All IronCAD Reviews
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Rob
Verified reviewer
Design, 1 employee
Used weekly for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
4
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed December 2021
IronCAD bridges the crazy expensive CAD software world
I'm a small one-man studio. I can't afford the price that CAD developers get away with in their pricing. They seem to forget that there are many more small designers and engineers then there are large firms and we can't throw $10K or more at software anytime we need to. Ironcad provides all the functionality of software that costs 2 and 3 times more yet is as solid and reliable. It's as powerful and robust just fair on how it's priced.
PROSFirst of all, because it doesn't cost $10K to deploy it. Secondly, because it is incredibly capable and I have not found anything I can't do with it. It has some fantastic tools that no other software has, one of them being what they call the "TriBall." It's a tool for manipulating objects and it's so fast and efficient.
CONSIt doesn't come with all the CAD format importers you need. If you share files with other more expensive software users, you may have to purchase additional importers. If you work alone like me, you rarely need that but occasionally I'll have a file I can't import and have to request an alternate format that I can. IronCAD can import a lot of formats by default, but a few exotic ones are not included.
Reason for choosing IronCAD
Just search for CAD software and you'll find dozens of names with 'CAD' at the end. I tried the top 20 listed CAD programs. Nothing could outdo IronCAD for me.
Reasons for switching to IronCAD
I tried every CAD trial I could find for months. Nothing came close to the functionality and ease of use as IronCAD. Some were less expensive but the learning curve for them was very steep. I really tried hard to find something that was better and even as some of them were very inexpensive, none of them could compete with IronCAD.
Krystal
Events Services, 11-50 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed July 2020
IronCAD - very efficient
IronCAD with the KeyShot plug in has made a big difference in our business. There is so much more we can do, from detailed models to high quality renders and animations. IronCAD has allowed us to build detailed models quickly and the catalog system means we can easily use the same model parts over and over again.
PROSThe workflow is very efficient and with a minimal learning curve. It was easy to transition from Draftsight to IronCAD and we can do so much more with this program.
CONSVery little cons, we work with a lot of large assemblies and IronCAD often switches into large assembly mode automatically. This had to be turned off to allow for a deeper level of editing but can be useful in certain circumstances.
Reason for choosing IronCAD
The workflow appeared to be more efficient and other reviews indicated a small learning curve. IronCAD also had a lot of features not offered by the other programs and could be bought outright without the need for a subscription.
Reasons for switching to IronCAD
We found it difficult to do some more complicated tasks within the draft program and we also wanted to have the ability to create 3D models of our products.
Leland
Industrial Automation, 2-10 employees
Used weekly for less than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
3
EASE OF USE
3
VALUE FOR MONEY
1
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
3
FUNCTIONALITY
2
Reviewed July 2019
Disappointing for a Premium Price
I bought IronCAD because I didn't realize that Dassault offered a perpetual license for SolidWorks. I also know that S/W is unstable with models over a certain size (10,000 parts, I think) and was hoping that I/C was more able to handle large models. It crashed consistently with the large model I loaded, though. I've since discovered that I can buy a perpetual licenses of SolidWorks FOR THE SAME PRICE and am therefore standardizing on SolidWorks for my engineering firm. I was really looking forward to supporting an underdog and helping you displace SolidWorks with a superior product. Given that you're charging the same price as Dassault and mimicking their student license program, though, it seems that your Product Managers don't realize how far you have to go. I bought a student license and then bought a full license to do commercial work. This has turned into a very expensive test drive.
PROSThe Triball is great. Drag-and-Drop concepting/design is great. The interface is far more intuitive than PTC Creo. Being able to reorder objects in the model tree without crashing the model. The complementary IronCAD Compose is fabulous. The student licensing program was fantastic before it was turned into a subscription-based model.
CONSIt was quite expensive, considering the lack of maturity in the product. I started a bug list but then stopped because there were so many. The parametric architecture is fractured and disjointed. Dimensioning in the 2D drawing module is too erratic to be usable. Dimensions in the 3D module hide by default and it's hit-or-miss as to which object to activate to show a placed dimension. Not being able to export to sldasm or sldprt with the translator was an unexpected and stunning deficiency considering the price I paid for the Translator. Having the file format change right after I purchased the software and NOT BE BACKWARD-COMPATIBLE was almost a death blow to my continuation as an IronCAD user since it prevents me from adding seats without complications or extra expense of upgrading. It was a bit galling to see the heavily-discounted price offers right after I paid a higher price, and I now see that you tricked your new users into buying a soon-to-be-obsolete version. Being barred from having an account in the forum simply because I chose to purchase a perpetual license and no maintenance plan was quite a slap in the face. The single-project-file structure isn't particularly valuable (S/W has the Pack-and-Go feature). It actually complicates CAD library management. The Help file is terrible. Most entries simply describe the labels that are already readily-visible on a given dialogue box. Example: "LOAD Button: Click this button to load
Robert
Defense & Space, 2-10 employees
Used weekly for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
4
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed July 2020
How Does IronCAD Shape Up
I don't use it daily, but I'm able to jump back in and create fairly complex designs and 2D drawings. I'm not a particularly proficient mechanical designer, but IronCAD helps me do needed design and prototype development.
PROSWhile IronCAD is feature rich and generally bug-free, it is an outstanding value when compared products like SolidWorks. Like any CAD program, there is a learning curve. Once you get past the initial learning curve, you can quickly become productive with IronCAD The Triball object positioning tool is the best; it makes moving 3D objects very easy.
CONSWhile there are many video tutorials available to help anyone learn and use IronCAD, the lack of a comprehensive, current User Manual is a negative. I recognize that such a manual would be a large undertaking, but I still think it is needed.
Reasons for switching to IronCAD
IronCAD looked like a better solution for 3D design than TurboCAD which I used for years to do 2D design.
Daniel
Construction, 2-10 employees
Used weekly for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed July 2020
Ideal for what we do
We design and install architectural aluminium roof line systems. I can draw a roof, design a fascia and split it all out ready for manufacture in a couple of hours. For a small business time is paramount. Ease of use, I was drawing parts within 5mins of starting the software. Its literally that easy to use. I probably dont use half of what IronCAD can do but he bit I do use is so simple.
PROSThe triball is a genius idea, it makes manipulating parts so much easier. I can draw a roof build up, drop it into a catalog and save it and re-use it again later. It makes things so much quicker
CONSA couple of little niggles like the text box always being in front of the handle you are trying to move. Theres probably a way around it though.
Reason for choosing IronCAD
Price. IronCAD is almost half the price of these
ARAVINDA
Design, 2-10 employees
Used weekly for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
3
EASE OF USE
2
VALUE FOR MONEY
3
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed July 2020
Nice advanced features. Complex interface to use the advanced features.
It seems to have all the nice features I want. But I may need a 4 year post-graduation course to learn those advanced modes.
PROSI like the ability to create designs variation and quickly visualizing various alternate designs.
CONSPoor documentation especially in advanced features.
Reason for choosing IronCAD
KeyCreator didn't have the design variations as simple as IronCAD. Hence chose IronCAD.
Reasons for switching to IronCAD
I am an inventor and am in new products development. I needed the multiple design versions in the same drawing and quick review of those. Hence switched to IronCAD.
Simon
Packaging and Containers, 11-50 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed July 2020
Time saving
Mind changing from traditional cad .Once you Ironcad you will never go back.
PROSTime saving and easy modification of design at an advanced stage.Caxa link and automation to issue BOM for production and costing.
CONSNo auto saving in Ironcad ,only saving alarm.
Reasons for switching to IronCAD
3D design easy and manufacturing process capability.
Chris
Design, 51-200 employees
Used weekly for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
4
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed July 2020
Exhibit Designer
It has been good. When I have needed assistance the customer support team has been great. I appreciated that with the pandemic and our office closing and moving everyone to work from home, we were able to convert our network licenses to standalone licenses.
PROSWith my background in 3D modeling vs engineering IronCAD was an easier transition for me to learn 9 years ago. It is very user friendly for a designer to transition to and learn
CONSOn crash a number of times my settings and preset quick keys have disappeared on me.
Reasons for switching to IronCAD
Switching over to IronCAD was easier for our fabrication team as they were already using it.
Vendor Response
Thank you Chris for the positive review of the product and support team!
Replied July 2020
Peter
Mechanical or Industrial Engineering, 2-10 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
3
FUNCTIONALITY
3
Reviewed July 2020
Innovative Magnetic Technologies Review
To date i am fairly happy with Ironcad. We had to purchase the ironpro mechanical to really make the program beneficial to us. There are many tools with Ironpro that we use daily which have made our job of creating products more efficient. Unfortunately i do not have any other 3D modelling program experience to reference against Ironcad.
PROSThe decision to move to 3d was made because Ironcad was a relatively low cost alternative to the higher cost competitors. I also was drawn to the intuitive drag and drop design philosophy and the flexibility to create assembly down type designs in one model. Also the Caxa integration was very welcome as our company used Autocadd for all its drawings and having Caxa gave us the ability to continue to utilize our existing drawing library along side the new 3d drawings. Without the Caxa portion of the program I doubt we would have used the program for long, and gone back to manual 2d for our products.
CONSIn the beginning we had a lot of issues with creating drawings which were equivalent in look and feel with that which we had been able to create in 2d Autocadd. The #1 biggest issue was the lack of any CAXA instructional data. The amount of information provided by the company in the form of a user guide is laughable at best. If I did not already have years of experience with Autocadd and CAXA's similarity to Autocadd I doubt i would have been able to get the program to make any sense at all. The only thing that makes Caxa usable is the forums where questions can be asked.
Reason for choosing IronCAD
Cost. At the time, and with our limited Knowledge on 3d modelling the intuitive design methodology of iron cad seemed very beneficial.
Vendor Response
Thank you for the review Peter. As you pointed out, we focus more on the 3D learning side since CAXA is similar to the AutoCAD use model. However we do see the growth in this area and will invest into more training in that area.
Replied July 2020
Afshin
Verified reviewer
Mining & Metals, 51-200 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed November 2019
Get IronCAD .It's valuable and worth
working with IronCAD is very pleasurable and useful. its very powerful
PROSvery user friendly and easy-to-use and very good support.
CONSsome times there are limitations for creating desire shapes and you need find more complex solution .
Vendor Response
Thanks for the review of IronCAD! We are happy to see that you get real value from the product!
Replied February 2020
Graham
Mechanical or Industrial Engineering, 1 employee
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
5
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed July 2020
Almost Perfect
I design mechanical engineering items for serval customers and I can sit with an engineer and create their new design in real time.
PROSMost of the features work really well and are intuitive. The speed of being able to create a new design is impressive. The triball is the best tool ever and saves hours of work when positioning parts. Generally it is a solid piece of software and very rarely crashes.
CONSIt does not work at all well with a high resolution display(3840 x 2160) some of the menu items are so small you cannot read them and in other areas the items overlap. After every new release there are some errors and these are not always fixed before the next version is released. Some of the less used features are feeling a bit dated like the visualization mode.
Reason for choosing IronCAD
Triball just made everything faster.
Reasons for switching to IronCAD
I wanted the speed of design.
Vendor Response
Thank you Graham for the positive review of the speed of IronCAD. The latest versions of the product should have better support of High Res Monitors. If you are still seeing issues, feel free to contact support.
Replied July 2020
Nick
Airlines/Aviation, 11-50 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed July 2020
IronCAD - Powerful easy to Use CAD
Easy to use CAD
PROSIronCAD has proven to be an essential tool in our company for the last 15years. Unlike similar software, its free design approach allows you to get on with the business of producing designs rather than worrying about model integrity. It has become significantly more powerful as the years go by.
CONSThere are many basic features lacking, (select by colour, divide a line in equal segments, solve a structural part on dimension or area, mechanism mode trace a 2d path, intersection of 3d parts with your current cross section, decent configuration control date created user etc). Confusion about which 2d drawing environment to choose, i.e. ICD or CAXA Smartmarkup features are an odd addition.
Reason for choosing IronCAD
Cost
Reasons for switching to IronCAD
Poor 3d support (this was 15 years ago)
Vendor Response
Thank you Nick for the positive review and suggestions for improvements. Thank you for being a longtime use of IronCAD.
Replied July 2020
Nigel
Information Technology and Services, 2-10 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed June 2022
IronCAD from an insider
I can't speak on behalf of our business as we are resellers of the software, but I can categorically say we have a bunch of extremely happy clients that love to tell us how much they love the software and how much it has transformed their businesses. Very proud to be a part of that process. It makes selling the software very rewarding when we get that sort of feedback.
PROSAfter many years of struggling against the giants of Autodesk Inventor and Dassault's SolidWorks we have now cracked the tipping point and find people are keenly embracing IronCAD over the other choices. As far as I can recall we have never had a former user of the competitor software ever return to those products and that is a testament to IronCAD's abilities and productivity increases for its users.
CONSSimply the lack of proactive marketing by the developers who were very focused on the software and its abilities rather than getting involved in its awareness in the market. If they had been more marketing focused in the early years then they would have had the development funds earlier for product enhancements.
Reason for choosing IronCAD
Unique features that set it apart from the mainstream offerings and the opportunity to be a part of what was clearly a product with huge potential. Additionally the channel manager was very pro active in support.
Reasons for switching to IronCAD
SolidEdge made the decision to sell directly to end users (which failed ) and MechSolid sold their company to their largest customer in Europe
Piotr
Computer Software, 201-500 employees
Used daily for less than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
3
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed May 2022
Cheap CAD alternative for top market players
I started to use IronCAD as an alternative for AutoCAD and Inventor because of the price increase. In the beginning, I was not satisfied. Its strange menu, less intuitive than Autodesk or SolidWorks, and some bugs interrupting the work put me off a bit. However, as I was using it more and more, I started to feel more comfortable with IronCAD. That is true, it is a bit different than market-leading tools, but it is not worse. TriBall functionality is pretty amazing, saving a lot of time during model creation. Functionalities are pretty the same as in other CAD tools, with minor differences. Import of a lot of different file types with the possibility of modification is great and does not that often exist in competing tools. The huge advantage is customer support. They respond quickly and try their best to help with problems. Also, IronCAD is being constantly developed and it is noticeable in a positive way. All in all, it is not an AutoCAD, nor SolidWorks, but it is worth a try, especially for a significantly lower cost.
PROSRelatively cheap price. TriBall. Amount of functionalities. Customer support.
CONSLittle bugs make work annoying. Minor problems with preview views blending togehter
Reasons for switching to IronCAD
High price
Mitch
Design, 1 employee
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
4
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed July 2020
The most flexible product in its class
I have been a user since 1995 when IronCAD was known as Trispectives. It has helped me successfully design and create designs for feature films, theme parks, race cars, yachts and more. Despite its deficiencies I still think its the most flexible and powerful 3D design tool in its class.
PROSI work in the feature film industry where everything is extremely time constrained, fast changing and teams are often geographically dispersed. IronCAD dual kernel and translator add-on allow me to import and work with data from a wide array of sources from CG artists through to civil engineers. IronCADs workflow is much less constrained than other products which makes it easier and faster to develop design ideas and concepts. When it comes time to build, I use add-ons like IC Mechanical to speed up the design of my steel structures and output 2D files for CNC etc.
CONSIn my long term opinion IronCAD's 2D drawing utilities have always been lack lustre. I have tried both IC's native drawing and CAXA (yes IronCAD has 2 drafting systems!), but neither are fully implemented, efficient or bug free. The good news is that IC does a good job exporting 2D views of your designs so you can draft them elsewhere.
Vendor Response
Thanks Mitch for the review! Great work and a very interesting use of IronCAD!
Replied July 2020
Brian
Architecture & Planning, 1 employee
Used daily for less than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
4
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed July 2020
Consider Both Sides Of The Product
Overall I am more productive within the IronCAD model environment due to the Tri-Ball and the fewer limitations on creating parts and assemblies. I am disappointed in the documentation environment but have been told that the development team is continually enhancing the software.
PROSBuilding and working within the model. The Tri-Ball is at the top of the list. This adds a very flexible method for navigation and positioning in the model. The ability to work with fewer constraints or even none. The flexibility within the history tree is awesome. The catalogs are a nice touch. Ability to use both parasoilid and/or ACIS. Support is top notch. Compared to past experiences. My support contact is quick to respond and exhibits the drive and ability to get a resolution. This is enhanced due to the fact that my contact actually uses the product in his company.
CONSDocumenting in the drawing environment. The documentation environment needs to be more mature and current. Navigating in the sheets is cumbersome and clunky. Text and symbol features, placement and manipulation are inconsistent and lacking. Tools for adding additional line work on the sheets are cumbersome to add, manipulate and edit. Navigating with a 3D mouse control is sporadic.
Reasons for switching to IronCAD
Autodesk license scheme. Solidworks long term cost. IronCAD's flexible model enviroment works best for my projects.
George
Machinery, 11-50 employees
Used weekly for less than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
4
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed June 2019
IronCAD for Industrial Machine Design
We are using IronCAD for all our machine design. We began our transition from 2D CAD to a well known 3D CAD competitor but ran into roadblocks with cost and implementation. We found IronCAD and have rapidly moved forward with 3D design for fabrication and marketing.
PROSEase of use, cost, intuitive drag and drop design process, easy part catalogs, easy setup, parts can be stored in single assembly file, awesome customer support, company is open to user input and actively improving the product based on feedback
CONSUser base is smaller than competitors with less help online, a little difficult for users of competitor's 3D CAD software to make the transition to IronCAD's workflow (but they love it once they figure it out)
Reason for choosing IronCAD
Cost, no perpetual licenses
Vendor Response
Thank you George for the positive review on IronCAD and how it is being used in your machine design process!
Replied June 2019
Keith
Automotive, 1 employee
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed July 2020
3d Printing and Prototyping with Ironcad
As an inventor and president of an inventor group, I find that Ironcad is indispensable. I have designed things for members and made prototypes for them. I also build models and really can not live without the ability to design and print many parts.
PROSI have been a user before it was called Ironcad. It was called Tryspectives then. Many years ago. I have upgraded twice since then. When given the opportunity to show others how easy it is to use, they seem to be quite impressed. Especially over parametric software. Ironcad does this also but I do not use it much. I do 3D printing of prototypes and Ironcad is great at producing solid models and easy to modify models if needed. Everything I think up is modeled in Ironcad to empty my head for the next project. I currently use release 2015.
CONSThe thing I wish it did better is free form modeling. Mechanical stuff is great. Free form is more difficult. Also the ability to work with .stl ( Triangulated mesh ) files. It will import them but with no ability to modify. I would be using 2020 if the cost were lower but as a one person company, revenue is down. That OK as 2015 does most of everything that I need.
Tommy
Mechanical or Industrial Engineering, 1 employee
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
4
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed July 2020
simplicity and speed
I have very good experience with ironcad Has worked for many years with ironcad (started with version 2) Since most of what I do is about automation, usually one machine, ironcad fits perfectly, compared to colleagues working in other systems (Solidworks, AutoCad 3D)
PROSVery efficient way of working. Can be worked from sketch to finished production drawings, without leaving IronCad. Completely independent of constrains (simple and forgiving way of working). Simple drawing rules (compared to Solidworks) Has worked as a consultant for major Swedish companies that have design departments Has drawn in front of large audiences who are amazed at the simplicity of ironcad Which has been a strong selling point for getting a job for my company
CONSSurface modeling tools are not really good Sometimes you would like to have better tools Solidwork has better tools for the plastics industry Works a lot with molds for plastic, cutting tools for sheet metal etc. Measurement has improved, but there is still room for improvement I have contact with other designers who use ironcad They complain about the 2D tools (?)
Ramon
Mechanical or Industrial Engineering, 11-50 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
3
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed July 2020
Ironcad as bases of design
We are a company that uses ironcad every day with 3 users and we build a lot of custum machines. ironcad is a very fast program and easy to learn for this kind of work
PROSWe are have ironcad for over 17 years now and also tried other software for 3D design but the best part of ironcad is that you can start a design very easy without using constrains and build up a drawing very fast
CONSAt the 2D end ironcad can improve in compare to other software like solidworks
Reason for choosing IronCAD
faster and easyier to use - no constrains
Reasons for switching to IronCAD
faster and easyier to use - no constrains
Eric
Aviation & Aerospace, 2-10 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed July 2020
Simply the Best
I have earned a living using IronCAD. IronCAD has allowed me to compete and win.
PROSReasonable learning curve, consistent user interface, a very capable solid modeller, which also has a surprising number of surface tools and surface editing capability.
CONSSetting up and managing project files and shared libraries could be made easier, though the capabilies are all there.
Reason for choosing IronCAD
Cost for performance was unmatched. Also, import/export compatibility made IronCAD an easy choice.
Reasons for switching to IronCAD
AutoCAD is a superior product
Brian
Automotive, 1 employee
Used daily for less than 12 months
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
4
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed July 2019
Iron Clad and IronCAD
For my needs, I was looking for a simple tool to import geometry to provide design assessment and to review assemblies for functional GD&T proposals. I didn't need a drawing (2D) capability at the time. So this tool has exceeded my expectations. It has allowed me to provide alternative concepts on designs I'm reviewing. I'm so happy I made this choice and may be looking to upgrade to try more advanced capabilities.
PROSIt was fairly simple to learn. My previous trained and professional experience had been CATIA V4 and V5. Ideas, SolidWorks and NX, and was able to pick up on the methodology very quickly. It is intuitive and fairly straight forward. A wide variety of import and export options come standard. It opens large assemblies quick and efficiently. The ability to manipulate imported (non-native) geometry is really great and time-saving. I love the ability to drag and drop basic and advanced geometry into the design.
CONSOccasionally It will crash and close down but most of the time when I asked it to do something extraordinarily difficult. Rarely for no reason, but it does occasionally. I wish I could create Datum Planes to use for section cutting and mirroring geometry. I know I can achieve without them, but to me, it would be more intuitive.
Vendor Response
Thank you for the review Brian!
Replied July 2019
Gerald
Management Consulting, 1 employee
Used weekly for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
4
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed July 2020
Gerald Harding's Thoughts
IronCAD is generally great to use, I hope to see continuing improvements
PROSGeneral methodology- Triball, Catalog, single file and ease of drawing creation are the aspects that sets IronCAD apart from other CAD software.
CONSThere numerous minor niggles, too many to list in this survey. There needs to be a place where suggestions and problems can be posted easily. Draft is not really properly integrated. With minor improvements to Drawing, Draft would be redundant. I am trying summarise the problems that I have, my trouble is time to accurately describe and suggest changes. Cost of annual upgrades. It would be nice if IC-Mechanical would be an integral part of IronCAD.
Reason for choosing IronCAD
Price (in 2011) and the general methodology
Reasons for switching to IronCAD
Price (in 2011) and the general methodology
Stefan
Machinery, 11-50 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
3
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
3
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
4
FUNCTIONALITY
3
Reviewed July 2020
I can not understand
We have been using Ironcad since 1998 or 1999. We are designing our own machineries using Ironcad, but we are also working as consultants designing machineries for some of our customers using both Solidworks and Inventor, so we have a good experience of the differences.
PROSIt is very easy to design a new machinery in the 3D-scene. It is a great benefit that you can design a hole assy and afterwards select how you like to have your sumassy´s and details.
CONSThe 2D-interface and funconality making an ICD-file is a totalt disaster. It is depending on the grafic´s, time for update of scene´s is too long, sections is really bad, for example you have to fill in data for welding symbols each time you activate the function instead of getting last data as default, and so on. We have since 1998 reported a lot of ideas´s how to make it better, but unfortunatly we can not see aallmost no improvement
Reason for choosing IronCAD
The 3D-environment
richard
Mechanical or Industrial Engineering, 1 employee
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed July 2020
unparalleled ease of use for concept generation
Ironcad allows me to take on jobs with much less time available than I previously have done because it's productivity is unrivalled.
PROSThe ability to make models without a feature history or parent-child relationships makes it's very easy for concept generation and development without the need to completely remodel once a design has been established. the tribal makes locating imported models and other component unbelievably easy compared to industry leading software
CONSDatabase design and look feels dated and the rendering I find it difficult to use.The drafting element is not its strongest point but it is sufficient
Reason for choosing IronCAD
The direct modelling and freedom from feature history work liberating compared to SolidWorks and made the decision easy
Vendor Response
Thank you for the review Richard! It's great to read that IronCAD is helping improve your productivity in jobs.
Replied July 2020