Top BricsCAD Alternatives

Computer-Aided Design software is an essential part of an architect or designers life. While designing 3D renders of construction projects or designing a building layout – it is important to complete the ideas in a time-bound manner as well as visually appealing. Many of the CAD software currently available in the market are highly complicated, with options scattered around making it difficult for people to understand & leverage the full feature set of the platform. But here’s where BricsCAD Shape stands out.

Ease of use

BricsCAD Shape has a neat layout with all the essential options you need right beside you. The developers have taken special care to remove clutter from the UI so that designers and architects can focus more on working, rather than waste time searching for options. The user interface is built on actual user feedback – so it’s better. It allows you to manage different layers & control visualization for the designs.

Presets for Faster Design

It has different presets to aid you in the design process. There are walls, furniture, people & landscaping presets which can be added to the design just by drag and drop. If the 3D preset models are not in the software, it can be easily imported.

Common File Format

Conversion between file formats is the most annoying step in CAD software – modifications of some degree require another software and you have to convert it. Shape uses the .dwg format which is compatible with BricsCAD BIM or the original full-featured BricsCAD. This enhances the workflow since the same file can be edited in multiple applications without facing compatibility issues. You can develop and work together on a project by using a buildingSMART certified IFC.

This is a software which is very difficult not to recommend. The intuitive Freeform modeling concept combined with CAD is definitely a huge plus for BricsCAD Shape. The absence of a learning curve enables users to get productive from the word go.

But the best part of all is that it’s completely free! Even though it’s a slightly toned-down version of original BricsCAD, it works well without too many confusing options at the user’s disposal.