Is DraftSight the same as DWGEditor

As many of you know already, SOLIDWORKS will be retiring the DWGEditor program.  They have launched their replacement product DraftSight as a free download.

Do customers who download the free version of DraftSight have the exact same capabilities as they had with DWG Editor licenses?

The simple answer is no.  Here are some general differences:

1)      API – DWGeditor had an API that came with the product, but DraftSight has an optional paid for API

2)      Network license – DWGEditor had a 3 to 1 network license option, but DraftSight has an optional paid for network license.  Free DraftSight can be used in any numbers.

3)      3D – DraftSight has no solid or surface modeling, DWGeditor does have some of that

4)      SOLIDWORKS Drawings – you could layout drawings in DWGeditor from SOLIDWORKS automatically, this is not available in DraftSight.

5)      DraftSight does have functionality that DWGeditor did not, like tables and such.  DraftSight has much higher quality and performance overall.

Best of all….It’s Free!