# Page 3 | FreeCAD Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Page 3 - Is FreeCAD the right 3D CAD solution for you? Explore 142 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/167527/FreeCAD/reviews --- FreeCAD 4.3 (142) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/167527/FreeCAD/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 December 29th, 2025 # Page 3 - Reviews of FreeCAD ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 51-75 of 142 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Hiran T. Mechanical Engineer Oil & Energy Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "A free CAD tool sufficient for learner." January 6, 2021 4.0 Pros Free CAD is open source software. User can easily sketch, constraint a geometry, draft a models from 3D into 2D. The user interface is user friendly. Easy to install and run the software. Cons The open privacy for free versions make visible of a user project to all. Free version have limited features. Not suggesting for professional designers. Review Source Jeroen R. Design Engineer Automotive Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Very nice software" February 8, 2023 4.0 I have been a designer for more than 20 years know and I am using at work NX, Creo and Catia for ICE development and now battery systems. I think FreeCAD is getting there and I really like it. Designing is similar to the packages above: datums, sketches, extrudes, revolves, rounds etc. I don't think I would be able to design a cylinder head with it (all drafts etc) without having major problems, but it is getting better and better. I am using FreeCAD at home for designing stuff for my 3D printer and that really rocks. Please support the FreeCAD team. They deserve it!!! Pros Easy to learn, similar to other main design software like Creo, NX or Catia. Cons It is still being developed. Not all the functionality you're used to designing with other software is already implemented. Review Source Cesar A S. Analista Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "The best free app to model and create in 3D" April 5, 2018 5.0 Pros It has a lot of features to manage and modelling, you haveparametric model, modular architecture, drawing sheets, rendering, robot simulation, and so many other features, you can use all or one that fits on your needs, it is very powerful and manage the models with a lot of details and precision. Cons For me was difficult to start using the software, because the only manual that I can find was in the main page, I think that the amount of people who works with FreeCAD is very short, and sometimes is difficult to find tutorials of explanation of how to make models. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Intern Mechanical or Industrial Engineering Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Easy and free 3D cad software" November 20, 2019 5.0 Pros It’s free and it’s very easy to use. And the best thing is that it runs on Mac! You can creat a 3D model from a 2D, and a 2D from a 3D. Cons I like everything about this software, since I never had any problem with it and it’s enough for what I need Review Source MG Marco G. Mechanical designer Mechanical or Industrial Engineering Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Nice free CAD and FEM software" May 5, 2022 3.0 Pros This software is free and can be used by anyone. There are a lot of tutorials online. Cons A lot of bugs could occur during FEM simulations and software often crashes. Review Source Ana Gabriela F. Especialista Used the software for: 2+ years ### "This is the perfect tool for small projects " June 8, 2018 5.0 Pros For small design projects it is a very complete tool that helps you solve problems effectively without having to invest a penny. Cons It is evident that being a free software lacks modules that other programs do have, however it seems to me that I have no complaints to make. Review Source Robson G. Architect and 3D modeler Architecture & Planning Used the software for: I used a free trial ### "A free CAD for drawings and modeling" July 15, 2021 4.0 There are too many tutorials in their website to know how to use it, but still was hard to me to work with this CAD. Pros It has a lot of features to make a 2D drawing or plans, to model in 3D or even use BIM in your workflow. Cons Because of its complexity, it is confusing at the beggining. Review Source Jean Carlos J. Direccion Tecnica de Proyectos Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Perfect tool for engineering" March 14, 2018 5.0 Pros The Path Module is awesome I can see how the mecanichals process of the cars and electricity circuits works and know how I need to add to modify some aspects make them to work betters, this module has tools for dressup, commands and modifications, very useful to modelling with precision all the processes of a machine. Cons In the beggining ii ts very difficult to handle, becuase you have so many tools available and you do not know where to start, but with some practice you can manage all the features easily. Review Source Juan Carlos C. Supervisor de servicios Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Project Management in a CAD, just awesome" March 14, 2018 5.0 Pros The module of Assembly Project is perfect for me, because I can make a project from the beggining with all my coworkers and later modelling to know where are the failures and main limitations of our design, I can do many things with this software but this module is just awesome. Cons This kind of work requiere a very high level of compromise, you need a team who will be together and focus through out all the project, if the things are not like that you project will not be work well. Review Source Xiomara Elena B. PROFESIONAL 1 Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "A free option from rendering my designs" March 14, 2018 5.0 I found a free option from rendering models of houses and buildings. Pros As an architect I always looking for new options to see how my designs come to life, and I found it a free option with FreeCAD, because I can create my model in the software and see how buildings, houses, park and other types of construction come to life, all this with high precision and detail. Cons Is not as powerful as a private software so the process of rendering are always the same, and the results are always so similar. Review Source DM David M. CEO Computer Software Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Low Cost Parametric CAD and Blueprinting" August 16, 2020 4.0 Very satisfied. It did what I needed it to do for a super reasonable price. Pros I was doing some quick prototyping of a new product and needed a CAD/drafting package. I started with the free version of FreeCAD and found it fully functional, with all the features and options that I needed. Once I learned the system upgrade was the logical choice. Cons I found the environment difficult to learn and not intuitive, however, I am not experienced in this area, being a chemical engineer not a mechanical engineer which I am sure would have been much more comfortable. I needed to generate the drawing for some manifolds that we needed to import into Computational Fluid Dynamics. Reason for choosing FreeCAD Feature set and value for the money. Review Source FM Felipe M. Research Associate Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Very convenient open source CAD" April 20, 2023 4.0 Pros The software interface is simple and easy to use. Very convenient for quick CAD design with a very quick learning curve. Free and powerful tool. Cons It is clear that this software is inferior compared to other more fancy paid options but it gets the job done. The graphs are simple and not that high quality. It may not be the best option for more complex projects. Review Source Terran G. Research Assistant Research Used the software for: 2+ years ### "perfect for working with mesh formats" July 1, 2019 4.0 It makes it really easy to modify mesh files so that you can make adjustments to .stl files you found online for 3D printing. For free software, it's amazing! Pros This is the best software for working with CAD programs since it is available on all operating systems (even Linux, which is hard to come by). I love all the features it has for a completely free and open environment. Cons The controls can be frustrating at times. It's also a bit lacking in the amount of features. (either that, or I cannot find them!) Review Source VR Verified Reviewer R&D engineer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Free CAD for 3D printing" December 9, 2022 4.0 Pros I really enjoy using FreeCAD. It's a great piece of software that allows me to create detailed 3D models with precision and ease. I love that it's open-source, which means that it's constantly being updated and improved by a dedicated community of users. Cons One thing I dislike about FreeCAD is that it can be a bit slow at times. When working with large models or assemblies, it can take a while for the software to respond to my commands, which can be frustrating. I also find that the rendering can be slow, which can make it difficult to visualize my designs in real-time.Another thing I don't like about FreeCAD is that it can be a bit buggy. I've experienced occasional crashes and other issues that can be frustrating. While these issues are not common, they can be disruptive when they do occur. Review Source dS dave S. sr pcb designer Design Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Best Free 3D Tool Available" February 27, 2020 5.0 I use this software to review 3D data created by mechanical designers on commercial platforms. Pros Very good 3D tool and perfect for anyone who needs to review 3D models and does not own a commercially available solution. Backed by a dedicated group of skilled knowledgeable developers. Cons The tool has capabilities far beyond what I am currently using it for. It is somewhat difficult to learn how to perform new tasks as more focus is placed on functionality improvements at the expense of how-to documentation. Review Source bS blake S. Project Manager Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Great program for any designer or architect!" April 9, 2018 5.0 Pros I was skeptical about this program at first but it really grew on me. I had a bit of a learning curve learning the macros and functions, but once you re-program yourself to acclimate to this program it's really a breeze. Cons Only con would be that there are other programs that are performing at a little higher rate with a bit more exposure. I had to do some searching for reviews and tutorials on this product to get myself in tune with it. Review Source JR Joe R. Engineer Physicist Aviation & Aerospace Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Open Source Mess for Many Functions" July 22, 2020 2.0 Extremely time consuming and frustrating for the amount of work produced. Pros It was free, one of very few 3dD modeling packages with no cost. Cons Developing a model in this is somewhat straightforward once you have the logic understood (which is an odd form in itself). However, don't try to modify an existing model, it will begin shifting pieces in random fashion. I had extrusions change sketch planes and a change in a base sketch for an extrusion will cause all attached sketches to lose their associated planes. Within a sketch, form can also move randomly in illogical fashions. If I make a line from another line end and then change the length, it moves the first line, there is no prioritization built in so I need additional lines and constraints to fix design locations. A real pain. Review Source Bruno A. IT Officer Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Satisfying" June 2, 2018 4.0 Easens my work in the field Pros Easy to use and the fuctionalities are well illustrated. User friendly and not that complex to do your work Cons It has some various complex architectural techniques to execute. Some procedures require programming. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Graduate Research Assistant Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "You get what you pay for" December 3, 2018 1.0 Fun for messing around. Pros It is free and great for messing around. Cons It has very limited functionality and is weak on 3D CAD. Review Source Greysi N. M. Profesional de Proyectos de Investigación Civil Engineering Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "An excellent option to 3D desing" January 4, 2019 4.0 Pros I really like the high quality of the software and its philosophy to make accessible useful functionalities to CAD designers, professionals and students. Cons Although free access is one of its great strengths, the software has useful and quite limited tools. However, this does not prevent this software from standing out as one of the best options for simple range designs. Review Source LS Luca S. Mechanical engineer Mechanical or Industrial Engineering Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "High potential with lots of space to improve" January 29, 2023 3.0 I have used FreeCAD as an hobbyist who has no availability for payed cad softwares, to produce models that I later 3D print. The biggest pro of this software is the number of features implemented and totally free, which makes it the best unrestrained free option for who requires a CAD or a FEM software but cannot pay for it, but unlike another 3D software, Blender, that despite being open source got highly user friendly, FreeCAD feels still quite hard to use, due to a not so agile workflow and some bugs that are still to be fixed. Right now, I feel it is one of the most valid alternatives, especially after Fusion 360 introduced limitations on the numbe of components that can be worked with for free. However, if some of the issues will not be solved and another more user friendly alternative will be present on the market, I feel like it will be abandoned quickly. However, depsite the difficulties in 3D modeling, the FEM part is more straightforward to use and allows to obtain interesting results. Pros FreeCAD, as the name suggests, is free and considering alternatives on the market available for free right now, this is the only CAD with so many functionalities, which I consider another great advantage. The possibility of having a parametric CAD together with FEM analysis are great. Cons It is really complex to use, very little user friendly and the documentation is most of the time not that helpful. I have experienced some bugs with elementary features as well, making modeling even simple parts very tiring Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Analista de Telecomunicaciones Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Free CAD software that works like a charm." April 13, 2018 4.0 It is an excellent design software and since it is free every engineer should give it a try. Pros It is free and comes with great tools for 2D and 3D drawing. Another feature that is great is that is not completely restricted, it can be customized and is open source. Cons You need to spend a lot of time getting to know the software to use it or have lots of experience with cad programs. It can crash a lot. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Project Engineer / Program Facilitator Management Consulting Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "New User" May 28, 2020 4.0 Being a new user, I have so far enjoyed using FreeCAD. It is perfect for the small projects that I need it for. Pros FreeCAD has everything and more that you could ask for from a free modeling software. I needed to model a backyard project and this software has been perfect for a project that size. I have a little bit of experience with other modeling software, and FreeCAD seems to follow a similar structure making it not difficult to find what I am looking for most of the time. Cons I am using FreeCAD on a Mac OS. Most of the limited in-software help info is Windows specific, making it difficult because tools can be in different places. I have had to turn to the user forum for a few items which is very helpful. Review Source SS SHEFALI S. student Research Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Really good tool for beginners in CAD" December 17, 2019 5.0 FreeCAD has been a vital part of my work life for a year now. It has been very instrumental in my work towards my master's degree and i am quite happy with the software Pros I started using this software for my master thesis a year ago. With no prior knowledge of 3D designing, it was a big challenge to learn it over a matter of few days. Surprisingly FreeCAD was very helpful because of its simplicity and user friendly features. I highly recommend this software for someone who is beginning in the field Cons It does not seem to have some high level features which make the end product look very professional and chic. But that also comes as a consequence of user friendliness and the need to not crowd the software with complicated stuff Review Source SC Seth C. Project Manager Civil Engineering Used the software for: 2+ years ### "FreeCAD.....IS FREE!" November 21, 2019 4.0 Easy to learn, it’s free, it’s lacking all the drafting tools you may need on a project. Pros The best thing about FreeCAD is, it's free. If you need a drafting tool, get this one. It’s also great to learn what CAD is, and how it can help you draft. Cons So the only bad thing about this software is the good thing about this software....it's free. It just doesn’t have all the tools you need. Review Source Similar Products Featured