This means that any user with a valid academic email address can sign up for a free AutoCAD license.Īutodesk states on their education page that they “genuinely believe in education”, and aim to equip users “with tools and resources to help achieve academic and future career success”. In 2014, Autodesk made the landmark decision to make its products free for students, teachers, and academic institutions. Some of the program’s most well-known features were already in place even at this early stage, including its native DWG file format.Īs part of its commitment to education, Autodesk has made its products available to educational users for free three-year licenses Several years later, the program was acquired by Autodesk, who used it to form the basis for the first edition of AutoCAD, which was released in 1982. Though not a successful program at the time, it included many of the features that would later become part of AutoCAD. The history of AutoCAD begins in the late 1970s when programmer Mike Riddle created Interact CAD. How can I get AutoCAD for free as a student?.Want to learn how? Read on for the full details. However, depending on your requirements, it is also possible to get AutoCAD for free. The subscription cost for AutoCAD, which is one of Autodesk’s products, ranges between $175 per month and $4,252.50 3-years subscription, which is definitely not cheap but given the value that users get from the software, thousands of users worldwide find it worth the investment. Much like many other software developers Autodesk has now phased out perpetual licenses for all its products, leaving customers with subscription options only. However, the product’s great functionality requires an investment.

It’s no wonder, therefore, that AutoCAD is in such high demand. Today, AutoCAD is not only the flagship product of its parent company, Autodesk but is the most widely used CAD software in the world. Originally created for mechanical engineering, AutoCAD has dramatically expanded its reach to incorporate practically every branch of design, with industry-specific “flavors” being added with the launch of AutoCAD 2017.

It’s been 35 years since the launch of AutoCAD in 1982, and in that time, the program has gone from strength to strength.

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