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

Keep in mind that complex old software can be a pain to keep around. My father has a bunch of CAD/electronics software, which is a royal pain to get running, whenever he has to replace his computer.

I am seriously thinking of putting all his CAD software into a virtual machine, so as to never have to do another re-install.

To now, I have been using OnShape on their “free” deal. (What I used to learn CAD.) For now I am fine with all my designs being public, which was the only requirement. Felt a bit odd not paying, but suspect I cost them very little. Though by report they do not have enough paying customers to cover their costs.

Also … their service has been a bit erratic of late. Not enough resources in the cloud, and/or shedding load of free users?

Personally, I prefer using software in the cloud, though I would like a way to export my designs. Seems this is not really possible with CAD, as their is no common format, at least that I know.

Not keen on the change to OnShape licensing. No notion what is a good replacement.

For those who might be interested in Alibre, they now have a stepped down version called Alibre Atom that is $199. Be sure to look at the comparison charts

The $400 price existed for a promo period for a few years about a decade ago. I believe their new pricing is significantly higher. I now pay about $400/year IIRC for support+maintenance now. It’s worth that for me because of the quality of the drawing tools on top of the usual 3D modeling capabilities that one expects, and to support my existing clients. It imports SolidWorks designs 90% of the time

BTW, FreeCAD is promising.I just found out that a new version improved a number of usability features, so I will be looking at it again. I have the older version on my computer that I use every once in a while.

I keep periodically checking out FreeCAD because it would be the ultimate solution but each time I end up uninstalling it again as the user experience was so awful.