ArchiCAD vs FreeCAD

Designing houses, complex machines, railway platforms, bridges, Dams, etc. was a tough process as all the work was done manually so to make this work fast and convenient, different researchers and developers build computer-aided designing software. These software provides the exact environment as in the real world so as to create and test different designs and products. Two commonly used software are ArchiCAD and FreeCAD. So let’s see their specifications in detail. 

What is ArchiCAD?

ArchiCAD is an architectural software launched in 1987 by Graphisoft. It is used in BIM (Building Information Modelling) and CAD (Computer-aided designing) works. It has all the necessary tools required for 2d and 3d designing. Lighting, shadows, texture, brightness, etc. can be adjusted for producing realistic models. 

Advantages of ArchiCAD

• Users can choose from customizing themes so to eliminate base modeling work while working on large projects.
• Base designing and modeling can be done easily with the help of modified geometrical shapes.
• It has a CineRender feature which allows photorealistic quality.
• It provides advanced model editing tools for adjusting the color, light, texture, etc. of designs and models.

Disadvantages of ArchiCAD

• Data loss is common while transferring files from one version to another.
• It does not support external plugins.

What is FreeCAD?

FreeCAD is a CAD software that provides different workbenches for different purposes like Part Designing, Reverse engineering, Product designing, etc. It is a cross-platform software that supports Linux, FreeBSD, Unix, Windows, and other operating systems. It allows the users to sketch 2d shapes and then use them as a base for creating refined models. It is a popular software due to its open-source nature.

Advantages of FreeCAD

• It has collaboration tools that allowed teams to share work and track progress.
• Complex shapes with advanced specifications like NURBS, breps, etc. can be easily manipulated.
• Properties like stress, stain, bending, etc. can be calculated for any structure.
• Properties of one object like color, gradient, lighting, etc. can be transferred to other structures.

Disadvantages of FreeCAD

• Cloning sketches to another body is very difficult and confusing.
• Due to in development phase, bugs are quite common.

Following is a table of differences between ArchiCAD and FreeCAD:

Category	ArchiCAD	FreeCAD
Definition	ArchiCAD is a computer software for creating 2d and 3d models of buildings and machines to simplify CAD work.	FreeCAD is a computer application created for handling CAD and BIM designing work.
Original Author	Gabor Bojar is the original author of ArchiCAD.	Yorik van Havre, Werner Mayer, and Jurgen Riegel are the original authors of FreeCAD.
Official website	Its official website is graphisoft.com/solutions/archicad	Its official website is freecadweb.org
Languages Used	It is built using Geometric Description Language.	It is built using C++ and Python.
Library	The library feature of ArchiCAD allows users to use pre-existing symbols and models along with saving the new ones for repetitive use.	It lacks an architectural symbol library but assets can be downloaded from external sources.
Integrations	It has nearly 18 integrations like ProtaStructure, Revizto, Artlantis, etc.	BoltsEtAl and MeshCAM are external integrations of FreeCAD.
Pricing	It cost 280 USD per month for the solo version.	It is free.
Source code	Its source code is not available to everyone.	Its source code is available for all and can be found on GitHub.

Conclusion/Summary

Comparing both the software on different parameters it can be found that ArchiCAD has advanced features and is easy to use but it is available on a subscription basis so it is good for those who can afford it and want to do industry-standard work while FreeCAD is good for all individuals and small scale industries.