PTC Offers 6 Months of Onshape Professional for Free

Finally, you have time to discover how good Onshape has gotten.

GenCell used Onshape for the built-in version control and real-time collaboration tools of its hydrogen-on-demand generator. Image: Onshape.

GenCell used Onshape for the built-in version control and real-time collaboration tools of its hydrogen-on-demand generator. Image: Onshape.

During the 1990s, picking a CAD program for mechanical design was a bit like musical chairs—except that there were plenty of chairs. When the music stopped, everyone got a seat. Since then, CAD users have, for the most part, stayed seated. In fact, any attempt to dislodge them from the CAD with which they were familiar was met with a defiant “from my cold, dead hands” response. But now, at least one CAD company hears the music starting up again.

Twenty-three percent of users would consider switching CAD programs, says Henry, based on an Onshape-sponsored State of Product Development  & Hardware Design 2023-2024.

We reached out to Darren Henry after getting wind of Onshape’s offer to provide Onshape Professional free of charge for 6 months, a campaign they are calling Discovery—as in “discover Onshape, you SOLIDWORKS users.”

Henry, perhaps one of the most knowledgeable (he wrote many of Onshape’s original tutorials) and personable product marketers in the industry, has just returned to Onshape after a 5-year hiatus from the CAD world as Onshape’s VP of Operations. He is amazed at how much Onshape has matured since his departure.

Onshape had a free version, but the user paid in privacy: their models were out there in the open, like laundry on the line. That may be fine for hobbyists and students, but engineers and designers would have to pony up for Onshape Professional.

The Professional version also has simulation and will soon have CAM (in beta testing now) which will give it a full toolbox for design, simulation and manufacturing. The only version more expensive is the Enterprise version, which adds administrative tools but no additional features.

It’s smart of PTC (Onshape’s parent company) to offer Onshape Pro at no cost for 6 months. The previous 7-day and 14-day trials are pointless and a 1-month trial of any CAD software is too much time for kicking tires and not enough time to make it muscle memory. Short trial periods for CAD leave users in a learning mode and with a sense of frustration. CAD is simply not something you can be proficient in after a month. You will barely have learned your way around the UI, the new names for your old tools—everything seems slower and some things seem impossible. But in a matter of months, everything changes. You discover (see what I did there?) some things are not just done differently for the sake of being different, or to frustrate, but on purpose. You just might have a realization … or two.

In the case of Onshape, that might sound like this.

“Oh, crap, I forgot to save my file,” followed by “Wow. I didn’t lose a thing.”

“I haven’t crashed for a while. Weird.”

PTC hopes you will discover (I’ll stop now) how convenient and capable Onshape has become and be able to judge it fairly against whatever you might be using as your main CAD program.

Onshape Grew Up

The 80/20 rule, or 80 percent of the capability at 20 percent of the price, no longer applies. Onshape is just about as capable as SOLIDWORKS now, says Henry.

Take surfaces, he offers.

Surfacing, the acid test for 3D modeling, which is difficult but possible with SOLIDWORKS, is taken as a measure of modeling robustness for the whole of the program.

Henry does not claim Onshape has surpassed SOLIDWORKS with its surfacing capability. Okay, has it matched SOLIDWORKS? Maybe. Made surfacing easier? Definitely.

Onshape is aiming squarely at SOLIDWORKS, seeking to displace the software from the top of the mechanical CAD (MCAD) podium. What about Autodesk’s Fusion 360, the other modern mainstream MCAD system?

Fusion is in the target area, says Henry, but it’s SOLIDWORKS that’s in the bulls-eye.

Brother from Another Mother

Onshape vying to dominate this space over SOLIDWORKS is like the youngest child fighting the eldest for the throne. Both leapt from the mind of Jon Hirschtick, who sold his firstborn, SOLIDWORKS, to Dassault Systèmes, then created Onshape, which he then sold to PTC. The CAD archrivals now each have an enterprise CAD product and a mainstream CAD product. Autodesk, with Inventor and Fusion 360, has a desktop CAD program and a next-generation CAD program. Rounding out the Big Four is Siemens with NX for the enterprise space and Solid Edge for the mainstream.

Onshape’s claim to fame is that it is the only pure-cloud professional MCAD system. It is the only CAD program that resides on the cloud, keeps data on the cloud, is usable on multiple devices and stores models in a database—not files.

There simply is no quicker way to get your hands on a CAD system than Onshape. There is no download. You only have to create an account and get online and, suddenly, you have access to the Onshape program. Getting access to real (as in professional) MCAD cannot be any easier than this. Of course, getting proficient will take time measured in months. And now, finally, you have it.

You can find out more about the Onshape Discover program here.