SolidWorks is the default mechanical CAD package in a huge number of engineering firms, and it is also one of the harder products to price, because Dassault Systèmes sells it through resellers rather than publishing a public checkout the way Autodesk does. This guide explains the structure so you know what to ask a reseller for.
Because SolidWorks pricing is quoted per reseller and per region, this guide deliberately does not print a single figure. Get a written quote for your region from solidworks.com or an authorised reseller, and make sure it separates the licence from the annual maintenance.
The three editions
| Edition | What it adds | Typical buyer |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Part and assembly modelling, drawings, sheet metal, weldments, basic rendering | Most individual designers and small shops |
| Professional | Standard plus a parts library, ECAD/MCAD collaboration, design checking, photorealistic rendering and file management | Teams that need shared libraries and revision control |
| Premium | Professional plus structural and motion simulation, routing for piping and wiring, and tolerance analysis | Engineering teams doing analysis in-house |
The two questions that decide your cost
Perpetual or term? SolidWorks has historically offered a perpetual licence — you buy it once and own that version forever — alongside term licences. A perpetual licence costs far more up front but stops the meter. This is the main structural difference from Autodesk, which is subscription-only for its mainstream products. If you plan to use one version for many years, ask specifically about perpetual.
Are you paying maintenance? A perpetual licence without an active subscription service contract still runs, but you stop receiving upgrades and technical support. Maintenance is an annual percentage of the licence price, and quotes often present the two together — separate them before comparing offers.
The legitimate free routes
- Students — Dassault runs a student edition available at no cost or a nominal fee through many universities. Ask your institution before buying anything; a great many engineering schools already hold a licence you can use.
- Makers and hobbyists — a low-cost, non-commercial “for makers” tier has been offered for personal projects. Output is watermarked and licensed for non-commercial use only.
- Free trial — available through Dassault and its resellers, typically arranged with a short online form.
- Onshape — from the same parent company, fully browser-based, and free for public, non-commercial projects. The fastest way to learn modern parametric CAD without paying anything.
Softwares Academy does not host or distribute installers, licence keys or activation tools. If a site offers a paid application as an archive with a password, that is not a licence.
Alternatives worth testing before you commit
- Autodesk Inventor — the direct rival, with published pricing at US$2,585 a year, which at least makes budgeting straightforward.
- Fusion 360 — substantially cheaper than either, cloud-based, and enough for a lot of small-team product design.
- Onshape — real version control and branching, no installation, and genuinely free for public projects.
- Solid Edge — Siemens’ synchronous-modelling alternative, with a free community edition for non-commercial use.
- FreeCAD — free, open source and properly parametric. Slower to learn, but the most credible zero-cost option for real engineering work.
One warning about switching: in mechanical CAD the file format usually decides for you. If your customers, suppliers or employer send you SLDPRT and SLDASM files, a neutral format round-trip loses feature history, and that friction normally costs more than the licence you saved. Match your supply chain first, then optimise price.
