CADCraft vs AutoCAD
What the public pages say about an open-source drafting app in early development and a commercial 2D and 3D CAD product.
CADCraft is an open-source computer-aided design and drafting app written in pure Rust, currently in early development, and it is not AutoCAD. AutoCAD is Autodesk's commercial software for precise 2D and 3D drafting, design and modelling. The two overlap in 2D drafting. They differ in maturity, 3D scope, file coverage and licensing, and this page compares those differences using public descriptions only.
Comparison at a glance
public descriptions| Question | CADCraft | AutoCAD |
|---|---|---|
| Public product position | Open-source computer-aided design and drafting in pure Rust (official page). | Autodesk describes it as software for precise 2D and 3D drafting, design and modelling (Autodesk overview). |
| Licence and cost | MIT or Apache-2.0 (repository README). The official page lists it as free. | Commercial Autodesk product. Check autodesk.com for current licensing and prices. |
| 2D drafting | Lines, polylines, circles, arcs, text, layers, object snaps, polar tracking, pick-point hatching, dimensions, paper-space layouts and PDF plotting (README feature list). | 2D drafting, part of the 2D and 3D drafting that Autodesk describes (Autodesk overview). Check the feature list for the version you use. |
| 3D modelling | Not built yet. The gaps list records UCS, 3D views, solids, surfaces and meshes as missing. | 2D and 3D modelling with solids, surfaces and mesh objects (Autodesk overview). |
| DWG files | Opens DWG R13 to 2018 through the acadrust library. Saving to DWG drops content CADCraft does not model. Not verified on real files. | Works with 2D and 3D DWG files (Autodesk overview). |
| Automation | MCP server, JSON control channel, cadcraft-cli and script text (README). | AutoLISP, APIs and apps (Autodesk overview). |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, Linux and FreeBSD, plus a WebAssembly web build (README). | Desktop, web and mobile devices (Autodesk overview). |
| Project stage | Early development. The roadmap labels it pre-alpha (ROADMAP.md, reviewed 2026-10-10). | A commercial Autodesk product. See autodesk.com for the current version and release notes. |
Evidence and method
checked 2026-10-16Sources. For CADCraft we read the official product page, the repository README, ROADMAP, the gaps list and the file-format notes. For AutoCAD we used Autodesk's public overview page. On 2026-10-16 that page refused our fetch with an access error, so the AutoCAD column uses wording from the same Autodesk page as it appeared in search results. Check it on autodesk.com before you quote it.
Method. We compared public category descriptions and the projects' own statements. We did not run AutoCAD or CADCraft on any drawing, and we did not run benchmarks or check performance.
What to verify
- AutoCAD's current licence, feature list and DWG version support on autodesk.com.
- CADCraft's release notes for v0.5.0 and the known-gaps list in docs/gaps.md in the repository.
- One of your own DWG files: open a copy in CADCraft, then compare entity counts, text and dimensions with the original.
- If your files go to AutoCAD users, open CADCraft's saved file in AutoCAD yourself. The repository records no real-file check in AutoCAD yet.
Questions readers ask
Is CADCraft a replacement for AutoCAD?
Not on the evidence in this guide. CADCraft is an early open-source drafting app. AutoCAD is Autodesk's commercial 2D and 3D CAD product. The two overlap in 2D drafting, and the repository's gaps list shows where CADCraft still falls short of AutoCAD.
Can I open my AutoCAD drawings in CADCraft?
CADCraft says it opens DXF and DWG files, but this guide has not tested it on any real drawing. Open a copy first and compare the result with the original. The repository's file-format notes say that entities CADCraft does not model are dropped when a drawing is saved as DWG.
Does CADCraft have AutoCAD's 3D tools?
No. The repository's gaps list records solids, surfaces, meshes, rendering and other 3D work as missing. Autodesk describes AutoCAD as software for both 2D and 3D drafting and modelling.
Limits and what this page does not claim
This page does not say which product is better. It gives no prices, benchmark times, user counts or compatibility claims beyond what the sources state. It is not endorsed by Autodesk or ArtCraft. The CADCraft repository says CADCraft is an independent, open-source project, not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Autodesk, Inc., and that Autodesk, AutoCAD and DWG are trademarks or registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc.