Compare Inventor and SOLIDWORKS

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At a Glance
Inventor
Inventor
Star Rating
(435)4.4 out of 5
Market Segments
Mid-Market (42.7% of reviews)
Information
Entry-Level Pricing
$2085 1 year
Browse all 4 pricing plans
SOLIDWORKS
SOLIDWORKS
Star Rating
(602)4.4 out of 5
Market Segments
Small-Business (43.7% of reviews)
Information
Entry-Level Pricing
No pricing available
Learn more about SOLIDWORKS
Pricing
Entry-Level Pricing
Inventor
1 Year
$2085
1 year
Browse all 4 pricing plans
SOLIDWORKS
No pricing available
Free Trial
Inventor
Free Trial is available
SOLIDWORKS
No trial information available
Ratings
Meets Requirements
8.8
372
8.8
500
Ease of Use
8.3
372
8.6
504
Ease of Setup
7.9
102
7.9
76
Ease of Admin
7.7
99
7.8
47
Quality of Support
8.1
341
8.1
441
Has the product been a good partner in doing business?
8.2
94
8.3
47
Product Direction (% positive)
8.3
367
8.5
497
Features by Category
Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM)Hide 9 FeaturesShow 9 Features
Not enough data
8.6
47
CAD to CAM
Not enough data
9.1
37
Not enough data
8.8
37
Not enough data
8.8
37
CNC Programming
Not enough data
8.7
33
Not enough data
8.5
33
Not enough data
8.3
32
Machining
Not enough data
8.6
34
Not enough data
8.6
34
Not enough data
8.8
34
8.1
35
8.7
91
Design
8.6
35
9.4
88
8.9
35
9.4
88
8.4
35
9.3
85
7.5
32
8.0
85
Edit
8.1
34
8.4
83
7.3
33
8.2
76
7.9
34
9.3
83
7.7
34
8.2
71
Collaboration
8.1
34
8.5
81
8.6
33
9.0
81
8.3
34
8.4
76
Not enough data
8.8
28
Library
Not enough data
8.8
24
Not enough data
8.3
24
Not enough data
8.2
25
Not enough data
8.4
20
CAD
Not enough data
8.9
21
Not enough data
9.4
26
Not enough data
9.0
26
Integration
Not enough data
8.4
23
Not enough data
9.5
24
Not enough data
8.5
21
Not enough data
8.8
27
Data
Not enough data
9.1
23
Not enough data
8.5
22
Not enough data
8.1
22
Not enough data
8.8
22
Not enough data
8.0
20
Not enough data
8.5
21
Logistics
Not enough data
9.0
23
Not enough data
7.9
59
File Support
Not enough data
8.7
55
Not enough data
8.5
41
Not enough data
8.4
46
File Editing
Not enough data
7.5
49
Not enough data
8.6
53
Software Integrations
Not enough data
7.5
43
Not enough data
8.8
52
Software Type
Not enough data
7.6
42
Not enough data
8.5
47
Generative AI
Not enough data
6.8
14
Not enough data
6.7
14
Not enough data
9.0
42
File Options
Not enough data
8.8
38
Not enough data
9.1
37
Not enough data
9.1
37
Not enough data
9.3
38
Not enough data
8.2
30
Not enough data
8.1
36
Tools
Not enough data
9.5
37
Not enough data
9.0
35
Not enough data
9.1
37
Design
Not enough data
9.4
37
Not enough data
7.9
14
Design
Not enough data
7.7
11
Not enough data
7.7
11
Tools
Not enough data
9.2
12
Not enough data
8.8
12
Library
Not enough data
8.1
12
Platform
Not enough data
8.5
12
Not enough data
7.9
11
Customization
Not enough data
7.6
11
Not enough data
8.2
11
7.5
20
8.0
53
Design
9.0
20
9.2
52
8.6
20
8.9
52
8.7
20
8.7
52
7.6
19
7.4
52
Tools
5.6
16
7.9
46
7.5
19
7.9
47
7.1
17
7.3
40
Work
6.9
15
7.3
34
6.8
15
7.6
35
7.2
16
8.1
41
7.6
14
7.9
37
7.6
16
8.4
40
Environment
7.7
17
8.3
46
7.7
18
8.3
44
6.9
18
8.2
41
8.1
19
8.5
45
Mechanical Computer-aided Design (MCAD)Hide 18 FeaturesShow 18 Features
Not enough data
8.6
11
Tools - Mechanical Computer-aided Design (MCAD)
Not enough data
9.2
10
Not enough data
7.8
10
Not enough data
9.3
10
Not enough data
8.5
10
Not enough data
7.3
10
File Options - Mechanical Computer-aided Design (MCAD)
Not enough data
7.8
10
Not enough data
8.0
10
Not enough data
7.3
10
Not enough data
7.7
10
Not enough data
7.0
10
Customization - Mechanical Computer-aided Design (MCAD)
Not enough data
7.8
9
Not enough data
8.1
9
Not enough data
7.6
9
Not enough data
8.1
9
Environment - Mechanical Computer-aided Design (MCAD)
Not enough data
8.0
10
Not enough data
8.1
9
Not enough data
7.6
9
Not enough data
8.1
9
Categories
Categories
Shared Categories
Inventor
Inventor
SOLIDWORKS
SOLIDWORKS
Unique Categories
Inventor
Inventor has no unique categories
Reviews
Reviewers' Company Size
Inventor
Inventor
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
35.0%
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
42.7%
Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)
22.3%
SOLIDWORKS
SOLIDWORKS
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
43.7%
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
34.1%
Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)
22.3%
Reviewers' Industry
Inventor
Inventor
Mechanical or Industrial Engineering
24.9%
Machinery
7.9%
Design
7.2%
Construction
5.0%
Utilities
3.8%
Other
51.1%
SOLIDWORKS
SOLIDWORKS
Mechanical or Industrial Engineering
22.4%
Design
12.1%
Automotive
6.3%
Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing
6.1%
Medical Devices
6.0%
Other
47.1%
Most Helpful Reviews
Inventor
Inventor
Most Helpful Favorable Review
BD
Bharani D.
Verified User in Building Materials

Its very usefull application for 3D modeling and details drawing making

Most Helpful Critical Review
SH
Scott H.
Verified User in Hospital & Health Care

I don't like the iPart, iAssembly, i-anything workflow. To be honest, it is really poorly thought out. TO think that making a part into an iPart causes it to have to be removed from an assembly and have to be re-added with constraints is very limiting. What...

SOLIDWORKS
SOLIDWORKS
Most Helpful Favorable Review
YG
Yevgen G.
Verified User in Higher Education

1. User friendly interface including - clear structure; - intuitively proper location of tools; - good help system; - customizable toolboxes. 2. Comprehensive functionality including - open platform with hundreds of add-ins; - add-ins present CAD,...

Most Helpful Critical Review
ED
Ed D.
Verified User in Machinery

1. SolidWorks continues to do things to make older files less stable and Excel bills of materials unstable. 2. Several SPR's have taken years to fix. 3. My request for a linear actuator in Motion was made in 2002 and has never implemented. 4. It took...

Alternatives
Inventor
Inventor Alternatives
Solid Edge
Solid Edge
Add Solid Edge
Creo Parametric
Creo Parametric
Add Creo Parametric
Onshape
Onshape
Add Onshape
IronCAD
IronCAD
Add IronCAD
SOLIDWORKS
SOLIDWORKS Alternatives
Autodesk Fusion
Autodesk Fusion
Add Autodesk Fusion
Onshape
Onshape
Add Onshape
Solid Edge
Solid Edge
Add Solid Edge
Creo Parametric
Creo Parametric
Add Creo Parametric
Discussions
Inventor
Inventor Discussions
How do you handle the data creation problem?
2 comments
SG
You basically need to create each model from scratch in Inventor. You can copy your AutoCAD in Inventor and extrude the models but the models won't be...Read more
there is a form to get more realistic renders from inventor?
2 comments
KC
Max can load Inventor files natively, so that's certainly one option. The render engine in Inventor is pretty good, though. There is a great deal of ...Read more
Is integration with other Autodesk products being considered?
2 comments
MG
Autodesk published a video on how to export Inventor parts to Revit here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue7-WtyiUtIRead more
SOLIDWORKS
SOLIDWORKS Discussions
What is SOLIDWORKS used for?
3 comments
YP
SOLIDWORKS IS USED FOR MULTIPLE WORK LIKE 2D & 3D CAD MODELING, ASSEMBLY MODELING, SHWWET METAL MODELING, SURFACE MODELING, RENDERING, SIMULATION, 3D...Read more
How to stop or cancel a ongoing command.
2 comments
GP
The sentence does not contain any translatable content as it is an imperative instruction.Read more
best use o this software
2 comments
OS
Making 2D sketches and extruding them to make 3d sketches.Read more