DraftSight Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Reviews & Insights

Score9.3 out of 10

1,341 Reviews and Ratings

Community insights

TrustRadius Insights for DraftSight are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.

Pros

Cost-effectiveness: Many users have praised DraftSight for being an economical option compared to similar CAD software, making it a cost-effective choice for small businesses. Some reviewers have mentioned that the affordability of DraftSight played a significant role in their decision to choose it over other options.

Stability and performance: Users consistently mention that DraftSight is stable and reliable, with no crashes or technical issues. Several reviewers have specifically highlighted the software's stability, noting that they have not experienced any crashes while using it. This aspect has greatly contributed to the positive sentiment surrounding DraftSight.

Compatibility with AutoCAD: The ability of DraftSight to open both old and new DWG/DXF files has been highly appreciated by users. Many AutoCAD users feel that this feature makes the transition to DraftSight seamless and efficient. Additionally, several reviewers praise the inclusion of commonly used AutoCAD commands in DraftSight, which further enhances its compatibility with industry-standard drawing file types.

DraftSight Reviews

61 Reviews

Professional, Scientific, and Technical ServicesLegal Services1Architecture & Planning26Information Technology & Services3Design27Research3Graphic Design1

Great Value Industry Standard CAD

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

May 15, 2025

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use DraftSight for quick, familiar 2D drafting, utilizing familiar commands at an outstanding price.
As a previous AutoCAD user, I can highly recommend this product. I use it daily and will continue to do so.

Pros

Simple interface
AutoCAD similarities
Native DWG file type
Import/Export

Cons

Better technical support
No phone support
Offer a paid support option

Likelihood to Recommend

2D layouts where DWG is required to share with other organisations.
Import 2D drawings created by Fusion 360 for further manipulation & notation.

Verified User

Project Manager (Design company, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

10 years of experience

DraftSight helps small company evolve into a global designer

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

December 10, 2023

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We create system schematics, mounting mechanical, and product designs with it.
Drawing clear and accurate schematics is a large part of what we do to help installation of systems go quickly and correctly.
Mounting drawings have the same value, the speed and accuracy of global installations counts on our drawings to be clear and correct for each installation we support.

Pros

Runs smoothly
Minimal lockups
Runs lean and starts quickly

Cons

In my experience, it crashes when copying text information into a text element

Likelihood to Recommend

I often recommend DraftSight to colleagues that are struggling with other CAD programs or looking to start using CAD more in their environment.
It's easy to use and the learning time is short compared to other CAD software.
Also the transition from AutoCAD to DraftSight is very quick. For those that have used AutoCAD before, the transition is very easy because many of the functions are similar and a lot of the commands are also very similar.
The startup and processing time for actions is short and speeds up the design process.
The cost impact is also significantly less than other CAD software, this helps a lot with multiple users and our operating costs.

Darryle Ziegler, CTS-D, CTS-I

Owner at CAVIAR Systems LLC (Design, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

10 years of experience

View profile

Overpowered

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

December 9, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I have used AutoCAD for over 5 years. My company uses Draftsight as an alternative of AutoCAD sometimes. It is way less expensive with similar functions. That's why our company uses Draftsight instead of getting a more updated version of AutoCAD, though we have a 2007 AutoCAD. I usually convert the newer version of .dwg files to an older version through Draftsight, or sometimes edit the our production drawing in Draftsight if the changes are not too complicated.

Pros

Cheaper than AutoCAD
Easy-to-use interface
Similar function like AutoCAD

Cons

Likelihood to Recommend

It is good that Draftsight is similar to AutoCAD, easy to pick up when start using Draftsight as an user of AutoCAD but sometimes Draftsight cannot read the font style of the text box from AutoCAD which leads to showing "?????". I have to input the words manually.

Verified User

Engineer in Engineering (Design company, 11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

Love it and won't go back!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

November 12, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

DraftSight is instrumental to my work. I am an independent contractor and I rely on DraftSight for all of my drafting needs. It provides a drafting platform that is easy to use and also works well with other software that my clients use. It allows me to operate at a level of professionalism comparable with other software but without the heavy price tag so that I can actually afford to be competitive.

Pros

Very similar to other programs so learning it is easy
Subscription fees are affordable
Files produced have no trouble being transferred to other software programs so that my clients and I can both work on them even though they are using other programs

Cons

Some features are being reserved for the highest paid subscriptions which I understand, but I really miss dynamic blocks. If that could be included in the basic subscription, I would have everything I need.

Likelihood to Recommend

DraftSight is appropriate for anyone who is looking to have the basic functionality of AutoCAD without the cost. The more advanced AutoCAD work may be comparable too, I just haven't tested it out personally as I only work with 2 dimensional drawings. As an independent contractor, I have found it to be invaluable and it has allowed me to continue working in my field.

Verified User

Employee in Professional Services (Design company, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

DraftSight on Mac for Interior Design Consultant is a lifesaver!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

November 9, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We utilize DraftSight to create all of the drawings for our Interior Design projects including presentation docs for clients and construction docs for vendors and contractors. It is the backbone of our small business and we couldn’t operate without it!

Pros

Scaled drawings
Importing blocks

Cons

Template generation

Likelihood to Recommend

DraftSight is a great alternative to AutoCAD for smaller scaled businesses wheee free the cost and advanced features of their competitor isn’t required.

Verified User

Partner in Professional Services (Architecture & Planning company, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

8 years of experience

DraftSight is an amazing contribution to the AEC community in terms of both affordability and usability

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

November 7, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

In Architectural Design & Drafting

Pros

CAD Drawing work
Excellent User Interface
User Friendly

Cons

Standard License needs to be truly floating between machines used by same user
no major issues otherwise
signing out from one machine to sign into another , say between a laptop and pc, is inconvenient. The license should float, whichever machine is in use, license can be active for that machine.

Likelihood to Recommend

Just wish the Standard License is made floating, automatically, without having to sign off from one machine (say laptop) to another (say a PC)

Kabir Singh

Director in Professional Services at CADDS Consulting Inc. (Architecture & Planning, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

View profile

Intuitive, adaptable software for those new and old CAD users.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

November 1, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Draftsight is the go-to software we use when editing our .dwg and .dwt files. It allows easy transferability between these files and our survey software through which the bulk of our onsite work takes place, but its real advantage over other more expensive CAD programs is its intuitive interface, which makes training new users easy. Add to that its customizable desktop and simple to use functions and regular users of AutoCAD feel very comfortable migrating over to it.

Pros

Importing and exporting different CAD formats
Intuitive interface.
Customizable workspace.
Simple to us functions.
Uncluttered workspace.

Cons

Some of the printing features are a bit clunky. Reviewing print results can be onerous.

Likelihood to Recommend

Quick alterations to existing DWGs are a snap with Draftsight. Our company doesn't use this software for drawing buildings from scratch but instead, we use a specialty survey-based software to export to DWT. The translation is buggy so using Draftsight to edit the file is essential to providing the exact product our clients want.
Having previous experience with AutoCAD I would also give this program a thumbs up recommending it to someone new to CAD and wanting a solid alternative to more expensive programs. Draftsight is less suited to someone wanting to create 3D models. I would suggest they look at other Solidworks packages for that.

Kenneth Perepelkin

Field Operations Manager in Professional Services at Urban Measure (Architecture & Planning, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience

Great Product For The Value

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

October 20, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

DraftSight is used within our organization by CAD specialists and interior designers creating architectural drawings to support products we sell.

Pros

Easy To Understand
Fast Processing
Convertible Files

Cons

Easier to set drawing standards
Easier to understand typing short cuts
Higher quality hatches and printing
Drag to scale rather than typing ratio

Likelihood to Recommend

DraftSight is great for throwing together construction documents, especially for large projects requiring multiple sheets and drawings. It is not as useful when the project will also be rendered in 3D. In that case, it is easier to just use a software that allows for both 2D and 3D within the same process.

Verified User

Employee (Architecture & Planning company, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

Draftsight does the job.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

October 18, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use draftsight for home projects like building a deck, finishing a basement, or just building a small project. It is affordable and does the job perfect for me!

Pros

2D designs
templates
making customer commands

Cons

3D design
pre-defined template sheets would be nice
Make a linux version

Likelihood to Recommend

I have recommended Draftsight to many people looking to get into drafting or projects.

Kevin Burke

This is for home projects in Engineering at Personal (Architecture & Planning, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience

View profile

Great drafting tool

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

October 8, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use it for the design and development of engineering and manufacturing projects. It has been very useful for many years. Designing test equipment, system block diagrams, schematic development, and manufacturing drawings used in a machine shop. I've exposed several other engineers and managers to the ease of use, powerful inter-drawing flexibility, and low cost of this tool.

Pros

Open and edit other systems' output files
Dimension and text editing

Cons

Don't change the menus between releases
Get more keyboard shortcuts please

Likelihood to Recommend

Easy to learn, powerful, and flexible. Simulation software is not included in this package, so that may be an issue for some advanced applications.

Verified User

Consultant in Engineering (Design company, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

7 years of experience

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