11 Best Free CAD Software for Woodworking in 2026, Compared

FreeCAD is the strongest free option for a woodworker who wants parametric CAD without paying anything. You sketch a profile, pad it into a solid, and change any dimension later — the model updates. The PartDesign and Sketcher workbenches cover furniture parts, joints and jigs, and the CAM workbench turns a model into toolpaths for a CNC router, so one program carries a piece from sketch to cut.

The price is the whole point: there is no paid plan, no trial clock and no commercial-use ban, so a shop can run the business on it. The trade-off is the learning curve — the workbench system and the interface take longer to learn than SketchUp, and large models can run slowly. Choose FreeCAD when you want the most capable free tool and are willing to spend a few evenings learning it.

SketchUp is the fastest way to get a piece of furniture into 3D. Push/pull modeling turns a flat rectangle into a cabinet side in one drag, and the 3D Warehouse supplies millions of ready-made models — hinges, handles, whole kitchens — to drop into a design. It runs in the browser, so there is nothing to install and nothing to pay for personal projects.

The catch is the license. SketchUp Free is personal, non-commercial use only, and it cannot import or export DWG, DXF or OBJ files, so a paid job needs Go at $129 a year. There is also no desktop app and no LayOut for dimensioned drawings. Pick SketchUp when speed and showing the client matter more than precision drawings or CNC output.

Fusion 360 is the one tool here that takes a piece from design to cutting without leaving the program. The parametric timeline records every sketch and feature, so a dimension change ripples through the model, and the built-in CAM produces toolpaths for a CNC router. Version history is automatic, and the cloud saves mean a crashed laptop never loses a design.

The free personal-use license is the catch: it covers home-based, non-commercial projects only, for individuals earning under $1,000 a year from their work, and some advanced features are held back. Selling your pieces means the paid plan at $680 a year. Choose Fusion 360 when you cut on a CNC router and want design and CAM in one place.

QCAD is a focused 2D drafting tool, and for shop drawings that focus pays off. Layers, blocks, dimensioning and snap tools produce clean, precise plans, and a library of more than 5,000 ready-made parts drops hinges, fasteners and fittings straight into a drawing. It reads and writes DXF and DWG, so plans move to a laser cutter or a CNC shop without conversion trouble.

The Community Edition is free and open source, with no time limit. Full DWG read/write waits for the Professional edition, a one-time purchase, and there is no 3D modeling at all — a cabinet must be drawn view by view. Pick QCAD when your output is paper plans and cut lists, and 3D would only slow you down.

LibreCAD is the lightest tool in this list: a free, open-source 2D drafting program that installs in minutes and runs happily on an old workshop computer. The commands and interface will feel familiar to anyone who has used AutoCAD, with layers, dimensioning and snap tools for precise plans. Drawings export to PDF and SVG, so a plan prints cleanly or goes to a client by email.

It is strictly 2D, so there is no 3D model, no rendering and no CAM — this is a drawing board, not a workshop. Development is community-driven and moves slowly, and DWG support depends on external libraries that do not open every file version. Choose LibreCAD when you need free 2D plans and nothing else.

OpenSCAD replaces clicking with code: you describe a part in a script, and the program builds the solid. That sounds strange until you need twenty identical brackets in different sizes, or a mortise that must fit any board thickness — change one number and every copy updates. Designs are plain text, so they version-control cleanly in Git, and the STL export is ready for a 3D printer or laser cutter.

There is no interactive modeling, so anyone who thinks in pictures rather than code will struggle, and rendering large designs is slow because the engine runs on a single CPU core. There are also no assemblies, so a multi-part piece must be combined by hand. Pick OpenSCAD when your work is repeatable parts and you are comfortable writing a few lines of code.

SolveSpace is a small, fast parametric modeler built around a strong constraint solver: sketch a shape, pin it down with dimensions and constraints, and the part holds its shape when you change a value. It covers 2D and 3D modeling with assemblies in one tiny program, and it exports DXF, STL and STEP, so a part moves to a printer, a laser or a CNC machine without fuss.

The program is free and open source, and it opens in seconds on any machine. The trade-offs are a plain, dated interface with no rendering to speak of, and a small community, so tutorials and forum answers are thin compared with FreeCAD. There is also no G2 review page, so no independent score exists. Choose SolveSpace when you want a light parametric tool and are happy working without hand-holding.

Blender is the wrong tool for dimensioned plans and the right tool for carved work. Its sculpting tools shape organic forms — a carved chair back, a relief panel, a turned leg — better than any free CAD program, and the Cycles renderer produces photorealistic images to show a client before any wood is cut. It is free and open source, with no license to track and no commercial-use ban.

It is not a precision CAD tool: there are no parametric constraints, so a tenon that must be exactly 12 mm is fiddly to guarantee. The learning curve is steep, the interface overwhelms most first-time users, and heavy scenes can slow down on modest hardware. Pick Blender when the piece is sculpted or the render matters more than the drawing.

Tinkercad is the easiest first step into 3D design: a free Autodesk web app where you drag shapes onto a workplane, resize them, and combine them into a part. There is nothing to install, the built-in tutorials walk a beginner through the first model in under an hour, and classroom tools make it the safe pick for teaching. It exports STL, OBJ and SVG for 3D printing and laser cutting.

The simplicity is also the ceiling. There are no parametric constraints, so a part cannot be resized by typing a dimension, and precision work is out of reach. It is cloud-only, so a bad connection stops the work, and SVG import is unreliable. Choose Tinkercad for a first project, a school class, or a quick prototype — then move to FreeCAD or SketchUp when the work gets serious.

Onshape puts full parametric CAD in a browser: nothing to install, nothing to save, and it runs on a cheap laptop. The version control is the standout — every change is recorded, branches let you try a design variation without risking the original, and real-time collaboration means a client or partner can watch and comment while you model. The free plan includes the full modeling toolkit, assemblies and drawings.

The free plan has one hard rule: every document is public, and use is non-commercial only, so client work and private designs are out. The paid step is also the steepest here, with Standard at $1,500 a year. There is no offline mode for the workshop. Pick Onshape when you model on the move, value version history, and can live with public documents.

Shapr3D is CAD for the workshop floor: a pencil-first modeler that runs on iPad, Mac, Windows and Vision Pro, with Apple Pencil sketching that feels closer to drawing on paper than any mouse-driven tool. It combines parametric history with direct modeling, produces technical drawings on the Pro plan, and exports STEP, IGES and DWG when you pay. Students and educators get it free.

The free Basic plan is deliberately narrow: two active projects and low-resolution STL and 3MF exports only, so a finished piece cannot leave the app in production quality. Pro costs $299 a year, which is a lot for a hobbyist who designs a few parts a month, and there is no built-in cutting list. Choose Shapr3D when you design at the bench, on a job site, or anywhere a keyboard is in the way.