3D CAD program options for off-line use

[Neto]

Any users of non-subscription 3D CAD programs out there?

I know that Solid Edge will still work for off-line users, suspect the same for TurboCAD.

Anyone using FreeCAD?

(The customer is a welding and machine shop, and would be transitioning from SketchUp Pro. So any similarities with this program would be helpful.)

Any hints or feed-back are greatly appreciated.

[ken_sylvania]

Non-subscription as in free, or non-subscription as in a paid, perpetual use license but no updates available without paying for them?

I believe DraftSight is still available with a perpetual use license for 2D and Solidworks for 3D.

[Josh]

I would guess his problem is making it work without having a constant Internet connection. Either that, or a customer wants to pay upfront and doesn't want recurring charges.

The former is possible with Dassault's SolidWorks stuff but I imagine you'd need to talk to a salesman to get it.. As far as the latter goes, that seems to have gone the way of the dodo. You could use software that is a number of years out of date to get around that, much like people still using QuickBooks 2020.

[Neto]

Non-subscription as in free, or non-subscription as in a paid, perpetual use license but no updates available without paying for them?

I believe DraftSight is still available with a perpetual use license for 2D and Solidworks for 3D.

Generally speaking, a non-subscription program for which a user pays a set fee for perpetual use. (I threw in the question about FreeCAD because it came up in one of my on-line info searches for a couple of the programs that other companies I work with have used.)

Barring a perpetual use program, the next choice would be a subscription program that only requires an internet connection when it is renewed for the next period of time, generally 1 year at a time. (Like Zed-Axis, in comparison to the miserable 14-days Intuit allows for QuickBooks before on-line verification is required.)

Unless SolidWorks changed back to a non-subscription model, they no longer offer an off-line version.

I have since received a response for TurboCAD, and they still offer the perpetual licensing, as before. I have other customers who are using SolidEdge, and they will work with the customer to do off-line registration. (I have recommended SolidEdge 2D to people who want to start with 2D, with the possibility of going to 3D later. SE 2D is free, and while I don't know for sure, I would certainly think that what a person learned in 2D would be a step up when starting with the purchased 3D version. I would install it on all systems I build, except that it is a much 'heavier' program than, say, QCAD. But the latter has no 3D version at all, and I also do not know how much knowing QCAD would help when transitioning to another drawing program, for 3D.)

[Neto]

I would guess his problem is making it work without having a constant Internet connection. Either that, or a customer wants to pay upfront and doesn't want recurring charges.

The former is possible with Dassault's SolidWorks stuff but I imagine you'd need to talk to a salesman to get it.. As far as the latter goes, that seems to have gone the way of the dodo. You could use software that is a number of years out of date to get around that, much like people still using QuickBooks 2020.

Yes, that is correct. First option, perpetual use, free & clear once paid for. Second, subscription with a full-term use for the entire paid period without any constant internet service required.

This company purchased pretty much the top of the line TurboCAD version for machine work, back in 2014. But it was much more complicated to get started with than SketchUp, so they never really learned to use TurboCAD. I suspect that it would still do everything they need, and that it is the best option for them, unless there have been vast improvements in usability.

[ken_sylvania]

Non-subscription as in free, or non-subscription as in a paid, perpetual use license but no updates available without paying for them?

I believe DraftSight is still available with a perpetual use license for 2D and Solidworks for 3D.

Generally speaking, a non-subscription program for which a user pays a set fee for perpetual use. (I threw in the question about FreeCAD because it came up in one of my on-line info searches for a couple of the programs that other companies I work with have used.)

Barring a perpetual use program, the next choice would be a subscription program that only requires an internet connection when it is renewed for the next period of time, generally 1 year at a time. (Like Zed-Axis, in comparison to the miserable 14-days Intuit allows for QuickBooks before on-line verification is required.)

Unless SolidWorks changed back to a non-subscription model, they no longer offer an off-line version.

I have since received a response for TurboCAD, and they still offer the perpetual licensing, as before. I have other customers who are using SolidEdge, and they will work with the customer to do off-line registration. (I have recommended SolidEdge 2D to people who want to start with 2D, with the possibility of going to 3D later. SE 2D is free, and while I don't know for sure, I would certainly think that what a person learned in 2D would be a step up when starting with the purchased 3D version. I would install it on all systems I build, except that it is a much 'heavier' program than, say, QCAD. But the latter has no 3D version at all, and I also do not know how much knowing QCAD would help when transitioning to another drawing program, for 3D.)

SolidWorks never went away from a non-subscription model. Well, they do force you to buy one year of support with any software seat that you buy, but once that support expires as long as you bought the perpetual license it is still good as long as the software will still run on your hardware. You're just not eligible for any more software updates.

[Neto]

Non-subscription as in free, or non-subscription as in a paid, perpetual use license but no updates available without paying for them?

I believe DraftSight is still available with a perpetual use license for 2D and Solidworks for 3D.

Generally speaking, a non-subscription program for which a user pays a set fee for perpetual use. (I threw in the question about FreeCAD because it came up in one of my on-line info searches for a couple of the programs that other companies I work with have used.)

Barring a perpetual use program, the next choice would be a subscription program that only requires an internet connection when it is renewed for the next period of time, generally 1 year at a time. (Like Zed-Axis, in comparison to the miserable 14-days Intuit allows for QuickBooks before on-line verification is required.)

Unless SolidWorks changed back to a non-subscription model, they no longer offer an off-line version.

I have since received a response for TurboCAD, and they still offer the perpetual licensing, as before. I have other customers who are using SolidEdge, and they will work with the customer to do off-line registration. (I have recommended SolidEdge 2D to people who want to start with 2D, with the possibility of going to 3D later. SE 2D is free, and while I don't know for sure, I would certainly think that what a person learned in 2D would be a step up when starting with the purchased 3D version. I would install it on all systems I build, except that it is a much 'heavier' program than, say, QCAD. But the latter has no 3D version at all, and I also do not know how much knowing QCAD would help when transitioning to another drawing program, for 3D.)

SolidWorks never went away from a non-subscription model. Well, they do force you to buy one year of support with any software seat that you buy, but once that support expires as long as you bought the perpetual license it is still good as long as the software will still run on your hardware. You're just not eligible for any more software updates.

OK. Then I must have misunderstood something already years ago.

[Neto]

Just to update the info here, I received the following response from The SketchUp Support Team at Trimble Inc:

Hello Ernest,

Thanks for reaching out to SketchUp Support! This message is in response to your request regarding SketchUp question

Sketchup requires you to sign in roughly once every 28 days, during which your machine must be connected to the internet. SketchUp Pro can function when not connected to the internet, however this will restrict your access to online features like the 3D Warehouse or extension warehouse.

(under line added by yours truly....)

[Josh]

One option may to be apply to a crack. (You can do this for QuickBooks as well.) Of course, if you want to make sure your customers stay licenced, make sure you're paying the appropriate fees or whatever, but this would negate the need to be connected to the Internet.

Cracks are plentiful these days since Russians can't legally buy software from Microsoft, Intuit, Adobe, etc. so there is a flourishing "industry" over there of making modern software work.

[Neto]

One option may to be apply to a crack. (You can do this for QuickBooks as well.) Of course, if you want to make sure your customers stay licenced, make sure you're paying the appropriate fees or whatever, but this would negate the need to be connected to the Internet.

Cracks are plentiful these days since Russians can't legally buy software from Microsoft, Intuit, Adobe, etc. so there is a flourishing "industry" over there of making modern software work.

Yeah, I purchased what was supposed to be a CS 5.5 version of Adobe Photoshop (for a customer) several years back. It was listed as being in the USA, but as I recall, it shipped from someplace else. Anyway, it was actually a version 6.0. After it came I kinda' suspected it was fake (can't remember what tipped me off at first) so I did a test installation. Maybe it was just that I knew that version was subscription only. Anyway, there were two language choices, English and Russian, and Russian was the default language. I scanned the cover, and sent it to our pastor, to see what he thought. He showed it to two of his IT guys, and one of them had previously worked on an Adobe development team or somesuch, and he said that it fooled him at first, but because of the language deal, looked at it more closely. (He was just going by the disk jacket.) He detected a very slight difference in the font the jacket was printed in. He said that Adobe has their own font, and no one has access to it - as part of their software integrity testing. The business owner I purchased it for took part of the cost as a loss, and I took the other half or so.

Another customer just contacted me today about a Microsoft 2007 Office Pro license. They were attempting to register it, but a message appeared that said "This product is no longer supported." I will do a test myself to be sure, because those products are sold as perpetual licenses, so it is a breach of contract to refuse to register it.