Adobe Illustrator CC vs. AutoCAD

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe Illustrator
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Adobe Illustrator CC is a vector-based graphic design software.
$20.99
per month
AutoCAD
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
AutoCAD is a CAD product from Autodesk. It allows designers to work in 2D and 3D, and is available on Windows and Mac, but with extensive online collaboration tools.
$245
per month per user
Pricing
Adobe Illustrator CCAutoCAD
Editions & Modules
Yearly - Billed Monthly
$20.99
per month
Monthly
$31.49
per month
Yearly - Billed Upfront
$239.88
per year
Monthly Subscription
$245
per month per user
Yearly Subscription
$1975
per year per user
3-Year Subscription
$5925
3 years per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe IllustratorAutoCAD
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe Illustrator CCAutoCAD
Features
Adobe Illustrator CCAutoCAD
Computer-Aided Design Software
Comparison of Computer-Aided Design Software features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Illustrator CC
-
Ratings
AutoCAD
6.1
Ratings
15% below category average
3D Modeling00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
2D Drafting00 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Rendering and Visualization00 Ratings5.10 Ratings
Parametric Design00 Ratings4.80 Ratings
Collaboration and Sharing00 Ratings5.70 Ratings
Compatibility with other software and formats00 Ratings8.30 Ratings
Assembly Design00 Ratings5.30 Ratings
Simulation and Analysis00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Documentation and Annotation00 Ratings7.80 Ratings
Customization and Extensions00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Adobe Illustrator CCAutoCAD
Small Businesses
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite
Score 9.8 out of 10
Onshape
Onshape
Score 9.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
GIMP
GIMP
Score 9.3 out of 10
Onshape
Onshape
Score 9.9 out of 10
Enterprises
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite
Score 9.8 out of 10
Rhino
Rhino
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Adobe Illustrator CCAutoCAD
Likelihood to Recommend
9.1
(0 ratings)
7.4
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.2
(0 ratings)
8.5
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
5.0
(0 ratings)
6.9
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe Illustrator CCAutoCAD
Likelihood to Recommend
Indicated and suitable for companies and agencies that work with the creation of materials for social media, digital graphics and printed materials. Suitable for any scenario and for those who want to produce high quality material without image pixelation. A scenario not very suitable would be the use without proper knowledge of the tool, it would be interesting to see the tutorials and guides available by Adobe
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It is well suited for drafting in plan view. If you are looking for exact drafting that is the best for you to use. If you are looking to sketch and design, I would recommend you do not use AutoCAD first and instead use another app before transferring your work into AutoCAD.
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Pros
  • Vector graphics for scaling to large sizes
  • Filling an object with a texture
  • Easily adjusting and expanding an artboard to fit the size of the content (especially for infographics)
  • Compatibility with other Adobe CC programs, but also exporting for PPT graphics
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  • The tools are easy to use and the learning curve is fairly minimal to be able to create blueprints.
  • The 3D application is very fun to use and it is nice to be able to see your product instead of having to imagine what it will look like.
  • The speed and accuracy in which students can create plans is a huge bonus. Students can plan their industrial art projects out and use their own set of plans to build them.
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Cons
  • Illustrator Files can get large/cumbersome when you begin to incorporate high resolution photography, especially if you 'place' the photo instead of linking to it's source file
  • Typography can sometimes be a challenge, especially if you working on different machines that may not always have the font you need installed or sending the file to a commercial printer
  • OLDER versions of Illustrator can be a bit temperamental about being backward compatible though this issue has been greatly reduced with Adobe's move the Cloud Based subscription model
  • Not great for large print layouts (books, magazine etc) you're better off to move the project to Adobe InDesign in that case.
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  • User Interface Customisation: AutoCAD's user interface could benefit from more robust customisation options. Allowing users to rearrange toolbars, menus, and panels according to their specific workflows and preferences would enhance productivity.
  • Enhanced 3D Modeling Tools: While AutoCAD is capable of 3D modeling, it's not as intuitive or feature-rich as dedicated 3D modeling software. Streamlining the process and adding more advanced modeling tools would be a welcome improvement.
  • Enhanced Collaboration and Version Control: AutoCAD could improve its collaboration tools, such as real-time editing and version tracking, to facilitate smoother teamwork, especially in multi-disciplinary projects.
  • Intelligent Object Libraries: AutoCAD could benefit from an expanded and more intelligent library of standard objects and components. This would save time for designers who often have to create custom components from scratch.
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Likelihood to Renew
While Adobe Illustrator CC is one of the only true design software out there, it really stands heads above the other products. It's clean UI and menu structure is easy to navigate.
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Because rarely we [would] rather wait for a whole year to update, sometimes the new updates don't bring many new features and we are still ok with the current version. Also the change of interface is always something that takes time for every partner in the company to get comfortable with. So those are the main reasons we may want to keep the same version.
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Usability
There's a bit of a learning curve to this software vs other similar tools that can take some time to learn and get familiar with but the amount of functionality that Adobe Illustrator CC offers is quite large compared to simpler tools.
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The use case of AutoCAD as a CAD software is highly relevant today as it focuses or targets to tasks types which involve creating 2D drawings of a number of types like electrical drawings, hydraulic drawings, layout diagrams, floor plans, etc. thereby addressing a large number of industries like Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering and in most case Architectural Engineering as well
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Support Rating
I normally already know how to do whatever I'm trying out, but the documentation (as well as a simple Google search) makes any question quick to resolve. The Adobe boards themselves are a fantastic resource, especially for resolving questions between new programs and iterative releases.
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AutoCAD has the issue of crashing or slowing down the design procedure once a heavy design that includes several disciplines or multiple families/blocks is involved. Customer services gets the feedback from the crash reports but this issue seems like it has never been addressed in the software updates past several years.
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Implementation Rating
It was very easy to purchase and download.
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the implementation was realy easy , to set up our workstation we pay for the licenses we are about to use , there was a little bit of delay to get the payment processed to receive the serial but after that the install runs without any problem , so you can fell secure there will be not issue with the implementation.
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Alternatives Considered
I chose Rhinoceros 3D because it is accurate to make drawings in it and it is better to make drawings in Rhinoceros 3D and then put them in Adobe Illustrator. But while printing or scaling it is much easier to put it in Adobe Illustrator. This makes the whole printing aspect of it much easier.
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AutoCAD is the industry best and is well integrated with regular updates and fixes if required. Being very developer friendly and having a huge community of enthusiasts behind takes it miles ahead of the competition. Some might get an edge over price but due to this being an High performance software it is miles ahead.
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Return on Investment
  • Improved engagement in employee programs that are now represented in documents created using Illustrator.
  • Improved customer outcomes/interest as a result of materials created using Illustrator.
  • Better ROI on the programs we have developed or introduced due to the higher engagement and involvement.
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  • AutoCAD is cost effective when you get the Autodesk suite, so it makes sense to have it for many of our workflows.
  • AutoCAD is like a hammer. It's simple and is very good at certain things. No matter how advanced tools get, you will not soon get rid of hammers.
  • AutoCAD is really useful when models do not line up correctly in Revit.
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ScreenShots