Here then is our list of the best CAD software on Mac for 2020 in order of ranking. SmartDraw (Best 2D CAD For Mac) If you’re looking for something powerful for 2D CAD design but amazingly easy to use and value for money, SmartDraw is the best 2D CAD software for Mac on the market. SmartDraw is incredibly flexible because it can be used both as a powerful diagramming alternative to. Architecture students, small design bureaus and self-employed architects not always can afford expensive professional software. We’ve collected a list of free architecture software that will be a great alternative to expensive 3D design, CAD and modeling software tools.

Sometimes we need free Architecture or CAD software to redesign our own apartment’s interior or want to decorate. Or just for learning purpose, here are some free and open source software for interior or house Architecture designers.

Archimedes: An architecture open CAD

Archimedes is a free and open source CAD (Computer Aided Design) software built Eclipse’s Rich Client Platform. It works on Linux, Mac OSX, and Windows but before installing it, you have need to install Java Virtual Machine. The software and its plugins are under the Eclipse Public License which means anyone can modify its source code to develop its own application without the permission of Archimedes team. It develops as an alternate option to AutoCAD.

SweetHome 3D

SweetHome 3D is an open-source software. It helps people to design the interior of their home in a very intuitive way. You can redesign your home and can see a 3-D version of how everything looks. It allows you to draw walls, rooms, windows, furniture, etc. You can create photorealistic images and videos with various light sources.

ArchiFacile

ArchiFacile is a free floor or house planner software which allows you to design them in two dimensional. This tool is very beneficial for architects as it allows to export design in PDF format. It can be used to plan floor, house, garage, wooden house, a garden shed or pool.

3D Home Design

3D Home Design has a free version of its powerful software which enables users to create 2D/3D professional plans for indoor and outdoor views. Graphics are pretty realistic and make working with this software very enjoyable.

Google SketchUp Make

Google SketchUp is a free software which allows you to create 3D models in just a few minutes. There are lots of video tutorials available online which helps newbies. You can build your own house sketch design. Also, the sketch of your living room, a piece of furniture, model your city for Google Earth and more.

BRL-CAD

BRL-CAD is an open source modeling system and cross-platform CAD software. It has ray-tracing for rendering and geometric analysis, interactive geometry editor, analysis benchmark suite, image & signal processing tools, libraries for robust geometric representation, network distributed framebuffer support and more.

LibreCAD

Libre CAD is 2D CAD application that can read DWG files. It writes DXF files and can export files to other formats also such as PNG, JPG etc. It available in 20 languages and supports all major operating systems. (Windows, Linux, Mac OSX and others). It provides you layers, blocks, splines, polylines, ellipse tools, advanced tangent line & circle tools, transformation tools, an advanced snapping system and more.

FreeCAD

FreeCAD is a powerful parametric 3D modeler for CAD, CAD, MCAD, CAx, CAE, and PLM. It extremely modular Architecture software that allows customization and use of extensions. It features Open Inventor-compliant 3D scene representation model provided by the Coin 3D library and a broad Python API. It uses the interface which built with Qt. It supports Windows, MAC OSX, and Linux platforms.

nanoCAD

It is a free a Computer Aided Design (CAD) tool for Architectures. It has a user-friendly interface, drafting and design tools, native DWG compatibility, and an open API.

Blender

Blender is the free open source 3D suite for beautiful content creation. It supports all major OS platform. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, even video editing and game creation. The built-in Cycles rendering engine offers GPU & CPU rendering, Real-time viewport preview, HDR lighting support and Permissive License for linking with external software.

GenoCAD

GenoCAD is a CAD software for synthetic biology. This application provides a web-based tool to design plasmids, artificial gene networks, and other synthetic genetic systems composed of standard genetic parts. It includes a parts management system, a rule-based design tool, and a simulation engine.

TinkerCell -CAD for Synthetic Biology

TinkerCell is a software for synthetic biology. The visual interface allows users to design networks using various biological “parts”. Models can include modules and multiple cells. Users can program new functions using C or Python.

Sailcut CAD

It is a sail design and plotting software for Architectures. It allows you to design and visualize your own sail and compute the accurate development of all panels in flat sheets.

Free Simple Architecture Software For Mac Free

QCAD – 2D

It is easy to use, complete 2D CAD system for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. It offers a complete set of general purpose CAD tools and uses the DXF format as its native file format. Additional power-user tools including DWG support and enhanced DXF support are available as QCAD Professional for Architecture through proprietary add-ons.

Also See:

Performing accurate cost estimating is critical to the success of your construction business. Estimate too high and you win fewer jobs, too low and your profits disappear. That’s why it’s so important to get it right the first time.

Estimating by hand is time-consuming, so at some point, you may consider using software to bid more jobs in less time. Although software can be a big investment, not every tool has to break the bank.

In this guide, we highlight five free and open source estimating and takeoff products to try if you’re considering this type of solution for your construction business. We chose products that offer a stand-alone free or open source version, meet our definition for construction estimating software, and rank highly in search. (Learn more about how we chose featured products here.)

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Free construction estimating and takeoff software
• Open source construction estimating and takeoff software

Free construction estimating and takeoff software

In most cases (but not all), free construction estimating and takeoff software options earn revenue by offering a basic free version to entice users to download, with premium features available for a price.

As a result, you should note that the free version of the products listed below may not have all the features you need.

Easy-Pro Builders Estimator

N/A
No reviews yet

Free Architecture Design Software

Overview: This is a 100% free tool that is based entirely on the Apache OpenOffice spreadsheet program Calc. It has two dozen worksheets that report back to a summary page in order to provide updated estimates.

Easy-Pro Builders Estimator was created by a construction manager who wanted to serve smaller construction firms looking for an accurate and simple program that was free.

The software also comes with a 20-page manual so you can get up to speed on how the program works and you’re not simply left in the dark to figure it out yourself.

Some features include:

• Adjustable taxation rates depending on which country you are in
• Client unbilled reporting
• Printable project reports
• Compatible with Windows, Linux
• 24 trade worksheets available

Estimator 2.0

5.0/5
1 review

Overview: Estimator 2.0 is aimed at architects, builders, engineers, and construction companies that want to create detailed estimates for residential and commercial buildings. Estimator 2.0 allows users to prepare tenders, a cost abstract, purchase orders, and other documents needed for a proper estimation.

The free program lets you create an estimation and then print it out, ideal for those who are pressed for time and want to quickly make an estimation without having to spend a lot of money on premier software.

Estimator lets construction companies create estimates for a host of construction projects, including concrete structures, earth work, masonry, plastering, and more.

Some features include:

• An extensive tutorial for new users
• Quickly generate an estimate and then print it out
• Prepares tenders, cost abstracts, and purchase orders
• Compatibility with Windows

STACK Takeoff & Estimating Software

4.46/5
950+ reviews

Overview: STACK offers free construction software aimed at firms looking to streamline the bid process and accurately estimate materials, equipment, and labor. The software also provides access to an “extensive library of prebuilt, industry-specific material libraries,” according to its website. It generates an estimate based on your input of how much of each material will be needed and what labor, equipment, and overhead will be involved.

The software is cloud-based and therefore can be accessed from anywhere there is an internet connection. It is also compatible with all types of platforms, from smartphones to desktop computers.

STACK also includes training with the software for free. A full-featured version is available for purchase.

Some features include:

• Ability to upload digital plans
• Takeoff tools that provide shortcuts for measurements, making it quicker to produce a takeoff
• Prebuilt reports to provide insights to inform your estimates
• Cloud-based
• Free training

Open source construction estimating and takeoff software

Open source construction estimating and takeoff platforms are also free, but they have an additional wrinkle: the original source code is available. There are some benefits and drawbacks to this you should be aware of.

The benefits are that in addition to being free, you will be able to customize and adapt the software to fit your individual business.

The drawback comes up if you don’t have the know-how to mess with original source code. Lack of technical ability could become a problem if the software needs improvement down the road to fit your firm.

2-plan Team Software

4.50/5
5 reviews

Overview: 2-plan Team is a project management platform geared toward construction firms, and among its three PM tools is an open-source desktop system that can be used for multiple projects and teams. It is mostly meant for managing the entirety of a construction project as opposed to just estimating and takeoff, but there are tools available for that purpose as well.

The source code for 2-plan Team has been published at SourceForge, where you can download it for free. It can be installed on any LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL-4 or higher, PHP-5.1) server, and it may work on some Windows servers.

Some features include:

• Manage virtual teams with shared online workspaces
• View the status of multiple projects at the same time with the Project Dashboard
• Tracks time on mobile devices
• Ability to share estimates and budgets with clients, partners, teams, and staff
• Ability to manage teams via mobile devices

ESTIMATE

N/A
No reviews yet

Overview: ESTIMATE is a cloud-based, open-source option that has been released under GNU Affero General Public License. It’s a community-support project, which means the source code is freely available to anyone who wants to customize it for their own construction firm—ideal for construction managers with a little coding know-how.

ESTIMATE aims to be a simple and fast tool that can be adapted to any firm’s size.

Some features include:

• Ability to archive projects and documents for reference
• Can have up to 200 users
• Can create reports in PDF, complete with tables and charts
• A centralized database for backup

Why you must also consider paid solutions

Free and open source estimating software is a great stepping stone for many small construction firms—especially those using software for the first time. But as job volume increases, paid software often becomes the better choice.

Why? Higher job volume and company growth means more people, processes, and training are necessary to estimate and complete projects. Paid software offers more “out-of-the-box” functionality than free software, as well as training, support, and integration with other critical applications, such as accounting and construction management software.

Fortunately, there are affordable estimating and takeoff products that also offer free trials. With a free trial, you can try before you buy and avoid purchasing a product your team won’t like.

You’ll get more functionality

When you opt for free and open source platforms, you get what you pay for a lot of the time. There are a lot of special features that can really take your business to the next level—like customized reports and detailed time tracking—that you may not get with a free option. So while you may save a few bucks on software, you’re spending a lot more in lost savings and opportunities.

The software will be more usable

Free and open source platforms can also be a lot more challenging for an organization to use. You’ll have to do your own troubleshooting and maintenance, and you may have a hard time just learning the software with no help.

To help ensure your software search is sufficiently thorough, download this list of top-rated paid software systems and their offerings:

3 Best Construction Estimating and Takeoff Systems Backed by User Reviews

Download this guide to see top construction estimating and takeoff systems based on real user reviews.

How we chose featured products

For the purposes of this article, we classified a product as free if it offers a free, stand-alone version of the software, and it is not just a trial version of the software that requires you to purchase it after a period of time.

The products that met the above criteria were then evaluated against our construction estimating software definition: Construction estimating software helps estimators calculate material and labor costs for a job and then produce a detailed, professional bid proposal from those estimates. Specialized estimating tools are often used to handle trade-specific requirements, such as electrical, HVAC, plumbing, or earthworks/excavating estimating.

We determined the most popular products to feature by choosing those highest ranked in Google search results for “free construction estimating software” during the week of Aug. 5, 2019.