Alibre Design

What do you like best?

Very good alternative to SolidWorks or other mainstream CAD. Really good parametric addition for Rhino CAD. Very affordable annual cost.

What do you dislike?

It could have more features for mechanical engineers. The 2D CAD is a little shy on features and doesn't handle dxf and dwg files well.

Recommendations to others considering the product:

I can recommend it to any level of use, whether you are a hobby designer for a small project or a professional who needs parametric CAD software with many capabilities. For sure, it is not Solidworks or ProEng, but often time the question is do you need one when over half the tools you don't even use and comes with pretty high annual maintenance. Alibre gives an opportunity to pay for the software at the level you need, and it is very affordable for maintenance. Back in 2006, I need it a licensed CAD with many file choices to open, and since I'm on maintenance with little intruption due to 3ds, but soon as the original team took back the software, I renewed my license.

What problems are you solving with the product? What benefits have you realized?

The parametric aspect is beneficial. The sheet metal is surprisingly easy to use and worked very well in the past, but I'm not an expert in the sheet metal business to tell.