SolidCraft vs Onshape. Start with how you work.

Three jobs that make the choice less abstract

Consider the work after the first successful extrude. Will you change one dimension tonight, pick up the part on another computer, or ask a colleague to edit it while you work? Those tasks expose more useful differences than a list of tools with checkmarks.

1. 01

   A quick part, made by one person

   For a spacer, a mounting plate or a modeling exercise, SolidCraft offers a short route into a local editor without signup. Save a native original, change a driving dimension and reopen it. If that covers the job, a shared cloud document may add little.

2. 02

   A personal project across two computers

   SolidCraft can move the native file directly or save a private cloud snapshot after sign-in. Onshape keeps the project as an account-based online document. Decide whether you want to manage copies and explicit saves, or work around the same document.

3. 03

   Two people editing an evolving design

   Onshape's documented simultaneous editing, sharing permissions and version branching fit this task more directly. SolidCraft's manual cloud snapshots are a handoff mechanism; do not plan a team process around them behaving as live co-editing.

The differences that affect an ordinary workday

This comparison is between SolidCraft Online on this site and Onshape's documented service. It does not equate every upstream SolidCraft feature with a capability tested in our browser build.

Check public versus private before drawing the first feature

Onshape's general Free plan permits non-commercial use and makes documents accessible to the public. A personal project is not automatically a confidential project. If the design should remain private, resolve that requirement before creating it under Free. Paid and eligibility-based programs have their own conditions; a trial or education account is not evidence of what ordinary Free includes.

SolidCraft separates local modeling from its optional hosted storage. No account is needed to model locally or download an original. Signing in and explicitly saving to the site's cloud creates a private project under the account and storage limits. The service is operated independently of the upstream open-source project.

For a confidential project, also review the machine, file-transfer route and applicable service policies. Local modeling does not mean that visiting the site creates no network traffic; the privacy page explains analytics and cloud data handling. Our comparison does not certify either service for a regulated or contractual requirement.

• SolidCraft cloud plans and retention
• SolidCraft privacy and data handling

Test the next edit, not just the finished shape

Both workflows can be used for dimensioned parametric parts. For an honest trial, draw a small constrained sketch, extrude it, change a driving dimension and check that the rest of the design rebuilds as intended. An imported solid that looks right is a different result from a native sketch whose design relationships remain editable.

Our existing SolidCraft tutorial uses a 40 × 30 × 10 mm block, changes the width to 50 mm and reopens the native design. That is a useful starting exercise, not a performance benchmark against Onshape. The tutorial's recorded measurements belong to v0.23.0; the current site editor is v0.25.1. Newer file formats should be reopened with a compatible editor.

For a real part, add the details that tend to break your work: a referenced hole, a fillet after a cut, a pattern and a dimension change that affects more than one feature. Try your own representative model before deciding that a small block proves the whole workflow.

• Follow the editable block tutorial
• Compare five free CAD options by task

A saved snapshot is different from a shared document

In SolidCraft, choose Save to Cloud and wait for confirmation. On another device, open the project from My Workspace. Changes made after the save stay with the local copy until you save again. Two machines can hold different states; a stale save can cause a conflict. Preserve the local native file before replacing anything.

Onshape documents support several people working in the same document with changes shown to collaborators. Its history workflow supports view-only versions and branching into workspaces. That structure is useful when a review needs a fixed reference while a design continues to change.

SolidCraft Pro's current cloud history has a maximum of 20 historical versions retained for up to 30 days after replacement. That is bounded recovery, not equivalent to Onshape's branching or a company's release-management process. Compare the particular behavior you need rather than treating the word “version” as a feature match.

• Walk through a SolidCraft cloud handoff

Assemblies and design reviews change the requirement

Onshape documents assemblies, drawings and integrated data management as part of its product; the pricing page separates basic version control from advanced PDM and release-management offerings. If a team needs permissions, a bill of materials, review states or controlled releases, check the relevant plan and run that process during the evaluation.

Current SolidCraft documentation also covers assembly work. That is not evidence that every mate, drawing workflow or large assembly has been validated in this site's browser build. We have not run a matched assembly benchmark. List the required commands and test them on the actual release, with the actual files and people who will use it.

STEP moves geometry. It does not move the original design history.

Keep the native source before exporting. Use STEP when the next tool needs solid geometry and STL when a downstream printing workflow needs a mesh. Onshape's export documentation explicitly states that downloaded data does not contain its features or parametric history. A STEP transfer should not be described as a lossless migration of an Onshape project.

After import, inspect body count, dimensions, scale, placement and the details that matter to the part. A 6 mm hole and a fillet should survive as usable geometry if your task depends on them. Check each one. STL also needs a scale check in the receiving slicer.

If you want to keep editing the original dimensions, retain the source document and its feature history. An exported solid may be usable for downstream geometry work while leaving you to rebuild design intent in the receiving CAD tool. We have not performed an Onshape-to-SolidCraft project migration for this article.

1. 01

   Preserve

   Keep the original document and a native backup where available. Record the source version and export settings.

2. 02

   Transfer

   Export a small representative part as STEP, or STL for slicing. Start with a disposable test copy.

3. 03

   Inspect

   Open in the receiving application and measure it. Determine which later edits are possible without rebuilding features.

• Check an STL before slicing

A useful trial ends with a reopened design

Choose one part you actually need, small enough to finish in a sitting. Use the same dimensions in both tools if you evaluate both. Record whether you could make the next edit and recover the design, rather than assigning a general score from a few minutes of drawing.

• Make a dimensioned sketch and one feature that depends on it.
• Change the dimension and inspect the rebuilt part.
• Leave and reopen the work using the intended storage route.
• Move to another device, or invite a second editor, if the project requires it.
• Export the delivery format and inspect it in the receiving application.

FAQ

Questions before you start