According to this video by Tom Sanladerer Onshape changed their term of use recently

3D Printing
,
1

According to this video by Tom Sanladerer Onshape changed their term of use recently forcing him to use something else. Apparently the free version is now only for non-commercial purposes. On top of that everything created with Onshape forces a world royalty-free, non-exclusive design upon everything created with this 3D CAD program.

This is an yet another example why in my view proprietary software sucks. The terms of use or license agreement can be changed unilaterally by the supplier of the software. All the time and effort spend with OnShape by Tom are largely wasted.

3D printing for hobbyists like us is for a large part based on free and open source software whether it’s the firmware on the print board or the slicer. Why not choose free and open source software for design. Plenty of choice available:
FreeCAD (the recently released v0.17 is a big step forwards)
Solvespace (very easy to use and lightweight)
OpenSCAD (more for the programmer type of person)
OpenJSCAD (if you’re more into JavaScript).

Cheers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9hmi1leU2s

2

This is old news and yeah, I had to leave also and was very angry about it because I was evangelizing the platform.

I’m on a alibre now.

3

@Robert_Hirsch If I may ask what 3D CAD are you using currently.

4

@shauki That’s a pretty interesting idea. I’ve been using OpenJSCAD and I think it has a lot of potential. Do you plan to make a demo of your work available online?

5

@shauki Now I’ve come to think of it the developer of Solvespace is working on a webedition of his program. It’s still experimental though: https://files.whitequark.org/SolveSpace/solvespace.html

6

@Eric_Buijs Alibre. I have literally had it for 20 years

7

@Robert_Hirsch I sorry I misread that. I thought it said libre (which I think is funny). Anyway I do not doubt it’s very good software but the fact that I couldn’t find a price (even if I click the Pricing button) leads me to believe that it is very expensive.

8

Proprietary software has both cons and pros same with open source. I use to say the base line is how good the software developer listen to it’s community and users. Open source is often better at listen but don’t have the funding always to get the same standard as proprietary software developers.

9

@Eric_Buijs it was 400 dollars. Not per year.pricing may have changed.

10

@Daniel_Soderlund_Var funny, I don’t often find open source to be better. It’s fine, but I am often frustrated as a user that it doesn’t have set hi guys critical. Obviously there are exceptions, Linux,GIMP

11

I tried freecad over and over and it kept missing features (at the time I couldn’t even do drawings which was a total deal killer). So I bought Alibre and have been happy enougb

12

@Robert_Hirsch I need to edit my text. I meant that open source is better at listen.

13

@Robert_Hirsch I don’t know which version you used but over the last couple of years it improved dramatically. So if you ever run into trouble with Alibre you might want to give it another try.

14

@Robert_Hirsch I’m not debating the quality of open source vs proprietary software (although iTunes is probably the most horrible programs that I’ve ever used). I was an avid user of proprietary software but eventually over time a number of annoyances made me realize that open source was a better choice for me. To name a few: the forced upgrades/updates making hardware obsolete, deleted features in the latest and greatest version, remotely removal of a complete program without my consent, the data gathering overall and the drive to monthly/annual subscriptions. In the end I decided enough is enough.

15

I love open source software and use it whenever I can but unfortunately I’ve yet to find a good open source CAD package for 3D printing applications. At the moment I’m still using OnShape but I guess I’m one of the lucky ones that doesn’t mind if my designs are open.

16

I mean… what did people think was happening with OnShape? They were giving the product away for free forever? It’s not open source software and never was. Looks like the “free promo period” is tightening up now so they can try to make some money.

17

I get where he’s coming from and like the content Tom has created in the past but, the first half of this video is hysterical… OnShape has included some form of their “if you’re using it for free it has to be public” clause for ages; he’s EXACTLY the user that has OnShape closing loopholes that lead to this issue. And going to Fusion360… apparently without really reading their licencing either? or researching how it’s evolved of the last few years?

While I agree the price point is exorbitantly high in our space, its seems fair that the people who provided you the tools get paid if you’re getting paid for using them. Tom wouldn’t accept “exposure” as payment, why should OnShape.

18

Because exposure grew their community. They’re acting like heroin dealers, the first taste is free. People have been using it for years, it wouldn’t be popular if the first eula was this restrictive to the point where you couldn’t even give them free advertising or endorsements. So once they got a solid user base and all that free advertising they turn around and say “now pay us for making us popular” is a pretty big flip-off.

It also doesn’t work. Say you design in OnShape and post the STL to youmagine. Now youmagine is making money from your design. Are you violating the terms or are they? What if it was someone else who downloaded the files and posted them? What of that someone has a license but you as the designer don’t? What if you prototype the design in OnShape, then leave the files and use that knowledge to finalize the design in other software? What if you use an unlicensed users content in your licensed content?

19

OnShape is pricing themselves beyond basic SolidWorks. Are they really there? SolidWorks costs a lot to get started but maintenance is considerably lower.

20

A lot of good points have been raised in this discussion. I am very skeptical of ANY cloud based software for these very reasons.

With the old school way of buying a disk or downloading the program to your computer one always had the software available. Sure your license may expire and you might not get updates without upgrading, etc. but if your hardware and OS didn’t change, especially for tasks that can be done offline (word processing, graphic design, CAD, CAM, etc) you could use that software as is virtually forever.

Software companies today switching to cloud based offering do make me think of the “heroine dealer” analogy Stephanie S mentioned. I see a lot of companies giving their users a rude awakening in the future once their workflows are heavily invested in their cloud based software and the will just keep forking over money because logistically it is a pain to switch over or learn something new.

I’m extremely concerned Autodesk will go this route as well someday with Fusion360. The capabilities in Fusion360, are tremendous for free hobbyist and small business licenses. I hope they perpetually continue to offer these tools and licenses for free to the hobbyist/small business community. But being cloud-based, if they decide to discontinue that option in the future they can do so with no warning, and no legal repercussions. Compare that to a program like Blender (obviously a very different program) that is downloaded and runs solely on your computer that could continue to be used indefinitely even if future versions no longer are released opensource and free.

And not that I’d expect Autodesk to go out of business, but if a company ever does go bankrupt, there is a good chance those cloud servers are getting shut down too. With the traditional approach once again you still have a copy you can use until something breaks. Same thing can likely happen in the hopefully unlikely event of a war where internet access /satellites/server hubs are strategically targeted as well. You can really cripple a cloud dependent company/country that way.