[dymk]

My go-to for getting work done has been (and for the foreseeable future will still be) Fusion 360. I can't find a free alternative that is simultaneously batteries included, but also gets out of your way.

It makes me feel like a shill saying something so positive about expensive, proprietary software, but it works _really_ well for my usecases (3D printing, 2.5D and 3D woodcraft carving). Having CAD and CAM in the same package is absolutely killer for me.

In open-source land, though CadQuery is, like you say, the least worst of all the options. I just wish it had a CAM package integrated in there.

[laydn]

Is my understanding correct that all your CAD data is stored in Autodesk cloud servers if you are using Fusion 360?

[dymk]

Yes. I don't really mind this though, as I can export my STEP files (or the full f3d project file, but I rarely ever need to do this).

I hop between multiple computers in my workflow. I do most design on a desktop in my house, and then use the less powerful shop computer to run the CNC or have references up. The auto-syncing of project files "in the cloud" is pretty useful there (in a way that an e.g. sync'd dropbox folder would be clunky to use)

[benhurmarcel]

With the free hobbyist version at least, yes that's correct. You can export the files however.

[jacquesm]

It's such a pity they never released a linux version. It appears to work well in a VM though.