starts from
--
One-time payment
Free version
Free trial
One-time payment
Free version
Free trial
Best for

On-premise and cloud-based manufacturing design platform that allows individuals and enterprises of all sizes to create and collaborate 2D drafts, 3D designs, CAD models, animations and more.

ACTCAD is suitable for professional drawings creation for Architects, Structural Engineers, Civil Engineres, Mechanical Drawings, Electrical drawings, interior design, tool design, machine designs etc

User reviews
pros & cons
1 / 4
View Reviews
1 / 4
View Reviews
Video reviews
Dev K
Design Engineer
4.0

Dev K.: Hi there. I'm Dev with a small company called Studiokumar and I would give SolidWorks Premium a rating of four out of five. I started using SolidWorks Premium to replace a previous product, which was Autodesk Inventor, and Autodesk Inventor is a fine mechanical CAD package, but I found that more and more when I was collaborating with other companies that SolidWorks is essentially the defective standard these days for 3D modeling and mechanical CAD, so it made it a lot easier working with other companies to be using the most mainstream product. I found SolidWorks to be a good choice for my business because it has a lot of the tools for both design modeling as well as analysis, and it also supports all the file formats and vendor specific extensions that I might run into in my work in mechanical design and product engineering. Getting started with SolidWorks was fairly straightforward. It had an installer package, if memory serves, so it was not too much different than installing other desktop software. The total setup time for installing, downloading and getting it going was probably not more than about 30 to 45 minutes, and once it was there, it was pretty easy to get going. There's tutorials and there's a lot of information about SolidWorks works if you're totally new to it in terms of how to use the modeling and mechanical CAD parts of it, but those are pretty standard compared to other types of CAD that you may be familiar with. So not too much that's going to be different or hard to get going with on SolidWorks. In terms of recommendations for other businesses regarding SolidWorks, I think SolidWorks would be a good choice for you if you are looking for a mechanical CAD package. I think it's particularly good if you're looking to work with other companies that might be using similar assets. It's a very common choice and it has a lot of powerful features that are considered standard in mechanical CAD these days. In terms of SolidWorks versus SolidWorks Premium, I think you have to look at the use within your business of whether you're going to need some of the more advanced modeling or analytics features that that includes. For my business and for my work, it made sense, so that's why I ended up using.

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Do these products fit your needs?

Prioritize real-user-identified key features according to your needs to find your best fit.

Logo Img
--%
Logo Img
--%
2D Drawing
207
Important
3D Imaging
388
Important

SolidWorks Premium

Top Features
32/33
  • Civil
  • 2D Drawing
  • 3D Imaging
  • Access Controls/Permissions
  • Bills of Material
  • CAD Tools
  • Change Management
  • Collaboration Tools
  • Compliance Management
  • Configurable Workflow
  • Configuration Management
  • Content Library
  • Customizable Fields
  • Data Capture and Transfer
  • Data Import/Export
  • Data Visualization
  • Design Analysis
  • Design Management
  • Document Generation
  • Document Management
  • Electrical
  • File Management
  • Manufacturing Design Data
  • Mechanical
  • Mechatronics
  • Presentation Tools
  • Process Control
  • Product Data Management
  • Project Management
  • Project Templates
  • Reporting/Analytics
  • Version Control
  • Visual Analytics
See All features
Hide Engineering CAD Software Features -

ActCAD

15/33
Show Engineering CAD Software Features +
SolidWorks Premium
Deployment
  • Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based
  • Desktop - Mac
  • Desktop - Windows
  • Desktop - Linux
  • Desktop - Chromebook
  • On-Premise - Windows
  • On-Premise - Linux
  • Mobile - Android
  • Mobile - iPhone
  • Mobile - iPad
Support
  • Email/Help Desk
  • FAQs/Forum
  • Knowledge Base
  • Phone Support
  • 24/7 (Live rep)
  • Chat
Training
  • In Person
  • Live Online
  • Webinars
  • Documentation
  • Videos
ActCAD
Deployment
  • Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based
  • Desktop - Mac
  • Desktop - Windows
  • Desktop - Linux
  • Desktop - Chromebook
  • On-Premise - Windows
  • On-Premise - Linux
  • Mobile - Android
  • Mobile - iPhone
  • Mobile - iPad
Support
  • Email/Help Desk
  • FAQs/Forum
  • Knowledge Base
  • Phone Support
  • 24/7 (Live rep)
  • Chat
Training
  • In Person
  • Live Online
  • Webinars
  • Documentation
  • Videos
SolidWorks Premium
  • By SolidWorks
  • Located in United States
  • Founded in 1993
ActCAD
  • By ActCAD
  • Located in India
  • Founded in 2006
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