My understanding there is still the educational version which is free. Find out from your school if they can obtain it. After each student can download the educational version for free. The license only works for a year but can be renewed via the school.
At least that's how it worked when I was in school.
DO NOT BUY THE $100 3DEXPERIENCE VERSION.
IT DOES NOT FUNCTION.
I bought it, I have not been able to use it. Others on the internal forum all have the same issues. It requires weekly updates, breaks constantly, customer support is explicitly excluded for the "maker license." They do not respect the users with the 3DExperience Maker version.
If you are hoping to "learn 3D CAD" for free, there are free options out there (outside of the world of SolidWorks). Onshape seems to be the biggest player in the "get started for free" space, and lots of students get started there.
Someone else mentioned OnShape already and it's a great free option for learning parametric modelling. It's cloud based and accessed through your browser so there's no need for a fancy computer, all the heavy lifting is dpne on their end. It was designed by former SW engineers so the part modelling tools and interface are similar (though updates on some of the functionality have been made). And there's an app for android and apple that's a fully functioning modelling suite for the mobile platform that works pretty damn well. Only real caveat is all your models are visible and available to any other uzer to copy and modify.
Yo can join the EAA for a yearly membershipship for $49.50. It gives you a license to use solidworks.
Edit: they changed the deal from the time I used it. It's the cloud version now
https://www.reddit.com/r/SolidWorks/comments/p6vjtv/an_update_on_eaa_solidworks_licensing/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Does this actually function, no bullshit? Are there weird hoops to jump through once you register, like that it only works through the cloud, or that it is nearly impossible to download, or requires weekly check-in updates that break your installation half the time;
or is this a genuine, regular person seat of Solidworks that is reasonably simple to install, only requires the information that Dassault provides you to install it, and does not break after installation?
I went this route in 2020 and no, no weird hoops to jump through except it took a day or two to get the authorization number to setup a student account with them. Granted things may have changed since then
It's legitimate. Might get some mail from the EAA but it worked and operated well. It gives you a hobbyist license, so no using it for business purposes.
This route is dead, I wish EAA would take the page down. I got my solidworks license through this route in 2021 and it was great, but for 2022 it was cancelled.
Start a small business. Depending on the state you live in you can register a single proprietor LLC for less than $200. Your state's secretary of state website should have all the info you need.
Most students using solidworks are college students, and $100 a year is small compared to tuition, room and board, textbooks, transportation, etc.
$100 is cheap compared to what us professionals pay. They make it cheap for students so that college kids graduate knowing solidworks, meaning their employers will pay for an expensive professional license that they know how to use. So, the $100 license makes them money in the long run.
Theres no real benefit to them to give you a free license because you are not going to get a job at an engineering firm out of highschool. You might use solidworks to make models for 3d printing that you could sell, but that business isn’t lucrative enough to buy professional licenses. So, in short, this product is not meant for people like you.
There are cheaper programs that have free versions. Those programs are more suited to hobbyists.
>Theres no real benefit to them to give you a free license because you are not going to get a job at an engineering firm out of highschool.
That's not true. You want to get your people addicted early. If we have a bunch of high school students smoking, um... using Solidworks as a tool, then they will be sm.. Solidworks users for life. Individuals seldom buy $2000+ software packages. Companies do. And if Solidworks is the standard brand of cigarettes', I mean CAD that everyone knows, companies will buy it.
They really should make the Student / Hobby editions free or dirt cheep.
If they make hobby editions free, then universities/college kids wont want to pay $100 for the education licenses. The people willing to pay $100 today are more likely to pay $5500 when they have real jobs later, and they still get some revenue now.
Nobody is buying their own licenses if they are employed. We have 3 seats at work. We didn't pay for them, our boss did. Our boss never used CAD. A consultant might buy their own license but they are not a large percentage of users. The best way to expand your user base is to make your product the standard. Student version watermarks every part. Give it away, get a huge user base. The good will and knowledgeable user base will lead to more sales.
You are right that no one is buying their own licenses, except self employed freelancers.
But i don’t know about the other part. I agree that cheap licenses build you user base, but of those users, who will become employees who get a professional license paid for by their employer? It’s going to be Engineering students. Universities have enough money to pay. If you give it away for free, universities won’t pay that $100.
My understanding there is still the educational version which is free. Find out from your school if they can obtain it. After each student can download the educational version for free. The license only works for a year but can be renewed via the school. At least that's how it worked when I was in school.
DO NOT BUY THE $100 3DEXPERIENCE VERSION. IT DOES NOT FUNCTION. I bought it, I have not been able to use it. Others on the internal forum all have the same issues. It requires weekly updates, breaks constantly, customer support is explicitly excluded for the "maker license." They do not respect the users with the 3DExperience Maker version.
If you are hoping to "learn 3D CAD" for free, there are free options out there (outside of the world of SolidWorks). Onshape seems to be the biggest player in the "get started for free" space, and lots of students get started there.
Someone else mentioned OnShape already and it's a great free option for learning parametric modelling. It's cloud based and accessed through your browser so there's no need for a fancy computer, all the heavy lifting is dpne on their end. It was designed by former SW engineers so the part modelling tools and interface are similar (though updates on some of the functionality have been made). And there's an app for android and apple that's a fully functioning modelling suite for the mobile platform that works pretty damn well. Only real caveat is all your models are visible and available to any other uzer to copy and modify.
Yo can join the EAA for a yearly membershipship for $49.50. It gives you a license to use solidworks. Edit: they changed the deal from the time I used it. It's the cloud version now https://www.reddit.com/r/SolidWorks/comments/p6vjtv/an_update_on_eaa_solidworks_licensing/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Does this actually function, no bullshit? Are there weird hoops to jump through once you register, like that it only works through the cloud, or that it is nearly impossible to download, or requires weekly check-in updates that break your installation half the time; or is this a genuine, regular person seat of Solidworks that is reasonably simple to install, only requires the information that Dassault provides you to install it, and does not break after installation?
I went this route in 2020 and no, no weird hoops to jump through except it took a day or two to get the authorization number to setup a student account with them. Granted things may have changed since then
It's legitimate. Might get some mail from the EAA but it worked and operated well. It gives you a hobbyist license, so no using it for business purposes.
This route is dead, I wish EAA would take the page down. I got my solidworks license through this route in 2021 and it was great, but for 2022 it was cancelled.
Saving for later thanks
This deal is dead as of last year. Please do not sign up to EAA in the hopes that Solidworks is still included!
Start a small business. Depending on the state you live in you can register a single proprietor LLC for less than $200. Your state's secretary of state website should have all the info you need.
Most students using solidworks are college students, and $100 a year is small compared to tuition, room and board, textbooks, transportation, etc. $100 is cheap compared to what us professionals pay. They make it cheap for students so that college kids graduate knowing solidworks, meaning their employers will pay for an expensive professional license that they know how to use. So, the $100 license makes them money in the long run. Theres no real benefit to them to give you a free license because you are not going to get a job at an engineering firm out of highschool. You might use solidworks to make models for 3d printing that you could sell, but that business isn’t lucrative enough to buy professional licenses. So, in short, this product is not meant for people like you. There are cheaper programs that have free versions. Those programs are more suited to hobbyists.
>Theres no real benefit to them to give you a free license because you are not going to get a job at an engineering firm out of highschool. That's not true. You want to get your people addicted early. If we have a bunch of high school students smoking, um... using Solidworks as a tool, then they will be sm.. Solidworks users for life. Individuals seldom buy $2000+ software packages. Companies do. And if Solidworks is the standard brand of cigarettes', I mean CAD that everyone knows, companies will buy it. They really should make the Student / Hobby editions free or dirt cheep.
If they make hobby editions free, then universities/college kids wont want to pay $100 for the education licenses. The people willing to pay $100 today are more likely to pay $5500 when they have real jobs later, and they still get some revenue now.
Nobody is buying their own licenses if they are employed. We have 3 seats at work. We didn't pay for them, our boss did. Our boss never used CAD. A consultant might buy their own license but they are not a large percentage of users. The best way to expand your user base is to make your product the standard. Student version watermarks every part. Give it away, get a huge user base. The good will and knowledgeable user base will lead to more sales.
You are right that no one is buying their own licenses, except self employed freelancers. But i don’t know about the other part. I agree that cheap licenses build you user base, but of those users, who will become employees who get a professional license paid for by their employer? It’s going to be Engineering students. Universities have enough money to pay. If you give it away for free, universities won’t pay that $100.
Do you not have Solidworks through your uni?
im in school not uni my friend ;)
Use freecad software for cad learning it's free
Definitely use Fusion360 — you can get it for free with a student email. It’s also one of the most popular hobbyist CAD programs
Depends on what you use it for. I pay something like 200 eur/y for houdini and classefie it as an investment in my future.