Onshape Reviews & Product Details

Onshape is cloud-based, so it doesn’t rely on your computer’s processing power or storage capacity. That makes it easy to access and work on your designs without worrying about losing them if your computer fails, and it also means you don’t have to invest heavily in a high-end laptop just to use it effectively.

Because everything is online, you don’t have to carry a laptop everywhere. As long as you have your login details, you can sign in and access your designs from anywhere.

Since your designs aren’t tied to a specific computer, collaboration is straightforward. You can share a link, and others can open the design and make changes without needing to transfer files back and forth.

It’s also helpful that you can track design updates and return to earlier versions, which is especially useful during the prototype or concept stage. Releases can be traced clearly as well, and having all stakeholders sign off improves visibility and teamwork. It also helps catch minor or major required updates early and avoid costly mistakes before final sign-off.

The learning curve isn’t very steep, so onboarding takes less time. Overall, it saves a lot of time that would otherwise be spent learning, and that time can go toward other work. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Disliking is a strong term; I just think there’s always room for improvement.

When you assign a material to a design—let’s say wood—the model should better adopt that material’s texture and color. That would go a long way toward enhancing visualization in the early stages of the design process.

I also think the simulation side could be improved (CFD, static simulation, etc.) Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I find Onshape really valuable in our company. Especially for testing of prototypes, and fast paced projects. We can create 3d models of what we will build, send them directly to our mechanics, and the process of building and purchasing parts is a lot easier and faster than it used to be. We save a lot of time by doing it this way. It also reduces the time we spend creating 3D drawings. Sometimes the 3d model with all pdm data like part numbers and description is enough, and no drawings are needed anymore. Also, collaborating with suppliers is incredibly smooth. I like that Onshape is really fast, and you don't need a high-end computer to work with it. Plus, you can even use it on the phone and tablets. Thereby it is also very cost saving. The way you design is also faster and smarter than before. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There may be a few very advanced modelling capabilities that are currently lacking, but this is constantly updated. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Document management is convenient in that if you move files around, it does not break assemblies. Revision history is very helpful and being able to revert to an older version or branch from a version is so useful. I love being able to collaborate with others in my organization within a document. I think I also prefer Onshape's mate connector system over the mating features in other CAD software I have used. Onshape support has been efficient and helpful in my experience whenever I have had any issues or questions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

No feature to be able to bulk export files to have a non-cloud-based backup of files. Performance can be sluggish on occasion. I have not tried using the AI integration much, but when I have, it has not been particularly helpful. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Onshape is intuitive and easy to use. It also gets regular updates, so new features roll out and improvements happen all the time. I really like that it’s browser-based, because it means I don’t need an overly powerful computer to run it smoothly. If anything happens, my progress is automatically saved, which gives me real peace of mind. The training resources and help center are genuinely useful too, and it’s convenient to come back to them anytime to refresh my memory on tools or features whenever I get a little stuck, and if the resources there don't answer your question, the Onshape community forum will help out with tips and tricks Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Nothing specific comes to mind. I haven’t used every CAD program out there, but I do use a couple of other tools for smaller, more specialized tasks (e.g., working with Revit files). Overall, Onshape is a solid all-rounder. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Onshape's biggest differentiator is the featurescript programming capabilities. Its a much more powerful method of building macro layers into your CAD than using something like VBA. Since it is native, we are getting full capabilities that give us the flexibility to tie Onshape into our existing systems with the tweaking required to make it fast and flexible.

The teams are highly supportive and attentive to our feedback. When we request change they are exited to support us and our unique use case.

Pricing is fair but a little more than base solidworks. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

We've noticed a few hiccups since it is cloud based, we can definitely tell when it is update day as the service slows down during that time.

Like most other companies, Onshape is spending a lot of resources on AI but I worry it is pulling them away from making the product better for general usage. AI is expensive. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Overall software reliability and ease of use have been big step-ups from the previous software I used. Good version control and auto-saving ensures I never lose work. Support is great, pretty responsive, and the team is always making new features that are actually relevant. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Importing CAD can result in a bit of a messy document structure. An integration with something like McMaster-Carr or other suppliers' CAD libraries would be helpful to keep thing streamlined. Some of the search functions within menus also do not perform quite as well as I think they could. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I really appreciate Onshape's ease of use, especially since I don't come from a CAD background. It facilitates the design of products and makes it possible for customers to review and make amendments before manufacturing. Communication between staff on the workshop floor and with customers is much easier. The learning center is very good, and the forums are extremely helpful with loads of members willing to help and offer assistance. Setting it up was very easy; I just took part in a training course and started using it for work. I'm also pleased that Onshape integrates well with our CNC plasma cutter as I can create parts and export them for manufacturing, and it allows me to export parts in STEP format to send them to other companies for manufacturing. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I would like to be able to pay for a rolling monthly subscription. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I appreciate Onshape's full-service PDM capabilities, which allow me to focus on being a subject matter expert in manufacturing processes without needing to be a backend server administrator. The sheet metal engine is reliable and produces manufacturable geometry, so I spend less time auditing parts. I love that the features are open-source, enabling me to create my own tools to solve modeling problems, which makes entire classes of products possible without waiting for software updates. Onshape's ability to replace entire workflows with intelligent, one-click scripts has saved us months, if not years, of engineering labor. The initial setup was extremely easy for projects started natively in the software. I highly recommend it, as it truly supports our business model of creating unique, specialized products efficiently. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Feature discovery is mostly done by forum search, and it isn't easy to sort the newest, most maintained versions of features from copies other people may have modified or not. CAM studio is also in need of some more work for router-based workflows and automation that works in our high mix low volume environment. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I value Onshape for its file management, allowing me to create and iterate quickly through versions without the hassle of saving work or losing track of progress. It also helps with live progress updates. The versions, versioning, and branching features stand out to me the most, as they support my rapid design iteration. Not having to save files and dealing with software that doesn't crash are significant advantages. The flexibility and collaboration capabilities are also key reasons why I switched to Onshape. The initial setup was very easy for the most part, even though there was a bit of a learning curve. Overall, it has been a good experience. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Mating and context editing can be frustrating because parts move around unexpectedly, and I have to constantly update the context in the assembly. The mental model around context editing could benefit from tips and tricks pop ups or other UI ques to help prevent unwanted parts and therefore reference movements. Edge selection is also challenging sometimes as it prioritizes face selection rather than edge selection, making me zoom in and orient parts several times to select the edge. I'm not sure if this is a graphics issue or an Onshape problem. Selecting other sketches while working in a new sketch is cumbersome; I have to exit the command (line circle etc.) to then go back and force the coincident reference a master sketch point, which feels like an extra unnecessary step. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The UI is very pretty and intuitive. I've tried integrating it through their amazing API and if worked flawlessly for us, though I'd prefer to have better rate limits.

Performance wise, most of the time we're satisfied with how long stuff takes to load, simulations take to run, etc. Pricing seems adequate and close to the market average. We'd probably be spending the same amount on other competitors.

Support has been great so far and I gotta say the onboarding was outstanding, Kelly has been super helpful.

We haven't have much use for the AI features yet. I tried the AI advisor but it doesn't really get what I'm trying to ask it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I’d say its main strength is that it’s cloud-native, but that also means if you don’t have a connection, you’re stuck. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.