AutoCAD vs. PlanSwift, by ConstructConnect

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
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
PlanSwift, by ConstructConnect
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
PlanSwift is a quantity takeoff software for construction estimating. It features a drag-and-drop interface and automatically calculates material and labor estimations in exportable formats. PlanSwift was acquired by ConstructConnect in the middle of 2018.
$1,595
per installation
Pricing
AutoCADPlanSwift, by ConstructConnect
Editions & Modules
Monthly Subscription
$245
per month per user
Yearly Subscription
$1975
per year per user
3-Year Subscription
$5925
3 years per user
Standard
$1,595
per installation
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AutoCADPlanSwift, by ConstructConnect
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
AutoCADPlanSwift, by ConstructConnect
Features
AutoCADPlanSwift, by ConstructConnect
Computer-Aided Design Software
Comparison of Computer-Aided Design Software features of Product A and Product B
AutoCAD
6.1
Ratings
15% below category average
PlanSwift, by ConstructConnect
-
Ratings
3D Modeling6.00 Ratings00 Ratings
2D Drafting9.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Rendering and Visualization5.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Parametric Design4.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Collaboration and Sharing5.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Compatibility with other software and formats8.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Assembly Design5.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Simulation and Analysis1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Documentation and Annotation7.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Customization and Extensions8.20 Ratings00 Ratings
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User Ratings
AutoCADPlanSwift, by ConstructConnect
Likelihood to Recommend
7.4
(0 ratings)
9.9
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.5
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
6.9
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
AutoCADPlanSwift, by ConstructConnect
Likelihood to Recommend
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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I use PlanSwift for all my projects - it has just cut my time by a major percentage when it comes to quantifying a blueprint. At times there are funky areas, which are just hard to calculate on paper. It also has a great tool for scaling according to the dimensions, so if a drawing is missing a scale, you can always allot a scale by giving directions and then marking the points. I use this tool to check the scale as well - sometimes the drawings say something but the scale if off and you are left with an incorrect take-off. The dimension tool is a good way to check that. We don't use it much for pricing purposes though, we have found other software which are more robust when it comes to estimation, but we can see using PlanSwift for pricing sometime in the future.
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Pros
  • 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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  • PlanSwift can be used in basic functions (LF & SF takeoffs) very easily.
  • Has a quick interface for browsing and viewing.
  • Provides easy export to excel functions.
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Cons
  • 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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  • I occasionally have to load drawings at a very low DPI or I get error messages. The resulting poor resolution makes the drawing difficult to read.
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Likelihood to Renew
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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Price and not wanting to learn another software
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Usability
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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Plan Swift is a user friendly program that makes takeoffs easy to perform. Not a whole lot of knowledge or skill is required.
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Reliability and Availability
No answers on this topic
Never had an issue
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Performance
No answers on this topic
Plan Swift is only as fast as your computer system and internet
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Support Rating
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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I have called once needing support. I was asking about the "compare" tool to compare different versions. They told be about their desktop app and I downloaded. They answered quickly, you could understand them, and they took care of my question
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Implementation Rating
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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just know what use you want to get out of it. In our case it was just to do area take offs.
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Alternatives Considered
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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PlanSwift by far is the superior product. Procore is used more universally in our area, but the drawings features by far surpass Procore. We work offline usually with our tablets. This would be the only way to go when working offline. The submittal process in Procore is much better, but that would be the only thing we can see
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Scalability
No answers on this topic
Several of our departments can use the take off feature to assist them in their job responsibilities.
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Return on Investment
  • 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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  • Huge return on investment with time savings compared to manual / hand take off.
  • Accurate and reliable numbers to use for your team.
  • Creating a single take off for all parties to use, in a single location, removing all guess work or confusion.
  • Inspires collaboration by having multiple people work within the same project within the software.
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ScreenShots