Onshape Manufacturing Reviews & Insights

Score9.9 out of 10

76 Reviews and Ratings

Community insights

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

Pros

Cloud-based infrastructure and collaboration capabilities: Many users have expressed their appreciation for Onshape's cloud-based infrastructure, which allows them to access their data from anywhere and on any device without the need for software installation or file management. This feature has been highly praised by reviewers who value the flexibility and convenience it offers.

Clear version control and change tracking: The ability to clearly see versions and change history in Onshape has received positive feedback from users. This feature enables them to track and manage their design progress effectively, ensuring that they are always working with the most up-to-date information.

In-application support and assistance: Users have praised Onshape's in-application support, mentioning that they have received rapid assistance whenever they needed help. They appreciate the ability to share their models with the support team, which greatly aids in getting the necessary help. This responsive support system has been highlighted as a valuable asset by many reviewers.

Onshape Reviews

38 Reviews

ManufacturingAutomotive2Electrical & Electronic Manufacturing1Food Production1Food & Beverages1Furniture1Machinery4Mechanical Or Industrial Engineering10Industrial Automation3Cosmetics1Consumer Electronics5Consumer Goods2Sporting Goods2Medical Device4Biotechnology1

Onshape the design engineers relief tool

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

September 13, 2023

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Modular software, great customer support, easy to work, doesn't consume much data space easy to communicate between various simulation softwares.

Pros

Design
Analysis
Optimization

Cons

Importing Solidworks documents without issues

Likelihood to Recommend

Onshape shall be used by organizations where cost is a major factor as the license is relatively competitive than the competition.
Where Onshape , excels the most is the ability to be operational on any device with internet connection and webbrowser.
Onshape doesn't require your hardware to be beefed with Graphic cards (if added better).

Where onshape can be better. If they are able to include simulation packages bundled like solidworks.

Gaurav Chakraborty

R&D Engineer in Research & Development at PREMO (Consumer Electronics, 11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

View profile

Fantastic Solution for Startups. No fluff. No delays. Just great software.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

April 14, 2023

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

As an early-stage startup, our priorities are always time and ease of use. With many moving parts and hats to wear, we are burdened with too much work to handle and constantly shifting priorities. For these reasons, it is critical that our 3D modelling software simply works and creating partnerships with companies is not a hassle. The Onshape entrepreneur program ticked all of our boxes. We had a free account with Onshape for very sporadic use, but needed a more secure solution and a few extra features as our proprietary work began to take shape. Our team is more familiar with Solidworks, so we applied to the Dassault startup program. This process took more than a week, required an hour-long training call to learn, and within a few weeks we started having technical glitches causing huge issues. After spending many hours and delaying our work for more than a week, we gave up and turned back to Onshape. Within 24 hours of completing a 30-second form, the Onshape team had already upgraded our account to Premium, sent us an informational email on where to find further resources, and set up a call to help us understand their system functionality better. Not only were we surprised at how much simpler the software was, with better design traceability and ease-of-use features, but we have not been plagued with glitches either. A big thank you to the Onshape team!

Pros

Quick, easy, & friendly onboarding.
Design history traceability.
Clean & easy organizational structure.

Cons

Nothing so far

Likelihood to Recommend

Extremely well suited for quick-start projects where you just need something to work immediately.

John Martin

CTO (Chief Technical Officer) in Research & Development at Trunk Engineering (Biotechnology, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

An intuitive and versatile, modern take on CAD

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

February 7, 2023

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Connecting with fellow employees abroad and sharing CAD documents has been made much easier and frequent by using the shared workspaces that Onshape offers. A cloud based system enables a team orientated workflow previously unavailable to us, with edits and reviews of designs and drawings commonplace and straight forward.

Furthermore, the addition of custom features enables more intuitive development of designs that would otherwise be held back by a less mainstream CAD package.

Pros

Cloud sharing and version control
Custom features
Helpful learning centre
A detailed 3D wiring feature
Part studios and assemblies offering good component organisation control

Cons

Some features not available or lacking depth
Part importing and document control not always intuitive
Online only

Likelihood to Recommend

Onshape is very useful when used by several members of a team, allowing for easy access to view and edit progress of a project - with all aspects of a project contained in a workspace.

For individual use for simple individual projects, however, it can be overly complex for amateur users and enthusiasts - and the online requirement could be limiting for some.

Sebastian Isted

Mechatronics Engineer in Engineering at Saga Robotics Limited (Mechanical Or Industrial Engineering, 11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

For Web-Based Engineering, Choose Onshape

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

January 31, 2023

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We are a web-based mechanical engineering services company, providing anything from technical drawings through complex machine design and analysis. In order to seamlessly integrate with companies' teams, having cloud-based CAD is almost a necessity. Passing local copies of files back and forth is inefficient, error-prone, and, frankly, just not fun. Onshape's cloud-based CAD system addresses all of these issues. Additionally, the transition from other nodal-based CAD was easy and we now prefer it over any other software we have used, not just for its cloud-based infrastructure.

Pros

Cloud-based infrastructure and collaboration is a primary benefit.
The available documentation is extremely thorough.
The ability to integrate with other software for simulation, renderings, etc. is fantastic.
Not having to save and being able to clearly see versions and change history is excellent.

Cons

Some of the hole callout features in drawings are very limited.
I have noticed some speed issues in larger assembly drawings.
Click responsiveness of dimensions within drawings.
Cut list flexibility is constrained to frames-only components.

Likelihood to Recommend

Onshape's cloud-based infrastructure has set us apart as web-based mechanical engineering contractors. Our ability to collaborate, communicate, and efficiently support our clients is unparalleled in Onshape. The versions and revision control are powerful and effective, though, like any file management system, require training to use properly.

Additionally, for any clients working in Onshape's Enterprise accounts, we can quickly be granted permission to various projects and begin immediate work without any file exchange of static documents.

The interrelations of the features within a document (in-context editing, derived parts, etc.) and improvements to the assembly mating process are all fantastic - we have found this to be very beneficial in helping us outpace standard engineering times.

Keegan Schoch

Co-Founder/Engineer in Engineering at Poindexter by Design (Mechanical Or Industrial Engineering, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

4 years of experience

View profile

OnShape review for E-Mobility

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

January 30, 2023

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our use case for OnShape includes all aspects of the product design process, from initial concept sketches to final production-ready designs. It also allows us to easily share and review designs with our suppliers and manufacturers. Overall, OnShape has greatly improved the design process for our organization and has helped us to bring new products to market more quickly.

Pros

Handle 3D modelling and design.
Large-scale projects and multiple team members working simultaneously
Collaboration features, and design shares with external suppliers, stakegolderds and manufacturers.

Cons

Availability to use hardware integration to run faster 3d designs.
Assembly modeling capabilities.
Rendering
Simulation capabilities.

Likelihood to Recommend

OnShape is well suited for scenarios where collaboration and real-time access to designs is important. For example, in our organization, OnShape is ideal for coordinating the design process between different departments and team members, as it allows multiple users to work on the same design at the same time, and it also allows for easy version control. On the other hand, OnShape may not be the best choice for companies that have a need for advanced simulation capabilities such as structural, thermal, and fluid simulations.

Verified User

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

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

Why Onshape is making Poindexter by Design, an on demand mechanical engineering service provider, successful in 2023 and beyond!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

January 17, 2023

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Poindexter By Desing utilizes Onshape to seamlessly collaborate design work with other company's engineers in real time.

Pros

Second to none streamlined design collaboration. There is no down time waiting for files to be saved and shared or emailed. Whether you're working with a fellow engineer in the same office or across the globe, it is all the same with Onshape!
There are several unique features Onshape provides that other CAD software will never be able to. The big one that comes to mind is the in-context editing. Have you ever found yourself designing and flipping back and forth from part to assembly and then back to the part to take measurements to drive part level features for fit? No more my fellow engineers! Onhsape allows you to do what is called in-context editing, it is a tool that allows you to drive part level features and dimensions directly from the assembly level! I highly recommend you learn more about this and the many other features only Onshape can provide your engineering toolbox!
Documentation management! I cannot say enough good things about how Onshape gives you the ability to organize a design into tabs, folders, documents, and document folders. The ability to control different permissions such as editing, or view only is fantastic! Easily apply these permissions to teams or individuals to employees within your organization or more importantly, with customers who don't even have an Onshape account!

Cons

Dimensioning a hole feature in a drawing when there are multiple holes, the hole count does not parametrically update. For example, when there are 3x of the same hole, Onshape forces you to manually type in 3x instead of parametrically populating the hole count. This gets very dangerous if say, one of the 3x holes changes but you forget to update the 3x to 2x. Other CAD software does provide this.
I know Onshape provides guidance on performance considerations and how to structure a project through their literature, however, a dedicated video from Onshape that directly addresses the guidelines on how to minimize file load and reload times would be beneficial to all future and current Onshape users. I think they should incorporate this directly in their training. Poindexter by Design went through the growing pains of this issue but through the Onshape literature and our own experiences we've developed guidelines on how to keep our Onshape performance maximized!

Likelihood to Recommend

Onshape is a 3D CAD modeling software. If you are a designer collaborating with customers or fellow engineers, Onshape is certainly the way to go!

Mike Hudzik

Senior Staff Engineer in Engineering at Poindexter By Design (Mechanical Or Industrial Engineering, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

View profile

Great Modelling Software for Collaboration!

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

December 20, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our organization uses Onshape for most of our 3D modeling needs, especially when collaboration is required. Many of our projects require large assemblies with different versions and Onshape makes PLM simple and easy.

Pros

File Management
Change Tracking
Collaboration

Cons

More powerful selection tools
Easier to find plugins

Likelihood to Recommend

Onshape is incredibly well suited to situations where many individual contributors are working on a single project and revisions are made frequently. The built-in PLM aspect of Onshape, especially the versioning feature makes tracking changes incredibly easy. Onshape is less appropriate for any models where analysis will be required outside of just modeling, such as FEA analysis or simulation, which other programs offer. Onshape is great for fast, iterative, collaborative modeling.

Lucas Pagni

Mechanical Design Engineer in Engineering at Upward Farms (Food Production, 51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

Most innovative design software ever!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

December 18, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We are providers of automation solutions to the auto industry in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Onshape has been a great resource to help with the design of fixtures, jigs, and machines for our customers, which is our main business. We previously used other design platforms like Solid Works and Inventor, but after using Onshape, there was no looking back. Those other platforms make a mess when managing versions of a design and depend on files for sharing, which creates another set of problems. Sharing a view-only design with a customer is a breeze with OS, and since no software installation is required, all of our customers are able to access the system and review the design.

Pros

Not needing to save a file.
Working in the clod.
Super easy to share.
Real time team collaboration.
Excellent management of versions.

Cons

You absolutely need an internet connection (not really a con).
It lags behind in some areas regarding specialty functions like electric or mold design.

Likelihood to Recommend

Onshape is well suited to replace any other design suite as long as you have a dependable internet connection and don't need special design modules like electric design. It shines when working in a collaborative way with other persons, when the computer has reliability problems, when it's needed to explore several design ideas, and when it's needed to share a design and retain control of the IP, among many others. I definitely wouldn't use any traditional design software again, even when those other companies are in fact, offering some incomplete on-the-cloud "solutions".

Verified User

Director in Engineering (Automotive company, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

7 years of experience

Onshape Shapes My Work and Ideas, Helping Me to Sell My Ideas

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

December 16, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Onshape to develop and study new product concepts and prototypes. This typically consists of building models for parts or sub-assemblies of larger products. One of the key things for me is that it is a matter of seconds to fire up Onshape and start sketching, I use it for even the most trivial tasks because it is so convenient. At the same time, it covers almost all my more complex modeling needs. The no-install cloud-based approach really sold it to me. The ability to just whip up your phone or pad to showcase your design or ideas to co-workers or friends is huge.

Pros

No install, use any where, any device, instant access to my data
Ease of use, the UI just works for me
In application support, in the very few cases I've needed help it has been rapid and the ability to share your model with support is tremendous in getting help

Cons

I'm a Pro-user but I would like to have the possibility to have a pay-as-use option in some form. Now it is all or nothing (the public sharing of models - and model rights!) is not an option for many not-for-profit projects.
On-site hosting might help to sell the cloud concept to the more paranoid management.
Basic CAM generation would be awesome
Nonparametric modeling in some form or making it easier to use assemblies for those use cases where you want to model some parts and just play around moving things when you are exploring different configurations.
Doing Industrial Design type sketching and experimenting is not really a strong point on Onshape

Likelihood to Recommend

For most mechanical CAD needs, ad-hoc or medium size products it is awesome. Especially I would recommend Onshape for small ops and start-ups because it is so easy to deploy, learn and start to use. Literally, you can start modeling in 5 minutes. And yet it is versatile and performant enough to accommodate the majority of use cases. If you are worried about having your data hostage to the fortunes of a CAD company that might go bust (not likely but possible) and potentially be inaccessible any time (again unlikely) then perhaps this is not for you. Also, legacy CAD systems and habits may prevent you from effectively utilizing cloud-based systems.

Kustaa Nyholm

Research Manager in Research & Development at Planmeca (Medical Device, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

7 years of experience

View profile

Best 3D CAD package compared to Solidworks and Inventor

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

December 14, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

One of the biggest issues I had with other CAD programs was a lack of easy implementation PDM and access to the software while away. Generally, most CAD PDM's have to be stored on the company network and they can't be implemented without significant cost. Onshape has this built in and makes revision control and releasing documents simple with no hassle.

With other CAD programs you have to have a network license or VPN to use it on another machine or at home. With onshape I can use it at work on my desktop and on my home desktop whenever I need it. If I am really in a pinch, then I can use the android app as well.

Pros

Great 3D design package
NEVER CRASHES
Updates are constant and they listen to users
Accessible from anywhere at anytime
The PDM implementation is a life saver

Cons

2D Drawings - This has gotten a lot better but they need to add more features to drawings
Renders - This is a recent addition but still has a long way to go
No feature identify tool for imports

Likelihood to Recommend

Onshapes main competitors are Autodesk Inventor and Solidworks. I won't go too far into the 3D capabilities as they are easily on par with these 2 programs. Where Onshape makes everything better compared to others

It will never crash - The others are notorious for crashing
No Long Updates so no down time
inbuilt PDM makes revision control a breeze
Access from anywhere
Don't need an expensive PC as everything is cloud based

Aden Jones

Principal Design Engineer in Research & Development at Timesco Healthcare (Medical Device, 51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

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Why Onshape is making Poindexter by Design, an on demand mechanical engineering service provider, successful in 2023 and beyond!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

January 17, 2023

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Poindexter By Desing utilizes Onshape to seamlessly collaborate design work with other company's engineers in real time.

Pros

Second to none streamlined design collaboration. There is no down time waiting for files to be saved and shared or emailed. Whether you're working with a fellow engineer in the same office or across the globe, it is all the same with Onshape!
There are several unique features Onshape provides that other CAD software will never be able to. The big one that comes to mind is the in-context editing. Have you ever found yourself designing and flipping back and forth from part to assembly and then back to the part to take measurements to drive part level features for fit? No more my fellow engineers! Onhsape allows you to do what is called in-context editing, it is a tool that allows you to drive part level features and dimensions directly from the assembly level! I highly recommend you learn more about this and the many other features only Onshape can provide your engineering toolbox!
Documentation management! I cannot say enough good things about how Onshape gives you the ability to organize a design into tabs, folders, documents, and document folders. The ability to control different permissions such as editing, or view only is fantastic! Easily apply these permissions to teams or individuals to employees within your organization or more importantly, with customers who don't even have an Onshape account!

Cons

Dimensioning a hole feature in a drawing when there are multiple holes, the hole count does not parametrically update. For example, when there are 3x of the same hole, Onshape forces you to manually type in 3x instead of parametrically populating the hole count. This gets very dangerous if say, one of the 3x holes changes but you forget to update the 3x to 2x. Other CAD software does provide this.
I know Onshape provides guidance on performance considerations and how to structure a project through their literature, however, a dedicated video from Onshape that directly addresses the guidelines on how to minimize file load and reload times would be beneficial to all future and current Onshape users. I think they should incorporate this directly in their training. Poindexter by Design went through the growing pains of this issue but through the Onshape literature and our own experiences we've developed guidelines on how to keep our Onshape performance maximized!

Likelihood to Recommend

Onshape is a 3D CAD modeling software. If you are a designer collaborating with customers or fellow engineers, Onshape is certainly the way to go!

Mike Hudzik

Senior Staff Engineer in Engineering at Poindexter By Design (Mechanical Or Industrial Engineering, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

View profile