Autodesk / Dassault

Fusion & SolidWorks

Autodesk stripped features from Fusion's free personal tier in 2020. Parametric CAD is still a subscription business.

  • Forced subscriptionYou rent it. Stop paying and you lose it.
  • Paywalled basicsCore features held hostage behind a paid tier.
  • Account wallSign up, log in, hand over your data, just to use it.

The exit

  1. Parametric 3D CAD. Version 1.0 fixed the topological naming problem.

    Status
    Stable Mature and ready for daily work.
    License
    LGPL-2.1
    Get FreeCAD ↗View source ↗

Suggest an edit to this entry ↗

Autodesk
  • Subscription
  • Lock-in

AutoCAD

Autodesk stopped selling perpetual licenses in 2016. Draft or pay.

  1. CADCraftAlphaApache-2.0

    A clean-room AutoCAD-style drafting app with a command line, hatching and dimensions.

    Site ↗Source ↗
  2. LibreCADStableGPL-2.0

    Lightweight 2D CAD with DXF support.

    Site ↗Source ↗
Autodesk
  • Subscription

Maya & 3ds Max

Thousands a year in subscriptions just to model, rig and render.

  1. BlenderStableGPL

    The full 3D pipeline: modeling, sculpting, rigging, animation, simulation and rendering. Used on Oscar-winning films.

    Site ↗Source ↗
Unity Technologies
  • Betrayal
  • Lock-in

Unity

In 2023 Unity announced a per-install Runtime Fee, applied retroactively. It backed down, but the trust was gone.

  1. GodotStableMIT

    A free 2D and 3D game engine. No royalties, no fees, no strings.

    Site ↗Source ↗