Updated: August 2026
Every option, side by side
The same ten products, with the catch on each one spelled out. Scroll the table sideways on a phone — the columns that matter are price and licence.
| Product | Price | Licence | Scope | DWG | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AutoCAD | ≈ $2,095 / year | subscription | 2D + 3D | native | No perpetual licence at any price since 2016. |
| BricsCAD | €330–€1,176 / year | both | 2D + 3D | native | Bricsys is now part of Octave Intelligence plc and the site has moved to bricscad.octave.com — bricsys.com 301-redirects. Expect churn in docs and links. |
| progeCAD | Perpetual, no subscription | perpetual | 2D + 3D | native | progecad.com now 301-redirects to progesoft.com — old bookmarks and guides will rot |
| QCAD | $48 perpetual — or free | both | 2D | via DXF | 2D only — there is no 3D and there is not going to be |
| FreeCAD | Free — open source | foss | 2D + 3D | via DXF | DWG is not native and the round trip is the weak point |
| SketchUp | $10.75–$68.25 / month | subscription | 3D | via DXF | Subscription only — the old perpetual SketchUp Pro is long gone |
| Rhino | $995 perpetual | perpetual | 3D | via DXF | Not a 2D drafting tool; DWG is interchange, not native |
| ZWCAD | From $899 perpetual | both | 2D + 3D | native | ⚠ No perpetual licence in the USA or Canada, per ZWSOFT’s own page |
| DraftSight | $299–$599 / year | subscription | 2D + 3D | native | The free edition is gone. Do not pick this on a memory of 2015. |
| nanoCAD | $289 / year — plus a free tier | both | 2D + 3D | native | Free edition is v.5 — well behind the current v.26 Platform |
| LibreCAD | Free — GPLv2 | foss | 2D | via DXF | ⚠ Last stable release 2.2.1.5 is dated May 2024 — development cadence is slow |
Reading the licence column
- perpetual — you buy it once and it keeps working. Updates may cost extra; the software does not stop.
- subscription — you rent it. Stop paying and it stops opening your drawings.
- both — perpetual is available, but subscription is what the vendor leads with. Expect to ask for the perpetual price.
- foss / free — free and open source, or a genuinely free tier with real limits stated on its page.
The five-year number
One year of subscription always looks cheap. Five does not. At roughly ≈ $2,095 / year a year, AutoCAD costs about $10,000 over five years. QCAD Professional over the same period costs $48, plus optional update renewals. Rhino costs $995, once. That gap is the entire argument, and it is why the licence column matters more than any feature checklist.
Prices change and vendors move. Each product page links the vendor’s own pricing page — confirm the current figure before you buy.