This effective and intuitive CAD platform enables me to produce architectural drawings for clients with ease. I can produce incredibly detailed construction drawings that are both readable and informative and enable contractors, clients and any other 3rd party to understand exactly what is being proposed or changed.

2D tools are simple and intuitive - I have taught complete novices very quickly how to use the tools and produce great looking Architectural drawings. Can be set up so it is as easy as drawing on a drawing board (I.e. you draw to scale on a piece of paper (no silly model space/paper space like AutoCAD)). Colours, hatched, patterns and opacity all allow you to produce beautiful architectural drawings that are easy to understand and interpret. With tailoring shortcuts it is also very quick to use - I can produce drawings twice as fast as other employees on AutoCAD. Has options for 3D and BIM modelling (although I have only used it minimally as I prefer the freedom of drawing with simple lines). System for backing up data and saves is great and has saved my skin often when I could of lost days worth of work.

Has had issues with iOS updates in the past and time has been wasted waiting for patches. Very occasionally crashes for bizarre reasons.

We started using Vectorworks many years ago because it was truly superior to Autocad at producing legible drawings. But Autocad has caught up. And we prefer modeling in Rhino, even though it is a more cumbersome work flow. Meanwhile. for BIM, it makes more sense to use Revit simply because everyone else is using it. IF we were starting our office today, we would not be selecting Vectorworks, much as I like it as a drafting program. And the expensive annual upgrades are frustrating, given how little benefits are.

Vectorworks is a great drafting program. it allows you to do anything you want, with great control over how the drawings look, and many ways to organize a complete drawing set.

The software is expensive, and the annual updates add very little. Autocad as pretty much caught up in terms of object-based controls. and ability to make beautiful, robust, legible, intelligent 2D drawings. While the 3D is very intuitive, Rhino is more robust. And for BIM, it is hard to justify not using the industry standard software. So where is the edge for Vectorworks?

I do not like it.. I find it a waste of time

If you want to do something there are probably at least 3 ways to do it in this software.

There are too many ways to customize and do things.. this makes everyday simple tasks very time consuming. It has too many glitches with Mac OS.. We havent been able to use the file sharing option without wasting hours and hours on redoing work due to crashing or random glitches that wont allow the files to save and sync.

We have generally had a superior experience using VectorWorks Architect, primarily on a OSX platform.

the vast array of features and it's integration with other 2D, BIM and 3D software.

The service select feature which is marketed as a customer service platform comes at a separated cost, further you cannot get updates or pay for upgrades without it.

We have been using the software over 20 years without hardly any issues! We can still open files from 1994!!!!!! We look at other softwares to make sure we are keeping up. When we factor in money, easy answer.....VectorWorks! We are a full BIM FIRM and VECTORWORKS does everything we need.

BIM capabilities, ease of learning, ease of use, ease of rendering, Smart tools, exceptional customer service, stability and speed of work.

Really ...... nothing. If the software doesn’t have something someone else has, they are probably developing it for the next version.