I am not going to go into all the reasons you shouldn't continue with the
subscription only CAD software, it is fully covered in this article.
The most important reason is you do not want to put your engineering data or
intellectual property under the control of these potentially unstable
corporations!
Update: I called a good ZW3D customer that always
upgraded due to his close work with Boeing and Airbus. They would only send
native Catia 5 PMI files and he needed to stay up to date with the latest
Catia 5 version. Due to Boeing's problems he had to dial it back and one of
those place was the $1,025 maintenance fee for the Premium package where he
used both the integrated CAD/CAM! It was a bit of a problem but he could
easily keep on working due to his perpetual version.
The Autodesk Solution
These prices come from the Autodesk store. How long before they eliminate
all dealers. Prices have increase since the last posting.
The arrogance is beyond belief. I have worked with this company as a dealer
and I can tell you that the concern for the users is long gone.
AutoCAD
$200.00 per month or $1610.00 per Year or $4345.00 for 3 years
AutoCAD LT
$50.00 per month pr $400.00 per Year or $1080.00 for 3 years
Options:
With most AutoCAD 2D clones you are mostly compatible with today's .dxf and
.dwg. I will guarantee they will do a drastic change to the file format,
striving to lock the clones out.
AutoCAD 2D Only
Ironcad Draft
Unrivaled
Compatibility with AutoCAD
$595.00 Perpetual Seat. Upgrades $200.00 per year.
Reads/writes native AutoCAD files.
ZWCAD Seamless
Compatibility with DWG and other CAD files
Starts at $800.00 Annual Maintenance $160.00
Autodesk Inventor - AutoCAD 3D
$250.00 per month or $1985.00 per Year or $5360.00 for 3 years
Option:
ZW3D Lite -
Full Function 3D CAD System
Rentals start at
$720.00 12 months
$1,800.00 Perpetual Seat
Reads native Inventor files plus Creo/Pro/E, NX/Solid Edge, Catia 4/5 and
Solidworks
Adds Free Form Class A Surfacing and
Morphing, Sheet metal, Robust Reverse Engineering and more.
Rentals start $1200.00 12 months
$3,000.00 Perpetual seat
IronCad - The very best conceptual design 3D CAD system
Rent $1,500.00 per year.
$3,970.00 Perpetual seat
Autodesk Alias
Alias Concept
$530.00 Monthly only or $4235.00 per year or $11435.00 three years
Alias Surface
$1105.00 Monthly only or $8825.00 per year or "OMG" three years!!
ZW3D Standard -
Adds Free Form Class A Surfacing and Morphing,
Sheet metal, Reverse Engineering,
Rentals start at
$1200.00 12 months
$3,000.00 Perpetual seat
The PTC Solution
It looks like subscriptions only January 1, 2018,
I have to tell you looking into buy or even upgrading leaves you a bit
perplexed. Even though they say that subscription will start in 2018, it
seems to be the only option they are offering. It is not really straight
forward. They basically offer a one subscription CAD solution with most of
the options. They have a list of dealers but they have no reference to
location.
They include a variety of products. You get them if you need them or not.
There is no option for just Creo parametric and a reasonable subscription,
you have to get Creo direct, Simulation and CAM. I looked for advanced
surfacing and they seem to expect you to call. You better know exactly what
you want before you call. I suppose a seasoned Creo user would understand
this.
We are just going to compare our products to the options above.
Replacing Creo is actually very easy to replace. Both of our product have
history and direct edit integrated into a single package. Creo is the most
fragmented program. It is a bit of a kluge as they try to keep their product
relevant. It is really shocking that many of they users have not moved to a
much more flexible 3D CAD system. Even the mid-ranged Creo clones outperform
Creo.
Creo Design Essentials Subscription with Auto-Renewal Start at $2,310.00 and
goes who knows where. This is an increased price since my last posting.
I agreed to the Creo
Parametric Essentials Subscription with Auto-Renewal Terms of Sale.
Sort of Scary!! Gulp!!
Here are our options.
Creo Parametric and Direct
Replacement Option
IronCad -
The very best conceptual design 3D CAD system.
Rent $1,500.00 per year
$4,670.00 Perpetual seat with options to read Creo files, NX, Solidworks,
Solid Edge, Catia 4/5 and Inventor directly
ZW3D Lite -
Full Function 3D CAD System
Rentals start $720.00 12 months
$1,800.00 Perpetual Seat
Imports native Creo/Pro/e
plus Catia, NX and Solidworks PMI, Imports Inventor, and Solid Edge. Imports
and Exports writes Catia 4/5 plus all the standard formats. Catia and
Solidworks drawings
Creo Parametric/Direct with surfacing
Replacement Option
ZW3D Standard -
Adds Free Form Class A Surfacing and Morphing,
Sheet metal, Robust Reverse Engineering and more
Rentals start at
$1200.00 12 months
$3,000.00 Perpetual seat
ZW3D is one of the only truly integrated
CAD/CAM packages with mold design and 2 to 5 axis CNC options. Equal the
high end packages? You be the judge!
Imports native Creo/Pro/e
plus Catia, NX and Solidworks PMI, Imports Inventor, and Solid Edge. Imports
and Exports writes Catia 4/5 plus all the standard formats. Catia and
Solidworks drawings
ZW3D Pricing
The Case for Inexpensive Integrated 3D CAD/CAM!
Siemens NX
"NX Continuous Release"
NX Cloud Connected - Core Designer
$279.00 per Month
Replacement Option
ZW3D Lite -
Full Function 3D CAD System
Rentals start at
$720.00 12 months
$1,800.00 Perpetual Seat
Imports native Creo/Pro/e
plus Catia, NX and Solidworks PMI, Imports Inventor, and Solid Edge. Imports
and Exports writes Catia 4/5 plus all the standard formats. Catia and
Solidworks drawings
NX Cloud Connected - Advanced Designer
$559.00 per Month
NX Cloud Connected - Scan to Part
$459.00 per Month
Replacement Option
ZW3D Standard -
Free Form Class A Surfacing is integrated into
its hybrid modeling system, plus and Morphing,
Sheet metal, Robust Reverse Engineering and more
Rentals
12 months
$1200.00
$3,000.00 Perpetual seat
NX Cloud Connected - Mold Designer
$559.00 per Month
Replacement Option
ZW3D Professional Mold Design
Includes ZW3D Standard
Rentals
12 months
$1800.00
$4,500.00 Perpetual seat
ZW3D is one of the only truly integrated
CAD/CAM packages with mold design and 2 to 5 axis CNC options. Equal the
high end packages? You be the judge!
Imports native Creo/Pro/e
plus Catia, NX and Solidworks PMI, Imports Inventor, and Solid Edge. Imports
and Exports writes Catia 4/5 plus all the standard formats. Catia and
Solidworks drawings
ZW3D Pricing
The Case for Inexpensive Integrated 3D CAD/CAM!
That is about it. Cost savings? Of course, are you locked into a company for
life? Nope. If you need other options please give me a call.
Both IronCAD and ZW3D have analysis and simulation option.
There you go.
You are not stuck with paying for CAD forever!
You now have Options.
TECH-NET Engineering Services!
Why
TECH-NET Sells
IronCAD and ZW3D
Feel free to give me a call!
Joe Brouwer
206-842-0360
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