Onshape

Avantages

During this pandemic period I bought a 3D printer and started using it printing mainly already defined and available 3D models on the internet. Then I realized that I could myself produce my own 3D models and I found on Onshape the perfect tool for it. It also has great features that allows you to produce perfect models.

Inconvénients

At the beginning Onshape seems complicated to use, but it is not, you just need to watch on Youtube some tutorials to start modeling your own 3D models. Anyway I can not complain about this tool, as the free version delivers what I need and much more.

Avantages

Being able to push and pull the edges of the 3D CAD model to manipulate it's shape and have the model automatically adjust all the other features accordingly in real time and with a live preview, like how pulling an edge would affect the connecting radius on the 3D CAD model, was and is light years ahead of anything I have ever used before. I also love the ability of the history tree to be able to go back and adjust a dimension from earlier and have it auto calculate everything moving forward makes it so much faster to get modeling done.

Inconvénients

The 2D drawing selection could be improved when creating sketches. Sometimes I want to select all the outer edges of a part and use it in a sketch, but it only gets it right or works about 50% of the time. The other half of the time I need to select each edge manually, or even once I get them selected, for some reason it doesn't let me use it within the sketch.

Avantages

OnShape has a great student rate and provides a cheaper entry into the CAD world. I also like how accessible the cloud is with others.

Inconvénients

OnShape has one of the highest learning curves I’ve sheen in terms of mating, but you can change the controls to mirror any CAD program really.

Avantages

I have been using Onshape for a while and for one of my Senior Graduate class project, I sued Onshape to help new CAD students get some experience as well. It is definitely a very popular online CAD program among many Mechanical Engineering students. It definitely cannot beat Solidworks in terms of ease of use but I would recommend it for following reasons
- Its FREE to use
Why not get your feet wet into the CAD design world with a tool that is free to use. One can easil get the basics of CAD modeling through this software.
- Online Cloud based software
We all know anything that is online and cloud based means it can be accessed anywhere if you have access to internet. No need to install huge GB of software on your machine instead just get a high speed internet and get on with the modeling.
And yes, it doesn't care if you have a Windows are a Mac so that's a plus.
- Features
Sketch, Extrude, Hole, Mirror, Chafing anything you need to do for CAD, Onshape has it. It is fast and assembly and mating process is intuitive and works really well.

For something that is free, cloud based, online and easily accessible this is one of the best CAD programs I have used and I would recommend it to anyone. Onshape has tons of documentation so learning is fun. For a beginner in CAD Onshape is the way to go.

Inconvénients

This software has some cons which is not a dealbreaker bit definitely something to keep an eye out for,
- Crashes
During my project and online use it did crash on me multiple times. Refreshing the page helped but sometimes I did have to start a new project.
- Almost as good as Solidworks but not quite
If i were to compare it I would say it is 70% as good as solidworks
- Has it's own terminologies
Onshape has it's own features and terminologies which one has to be accustomed to. Onshape does provide online lot of documents and vocabularies so if you have time to spend reading that, it is not that bad.

Avantages

When students share their document with me I can view the document history to make sure it was that student who did all the work or keep track of who did what in a group project. I can help students remotely by making live changes to their document regardless of if it is a part studio or an assembly. We can voice or video chat while we both look live at the same document.

Inconvénients

There is no way to do contact sets, which can make some assemblies not behave the way I would like. Additional joints can be a work-around in some cases, but not all. A way for parts to interact with each other would be a significant upgrade.

Alternatives envisagées 

Pourquoi choisir Onshape 

Logiciel antérieur 

Pourquoi passer à Onshape

Avantages

a browser based CAD program? Super convenient! Especially when working on Linux where other software packages are unavailable. I find that Onshape has all the features and functionality I've ever needed, and the best part is I don't have to take up space on my computer with expensive software!

Inconvénients

Sometimes the features are a bit tricky to find and use. I often have to google and look through forums to figure out how to accomplish a particular design.

Avantages

It is cloud based!
The fact that you do not require a high performance computer to use Onshape effectively is a huge win. Allows you to design even on smart mobile devices.
Sharing design with others is relatively easy.
No risk of crashes.
Very easy to learn and use even for someone new to Computer Aided Design.
It allows users to use pre-existing parts in their designs or assemblies.

Inconvénients

I anticipate the inclusion of 3D sketching capabilities in up coming updates.
Yes it requires the internet to use, this doesn't really favour usage in regions where there's no or poor internet connection.

Avantages

Ease of use, mating of components (only one required and very flexible), amazing online tutorials, quick to learn, stability, speed, roll back features, versioning, no expensive hardware is required, free public version available which makes it great for learning and hobby (has some restrictions in high end features like revision management); very nice design configuration options using various tables.

Inconvénients

Some weaknesses are under development, being a fairly new system. Like FEA, material imaging, weldments.

Avantages

I enjoy working on and inspecting designs made by me and my team. It is easy to start with.

Inconvénients

Sometimes it takes long to load, but this is more a internet issue than an Onshape issue.

Avantages

Very lite due to its cloud based platform - don't require high configuration systemWorks lag freeversatile tools and capable to create almost all types of shapes

Inconvénients

Due to its cloud based platform this works good only with a system having good amount of speed.Feels little expensive for this level technical advancements and tools.Difficult to use in large assemblies and surfacing projects - where its really high in price.

Alternatives envisagées 

Avantages

Collaboration features and branches of the same design is great and allows great design exploration

Inconvénients

Can be slow to upload files. The file structure is not that clear sometimes

Avantages

Web-based, easy of use (from a former Solid Edge user), no PC requirements, free-for-use for personal use

Inconvénients

Missing some advanced features, but it's under constant development

Avantages

Support is responsive, pricing is fine, love the 'pay by the use' subscription format for advanced features seldom used like FEA. Will be a great all around CAD platform for small flexible companies like ours when its fully featured. I'm very interested in seeing what CAD designed without 20 years of baggage will look like when OnShape is mature.

For the amateur, hobbyist, and students; Onshape should be the first system they learn on. Back in the day I used to steer these people to Alibre when asked for a 3D CAD recommendation because they likely couldn't justify the high entry price of SolidWorks and its maintenance. My hope is that Onshape gets this market and most of the small businesses like ours.

I do recommend that Onshape come up with a lower tier plan between free and the current paid plan that allows really small organizations to grow in their financial commitment over time. Something token priced per user limited to forum support and limited cloud memory for a longer term test drive. This could accelerate Onshapes replacement of SW because small commercial users can start experimenting without the public files. Picture rouge Engineers in a company already paying for SW that might want to show something to management and shouldn't have to pay per month personally to keep a small amount of company files private!

Inconvénients

OnShape is not quite ready for us to use on our bigger projects. Like watching the Matrix movies I'm dying to figure out how they keep 'branches' and the current 'versioning' paradigms and also allow part and assembly configurations that should not require an exact linear history. I really hope they do better than the Matrix movies in closing the loop.

If they were more open about when we could expect 'configurations' to be ready, my team might be able to jump to bigger projects sooner. But modeling without 'configurations' is really hard for those of us who grew up on SW. It is the king of all built in work-arounds in my design methodology and the longer I try doing things in Onshape the more I realize configurations are a key requirement of mine.

They also need to get conical and cylindrical sheet metal as this is sending me back to SolidWorks on some simple jobs I should have gotten done in Onshape, even without configurations.

I have less Pros than Cons to talk about at the moment, but my true feelings are demonstrated by the fact that I'm still investing my time in using the software as much as I can, I'm hoping that this can be our primary CAD system in the next 6 to 24 months. SW didn't have that much to offer by 1998 so OnShape is likely comparable in its advancement along this path.

Avantages

I gave it 4/5 for ease of use but only because there is an initial learning curve to figure out what all the buttons do. After that, the sky is the limit. The software is Fast, easy to use and once you get the hang of it very intuitive.
Complex shapes, such as screw threads, are straight forward to produce. The key is just to know what you want to make, and once you get that clear in your own head, you guide the program to make exactly what you want.
As a visual learner I felt fully at home with Onshape. I output my finished designs as STL files and send them directly to my 3D printer. Results are impressive and a great advertisment for 3D printing in general.
Would I recommend Onshape to others? absolutely, and if you are thinking about 3D printing do even start without getting Onshape first.
My rating 5 star.

Inconvénients

No real cons that I can think of, other than the initial learning curve as already mentioned. But that said, Onshape's own documentation and user forums are excellent, so there are no real problems to report.
Only improvement I could think of is to suggest you get a 3D connexion mouse to compliment the software and use it to its full potential.

Avantages

The underlying philosophy and structure allows unprecidented freedom to develop and record creative ideas. Pretty well everything can be captured by the built-in version system, while allowing you to return occasionally to ideas that weren't so bad after all.
Support is rapid, even from Australia, and new feature requests get answered - in weeks!

The interface is cleaner, more logically grouped and simpler than any CAD I've seen over the last 40 years. It often makes me smile and almost never makes me swear. And that is a delightful reversal of normal for me.

Inconvénients

Some commands are hard to find.
Searching help through key words can be unhelpful.
The feature set is naturally not quite as complete as older CAD systems.

Avantages

I am not using Onshape for work, so it is free. And this is excellent free software. I also love that it is web-based. You could run this on anything with a browser.

Inconvénients

Coming from Solidworks, my biggest complaint is the lack of axes. Not being able to grab an axis took some getting used to.

Avantages

The browser-based nature of Onshape and sharing capabilities are great strengths. We can share designs with infinitely varying levels of permissions from full editing and sharing to view only in anyone's browser. This means that instead of having one person with a clunky laptop during a design review, anyone can bring up the full assemblies and / or piece parts on whatever device they bring...including their phones. One of our customers uses SolidWorks as their design tool and we use our Onshape license to both work on and share designs for viewing that no one would get to look at if they weren't looking over our shoulders at the SolidWorks workstations.

Inconvénients

One of the main issues with Onshape is that it depends on a solid internet connection. Early on, we had some internet drop-out issues at different job sites that we have shored up now by getting a better provider and adding a hotspot for portable reliability.

Avantages

The one thing you won't need when using Onshape is that foam ball to squeeze or throw through the room. Every CAx user usually has one. This is because Onshape is so portable, stable and reliable. It is a solid solid modeler with some very thought through features that are tested with the community before deploying it into the wild. The integrated PDM is something you will never get for the same cost from others.

Inconvénients

It is first and foremost a solid modeling CAD. Don't expect electrical, piping, and complex bspline surfaces. The integrated app store will make up for that.

Avantages

There are so many pros to list.
It is profession CAD on mobile devices, it has built-in version control. Onshape is fully cloud-based so you always have access to the most updated files. You can make custom features or modify existing features do particular tasks. Onshape lets multiple people work on the same model at the same time. It uses a reimagined mating system that is completely intuitive for real-world motion. The cost is completely unbeatable. New engineers can start working in minutes without waiting to install CAD software. Onshape support is incredible. They update Onshape very regularly so any suggestions for improvement are implemented more quickly.

Inconvénients

There are still a few features that Onshape does not have like weldments and 3D sketching that I would like to see. Sometimes needing an internet connection can be bothersome as well.

Avantages

Cloud based software brings a whole new dimension to CAD. I am now able to design something on one computer and easily pull it up anywhere else without the need for installing huge software packages. The costumer support is also second to none! I have nothing but good things to say about the team at OnShape.

Inconvénients

The cons are few and far between, but if I had to select one it would be the ability to handle large assemblies or feature trees. Huge strides have already been made to make the renderings faster, but it is still an area for improvement.

Avantages

1. I like how this software doesn't tie you down to one machine, so If your primary machine goes down, you don't have to worry whether you can get the work done or not.

2. I like how the software doesn't hold you back based on the spec/type of your computer, plus it is able to perform over multiple platforms and devices, i.e. Mac, Pc, Ipad, Etc. so you can start on a PC for example, then carry on on a PC and visa versa.

3. I like how that you can perform similar/same tasks as Solidworks without the need to spend hours retraining as it is relatively similar.

4. I like how it is reasonably accessible to most people.

5. I like how it can easily integrate with add-ons, i.e. One-render, Keyshot etc. so that you can also render your product, and this can even happen without leaving the Onshape browser!!

Inconvénients

By no means am I a CAD pro and I don't use the software on a regular/daily basis, so some of these may be down to my skill and knowledge but;

1. I find the mating functions more difficult to use than other softwares.
1.1. Regarding the mating, other softwares allow you to mate using planes which can make it easier to mate if the centre of the product isn't where the planes meet.

2. I am still getting my head around the version and branch options in the history tree, but I can see how this will/can be beneficial.

I think that my negatives can be resolved through watching tutorials, but I guess they are still negatives as they aren't as intuitive/easy to use.

Avantages

The main reason that I use onshape is because it allows my group to collaborate and split the work. This make Onshape unique!

Inconvénients

To be honest, there is nothing that I do not like. Probably the price only.

Avantages

Fully cloud based
Easy to use
Great existing features
New features every 3 weeks
Support team are fantastic and responsive - so far always responded on the same day
Actively listen to new feature requests
App store provides great 3rd party functionality
The Featurescript addition provides so much flexibility

Inconvénients

The folder organisation could do with some enhancements
Auto part labelling would be a massive help
Animated movie functions would be great

Avantages

As I work at a FabLab we used to work with open source, free or affordable software. Until a few years ago there was no parametric [and userfriendly] option available. I like the setup/crossover of solidworks and google docs. The non experienced cad user can view and eventually also edit since he gets used to the interface gradually [first share, then change small things and eventually create new things]

Inconvénients

sometime it is a bit slow, especially when the models get more complex I sometimes think if stand alone CAD software might be better, but the ease of sharing with 'noobs' is a great pro for us.

Avantages

Onshape is a great software to use for your CADs! Is simple, straight forward, and have a fast response. You can save all your CADs or simulation online in the cloud. I really like their tutorials. I used this software for my capstone project, and it was the best software I used. This is because it simplicity.

Inconvénients

The downside is that you require internet to use the software since is an online platform. Is not like others CADs software where it is installed in the computer. Therefore, make sure you have internet connection before using the software.