Which Free 2D and 3D CAD Software Should I Choose?

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Hello

I have just started working in an interior design agency. He asked me to find a Free CAD software that does 2D and 3D, in order to be able to materialize furniture and buildings in 3D and to produce sections or plans (on professional layouts in order to be validated by an architect). I saw that several software programs existed for free but I don't know which one to choose (Emac0ShineShop, FreeCAD, SolveSpace, BRL-CAO, Designe Spark, MEDUSA4, MENSURA GEODES...). I'm used to working on AllPlan and AutoCad software so I'm looking for a software that would work on the same principle.

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If it's free, the easiest way is to try them out.
I  only knew about FreeCAD which I didn't manage to use (that was a while ago and I didn't look any further than that).
Knowing that there is no such thing as real free, especially in business...

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Thank you, I would like to try them all but I have a computer that is not at all efficient, it will take me a long time.

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I think you should do several things:
- Define your workflow: Are you drawing cubes or making a design and plans for manufacturing?
- Write specifications to define your needs at the software level: number of parts per assembly, number of sub-assembly levels, import/export capacity (DWG, STEP, iges, BIM, etc.), especially if you need to exchange with architectural firms. What level of detail will be requested;
- Plan to buy a machine (count approx. 2k€) for a sustainable investment.

To be seen according to your experience of CAD...

I just took a VERY quick look (I opened the sites and looked at the screenshots) at the proposed names:
- EmachineShop: it's made to quickly model a part and get a quote for its manufacture;
- FreeCAD: watching a few introductory videos seems okay, the interface already looks like something professional. In the end, this is the one that seems the least worst to me. I didn't see anything about the notion of assembly...
- SolveSpace: the help gives almost no images/videos to explain/illustrate the concepts. Manipulation is not instinctive;
- BRL-CAD: the interface seems to me to be not very instinctive, everything is done on the command line;
- Spark design: if it is RadioSpare's, it is oriented towards electrical (on)ic design;
- MEDUSA4: it is a professional software that is far from free;
- MENSURA GEODES: civil engineering-oriented software, it is also a professional software.

Generally speaking, "free" software depends on a community so you won't have the same service (in principle) as with a publisher: you will have to go through a forum, not necessarily French-speaking, ask the question and wait for the answer whether it's blocking or not. Updates are less regular

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For 2D there is Draftsight which is free. For 3D, if it's just for a visual, there's Sketchup. It's not a software to produce plans, but for 3D models it does the trick.

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Hello

Sketch Up is not bad at all for the layout, especially since by searching on the net you find a large library of furniture

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Hello

https://www.onshape.com/

Maybe, no installation and free, 2D + 3D drawing, online recording, and works directly on browser, with the possibility to download the files in different format.

Its create a single file, with tabs and the ability to add free add-ins

After that, on the other hand, I never tried to make big elements like buildings so to see:)

 

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Free 3D Drawing Software - FreeCAD,SketchUp, Blender

I sketch with Autocad, and then I finalize either with SolidWorks or Tekla.
The big advantage of Tekla is that it is production-oriented, it outputs all the plans (assembly flow) effortlessly.
It is oriented towards metal framing but is suitable for carpentry work.

I have an Android XP-Pen Star G640S  graphics tablet and I use it for a little bit of everything, painting, scupting, drawing. It's really super practical when you're doing 2d or 3d graphics.