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by MarcScott 4044 days ago
We use SolidWorks at my school, and my students don't seem to have any issues. It's fairly easy to use and easy to generate files that our 3d printer can handle.
3 comments

While the linked blog post focuses on usability rather than price, it is perhaps important to note that a single SolidWorks license costs about 8 times as much as you might pay for a pretty decent (if basic) FDM 3D printer.

I'm not arguing that the software isn't worth that price because its scope is vast, but that price makes it basically a non-starter as a suggestion for a software package for hobbyists.

Onshape is pretty terrific in that regard, and its interface is like a much more elegant Solidworks:

https://www.onshape.com/

SolidWorks is the industry standard, but the price is pretty far out of range for most hobbyists. If you aren't a student or pirating it, SolidWorks will exceed the cost of your printer. Most people are printing relatively simple things and don't need that much capability.
SolidWorks and Autodesk Inventor are the big two CSG CAD systems. If you know one, transitioning to the other isn't hard. Each reads the other's format, so they interoperate.