BricsCAD
Octave (formerly Bricsys)
€330–€1,176 / year
ZWSOFT
ZWCAD
From $899 perpetual · 2D + 3D · native DWG
Verdict
Fast, DWG-native and genuinely cheap — if you can buy it where you live. ZWCAD’s own performance claims (1.98× AutoCAD on complex 2D, 3× on 3D navigation) are vendor benchmarks on vendor hardware and should be treated as marketing, but the underlying speed on large drawings is real and widely reported. The regional licensing restriction is the deciding factor for North American buyers, not the software.
What it costs, honestly
Advertised "From $899 — you own it forever", with perpetual and network licences. A subscription tier, ZWCAD Flex, exists alongside it. ⚠ Two regional catches stated on the vendor’s own page: perpetual licences are NOT available in the USA and Canada, and ZWCAD Flex is currently unavailable in the USA.
For scale: AutoCAD is ≈ $2,095 / year, subscription only, with no perpetual option at any price.
What it gets right
- Strong performance on large, messy 2D drawings
- DWG-native with a very AutoCAD-like interface
- Perpetual pricing well under a single year of AutoCAD — outside North America
What to watch out for
- ⚠ No perpetual licence in the USA or Canada, per ZWSOFT’s own page
- ⚠ ZWCAD Flex subscription also listed as unavailable in the USA
- Speed claims are vendor-run benchmarks, not independent tests
- ZWCAD 2027 is in beta — confirm which release your licence actually ships
Pricing and specifications: https://www.zwsoft.com/product/zwcad