4.2
214 reviews
4.4
133 reviews
4.5
50 reviews
4.0
7 reviews
Perpetual licence
Pay once and keep the version you bought — forever. No renewal, no lock-out when a subscription lapses.
ACTCAD 2027 / now shipping
Professional CAD software.
Buy One Time
Enterprise-grade 2D drafting & 3D modelling on native DWG — with a perpetual licence from $249, support included, and no subscription. Trusted by 110,000+ professionals in 106+ countries.
- 3D PDF Export
- Video Tutorials
- Free Support
- Special Plugins
- PDF to DWG
- Image to DWG
System Requirements
- Windows 10/11
- Quad Core CPU (64-bit)
- 8 GB RAM
- 10 GB Hard Disk
- Updated Graphics Drivers
Trust & Reviews
Why Choose ACTCAD?
Native DWG & DXF
Open, edit and save DWG and DXF directly. No import step, no conversion loss, no round-trip surprises.
PDF power tools
Convert PDF drawings into editable DWG geometry, and publish crisp vector PDFs straight back out.
Support included
Email, phone and remote-session help from CAD engineers — part of the licence, not an upsell.
Enterprise ready
Network and USB licences, volume pricing and silent deployment, from five seats to five hundred.
7,000+ symbols
Mechanical, electrical, architectural and civil libraries ready to drop in on day one.
Installed base
Trusted by drawing offices worldwide.
Space agencies, defence yards, railways and global manufacturers draft on ACTCAD every day.
Editions
Full comparison
Pick your edition.
2D drafting
Standard
$249 one-time, per seat
Everything a drafting desk needs for day-to-day 2D work on DWG files.
- Full 2D drafting toolset
- Native DWG / DXF
- PDF to DWG conversion
2D + 3D modelling
Premium
$399 one-time, per seat
The full suite — 2D drafting plus solid, surface and mesh modelling in 3D.
- Everything in Standard
- 3D solid & surface modelling
- Point cloud & raster tools
Survey & GIS
Map Drafter
$399 one-time, per seat
Built for surveyors: field data in, contours, sections and maps out.
- Survey data import
- Contours & TIN surfaces
- Shapefile / GIS support
Entry price is the key-based perpetual licence. Network, cloud and USB licences cost a little more — see licence types.
What it costs over time
Do the sum on your own team.
The same drawings. A different bill.
| Comparison | AutoCAD® | ACTCAD |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $502 per user, per year | From $249 per seat, once |
| Renewal | Every year, or work stops | None, ever |
| If you stop paying | Access ends | Keeps working |
| Licence types | One — a named-user subscription | Four — key, network floating, live cloud or USB dongle |
| Moving a licence | Tied to the subscription account | Transfer it yourself between any two computers, no approval |
AutoCAD® pricing as published on ACTCAD’s comparison pages, checked 21 August 2026. These are our own figures, not independently verified against Autodesk — check Autodesk for their current rates. AutoCAD® is a registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc. ACTCAD is not affiliated with Autodesk.
You save
$9,155
over 5 years, 1 seat
The share stays the same at any seat count — only the years move it.
90%
less
ACTCAD is the one-time licence plus optional upgrades in later years — skip those and it costs less still. Subscription figures are our published rates, checked 21 August 2026; the sourced comparison runs to three years and the five-year view repeats the same annual rates. Enter your own quotation for a figure that means something.
Customers
Start your trial
What our customers say.
“Using ACTCAD since 2016 with more than 100 licences. Suits all our requirements at an economical price, with good technical support.”
Tarek Gharib GM, Neo Spectrum Engineering · Qatar“Layout and commands are similar to AutoCAD® so learning is quick. Excellent support, true value for money.”
Dinkar Saxena President, Dass Rasayanic · India“Same functions as much more expensive products. Good price, frequent updates, great producer support.”
Mariusz Ostrowski Biuro Badań i Analiz ONE · Poland“I needed CAD on multiple computers — ACTCAD’s licensing was the deciding factor. Fast, professional assistance.”
Luigi Bestetti L3i Mechanical Design · Italy
Industries
All features
Built for your industry.
Architecture & construction
- AEC walls, windows, roofs and stairs
- Super Hatch and gradient hatch
- Materials library and rendering
- Geolocation support
Manufacturing
- IGES and STEP import / export
- CNC profile machining
- Xref and sheet set managers
- Tolerances export to Excel
Energy & utilities
- View, measure and analyse in 3D
- P&ID labelling
- Polyline gap repair
- Hi-res vector PDF plotting
Survey & mapping
- CSV and Excel point import
- Contours and TIN surfaces
- KML to CAD and back
- Shapefile and GIS data support
Licensing
Compare licence types
A licence type for every team.
Key-based
Activate over the internet with a unique serial number, emailed to you on purchase.
ForPrimary CAD users and independent consultants
Network floating
Licences activated across your firm’s LAN, floating between connected computers as people need them.
ForSmall businesses and enterprises with office-based teams
Live cloud
Activated through the ACTCAD Cloud License Server, for remote and hybrid CAD users.
ForHybrid and distributed teams
USB dongle
Access ACTCAD with a USB dongle — the licence travels in your pocket.
ForSecure sites and locations with limited connectivity
Before you buy
More answers
Asked before switching.
Technical
Yes — natively. DWG/DXF is ACTCAD’s file format: layouts, Xrefs, layers and blocks open directly with no conversion step and no fidelity loss.
ACTCAD is a 2D and 3D CAD software for civil, mechanical, electrical, and structural engineering, architecture, interior design, surveying, manufacturing, and education. It supports DWG-based drafting and design across all major engineering and design industries.
Yes. PDF to DWG and PDF to DXF conversion is built in, and raster images can be vectorised to DXF as well. ACTCAD publishes crisp vector PDFs straight back out.
Windows 10/11, Quad Core CPU (64-bit), 8 GB RAM, 10 GB Hard Disk, Updated Graphics Drivers. No specialist graphics card is needed for day-to-day drafting.
No. The command line, command names, aliases, function keys and workspace behave the way you already expect, so you type what you have always typed. Your blocks, hatch patterns and plot styles come straight across.
ACTCAD is available in 11 languages: English, Chinese, Czech, French, German, Italian, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish, making it easy for professionals worldwide to use.
Yes — LISP, Visual LISP, SDS, DCL and .NET are all supported, including VLX and FAS LISP files. .NET applications load with the NETLOADCLASSIC command, or from Tools then Load Classic .NET Application.
Sales
One-time. You buy the version and it is yours — there is no subscription and no renewal date anywhere.
You pay once and keep that version for good. It does not expire, and it does not stop working if you never send us another payment. Upgrades to future releases are offered but optional — skip them and what you bought carries on working.
Yes. You get 15 days of the complete edition you choose, with every feature switched on, and no credit card is required.
ACTCAD 2027 is a leading AutoCAD® alternative used by 110,000+ professionals in 106+ countries. It opens and saves native DWG/DXF, supports AutoCAD® commands and LISP routines, and costs a one-time $249–$399 instead of a yearly subscription — saving up to 80%.
Four types, all perpetual. Key-based is for a fixed workstation. Network floating is for a team sharing a pool of seats across machines. Live cloud suits people who move between computers. A USB dongle carries one licence physically from machine to machine, including where there is no network. Whichever you pick, you can move it yourself later.
Yes, and you do not need our approval. Self License Transfer lets you move a licence between any two computers yourself — run the LicenseTransfer command while connected to the internet.
They stay yours. Everything ACTCAD produces is standard DWG or DXF, so your files open in any CAD application whether or not you go on to buy.