Alternatives to autocad?

Are there any alternatives to autocad? If there are, what are they and
how well do they compare to autocad?


Thanks in advance,
Rui Maciel

 

Draftsight

http://www.3ds.com/products/draftsight/free-cad-software/

Is 2D
Handles files from ACAD 2.6 (?) to ACAD 2010.
Requires free registration (once a year?) for save and print to work, but
doesn't lead to much in the way of email spam etc.
Does not have VBA, but will run scripts (eg diesel) with only minor
modifications.
There are some minor differences in how command-line sequences work, but
this is balanced by some useful commands not available in ACAD.
The only (very minor) problem I have found is font compatibility. Easily
fixed by editing properties. (May not occur if you use standard fonts.)

Regards

http://people.aapt.net.au/jclark19/

 

AutoCAD clones:

IronCAD
NanoCAD
IntelliCAD
BricsCAD
ProgeCAD
ZwCAD

All are very similar to AutoCAD and can read and write to the 2010 DWG file format.
Best feature: all are way cheaper too.

DraftSight is strictly 2D but it is FREE!

 

2 years ago I had to switch to BricsCAD. Able to do the same as AutoCAD. It was not convenient, but everyone was used to it. There is no difference in work.
p.s. But now I still choose AutoCAD. More familiar