That CAD subscription I thought was a scam actually saved my butt yesterday

Tbh I've been using the free version of DraftSight for like 3 years because I didn't trust paying $100 a month for a CAD subscription. Got a job last week drawing up a 4 story apartment building in Austin and the free version wouldn't open the engineer's DWG files. Bit the bullet on a monthly subscription and literally finished the whole set in 2 days. The layer manager alone was worth it plus I didn't have to convert files 3 times. Has anyone else held out on paying for software way longer than they should have?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_tara1mo ago

The free CAD trap is real because it teaches you to work around limitations instead of just paying for the tool that solves them. Everyone focuses on the price tag but nobody talks about the time tax of constant file conversions and missing features. Sometimes the most expensive thing you can do is refuse to spend money on the right software.

gavincampbell1mo ago

Wait, you mean spending 3 hours figuring out how to export a mesh file isn't the premium CAD experience I thought it was? I just thought the "free" part of free software came with a side of screaming at my computer.