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AutoCAD vs LibreCAD: catalog facts
AutoCAD	LibreCAD
Best for: Professionals who draft and exchange DWG drawings	Best for: Technical drawings and floor plans in DXF without paying for AutoCAD
Paid Commercial software sold by Autodesk, with a trial available.	Free Free and open source under the GPL 2.0.
Web	Windows, macOS, Linux
Native DWG format used widely across industries Desktop and web versions share drawings All 3 strengths for AutoCAD Native DWG format used widely across industries Desktop and web versions share drawings Covers both 2D drafting and 3D modeling	Reads DXF and DWG, writes DXF, DWG, PDF and SVG Doubles as a command line converter for batch jobs All 4 strengths for LibreCAD Reads DXF and DWG, writes DXF, DWG, PDF and SVG Doubles as a command line converter for batch jobs Interface translated into over thirty languages Windows, macOS universal and Linux AppImage builds, including ARM64
Expensive commercial licensing Requires an Autodesk account	Two dimensional only; there is no 3D modelling at all Interface conventions come from QCAD and feel dated All 3 limitations for LibreCAD Two dimensional only; there is no 3D modelling at all Interface conventions come from QCAD and feel dated Releases are infrequent compared with commercial CAD packages
Downloadable app, Web application	Downloadable app
Not open source	Open source
License not stated	License: GPL-2.0
Account needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Offline features available
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for AutoCAD autodesk.com/products/autocad/overview Catalog checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for LibreCAD github.com/LibreCAD/LibreCAD Catalog checked September 21, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.