Onshape is the cloud-native parametric CAD pitch: open it in any browser, designs sync in real time, multi-user editing, no install. FreeCAD is the local-native counter-pitch: files on your disk, no account required, complete commercial freedom. Both call themselves free. The differences are in what "free" actually means and what trade-off you accept. This page is the honest comparison.

Up front: FreeCAD 1.1.3 is the better default if your designs need to stay private (commercial work, anything you'd patent, anything proprietary). Onshape Free Plan is the better default if you're a hobbyist who genuinely doesn't mind your designs being public and you want zero-friction multi-device access. Onshape's paid tier ($1,500-$2,500/year) is good but no longer "free" in any meaningful sense.

The Free Plan asterisk

Onshape calls its Free Plan "free" — and technically it is. But every document you create is public. Visible to any other Onshape user. Searchable. Listable. Other people can copy your design (with attribution). For hobbyist projects you want to share anyway — fine, sometimes a feature. For anything you'd want kept private — your business product designs, your client work, your patent-pending invention — Onshape Free Plan is unusable.

To make Onshape documents private, you upgrade to:

• Onshape Standard: $1,500/year per user. Private documents, basic features.
• Onshape Professional: $2,100/year per user. Adds simulation, drawings, advanced features.
• Onshape Enterprise: custom pricing. Adds enterprise features (SSO, governance, etc.).

FreeCAD has no equivalent restriction. Files are local, private by default, commercial use permitted at the free tier under LGPL2+. The "free" version of FreeCAD is the version professionals use; the "free" version of Onshape is a marketing tier that pushes you toward paid.

Cloud vs local — the big architectural choice

Onshape is cloud-only. There is no offline mode. Lose internet, you can't open your designs. Files don't exist as local entities — they're database rows in PTC's cloud. You don't get to download a .file and email it to a colleague (other than via export to STEP/STL).

FreeCAD is local-only by default. Files are .FCStd archives on your disk. Email them, drop them in Dropbox, commit to git, archive on tape — they behave like any other file. Your 10-year-old FreeCAD project still opens because you still have the file. Your 10-year-old Onshape project still exists if PTC stays in business and your subscription stays current and your account is still valid. These are different risk profiles.

Implications for specific situations:

• Defense / security work: cloud-only is often disqualifying. FreeCAD wins by default.
• Travel / poor connectivity: Onshape stops working. FreeCAD doesn't notice.
• Long-term archival: FreeCAD files survive vendor exit. Onshape files don't.
• Real-time team editing: Onshape wins. FreeCAD has no equivalent.
• iPad / Chromebook usage: Onshape runs anywhere with a browser. FreeCAD doesn't run on iPad.

Side-by-side comparison

Modeling experience

Onshape's UI is genuinely polished and modern — designed for cloud-first workflows from day one. The Part Studio approach (multiple parts in one document, multi-body modeling) is elegant. Real-time collaboration is genuinely magic when it works — two engineers editing the same assembly simultaneously, watching each other's changes propagate.

FreeCAD's UI is more functional. The 1.0 release improved consistency, but pixel-for-pixel polish is where Onshape wins. After the first 5-10 hours of practice the gap stops mattering for most workflows; before that, Onshape is undeniably easier on day one.

Both are parametric. Both have constraint-based sketches. Both produce solid models you can export to STEP/STL. The conceptual model is nearly identical — the difference is user-experience polish and where the file lives.

Privacy — the honest dealbreaker for many users

Repeating the point because it surprises so many people: Onshape Free Plan documents are public. Anyone with an Onshape account can browse them, copy them, fork them. PTC's reasoning: this drives marketing, builds the community library, and pushes serious users toward paid.

This is fine for:

• Open-source hardware projects (RepRap parts, Arduino enclosures, OpenMower).
• Educational use (students sharing assignments).
• Hobbyist designs you'd post on Printables anyway.
• Learning the tool — the public library is a teaching resource.

It's not fine for:

• Any paid client work.
• Commercial product designs.
• Competitive R&D.
• Patent-pending inventions (publication can affect prior-art status).
• Anything covered by NDA.

If any of those apply, FreeCAD is not just preferable — it's the only free option that fits.

When Onshape is the better pick

• You need real-time multi-user collaboration. No FreeCAD equivalent.
• You work across iPad, Chromebook, and desktop. FreeCAD only runs on Win/Mac/Linux desktops.
• You're a student / hobbyist with public projects. Free Plan fits.
• You want polished UX and don't mind paying $1,500+/year. Onshape Standard tier is genuinely well-designed for paid use.
• You need integrated PDM / version control out of the box. Onshape's branch-and-merge model is excellent.

When FreeCAD is the better pick

• Your designs need to stay private at the free tier. Onshape Free is public-only.
• You do commercial work without subscription budget. FreeCAD has zero cost for commercial use; Onshape paid is $1,500+/year.
• You want files on your machine, not in someone else's cloud. FreeCAD is local-first.
• You use Linux as your primary OS. FreeCAD has a strong Linux build; Onshape's iPad-style UX runs in browser but doesn't feel native.
• Long-term file portability matters. FreeCAD's .FCStd is an open zip; Onshape files are cloud-bound rows.

Migrating between FreeCAD and Onshape

Both tools handle STEP cleanly. Export from one, import to the other, geometry transfers with high fidelity. What doesn't transfer: parametric history. You rebuild the timeline in the destination tool if you need editable parametric features. Plan a weekend for a typical 50-project migration.

Onshape → FreeCAD specifically: in Onshape, right-click document → Export → STEP. Open in FreeCAD via File → Import. Geometry comes in as a static solid; rebuild as Part Design features for parametric editability.

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