Grabcad replacement

[GabeG]

With grabcad closing next month our team is looking for an alternative. What are teams switching to?

[JacobD]

One option is kenesto

How to transition from GrabCAD Workbench to Kenesto - Kenesto

[GPGARY]

We switched over to Solidworks PDM. Unsure of how well it’ll work as next year will be our first season using it, but I know many workplaces in the industry use the service.

[arshonb]

from what i’ve heard, my former team is moving to 3D Experience. Hopefully the native SolidWorks integration will prove beneficial.

[WhoDisBe]

Not sure how viable this might be, but what about just sharing docs as public OnShape files? or as STL, STEP, etc. on GitHub like how some people share other docs (pdf’s, dxf’s, etc.)?

[jago21]

Hear me out: Google Drive.

Everyone already has it. But the key is Drive for desktop. This allows you to access files in a shared google drive straight through file explorer on your computer. This gives solidworks or any other cad software the ability to open files from the drive and then save them back to the drive. There is no downloading, editing and then reuploading needed and there’s even version control built in

[HUGODANIEL09]

My team tried using Github Desktop for this season and it worked well. I recommend it.

[CelestialMaelstrom]

I think these should be seperate threads (initial reaction vs. moving forwards), but for reference: GrabCAD is Shutting Down their Workbench

It has a lot of discussion about this, but none too recent iirc.

EDIT: fwiw, I’ve been hoping to put together a spreadsheet on different options against a metric, but that’ll happen next week if at all

[jaredhk]

And someone else tried to create this same thread recently: GrabCad Workbench shutting down - Whats next?.

May be worth keeping discussion in the thread @CelestialMaelstrom linked which has discussion and recently as < two weeks ago.

[RisenFalcon]

Many would recommend Bild; I’ve found that does not work for me.
I’ve recently been trying github for the team, this on the small scale seems like it could work.

[ZCam_4415]

PDM is frustrating occasionally but nice. My team has been using it for a little while (2 years now) and we haven’t run into any major problems other than the occasional “someone forgot to check in their file and now no one can access it,” but I’ll vouch for PDM

[Nick.kremer]

@RisenFalcon

I’ve found that does not work for me.

Can you elaborate?

[RisenFalcon]

I’ve attempted to upload a COTS lib multiple times, each time bild just forgets I uploaded or like just deletes it or something
no clue what’s goin on just can’t upload the files

[NetArcX]

As of right now, we’re planning on using Solidworks PDM on a self-hosted server. Before that I was researching SVN (Apache Subversion) its kinda like git for non-programming documents.

[Cozmicbot]

My team uses google drive now. We already were using it for other stuff, but now for CAD, and gotta say we like it more.

[kingbrandon14]

How open is your team to changing CAD software?

@kingbrandon14

We used to use SolidWorks & GrabCAD, but wanted something that didn’t require as much time/effort to share files with the rest of the design team. Also something that doesn’t crash all the time.

We use OnShape now because it eliminates the need to transfer files completely (since it’s cloud-based), and because it allows new students to get started very quickly, from any device, since OnShape runs in-browser. It’s also super easy to organize the CAD into folders for different subsystems, within the same workspace (i.e. each robot has its own workspace). And you never lose your work because OnShape automatically “saves” after every edit.

[BBelnap88]

Onshape for sure, our team decided to switch to it for the upcoming season, and it takes a little bit to adjust too, but it is way easier to design, I really love part studios, and the option to add feature scripts and download extensions, like MK Cad and Julia’s feature scripts, you also can access it from any computer because you save it online.

[CelestialMaelstrom]

This post is due to GrabCAD’s disappearance in a month [CD link] [GrabCAD official news].

This post aims to summarize the various options to GrabCAD. It wishes to gather information on all relevant GrabCAD alternatives, and then put it into a matrix format so that all alternatives are weighted against the same metric. It was not in reply to the “GrabCAD is shutting down” thread because (1) new posts get more attention; (2) separate topic. If necessary to merge, though, I understand.

For context for below: this is basically a spreadsheet weighing different options.

---

There are a couple key points here:

1. This is not a discussion of what is best, merely what each option entails.
   My team will weigh these options / CAD systems based on what works best for us. Your team may weight these options differently. (i.e. wifi may be a more important factor than team maintenance to team A, but not to team B.) However, this is not where to do so, this is merely where to gather and view the information. The current metric was based off of factors I’ve been considering. If your team is considering factors that are not yet on the list, let me know and I will add them.

2. This treats GrabCAD as a system, not a stand-alone.
   There are a variety of package types: “GrabCAD + Solidworks” is one, “Onshape” is one, “Inventor + Vault” is one. These are all systems that work together. Thus, instead of comparing “GrabCAD” to “Onshape”, here we compare “Generic CAD + GrabCAD” to “Onshape”. Admittedly, “Generic CAD” is a bit … well, generic, but for now it’s better than having both “Solidworks + GrabCAD” and “Inventor + GrabCAD” which tell me about the same thing for more clutter. Again, if your team is considering a system that is not yet on the list, let me know and I will add them.

3. This list is not done.
   As mentioned before, please let me know if you are considering metrics or systems that aren’t on here. I will add them (if within reason).

4. These metrics will generally attempt to remove opinions.
   Currently there are some opinion-based metrics. ChiefDelphi is highly opinionated on CAD systems, and hearing “Program X is just better” is not helping anyone. These opinion-based metrics are bad, and I will remove them as I find metrics to replace them. Non-booleans or a phrase is fine as long as it’s relatively inarguable. There is definitely a place for summaries, but when I weigh these options I will choose my sources more carefully than popular opinion (and they will not go on these sheet).

---

>>Spreadsheet Link<<

I’ve only ever used Inventor and GrabCAD, so I’ve only filled out “Generic CAD + GrabCAD.” If you have information on all those other empty cells, or think I’ve made a mistake in one cell, please let me know!

To help, it would be fantastic if you can:

• Comment directly on the Google Sheet (you can click a cell individually to comment)
• Reply here in this CD thread
• Only provide information you’re sure about: I’d rather have nothing than the wrong answer

I can’t promise how fast I’ll update this and I have no clue if anyone would provide information (I would really appreciate not having to search up all this information myself, only to get some of it wrong) but I haven’t seen anything similar, just a bunch of threads recently, and the June 1st date is approaching fast, so I’ve made this.

(Obligatory embarrassment note: please let me know if this already exists so I can shamefully delete this.)

Thanks,
Oliver

---

>>Spreadsheet Link<<

[CelestialMaelstrom]

I made the spreadsheet publicly accessible, with it only giving you a warning confirming you want to edit. Thanks for the interest, and please be considerate in your changes (if you’re changing an existing cell-wording / cell-answer).

[Kbeldag]

Probably Onshape, we did not use in our team but so many teams is using Onshape. That is so compact and cloud-based.