Originally Posted by
RichardDeptris
I'm a software engineer and take my opinions for whatever it's worth. There will be many people who disagree with them.
I would stay away from any cloud based CAD solutions and especially web-based CAD systems. The idea of having you're data in the "cloud" is fraught with problems. My policy is simple. The code is yours, but the data is mine. By using cloud based software, you're opening up yourself to having your data held hostage if you miss a payment or decide you want to move to a competing product. Also, many of the cloud based solutions have severe usability and performance issues and don't surface until your models increase in size and complexity. Web-based systems like OnShape are clunky and difficult to maneuver since the web isn't intended to high interaction. Fusion360 has a desktop client, but it is cross platform, which limits its ability to fully utilize your computers resources. Cross platform always, except for the simplest of applications, results in the least common denominator approach where there are trade offs in usability and power.
If you're looking for a good 3D CAD software, I would seriously consider SolidWorks or Autodesk Inventor. Solidworks takes a while to learn just as Inventor, but the interface is consistent across operations, allowing you to quickly learn new operations. Solidworks, however, shows its age and its pricing is horrendous. It reminds me of Quark, which used to be the defacto desktop publishing package. Like Quark, Solidworks improvements has been slow and they don't care about non-corporate markets. Quark became irrelevant after Adobe introduced InDesign, which had more sensible end-user licensing. Autodesk Inventor is the InDesign of the 3D CAD software market. It is new and works in much the same way as SolidWorks, but it has some inconsistencies. It is relatively new in the marketplace and has been making steady improvements.
Unfortunately, InDesign, although it is still improving, isn't receiving Autodesk's attention as much as it used to. It isn't clear what Autodesk's strategy is, but they seem to be pushing Fusion360 very hard. It is a common trend nowadays for big software companies to move your data to the cloud and to treat the software as a service. This benefits them more than it does the customer as they it allows them to control piracy and guarantee a consistent revenue stream by the month instead of by the release.
In short, I would invest in Inventor. If Autodesk ever drops the product in favor of Fusion360, there will be an upgrade path. For now, it is unclear whether the software as a service business model will work for CAD systems.