Dassaults Draftsite no longer free, and is only subscription
I was just sent an AutoCAD drawing from a potential customer, and saw that it was created in the student version. I declined to work with the drawing, saying, they are using a version that doesn't not permit using it for commercial purposes. I cited scripture, "The labor deserves his wages".
I was going to refer them to the free Draftsite program, saying they have an alternative that is legal to use, but then saw that the free version is no longer being offered, and any past installs will expire by December of this year. I have no problem with that. It was understood that the free version could go away at any time. And they now only sell it as subscription. So that also made me think that SolidWorks will soon go down that road. Anyway, back to my reason for posting;
I am looking for a 2D CAD drafting alternative that a company in a poor country can a afford. [the client is in Haiti] . As BricsCAD has improved over the years, its price also has gone up, and it now costs $826 USD to purchase the lowest level.
I think that Dassault's decision has opened up an opportunity for Bricssys, to offer a low cost, basic 2D CAD drafting program. Perhaps they can offer a more limited perhaps no LISP, for free or for $100. Or even an older version the way NanoCAD does.
For now, I am looking for other alternatives to Draftsite to recommend to others. Here are some I came across...
LibreCAD -this is a free open-source CAD program. It's native format is DXF. It can import DWGs.
https://librecad.org/#download
NanoCAD 5 -this older version is Free, uses DWG native format, LISP customization and other languages. Though they have gone down the subscription-only road for their current version.
https://nanocad.com/products/nanoCAD/
I have not tried any of the above. Does anyone have any comments or other suggestions?
-Joe
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DeltaCad is only $40 and much easier to use. It's not DWG native, but it can import and export DWG files. One of our consultants uses it and we share drawings back and forth all the time.
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Have you heard of 'shape'
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@Steven_g said:
Have you heard of 'shape'I was specifically seeking a 2D design package for architectural drawings. I was not expecting Shape to be able to do the types of 2D drawings that BricsCAD can do. But, correct me if I am wrong.
-Joe
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IntelliCAD clone should be cheap enough and read-write DWG file.
QCAD is another cheap alternative 2D CAD.
DoubleCAD XT is free and feature rich 2D CAD, compatible with DWG.
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