Autodesk Inventor vs. Onshape

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Autodesk Inventor
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
Autodesk Inventor 3D CAD software offers professional-grade 3D mechanical design, documentation, and product simulation tools. These blend parametric, direct, freeform, and rules-based design capabilities. Inventor includes integrated tools for sheet metal, frame design, tube and pipe, cable & harness, presentations, rendering, simulation, and machine design. It also features TrustedDWG® compatibility and Model-Based Definition capabilities for embedding manufacturing information directly in…
$305
per month per user
Onshape
Score 9.9 out of 10
N/A
Onshape is a cloud-native product development platform with integrated CAD, data management and analytics. Onshape aims to accelerate time to market and improve innovation by: 1) Access: Unlike file-based CAD which is on-premise only, Onshape enables remote access for designers and engineers from anywhere, and on any internet-connected device -including tablets and smart phones. 2) Collaboration: Onshape aims to eliminate the version control problems and blocking of file-based…
$1,500
per year per user
Pricing
Autodesk InventorOnshape
Editions & Modules
Subscription - Monthly
$305
per month per user
Subscription - Yearly
$2440
per year per user
Subscription - 3 Years
$7320
3 years per user
Standard
1,500
per year per user
Professional
2,500
per year per user
Enterprise
Contact sales team
per year per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Autodesk InventorOnshape
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsAlso available for limited use through tokens on a Flex plan.No dedicated hardware is required. Works on all web-connected devices including tablet, Chromebook, iPhone, Android.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Autodesk InventorOnshape
Features
Autodesk InventorOnshape
Computer-Aided Design Software
Comparison of Computer-Aided Design Software features of Product A and Product B
Autodesk Inventor
6.8
Ratings
5% below category average
Onshape
-
Ratings
3D Modeling8.50 Ratings00 Ratings
2D Drafting6.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Rendering and Visualization6.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Parametric Design7.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Collaboration and Sharing6.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Compatibility with other software and formats7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Assembly Design6.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Simulation and Analysis5.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Documentation and Annotation6.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Customization and Extensions7.50 Ratings00 Ratings
User Ratings
Autodesk InventorOnshape
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(0 ratings)
9.3
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.2
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.1
(0 ratings)
8.6
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
6.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(0 ratings)
9.3
(0 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Autodesk InventorOnshape
Likelihood to Recommend
Autodesk Inventor is well-suited for situations where you are creating 3D models of small, simple parts and assemblies. It is hands-down the fastest and most reliable way to get this done. When you are looking for a software that has many advanced features and controls to create an assembly of 20+ parts, you need to look for other software.
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Onshape shall be used by organizations where cost is a major factor as the license is relatively competitive than the competition. Where Onshape , excels the most is the ability to be operational on any device with internet connection and webbrowser. Onshape doesn't require your hardware to be beefed with Graphic cards (if added better). Where onshape can be better. If they are able to include simulation packages bundled like SOLIDWORKS.
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Pros
  • You can make designs (CAD) and you can also manufacture them (CAM) and do not need an interface like Solidworks to recognize it in a CNC.
  • Inventor is very easy to use to create realistic, solid designs.
  • The software allows you to design and see where problems are in real-time.
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  • Cloud-based infrastructure and collaboration is a primary benefit.
  • The available documentation is extremely thorough.
  • The ability to integrate with other software for simulation, renderings, etc. is fantastic.
  • Not having to save and being able to clearly see versions and change history is excellent.
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Cons
  • Inventor demonstrates a lack of fluidity in the process of transferring data between programs.
  • Inventor shows some lack of sophistication that certain features that are readily available in other design software packages are limited in use in Inventor.
  • Inventor can often have difficulty in creating models that show true color, as in blacks can come out as dark grays in certain renders, even when the material and appearance settings are the same from part to part.
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  • I'm a Pro-user but I would like to have the possibility to have a pay-as-use option in some form. Now it is all or nothing (the public sharing of models - and model rights!) is not an option for many not-for-profit projects.
  • On-site hosting might help to sell the cloud concept to the more paranoid management.
  • Basic CAM generation would be awesome
  • Nonparametric modeling in some form or making it easier to use assemblies for those use cases where you want to model some parts and just play around moving things when you are exploring different configurations.
  • Doing Industrial Design type sketching and experimenting is not really a strong point on Onshape
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Likelihood to Renew
Inventor continues to meet our enterprise needs. I don't see a need to change unless we change our business model significantly.
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Familiarity and ability to work from any location. Also easy to cooperate with potential customers, existing customers, systems users, and fabricating shops. Most of the standard designs are now in On Shape and I would like to continue using it. It is easier to run versions to clarify imrovements to the previous designs
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Usability
It is quite user-friendly as long as you have the computing power to download and use it. However, this makes it quite inconvenient if you are trying to access files on different devices, as Inventor has to be loaded on all of those devices. While the program itself works just fine, it would be much better for my application if it, or a version, were web-based and allowed users to access and modify projects from anywhere.
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Onshape is great software and I have no trouble recommending it to CAD users and companies that need to do design work
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Support Rating
I'm giving the overall support rating a 5 only because I rarely have to use it. Trying to find the answer on the help pages hardly ever helps me because any problem I have is usually too deep for what the help offers. Given the popularity of Autodesk, I have always been able to find an answer online after doing enough looking!
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Been fairly standard experience with support team. Issues have always been addressed, but is understandably focused on business side applications which typically has different issues than education applications. I have very few IT issues with the design side of the software, my issues are more often with the control of users and access
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In-Person Training
I got the training during college, so mostly i learned on my own
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No answers on this topic
Online Training
No answers on this topic
I might be biased by coming from using three different CAD softwares in the past, so I already understood many modeling concepts, but the training OS offers is really good. Videos are clear, they explain operations in good detail and besides that OS has a really good help system that explains even more how every tool works.
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Implementation Rating
No answers on this topic
Onshape is revolutionary. Its advantage is that it can be used without having to download it. You are free to work wherever you want. This means that even if you take a vacation or attend a family event, your work will not be interrupted. You can still bring your work and complete it quickly.
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Alternatives Considered
ANSYS is far more expensive and has a steeper learning curve. Autodesk has many flexible and scale-able licensing options that adapt to our institutional needs and IT infrastructure. Furthermore, it allows our students to have free educational software running in their own personal computers, allowing them to work at home and be more productive with it.
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I have used SOLIDWORKS for over four years, and the vault system is time intensive for control of design history, and revision management. I have used Pro-E for over four years, and this has the capability but is not user-friendly. Not needing high-end computers is another great reason to choose Onshape
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Return on Investment
  • We are working toward full engineering integration with Autodesk Inventor. This will remove most of the human error in our current processes.
  • Production team is moving away from physical samples to using Autodesk Inventor models. This is a cost savings and helps us manage change better.
  • Autodesk Inventor iLogic is allowing us to automate some of our engineering. This is proving to make one job 20% faster to complete with fewer errors.
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  • Poindexter By Design provides on demand mechanical engineering services and Onshape is directly responsible for a large portion of our customer base because of how easy it is to share and collaborate design projects. In most cases, we are literally up and running on new projects within an hour directly due to Onshape.
  • It is inevitable that a project will go through some level of scope creep. Poindexter By Design had a project with a 4-week deadline. Initially, we scheduled two engineers on the project but when the project's scope creep set in and the original deadline didn't change, we were very quickly and easily able to bring on a 3rd Poindexter By Design engineer on the project to handle the scope creep and still meet the deadline. Onshape gives our company the ability to very quickly increase our capacity on design projects with little to no effort and to us, this is priceless.
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ScreenShots