AutoCAD 2026: Benefits, Features & Pricing

As an architect, AutoCAD is an essential tool for creating all types of drawings (floor plans, elevations, electrical layouts, ceiling plans, etc.). It is extremely useful, and I learned how to use it easily.

It has been my carreer in making drawings for 26 years. I started not even knowing any more then CAD meant computer aided drafting. I worked for a old guy who didnt even know how to turn on a computer adn could hand draft in pencil it so well it was ready to submit . He taught me drafting and employed me cause if it wasnt in cad the industry was truingin away from hard copies , hand deliveries of those copyies and then teh copies of the revisions. It was a printers dream to have to make so many prints over and over and sets of 100 drwaings at a time . Bue printin used an amonia based machine to copy on to photopaper to make copies , This is where blueprints came from , that machine woudl turn the black in white into this blue paper and white lines , Yuk smelled so bad and was so slow to copy , was slower the then old mimgraphs schools used to sue , photocopying was so expensive at the sizes produced. So i was lucky to get such a master and was patient to show me what every squiggle he marked up was . I had to in a sense copy his hand drawing into autocad so that it used a very clean typed crisp look like a robot had drawn it . it mad consitatancy in teh plasn all produced adn all that time i was copying in his design and documents i was learning how to to do electrical design . I didnt go to any college for engineering , i had no degree . i was a simple tech computer guy that knew computers and i had played with almost every softward i coudl get my hands on . i was given alot of time to do these plans and paid very little it seemed , but it was at a computer and i was a gamer so i coudl be on a computer 20 or 24 hours a day and still be captivated by it . I could type and i coudl write in complete sentences/ I am now a master cad and a master electrical engineer and since title-24 energy fules came out ,i have taken a compete facisination with lighting adn lighting design of control systems and able to navigat the compliance of a energy required in every state and i work in los angels in which californias complaince method si far mor ecompicaed or years ahead of any other state. i ahve worked on goverment projects with the most of security clearnance, i have owrke on hospitals adn the oshpd codes and rules you must follow , you had to learn to be a doctor and all the machines they use and the way a doctor opersates his sewquences to design fo rthem. Generators and life safety emegnecy power . I have worked for school districts and the beauricaracy of standards they creatve . the finest and most important clients were with Disney and it seemed that the standards they used are what the industry has adopted in standards. Layers and colors and how the drawaing must look to meet there standards. I have worked in over 800 marriots and hilton and ever name brand hotel there is in everystate of this country. I did autocad in everyoen of the amazing projects i ahve worked on over the ears and without autocad adn the experienced i got from using it . i would have not had that opportunity . Its my carreer now adn autocad means i do not labor or tear up my back or calice my ahnds and i can probalby do this til i am 80 and still document . So my overall expeience with autocad was life changing adn life giving to a poor kid that coudl nto afford a unirversitiy and only got a asssociates degrees at a local college . But now i have learned to achieve anyhting i put my head to because autocad had so many ways to do everythign tha i embraced it and tried every command and differnt sequences. That what an engineer knwos, hwo to do stuff and in what order its done and why its done. By using this program it gave me the logic adn opened my mind to do things mythodically . So its not jsut a documentation software if you learn it and truly learn it . It can teach you a way of doing anyting in life and how to approach things so that you can succeed and produce . I love to do wood work and becuase i can plan things out in buidigns i loveto cut patterns and put jigs together and i see it in my ehad now becasue i have been paid to draw ithings for more than half my llife . all this and i was a late bloomer didnt even start this carret til i was 30 and at 56 now i still have time to design so much , i can do my job with my eyes closed sometimes , i do reputive apartment building right now since covid and all teh push toward housing problems her ein california . I have been seen drawing in autocad adn sleeping cause my mustcles knwo where those commands are adn inside my head i see what i genrate what it will look liek . So my overall expeience with this software has far exceeded what i expected

AutoCAD is the industry standard software for our discipline, as an organisation we have invested in Autodesk products for over 20 years and simply couldn't work without it. AutoCAD gives us the ability to produce our plans and drawings to the required standard and enables us to conform to company standards easily and efficiently. We also utilise AutoCAD's scripting language to extend its functionality and further improve our workflows.

My overall experience using autocad is very good and I will continue to use in my career for the foreseeable future.

I work in shipbuilding offshore design and it is the best and most efficient way to design. It is easy to use and the hotkeys allow me to quickly create drawings in less time. It is compatible with other software, which maximizes the efficiency of my work. However, sometimes the software freezes when I am working, or I have to convert to a new version due to version-related problems.

I mostly use AutoCAD for renovation projects. Most of these project already have an existing file to work off of. These types of projects usually do not need a 3d model developed. These projects can move fast and have a quick turnaround.

its amazing the ecosystem the compatibility and easy to use, i must say the ui is underated but its damm good.

I have been using AutoCAD for more than 14 years, and it has been crucial in every project we used it, both academically and professionally. However, in the last couple of years, I have started to migrate complex projects to Revit and maintain Interior works in AutoCAD.

I have experience using AutoCAD as a Engineer; used the software to create 2D and 3D drawings of structural components and also t make revisions to existing designs.