Fusion 360 is an Autodesk product that provides Computer-aided Design [CAD], Computer-aided Manufacturing [CAM], and Computer-aided Engineering [CAE] in a single package. This is the CAD tool I have the most experience in. Fusion 360 is mostly used for parametric solid modeling, but it does support free form surface modeling. For most engineering applications, solid modeling is preferable.

This is what I would call my 'daily driver' CAD package. This is what I have spent the most time in and is what I am most fluent in. It certainly has its issues, the most annoying of which is constant “bug fixes” that break things. In college, I used both SolidWorks and Auto CAD. They are much much more stable, feature-complete tools that actually seem useful in commercial applications. I think the primary draw of Fusion 360 is the combined CAD/CAM environment that has a reasonable seat price. This has allowed it to gain market share in smaller shops and the “Maker” scene.

The most obvious thing holding them back from making any more progress in the market is their absolutely cancerous “online” model and refusal to be ITAR compliant. They have forever positioned themselves as the hobbyist tool rather than a truly professional piece of software which is disappointing from the same company who makes Auto CAD. They may as well be a browser based CAD software rather than a real package at this point.

• FreeCAD
• OpenSCAD
• CadQuery