--- title: Octave BricsCAD Reviews meta_title: 'Octave BricsCAD Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 135 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how Octave BricsCAD works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 4.5 review_count: 135 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-06-24' parent_category: name: CAD url: https://www.g2.com/categories/cad --- # Octave BricsCAD Reviews **Vendor:** Octave **Category:** [General-Purpose CAD Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/general-purpose-cad) **Average Rating:** 4.5/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 135 ## About Octave BricsCAD BricsCAD the first all-in-one CAD design solution in .dwg that answers all your needs; 2D drafting, 3D modeling, mechanical design, and BIM. The BricsCAD® family of products brings a cost-effective, multi-platform CAD solution to Windows, macOS, and Linux. BricsCAD is available as a permanent/perpetual license & subscription license, for networked or stand-alone computers. You can also add Maintenance for ease of keeping up-to-date. Familiarity for other CAD users and full LISP support can help reduce a new BricsCAD® users’ learning curve to a day or less. With innovative machine learning tools, you increase drawing accuracy while saving time. ## Octave BricsCAD Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users value the **intuitive 3D modeling** capabilities of Octave BricsCAD, enhancing their drafting efficiency and experience. (2 reviews) - Users value the **CAD compatibility** of Octave BricsCAD, as it seamlessly opens DWG files and integrates with AutoCAD routines. (2 reviews) - Users commend the **compatibility with DWG files** , ensuring a seamless transition and integrating well with existing workflows. (2 reviews) - Users find Octave BricsCAD to be **easy to learn** , efficiently handling 2D drafting and 3D modeling in one tool. (2 reviews) - Users value the **seamless integration with AWS** , enhancing CAD automation and cloud scalability for efficient workflows. (1 reviews) - Users love the **detailed engineering drawings** in BricsCAD, praising its reliability and powerful CAD capabilities. (1 reviews) - Drawing Tools (1 reviews) - Ease of Use (1 reviews) - Efficiency (1 reviews) - Integration Capabilities (1 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Users report that **3D layout performance is poor** , hindering usability and complicating project workflows in Paperspace. (1 reviews) - Users find **difficult configuration** challenging, particularly for new users navigating advanced features and customization options. (1 reviews) - Users find the **difficult learning curve** of Octave BricsCAD challenging due to limited resources and complex features. (1 reviews) - Users face **extra costs** due to licensing management and tuning for GUI software in headless environments, complicating deployment. (1 reviews) - Users report significant **inefficiencies** due to visibility states and lag when managing parametric blocks in Octave BricsCAD. (1 reviews) - Users struggle with **large file handling** in BricsCAD, experiencing performance issues and layout chaos in Paperspace. (1 reviews) - Users report that **large model handling** in BricsCAD leads to significant performance issues, making it difficult to work effectively. (1 reviews) - Layout Issues (1 reviews) - Learning Curve (1 reviews) - Missing Features (1 reviews) ## Octave BricsCAD Reviews ### 1. With nothing to envy from AutoCAD, and with some benefits **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Arq. Fernando M. | Profesor, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 12, 2020 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** Everything works well, and that's saying a lot, since low-cost CAD programs usually have many limitations. In BricsCAD everything works very well. I must be honest, as it was recommended to me, I installed it, but with the sole intention of finding its problems; but to my surprise, I didn't find any. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** The only thing it's missing is dynamic blocks. While it accepts all the blocks I had created in AutoCAD and I can use them perfectly, I can't create new ones; but surely they will include it soon. **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** It has everything, but at a much lower price. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use it in my private architecture work and I teach it to my students at the University. The interactive contextual menu is a very intuitive tool for learning, although those of us who have been doing this for years tend to prefer the keyboard more, for beginners it is very useful; it allows for a very steep learning curve. ### 2. AutoCad vs Bricscad **Rating:** 1.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Architecture & Planning | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 10, 2020 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** Many functions are similar to AutoCad. Slightly different order of actions but you quickly master that. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** Every day there is an error or multiple errors and the program just closes. There is then no recent backup ... a lot of work is lost. This is not due to an error in the drawing of 1 project. This happens with every project I work on. AutoCAD always makes a backUp before an error closes down and the loss is minimal...and doesn't happen that often. I don't like to give bad reviews and would like to give this program a try. But it happens too often now, unfortunately...every day...multiple times...different project. Although the program it similar to AutoCad: the buttons and layout is the same and the transition is therefore quite smooth ... the errors and the closing of the program and loss of work is to much. Maybe because I work on a Mac? I was looking for a product to work with in my company and the company's I work with. You understand I am not that satisfied **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** See above ### 3. Great AutoCAD) SketchUp alternative **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Pascal C. | Set/Production Designer - 3D Modelling/texture Artist, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 30, 2020 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** I'm a set designer, theatre, film, corporate. Bricscad is a great AutoCAD) SketchUp alternative. Way easier, faster than AutoCAD, perpetual license options, and affordable. Way more complete than SketchUp, no downloading of tons of extensions to get work done, more professional looking. Great interface Files smaller Files can be open/ imported in other CAD format, ie SketchUp, Blender, any DWG program etc... Lots of tutorials on their help page either text/image explanation or videos etc... Great Bricscad blog. Textures, rendering included and fairly easy to manipulate The QUAD, the QUAD is da bomb!!!! Overall, a damn great CAD software. So worth it over anything else that I've tried. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** Downside (very minimal): Not many YouTube videos, fun or serious A less supportive forum community. Either takes a while to get response or get nothing at all. I'm sure people are nice but at times come across as unfriendly No online 24 hr help. I'm in Canada so I have to wait the next day often to get a response **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** Smaller files, faster than other CAD software. ### 4. So much better than the other options **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Mike O. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 30, 2020 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** Speed and stability. When we were still using Civil 3D at my job, crashes were frequent, sometimes caused just by loading a DWG or selecting an object. They would occur anywhere from once every other day to several times a day, often resulting in the loss of a lot of work. When doing things like PDF underlays, Civil 3D would slow to a crawl. None of this occurs with BricsCAD. Solid support. As with any program, there will be bugs. Unlike with Autodesk products, BricsCAD has provided direct support with every single bug, glitch, and problem that we've run across, immediately jumping on fixing bugs as quickly as possible once they've managed to duplicate it. There's no necessity to rely on user forums in order to find work arounds, leaving the forums freed up for other things, such as exchanging ideas and methods. Frequent updates. Each time some bugs are fixed or features are added, a new version is posted on the site for download. Since switching earlier this year, our company has updated multiple times, with each subsequent version adding useful features and fixing bugs which we and others have reported. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** Nothing. I really can't think of anything. **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** Not so much a recommendation as an advisement: BricsCAD is the closest you'll get to AutoCAD, without all the bugs and downsides, but there may be some minor things that don't transfer over perfectly, such as the CUI. It may take a little bit of work to get set up just right. It's well worth it. After some growing pains when switching over to it, our office has had a boost in productivity and stability as a result of the switch, and we're on course to save thousands every year over Autodesk subscriptions. 10/10 would switch again! **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** The problems we solved by switching were the problems of performance, efficiency, and cost. BricsCAD will save us money not only with perpetual licenses rather than yearly subscription fees, but also through increased productivity due to better performance and less crashes. **Official Response from Rose Barfield:** > If you're struggling with CUIs you might want to check out our customizing BricsCAD blog posts. ### 5. Easy to use and adapt **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Construction | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 05, 2020 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** The interaction with the user and the easy way to adapt, help to users to accept and adapt to this new tool. Also, the interface makes easy model and it is very intuitive at the time to learn or teach some user. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** Some time, there are commands that take a little longer than usual. Also, when you are coming working with other software some simple commands are difficult to find. **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** It is easy to adapt coming from others cad software. It is intuitive, cheaper and easy to learn. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** I work with Cadworx, and this software work very well with Bricscad. Also, as administrator is easy to use and make the change with the user is easier than others software. ### 6. BricsCAD is practically a 1-to-1 replacement for AutoCAD at a fraction of the price **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Construction | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 05, 2020 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** I like that the workflow is virtually the same as AutoCAD so there is no having to learn a different CAD system. All of the default settings are virtually identical and can be modified/customized in the same way. All support files are compatible as are existing LISP/VBA routines. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** Can't use BEDIT, and a few minor bugs... **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** It's definitely worth the money to get a perpetual license and move off of AutoCAD's subscription model. I've seen virtually no change in operations, and would even argue that BricsCAD has made improvements such as the search feature in the Settings menu. There are still some bugs that I've brought to their attention and they have already fixed some of them but given their responsiveness I would say they are on their way to fixing those bugs. I might suggest if you already have an AutoCAD subscription to keep it in the background so you have a failsafe to get around any unexpected issues, but I'm sure you will eventually realize you do not need to renew it the next round. One feature (BEDIT) is not available on BricsCAD (perhaps for legal reasons) so if you are used to editing your dynamic blocks with BEDIT that feature is not available. Also, clicking on a polyline grip does not immediately give you access to adding a vertex in the same way as AutoCAD. There is a way to do it but you need a special feature on that was not on by default out of the box for polygons. I think its called the "grid"? **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** We are able to complete our plans as we used to do in AutoCAD but now do not have to pay that staggering annual subscription fee. **Official Response from Rose Barfield:** > Hey, here are two How To articles that might help you: PEdit: https://help.bricsys.com/hc/articles/360006698614-PeditExt BEdit: https://help.bricsys.com/hc/articles/360011896753-BEdit ### 7. BricsCAD is unbeatable in every aspect ! **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** j p. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 06, 2020 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** The unbelieavble ease of transition from AutoCAD. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** Nothing that I can find so far and it's difficult to find anything to dislike. **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** There is no need to use the Trial version - head straight into purchasing the software - it'll not let you down and the support service is wonderful ! **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** It has speeded up drawings work considerably and the ease of importing so many different formats has helped enormously. ### 8. What is not to like **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Neb R. | Interiors/ Millwork AutoCAD Design/ Drafting - Owner, Architecture & Planning, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 04, 2020 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** I was trying, for years, to find a CAD application that works on both, Linux and Windows. It would have to have a familiar interface (AutoCAD) and use DWG as a default extension. Finally, when I came across BricsCAD in my search - that was it. However, I didn't expect that I would love it more than ACAD. It brought fun back into my drafting. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** I can't think of anything that I dislike about BricsCAD. I am somewhat sad that a few little things don't work or are not there on the Linux version of BricsCAD, but other than that - I am very happy. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** Firstly, it is a way faster and easier application than AutoCAD. It has a unique way of dealing with certain, day to day moves in drafting. BricsCAD makes those tasks much easier and fun to do. It has noticeably smaller footprint for such a powerful software so it is faster starting and faster, more responsive. Sometime when I work in AutoCAD (because I started the project in AutoCAD previously) and I run into some ACAD stubbornness, I use BricsCAD to resolve those moments. Then I wish I have done the entire project in BricsCAD from the start. I have been fighting with AutoCAD Hatching for years. There are drawings and moments where HATCH just refuse to work or even freeze your session right out, in AutoCAD. Well, I never had any such problem in BricsCAD and that for me was a breath of fresh air. Overall, BricsCAD is fantastic and what is even more exciting - it constantly evolves for the better. AutoCAD, on the other hand, is just getting bigger and bigger, code over code, and there is a feeling that Autodesk doesn't even care anymore. **Official Response from Rose Barfield:** > Remember, if you're having issues or would like to request a new feature in BricsCAD Linux, you can always file a support request! Our team loves to hear from our customers. ### 9. Excellent AutoCAD alternative **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Design | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 05, 2020 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** Handy Shortcut menu on the right click. 3D direct modelling features **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** Sometimes I work faster than Bricscad allows - Typing "J" "Enter" usually gives me a Command not recognised response rather than a Join response, but I am learning to wait between the J and the enter **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** I think Bricscad is a definite alternative to AutoCAD. Anybody familiar with AutoCAD will be 95% "up-to-speed" when making the transition **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** For the most part I use it in the same way as I always used AutoCAD ### 10. Switched **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** M R. | Lead Designer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 06, 2020 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** Easy intuitive interface, Excellent on line help system. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** Struggles with some 3D operations like Flat Shot and Volume Analyses. **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** I purchased the Platinum version, consider purchasing communicator as well, you'll need it. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** 3D modeling and 2D fabrication details for mining, power and refineries **Official Response from Rose Barfield:** > We're sorry to hear you're struggling with some of the commands. Unfortunately, I can't replicate them on my machine. If you'd like to report your errors in a support request, we'd be happy investigate further! ### 11. The BrisCAD learning curve is almost nonexistent. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Curt C. | Owner, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 12, 2020 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** After we installed BrisCAD the transition from AutoDesk was simple. The tech support is the best. Vince my salesman/support technician has answered all my questions quickly and personally. The hatching works better too. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** I can't find anything to complain about. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** The perpetual licence is helpful, with support we get free updates. That makes working with new AutoDesk 2020 files easy (with no error messages). ### 12. A more advanced AutoCAD **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Genevieve F. | Electrical Draughtsman, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 23, 2019 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** I love the machine learning and Artificial intelligence capabilities, which allow for more efficient drawing creation, using a familiar interface. Repetitive tasks are automated for design efficiency and simplified workflow **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** Well, I prefer a dark interface, but the new V20 version includes this, so nothing I do not dislike at all. The intelligent quad corsor takes a bit of getting used to, but once you get the hang of it you dont need to constantly move out of your modeling space for commands! **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** Try it for yourself for free for 30 days. You will love the machine learning and intuitiveness of the software, and I doubt and other CAD platform will feel comfortable after using BricsCAD **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** The Lookfrom widget makes viewing your model from different angles so simple. 3D direct modeling tools are easy and intuitive to use. AI and Design intent recognition makes creating a fully parametric model as simple as 1 click and a second. The massive amount of 3rd party apps run so quickly and the installation is super fast too ### 13. Great value product. Everything we need. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Emile v. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 18, 2020 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** Fully DWG compatible, light weight and low cost **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** RedGL render engine has some performance and stability limitations, but work arounds are pretty decent. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** We use BricsCAD for 99% of our design work. The freeform/non-parametric modeling tools have proved very valuable when working on new designs where a lot of conceptualization is required. ### 14. UCS Commands Application **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** CEsar J. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 09, 2020 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** The great compatibility with autocad system **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** The interface,, really you need to work a lot in the interface, specially in UCS commands, its so difficult to find it **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** ITs no the same the Autocad, you need to review it interface **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** My project in cadworx are really good with briscad ### 15. BricsCad Review **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Grover C. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 09, 2020 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** Ability to install and use v.15 and v.19 **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** v.19, Blockify doesn't work very well with Landscape plants **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** Product is great, support is great, I feel like our company made a good decision in going with BricsCAD. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** Allows me to do takeoffs on Landscape drawings with minimum of effort ### 16. CIO **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Logistics and Supply Chain | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 05, 2020 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** Very easy to use. The button placement feels natural. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** Slightly slow to load on first run. I use i could script in with python and lisp **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** We made some 3d printed masks. and i needed some cad without a long learning curve ### 17. Nice software with an affordable price **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ricardo F. | Senior Designer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 05, 2020 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** Price, software regarding ability & add-ons that you can use **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** I probably dislike a couple of commands that I can't see & I was used to using. **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** Use it, you won't regret it. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** save some money ### 18. Just the basics **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Architecture & Planning | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 11, 2020 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** I like the simplicity of the software. I also like that it imitates autocad **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** Program crashes a lot, and I wish the auto save worked better **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** Price of software was a big concern. I can do 90% of what I do at my job with this one software ### 19. MD HEaly's 2020 B Cad review **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Architecture & Planning | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 10, 2020 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** A very seemless transition from AutoCAD. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** Customization is a bit difficult at the start. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** None. As fast or faster than Acad. **Official Response from Rose Barfield:** > You can find a complete step by step guide to customizing BricsCAD on our blog: https://blog.bricsys.com/customize-bricscad-introduction-p1/ ### 20. fair price for what is offered **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Civil Engineering | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 11, 2020 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** It has enough tools to use it in topography, engineering and GIS. Unlike other CAD programs, for its price Briscad offers enough possibilities! **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** Nothing so far!I've been using Briscad for a very short time! **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** Nothing so far **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** I've been using Briscad for a very short time, but it seems to be the program I'm looking for! ### 21. Best alternative I found to AutoCad. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Tom T. | Owner, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 31, 2020 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** Most commands and Shortcuts are similar to AutoCad commands which makes it easier to get started. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** The quad cursor takes time to get use to, that's about it for me. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** 3D direct modeling tools are easier to use than AutoCad ### 22. Excellent AutoCAD Alternative at a Fraction of the Price **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Lance M. | President, Information Technology and Services, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 11, 2016 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** Fast performance with minimal overhead (192 mb download) 100% DWG compatibility Close to 100% command compatibility Runs LISP code nativily Full CUI compatibility. If you have a customized AutoCAD CUI, you can load it directly Growing list of 3rd party applications Free 3rd party developmer program Perpetual licenses at a lower price than new AutoCAD rental Upgrade on your timeline - subscription is worthwhile because of the aggressive update cycle Private company spending 40% of revenue on R&D instead of marketing **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** BricsCAD is not a fully mature product with some bugs in the more advanced features. Primary focus is in drafting, sheet metal and mechanical. Mapping based features are not mature. Their projection system support is not good but 3rd party applicaitons work fine. **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** If you have older versions of AutoCAD - keep them - don't move to rental and take a serious look at BricsCAD. If you are using Civil 3D, consider keeping 1 license for compatibility purposes and take a serious look at BricsCAD with 3rd party applications like Civil Site Design which delivers automaticion, faster performance and a short learn curve. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** Initial focus was to replace AutoCAD 2D drafting with a lower cost product. Have moved into infrastructure design using Civil Site Design to augment or replace Civil 3D. ### 23. Very good value tool for the buck. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Betty k. | Civil Engineer, Construction, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 01, 2019 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** This software it's easy to use it and simplicity in the commands makes it so user friendly to use. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** I have no specific objection.I had no unexpected bad situations during my work thus I recommend this is the best tool to use. **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** This platform has alot of skills on designing and user friendly product to use. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** This tool it's for modeling and drawing thus I can count on it to work flawlessly. Also this software can do everything it can to compete for much low price . ### 24. Usable compare to expensive alternative **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** nicholas g. | Mr, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 01, 2019 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** You can get fundamentally all similar highlights for an a whole lot lower cost. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** There are a few directions/alternate routes that change marginally from AutoCAD renditions. It doesn't appear to bode well how most are the equivalent, however some were changed. **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** Generally excellent answer for explicit requirements. For as SHEET METAL module is a phenomenal answer for our requirements. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** generally a few customers expect that we offer some extra administrations/arrangements, as glimmering, establishment strategy and comparable .stuff. This program would help us especially with respect to glimmering planing and creation. ### 25. AutoCAD for a Lower Price! **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Kevin L. | Design Engineer, Building Materials, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 22, 2018 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** The price point compared to AutoCAD is by far the best perk of the program. You can get basically all the same features for a much much lower cost. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** There are some commands/shortcuts that vary slightly from AutoCAD versions. It doesn't seem to make sense how most are the same, but some were changed. **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** If your team needs the capability to view and edit .dwg files internally and externally, BRICSCAD can be a much cheaper more efficient program to get compared to AutoCAD **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** Thanks to the lower cost, we can provide a CAD program for all employees so they have it when it is needed. Some only need to use it on occasion, and it really benefits us to be able to implement it whenever needed. ### 26. Pretty usable compare to expensive alternative **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Giancarlo M. | Administrador del sistema, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 01, 2018 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** What I honestly like the most is the fact that it runs in Linux OS, honestly I have found just a few programs that can do this and when you are looking for an environment that requires very high performance there is nothing like UNIX based OS systems. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** Brics is able to open the commonly used AutoDesk file format but it is not as you would expect it to. Every time you move a file from a different software there is a chance you notice the difference but I would say this difference is pretty notable when opening CAD files with Brics. You should be able to design on this software, it is just **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** I would say that if you have worked with Autodesk solutions in the past, the learning process will be very easy for you. Take in consideration you usually require a very good computer to execute this software. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** I am not executing CAD design but I need to open these DWG files in my linux machines and this is the only solution I have found so far. It works pretty decent in my experience. ### 27. User friendly CAD software with specific solutions **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Edo M. | Owner, Building Materials, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 30, 2017 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** This is an unusually well implemented user friendly CAD software with some specific features. SHEET METAL module is one that is most interesting to our business and our partners needs. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** Price, price and price. Especially that extra cost for some services that are usually free of charge. **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** Very good solution for specific needs. For as SHEET METAL module is a fantastic solution for our needs. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** As we offer services and material (metal panels and corrugated sheets) in building sector, usually some clients expect that we offer some additional services/solutions, as flashing, installation procedure and similar .stuff. This program would help us very much regarding flashing planing and production. ### 28. great 2D and 3D software **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Higher Education | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 21, 2017 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** many 2d features such as annotative scales, dynamics dimension, dynamic arrays, and even a comparision option that work surprisingly good. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** The learning curve for beginner might be steep especially if you do not have experience with cad softwares **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** Do not be afraid to try the new features. Takes some time to learn but def worth it **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** Modeling 2D and 3D ### 29. I’ve used autoCad before this and it’s similar In someways, but easy to learn the rest. **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Architecture & Planning | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 26, 2017 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** I like the cost efficiency, it doesn’t make small companies come out of pocket much **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** It’s not as seamless as you’d think, some drawings from autoCad don’t transfer, if you were coming from that program. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** Not a real promblem, but as I mentioned before it saves a lot of money ### 30. Best CAD available **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Renewables & Environment | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 26, 2017 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** Easy to use interface, quick to learn and implement. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** Price for performance is questionable at best. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** Simplifies the CAD requirements we have ### 31. BricsCAD is a great alternative to a second life for .dwg format files. And it goes way beyond! **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Miguel J. P. | Diretor de Tecnologia, Computer Software, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 01, 2016 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** Does all what you can do with AutoCAD, but goes much over. And it costs a fraction from the traditional CAD that everybody knows. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** It's currently less known that we would like, considering the need to hire experts for using it. **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** It's an agile company which develops, and they are focused on implementing new features for covering several connected areas of expertise for engineering and architecture designers. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** Design 2D and 3D, Direct Modeling, Parametrics, and the BIM environment is at close sight. ### 32. DWG on a budget **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** James M. | CAD Drafter / 3D Modeler, Construction **Reviewed Date:** January 07, 2015 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** BricsCAD has improved over the years from a crude alternative to AutoCAD to a real contender. I have used it since V7 when a manager asked me to explore it as a replacement for our old AutoCAD licenses. At the time I had mixed feelings of it for business use but bought it for home use. Since then, it's come a long way. The Platinum version even includes some sheet metal capability and crude assembly / mechanism ability (though nothing that will make you throw away your Solidworks or Inventor). **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** My biggest complaints are that they have let some pretty big bugs slip through in new releases, and that the documentation has been lacking in past versions. The plus side to the bug issue is that they have a pretty good support system and are usually good about fixing bugs and about communicating bug status with users. The good news about documentation is that I recently upgraded to V15 and, at first glance, the documentation has gotten much better. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** I have used this extensively for both 2D drawing and 3D modeling. Its 3D capability has usually provided the results that I need. ### 33. Used for designing and modifying construction designs and in the production of bythemetric charts. **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ryan S. | Surveyor, Maritime, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 07, 2015 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** I like the versatility and that you can choose to reach the same goal in many different ways. the script function is especially useful for tasks that will be repeated. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** Some features available in other CAD programs are missing and can be regularly missed by users that have experience with both. That there isn't a free viewing version that you can provide to recipients, (like Adobe Reader) so if your recipient doesn't have a CAD program you have to supply in PDF form where a lot of the information can be lost. **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** If you have auto CAD available, it is much nicer than BricsCAD however full features is much more expensive. If you intend to start using BricsCAD regularly then try to get your head round using scripts early on as many activity's can be completed in a fraction of the time it would normally take by writing a script. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** Creating designs and drawings to explain project operations to clients and to offer instruction to contractors is made very easy by the use of BricsCAD. ### 34. Fast, affordable, and bullet proof **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Donald B. | Director of IT/Corporate CADD Manager, Civil Engineering, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 16, 2014 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** BricsCAD is fast, affordable, reliable alternative to AutoCAD. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** BricsCAD does not currently support layer transparency. It is the only gap in functionality that I am aware. **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** I started looking for a affordable alternative to AutoCAD. I found one that is not only more affordable, it works even better. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** The cost of AutoDesk software and the licensing changes being implemented by AutoDesk initially caused me to look for alternatives to AutoCAD. BricsCAD solves the problem beautifully. It is easy to use, much more affordable, and more reliable than AutoCAD. ### 35. A cheaper AutoCAD alternative with extensive API **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Stefan B. | sr. BIM Manager, Information Services, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 28, 2014 **What do you like best about Octave BricsCAD?** Runs on Windows and Linux (and OSX has been promised for some time). DWG native compatibility. Very familiar for users of older AutoCAD versions (as they deliberately did not attempt to add the Ribbon interface). The focus is on using BricsCAD as a platform for CAD solutions, through an extensive API (C++, Lisp, VBA…). They have over the last few versions removed themselves from the IntelliCAD legacy and have become a fully independent CAD system. **What do you dislike about Octave BricsCAD?** OSX Version is not ready, yet promised for quite a while. They abandoned their BIM offering "Architecturals", although it is being reinitiated. Still too much focus on trying to be an AutoCAD clone, while they should better focus on finding their own uniqueness (this is improving). **Recommendations to others considering Octave BricsCAD:** If you develop turnkey CAD solutions and need to have a CAD core, but don't want to rely on the expensive AutoCAD, BricsCAD is a good alternative, without losing DWG compatibility. **What problems is Octave BricsCAD solving and how is that benefiting you?** As a cheap alternative for AutoCAD, developers can use it as the core of a CAD solution, even including the software with their solution. ## Octave BricsCAD Discussions - [Are there any courses](https://www.g2.com/discussions/are-there-any-courses) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [Is it possible to do simulation and animation using BricsCAD ?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/24249-is-it-possible-to-do-simulation-and-animation-using-bricscad) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [Is BricsCAD free?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-bricscad-free) - 2 comments - [What is BricsCAD used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-bricscad-used-for) - 2 comments - [BricsCAD seems to loose edges when taking flat shots. Is there a setting that needs to be adjusted to clean up the flat shot block?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/27852-bricscad-seems-to-loose-edges-when-taking-flat-shots-is-there-a-setting-that-needs-to-be-adjusted-to-clean-up-the-flat-shot-block) - 1 comment - [View Octave BricsCAD pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/octave-bricscad/reviews?page=3§ion=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-06-26+20%3A33%3A02+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=73c2cdc9-f36e-46e5-8390-0d6cdb57ef02&secure%5Btoken%5D=c64f1336f78a9ec17bb40b3ca706073ead4d99994b62fbfe331a1729aa5b9ea2&format=llm_user) ## Octave BricsCAD Integrations - [AutoCAD](https://www.g2.com/products/autocad/reviews) - [Revit](https://www.g2.com/products/revit/reviews) ## Octave BricsCAD Features **Design** - Drawing - Modeling - Visualize - Rendering **Edit** - File Import - Push/Pull - Views - Grips **Collaboration** - Annotate - Documentation - Data Extract ## Top Octave BricsCAD Alternatives - [AutoCAD](https://www.g2.com/products/autocad/reviews) - 4.4/5.0 (1,834 reviews) - [SketchUp](https://www.g2.com/products/sketchup/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (1,297 reviews) - [SOLIDWORKS](https://www.g2.com/products/solidworks/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (628 reviews)