Updated: August 2026
AutoCAD is subscription only — Autodesk has not sold a perpetual license since 2016, so you cannot buy it outright at any price. Ten alternatives are reviewed below, with each vendor’s own current pricing and the catch on each one. Several are perpetual: you buy once and the software keeps working. One of them costs $48 USD.
Replacing AutoCAD in a business, drawings must survive the round trip? BricsCAD. It is the only one that is genuinely AutoCAD-shaped — native .dwg, LISP that ports, and a perpetual license if you ask for one.
Working in 2D and want to stop paying rent? QCAD Professional at $48 USD, once. It is 2D only and its DWG path goes through DXF — if you can live with both, nothing else here comes close on value.
Budget of zero? FreeCAD if you are modeling, nanoCAD Free if you need to open DWG and your use is non-commercial. Both are real software, not crippleware.
SketchUp or Rhino instead? Neither replaces AutoCAD — they are 3D design tools, not drafting packages. Pair them with a drafter; do not substitute.
Ranked on what a working drafter actually cares about: does it open the file, does the license expire, and what does it cost over five years rather than one.
| Product | Price | License | Scope | DWG native | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AutoCAD baseline | Subscription only — priced by Autodesk | subscription | 2D + 3D | yes | — |
| BricsCAD | EUR 330–1,176 / year (approx. $385–$1,375) EUR | both | 2D + 3D | yes | 9/10 |
| progeCAD | $540 USD one-time | perpetual | 2D + 3D | yes | 8/10 |
| QCAD | $48 USD perpetual — or free | both | 2D | via DXF | 8/10 |
| FreeCAD | Free — open source | foss | 2D + 3D | via DXF | 8/10 |
| SketchUp | $10.75–$68.25 USD / month, billed annually | subscription | 3D | via DXF | 8/10 |
| Rhino | $995 USD perpetual | perpetual | 3D | via DXF | 8/10 |
| ZWCAD | $1,399 USD perpetual (Professional) | both | 2D + 3D | yes | 7/10 |
| DraftSight | $299–$599 USD / year | subscription | 2D + 3D | yes | 7/10 |
| nanoCAD | $289 USD / year — free tier available | both | 2D + 3D | yes | 7/10 |
| LibreCAD | Free — GPLv2 | foss | 2D | via DXF | 6/10 |
Every figure comes from the vendor’s own pricing page, linked on each review. Rows marked EUR are priced in euros by the vendor, not in dollars. Dollar figures marked “approx.” are converted from the vendor’s own euro price at the ECB reference rate of 1 EUR = 1.17 USD. They are an indication only — the price you pay is the vendor’s euro figure, and conversions move with the exchange rate. Full detail on the comparison page.
Octave (formerly Bricsys)
EUR 330–1,176 / year (approx. $385–$1,375)
The closest thing to a true AutoCAD replacement rather than an imitation. It is the only alternative here that credibly covers 2D drafting, 3D modeling, BIM and mechanical in one license family, and the only one whose LISP and .dwg fidelity survive contact with real consultant drawings.
ProgeSOFT
$540 USD one-time
The anti-subscription choice. progeCAD sells one thing and sells it clearly: an AutoCAD-shaped 2D/3D drafter you buy once.
RibbonSoft
$48 USD perpetual — or free
The best value on this page by a wide margin, and it is not close. Forty-eight dollars, once, for a properly maintained 2D drafter that runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.
FreeCAD community
Free — open source
Not an AutoCAD replacement, and pretending otherwise does nobody a favor. FreeCAD is a parametric 3D modeller with a drafting workbench attached, where AutoCAD is a drafting tool with 3D attached.
Trimble
$10.75–$68.25 USD / month, billed annually
Dan named this one, and it belongs here — but as a different animal. SketchUp is a direct-modeling tool for spatial design: massing, concept, interiors, anything you want to think through in three dimensions quickly.
Robert McNeel & Associates
$995 USD perpetual
The best-value perpetual license in professional 3D, and the natural companion to SketchUp on this page rather than a competitor to it. Rhino does NURBS surfacing that nothing else at this price approaches, and Grasshopper makes it the default choice for computational and parametric design.
The market has moved, and most comparison articles still have these wrong:
bricsys.com now redirects to bricscad.octave.com.
The software is unchanged; the company behind it is not.