Onshape Reviews

Onshape has a lot of features like the traditional modeling softwares which makes modeling of complex design easy for a web based software. I personally like the way their tutorials are structured for different levels; basic, advance and experts. That way of learning will be more fun since they won't be bombarding you with advance stuffs which can be boring for beginners.

There is no feature for 3D sketching which slows down modeling of complex geometries. It needs internet to work which could be really frustrating in conditions and areas where internet connection is unstable or not available

The fact that Onshape is not file based is its main advantage! You can just start designing parts, assemblies and drawings. You don't have to think about file names, you can rename them later. This helps a lot getting things done quickly. After 2 weeks I still get the feeling "Oh I have created a lot of features, I have to save now!" but in Onshape this is not necessary, it saves every step :-)
Also you have a complete history of every change, which is really nice!

The rendering and simulation software I use, are both already working with Onshape (much better than my previous CAD software)!

Some features are missing at the moment, but they are coming in the future.

I wished I had Onshape 5 years ago, would have saved me from a lot of headaches.

The fastener mate command is useful. I also like the documentation set up. It makes it easy to find parts specific to an assembly I create. They finally implemented the configuration option which is helpful. That is about it though

I do not like part studio set up. Inserting parts into a part studio get extremely frustrating when I insert said part studio into an assembly and it inserts all the parts in the part studio without their orientation towards each other and they do not follow the tramsform command. It also inserts the parts individually. I also loathe that when (about 20% of the time) I make a drawing for an assembly it does not transfer all the information and will add lines that are not there and omit lines that should be there. From a production stand point this is impossible to work around and makes our documentation look like a joke. Their customer service told me they are working on it over 2 months ago and it still happens and then they told me I needed to remove all the hardware (about 100 pieces) one at a time until i found the culprit. They also told me to leave it out in the drawing which also doesn't work for me. The branching of workflows is also frustrating when multiple people are working on something and the document will not allow a merge. The document ends up being left and no one knows which branch is active.

The best aspect about OnShape is that it utilizes cloud services so you can use any computer, tablet or phone as long as it has a browser. It's amazing also because the same design can be worked on by more than 1 person if need be.

I really have no issues at all with this software. It's even the best of it's kind in my opinion.

The Onshape team has something most companies do not have. They are willing to improve their software instead of just selling you old tech.

- Very Parametric
- 10/10 Customer support
- Up to date software
- It's all in the cloud

- It's all in the cloud
- You need fast and powerful internet
- Not much support for organic surfaces and shapes (as of 2017)

We use it mainly for importing and analyzing files for quote. The API make it easy to move data from their system to ours. Team projects are really easy with multiple people working on the same file.

Imports could be quicker. Large .stl files are still hard to deal with. Need a model repair tool for imported geometry.

I tried on shape because I needed a software what would work whereever I was and from whatever computer I was working on. Great browser based cad software that works just about in any environment. Files are stored in the cloud so they can be accessed from anywhere.

There is a learning curve when starting with a new cad software. Controls are different then AutoCAD

The use of the software has an unlimited amount of possibilities.

The software is very tedious making it sometimes frustrating

This is a great free alternative for cad software. It is very easy to learn. It's easy to import parts from manufacturers

It needs a caM system to a full featured program

The new ways of working that the marketing talk pushes so hard really do have some significant advantages. The integrated version control is brilliant - unlimited undo, branching, merging and visual differencing. Real time collaboration works well but persuading suppliers to adopt a new process can be tricky. The subscription model of both licensing and software updates works well for us.
One of the most impressive aspects has been the customer support. This software is a work-in-progress. The quality is good but as with all software, users find inventive ways to break things or try the impossible. When something hasn't worked as expected the in-built feedback tool works great. I've put in several 'bugs' and feature requests and always had a response within 24 hours. Bugs fixes have made it into the next monthly release. Low hardware requirements that aren't increased with every release.

Some feature sets are more developed than others. Drawings are still improving - quite a few 'manual' tools that you'd be used to from other packages are not yet available. For me the lack of 'configurations' is frustrating but I can see this ultimately being integrated with the versioning system and being awesome.

Infinite computing, makes it possible to work from anywhere and model quickly, even from my iPad or netbook.

The lofting feature blows other CAD systems out of the water. Seriously the loft feature you have now is unbelievably good.

The "git" style versioning is genius. I never worry about loosing work, breaking assemblies, etc. The versioning in Onshape is my favorite feature IN ANY SOFTWARE. I wish every piece of software worked this way.

The collaboration I do now with clients is ONLY possible in Onshape. I can work thousands of miles away from my client but they still feel in complete control. They can access their assets without even contacting me which is so amazing.

The shear peace of mind that all of my CAD assets and references are safely stored on the cloud gives me amazing confidence working on projects for clients.

Adobe Illustrator polylines, DXF and DWG import/ingest needs major improvement. Going from Illustrator to Onshape is kind of a pain in the butt right now. So many designs come from Illustrator or EPS, and being able to digest polylines would be so great.

Google font support in the text tool would also be helpful. Only 5 fonts or so are available now which is very limited.

The collaborative features allow us to work in remote teams, often on different continents and time zones. Visual communication crosses language barriers better than any other means we know of.

The lack of well-integrated CAM makes the final step in engineering solutions a bit harder than some other packages.

I like the customer support and the quick responses.
Anticipation of new updates and improvements.
Constant improvements.
Price is good.
Can take it anywhere on almost any device as long as internet connection is decent.
Sharing is easy but I think could be better.
works on mac!
I don't need a fancy workstation.

BOMS!!! absolute worst and very frustrating. I tried both google sheets and OpenBOM and always end up very frustrated and never happy with the finished product.
Need exploded views. That exploded view app is garbage
Need sheet metal features added faster. Need to be able to add tabs for tab and slot designs. Everything feature that is added to a sheet metal part that will affect laser cutting needs to show up on the flat pattern. I hate and don't understand having the "finish sheet metal" feature.
Drawing templates are also frustrating. trying to make a nice company template has been a struggle and I am still not happy with it. Importing to a DWT and modifying in a 2D cad software never reimports properly.

The Costumer Support was LOVLEY and they really made my day!

Where do I start the features are hard to use it is time consuming and extremely expensive and is overall hard to use in ANY capacity.

It is easy to use and as it does not require installation on a computer, you can always have your files available

Despite having a good handling in 3d, when it comes to passing the model to blueprints I always end up operating in a different software to be able to be more in the details

Onshape is designed by engineers who made SolidWorks so it is almost as powerful and intuitive. The biggest advantage is that Onshape is completely online, and doesn't ​require downloading of bulky software on the local drive. The online aspect allows you to work from any computer, and have your personal workspace​ ready for you, and it makes collaboration very easy.

No cons so far, I'm loving everything about Onshape.

Because I'm the only CAD person then being able to Share/Control documents with just a few clicks
is very important and saves me lots of time. And being able to import designs from my old Inventor CAD system.

No real issues; I pack a lot of information into assembly drawings and try to finish off in Onshape but sometimes have to push into 2d Draftsight to finish off. i.e. reduce line weights. Adding a circle and rectangle tool in drawings might help. If i could get my spreadsheet parts list into Onshape via Openbom would save a lot of time, I have mentioned this to Oleg.