Which is CAD software is Best for You? AutoCAD or BricsCAD

AutoCAD® and BricsCAD® are two well-known CAD software platforms. They share some similarities but are also quite different from one another.

 

If you considering a new CAD solution or looking to make the change, hopefully this article will provide some helpful context so you can compare the two.

 

Comparing AutoCAD and BricsCAD: Features and Workflows 

2D Drafting

Despite the growing popularity of BIM workflows, there is still plenty of basic 2D CAD work happening in the AEC industry today.

 

BricsCAD Lite and AutoCAD LT are both solid applications for working with basic 2D drawings. They are also the most economical CAD versions available for each brand.

 

Both programs include all the fundamental features needed by users, including tool palettes, ribbon interface (with CUI support), XREF (external referencing), plotting in 2D, and much more.

 

They both allow you to work with blocks, albeit a little differently. AutoCAD LT uses Dynamic Blocks and BricsCAD uses Parametric Blocks. In BricsCAD, you can independently control the parametric values.

 

Adding and editing parametric blocks in BricsCAD

In addition to Parametric Blocks, all BricsCAD versions also include other unique and powerful AI and machine learning tools, such as Blockify, QUAD Cursor, and Copy Guided/Move Guided.

 

Run LISP in BricsCAD Lite

An advantage of BricsCAD Lite over AutoCAD LT is BricsCAD’s ability to run custom LISP programming for running custom routines. AutoCAD LT simply does not support this - AutoCAD requires you to get a full version to utilize LISP.

All versions of BricsCAD can run LISP routines, even the 2D Lite version.

 

With BricsCAD, as an alternative to AutoCAD, you can run LISP programs developed in AutoCAD or other CAD applications or develop your own with the integrated BricsCAD LISP Advanced Development Environment – BLADE.

3D Modeling

When it comes to modeling in 3D, you need to choose to either the full AutoCAD license or BricsCAD Pro. These allow you to work in both 2D and 3D.

 

Both have 3D drawing capabilities, various camera views, walkthrough navigation, and more.

Designing a 3D model house is a simple as creating some shapes and using tools to push/pull extrusions and curves. This format essentially lets you design first and adjust later.

As with all versions of BricsCAD, the full version of AutoCAD supports custom LISP programming with AutoLISP.

3rd Party Plugins

There are literally hundreds of industry-specific, 3rd party applications to install and use inside of these CAD platforms. These include custom apps for electrical, structural, mechanical, HVAC, and more.

Both regular AutoCAD and BricsCAD Pro fully support these apps. Remember that neither AutoCAD LT nor BricsCAD Lite can run any 3rd party plugins.

Rendering Abilities

If you are designing in 3D then you probably want to generate an impactful image to from your 3D model. Both the full AutoCAD and BricCAD Pro allow you to add lights, makes objects transparent, add materials, and more to produce a presentation-ready image of your project.

Once your project is rendered, you can save it as a BMP, JPG, or PNG file for easy saving and sharing. Both software applications are equally capable of rendering images from models.

Licensing

License management is where AutoCAD and BricsCAD differ wildly.

 

AutoDesk has announced that they are retiring licenses based on serial numbers. This means the end of the perpetual license policy with any AutoDesk product, including AutoCAD LT and AutoCAD.

 

In a nutshell, you can no longer own a license of AutoCAD outright. All users are being forced into a ‘named user’ policy. This means that each individual user will have their own login credential to use AutoCAD.

 

This may not seem like a big deal, but this will cost your company much more money in future as every user will have to pay for a license as an annual subscription.

BricsCAD Has More Flexible Licensing

Bricsys has a completely different philosophy about software licenses. They give you the choice to either ‘rent’ the software via annual subscriptions, or you can still buy and own the software completely. In today’s world, this seems like a novel concept, but Bricsys is sticking by it.

Buy BricsCAD once and own it forever.

Perpetual licenses of BricsCAD can be kept current through annual maintenance support. If you select this route, the maintenance is the only recurring cost – potentially saving your company thousands of dollars.

 

Network Licensing

AutoCAD is killing their Network License option.

 

BricsCAD, however, embraces network licenses. You can still get a network license of BricsCAD to share among multiple users across your network.

 

Likewise, this also works great with virtualization. Since COVID, many companies are transitioning to a flexible office/home policy with their employees.

 

This has further led to the use of virtual machines and cloud enterprises. If this is your situation, BricsCAD works great in this environment.

One word of caution though – BricsCAD network licenses are required to share in a network environment, NOT single licenses of BricsCAD.

 

Because of this, it is best to work with an authorized partner (like TAVCO) to ensure that you are purchasing the correct licenses for your specific needs.