# Page 5 | CATIA Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Page 5 - Is CATIA the right Engineering CAD solution for you? Explore 223 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/100453/CATIA/reviews --- CATIA 4.6 (223) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/100453/CATIA/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated February 14th, 2026 # Page 5 - Reviews of CATIA ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 101-125 of 223 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use HD Hippolyte D. Technicien Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Très bon logiciel de CAO mais compliqué " January 16, 2023 4.0 Très bon logiciel, j'ai reçu une formation par ma formation en IUT Gmp Pros Il permet de très bien visualiser la représentation 3D Cons Très coûteux il faut une formation pour l'utiliser les fonctions sont cachés. Switched from [SolidWorks Premium](https://www.capterra.com/p/93121/SolidWorks-Premium/) On m'a formé sur Catia Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Mechanical Engineer Semiconductors Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "CATIA is a powerful 3D CAD tool." February 28, 2023 5.0 Pros CATIA is very useful for 3d CAD creation. It has powerful capabilities. Cons CATIA has a steep learning curve, it is not intuitive. Once you learn it, it is not as hard. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer ASME IGTI Student Liasion Mechanical or Industrial Engineering Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great itnerface and product stability" July 20, 2019 5.0 Its a great ool to use and no wonder airbus A380 was modeled using it Pros One of the most robust modelling softwares available.It makes fresh users attracted to it and there are plenty of tutorials available to learn.Its capability over a broad spectrum of portfolios makes it a great product Cons Rendering function can be improved and also a student license can be available for use with a lot more features included Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Product design Engineer Medical Devices Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Catia - An User Friendly Cad tool." April 25, 2019 4.0 i have been using CATIA since 4+ years, its the best CAD tool with ultimate UI and easy to customize the options. For sheet metal or Generative shape design, no tool can beat this software. I am very much satisfied and willing to learn more within this software by exploring more options and concepts in it. Pros User Interface will be so easily and well sorted icons. we can easily learn and perform the design/drafting activities Cons Aesthetic look need to improve for UI and modeling/drafting platform. Review Source Andrew C. Software Development Engineer Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "The CATIA software is the most intuitive software package with high learning curve. Loved it " July 30, 2018 5.0 Pros CATIA software has really made our job work too easier fo us. It provides the fantastic ways of development. There are wide range of functionalities in this software. We can quickly design and make complex models and shapes through this awesome software. Cons There are no cons in this software. The only problem is that sometimes CATIA software takes a quite long time when we are downloading files due to which we get bore but I know this is a superb software and this is not a big issue. It is quite expensive software but it's fantastic features are no doubt matchless. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Cooling System Engineer Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Most professional 3D tool I've ever use" May 23, 2019 4.0 It is the best package program I've ever used. You can do anything what you need and more with CATIA. But you need more experience than similars and I strongly suggest to get serious training or work with tutorials before try to do some work with it. Pros CATIA has lots of module inside and you can use these to create 3D model, 2D drawing, optimize your design for manufacturing (ex: sheet metal option) etc. You can add your design parameters and define your constants easily so i gives you a really good advantage when you need tou update your data. you can save your work with different types and also you can open&modify different type of documents too. ALso CATIA can help you to organize your work like assemblies and it will help you a lot when you are working with complex things. Cons It is not that easy to use and you must learn all the modules and capabilities to complete your work and it takes time. It is the natural consequence of all that features in one package but I think it can be updated to better user interface. Sometimes it can be hard to work with shell data (surfaces without parameters or details) which is commonly used in lots of industry. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Product Development Engineer Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The Most Known Engineering Tool" June 11, 2019 4.0 Catia should be a monopoly to en able engineers to talk in same way. Pros If you are able to use this tool, you can be an engineer in all over the World. It is globally well-known tool. Catia GPS is also successful add-in. Cons Hard to understand the design approach behind the tool. When the error pops up right after modification, it drives me crazy. and solving the issue takes time. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Engineer Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great extensive software for engineering work " October 31, 2019 5.0 My experience has been good, after using CATIA for three years I feel satisfied with the knowledge I’ve built up of the software. Pros The software is very robust and has all of the needed commands. I attended a class and was able to get up and running with it. Cons It has so many buttons and a user can easily not know which ones to use. It requires longer than 10 hours of training to get using. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Section Engineer Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "A power CAD package" September 19, 2021 5.0 Pros Capacity to handle large assemblies and childparts Cons Complexity of tools placement & navigation Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Research Assistant Airlines/Aviation Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Catia Review" October 21, 2019 5.0 Pros Catia is the most powerful tool in the world for engineering applications. It can be used various operations. I like to use its 3D surface topology and solid part section. Additionally, extracting the 2D technical drawing is very easy to use. Cons Finite element section can be improved little bit. Mesh generation section is not user friendly. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Electrical Designer Airlines/Aviation Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Electrical module CATELECTRA" May 20, 2020 4.0 I think all harness and electrical designers should learn and use this tool for their designers. Especially aviation sector can improve their design qualities by using CATIA / catelectra Pros Catelectra tool for CATIA is very fast and reliable for electrical harness designers. Easy to understand and get used to. Cons Electrical module side should be improved for harness designers. Review Source RP Rodrigo P. student Mechanical or Industrial Engineering Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "CATIA BEST FOR THE INDUSTRY" May 6, 2021 5.0 My experience with CATIA was a whole journey, the beginning was hard and confusing, but after passing the learning curve it becomes way clearer. Pros The software is just the standard for the industry, big car companies use it and that is the reason I learnt to use it in college. The software is the most complete there is out there, once you pass the learning curve then it becomes less intimidating to use and master. Cons The learning curve is way too steep for beginners, you need a full capacitation or classes on the software to learn since there is close to none information or a community out there willing to help, since it is mostly used by big companies and not regular users. The pricing is high for a single user to pay, but since its not meant for casual users its understanable and can't really consider it a con. Switched from [Autodesk Fusion](https://www.capterra.com/p/178416/Fusion-360/) I needed more professional software Review Source Bora D. Sales Manager Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Common software for Automotive Industry" June 19, 2019 5.0 Pros When I learnd Catia I was at university and it was come from in 20pcs of CD. At that time it was unique tool for 3D modelling. It is still unique! To design mechanical parts only Catis is enough as it is embedded with analysis and simulation tools. Currently all automotive industry uses it. Cons It is quite expensive compare to other softwares with similar function. Review Source Felix L. Business System Analyst Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Versatile Design software" September 28, 2020 4.0 Overall a good tool to perform various CAD and CAM activities for designers especially in the mechanical, automotive field Pros Best for various types of design and modelling software like solid surface and sheet modeling. This is a very capable software for modeling. It has good export options when you want to do analysis in different software Cons You need high end machine to work on Catia. Especially if you want to do analysis using Catia. Catia analysis is not very easy as other softwares like Ansys Alternatives considered [SolidWorks Enterprise PDM](https://www.capterra.com/p/92707/SolidWorks-Enterprise-PDM/) Review Source PS Pierre S. Engineering Team Leader Aviation & Aerospace Used the software for: 2+ years ### "I use Catia to design aeronautic parts for customers as Airbus & other major companies" July 18, 2017 5.0 It helped me and my colleagues to design very complex parts and the tools to manufacture them, for more than 10 years now. Pros I really enjoy the very large choice of functionnalities offered by Catia regarding with other CAD softwares. In addition, the graphism is really fluid and pleasant. I understand why it is one of the most used softwares for 3D design. Cons It takes sometimes a long time for me to find the most appropriate functionnality among the large choice when I don't know yet it. Hopefully, the provided help is well documented. With experience, it is always easier. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer 3D Artist Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The best CAD software" March 3, 2018 5.0 Pros CATIA is a very complete CAD software. From modeling to animation and rendering this software is the "swiss army knife" of 3D conception. Cons Everyone is talking about it high price, but I think that this argument can be excused because designing a multi-million dollar aircraft using a software can be a bad idea. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer D&R Engineer Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Design to Production" June 10, 2019 4.0 Pros Catia is one of the best 2D and 3D creation program for manufacturers. Catia is connected to PLM software. You can create all kinds of parts with Catia without any problem. Cons Sometimes Catia crashes if you are working on a big complex drawing. You should be make sure that you are using the latest version. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Tornero Mecánico. Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The best for engineering projects." July 27, 2018 5.0 Pros The best way to make virtual prototypes and make your engineering project. the main pros is the way that you can use to interactuate between parts that you have designed. Cons They have so much things that makes it very complicated to use them all, but also to use them correctly and optimize your processes. Review Source RG Rodrigo G. PhD Research Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The industry standard CAD/CAM software used for complex products" August 2, 2018 5.0 At first I didn't want to migrate from Pro/Engineer to CATIA, but now I will never go back. Pros After years of using competing software (Autodesk Mechanical Desktop, ProEngineer and SolidEdge) I started working in the car design and manufacturing industry (500,000 cars per year) which designed most of the parts or received designs from its suppliers. I think that CATIA is fast, responsible, simple and very well structured for handling from simple to complex parts. The finite element analysis is very good and making dynamic assemblies works like a charm. I honestly believe that stands out from his competitors by being fast responsive and relatively simple to use. Disclaimer: I no longer work in Volkswagen, because I moved to research. Cons The graphic design of the software (at least v5) looks outdated (menus and toolbars) which is a minor issue when compared to the speed of the software. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Product Development Engineer Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Best CAD Environment for Development" May 27, 2019 5.0 We are using this program to develop whole vehicle. Many CAD experts required. Provides great tools for design and development. Pros It is far further from it's competitors. Great variety of tools for mechanical product development. Cons Fluent usage requires great experience on program. Requires many years to be expert. Review Source KK Kanupriya K. Deputy Manager Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "CATIA for surface modelling" February 21, 2022 5.0 Overall using CATIA is very good experience and i am able to design the product easily Pros What I liked the most about CATIA is it is very easy to use and with the help of this software i am able to create advance level of surface modelling Cons There are some functionality in CATIA which are little bit complicate like Mouse Functions etc which can be further improved. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Engineer Mechanical or Industrial Engineering Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Best 3D modeling CAD software" November 22, 2019 5.0 I use Catia for 3D mechanical designs and for simulations! It’s a very complete software, so I’m able to do everything that I need using just CATIA. Pros This is the best software I have used for 3D modeling and simulation! It’s a very complete software! You can creat 3D models from 2D designs, and 2D from 3D! It’s not very difficult to use It offers several tools that allow you to create projects correctly the first time, thus reducing project agility Cons CATIA is very expensive, and you have to pay every year, if you are a student you can get a discount, but it’s still expensive. Also it doesn’t run on Mac. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Founder & CEO Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great tool for design engineers when building car parts, machines, building blueprints" March 21, 2018 4.0 Great drawings great ability to brainstorm and look over prints and data. Pros I truly like the engineering team can review CAD data, 3D data, and details about what the customer wants in this software. There is also great training that this vendor offers about greater possibilities when using to design parts. Cons Just offers somewhat expensive and we have to purchase an entire year in advance in order to get in half decent deal on it. Doesn't make it so much time of negotiating price and looking over the terms but all in all we do get what we need done and make the customer happy with that drawings by using the software. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Powertrain controls integrator Automotive Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "One of the best CAD softwares " September 26, 2019 5.0 On the whole its a good software to use and requires much less computational power when compared to solidworks. Can definitely be used to do basic CAD work without much rendering. Pros Well once you get the hang of it its pretty simple to use. Its easy to provide constraints and animate your CAD products on this software. Cons It has a pretty considerable learning curve and also the hotkeys are not that prominent when compared to Solidworks. The rendering are definitely better in solidworks. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Design Supervisor Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "First program I run every morning" May 29, 2019 5.0 The best design I have ever used for 10 years and it can be integrated with analysis tools Pros I am design supervisor and my team use Catia V5 for all design activities. There is so much tool to create any design in my mind. Cons Perfect design tool but command base and developing automation tool is a little bit complex Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Send me user reviews about this product ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.