QCAD

Freemium Produce & Issue Documents

A free, open-source 2D CAD application (with a paid Pro trial/add-ons) for drafting plans, parts, and schematics.

3.2 /5 composite score

C1 3/5 reflects the free base plus paid Pro/DWG-plugin path, C2 3/5 reflects the CLI and ECMAScript scripting surface without a public REST API, and C4 4/5 reflects DXF, DWG via the Professional plugin, PDF, SVG, PNG, JPEG, and TIFF coverage.

Solid

Rubric Scorecard

How we grade →

Criterion	Score	Evidence
Value for the price	3/5	Freemium, free tier Source →
Agent Friendliness	3/5	CLI, API: none
Ease of adoption	3/5	--
Portability & lock-in	4/5	7 file formats
Interoperability	3/5	1 integrations

Pricing

ModelFreemium

Free tieryes

Visit QCAD →

How we verified this: we checked QCAD against its live site and an independent source — en.wikipedia.org. Nothing on this page is listed from memory. See how we grade. Verified 2026-06-30.

Evidence

File formats

Format	Direction	Support
DXF	unknown	unknown
DWG (Professional plugin)	unknown	unknown
PDF	unknown	unknown
SVG	unknown	unknown
PNG	unknown	unknown
JPEG	unknown	unknown
TIFF	unknown	unknown

Integrations

Batch conversion workflows via CLI

Sources

Pricing

Alternatives in 2D CAD Drafting

AutoCAD

Autodesk's full 2D and 3D CAD application and the long-standing industry default for construction drawings and details.

4.8/5

AutoCAD LT

The lower-cost, 2D-only edition of AutoCAD aimed at drafting and documentation without 3D modeling.

4.4/5

BricsCAD

A DWG-native CAD platform (Lite/Pro/BIM/Mechanical/Ultimate editions) positioned as a cost-effective AutoCAD alternative with both subscription and perpetual options.

4.2/5

DraftSight

Dassault Systemes' AutoCAD-like 2D CAD tool for creating and editing DWG files at a lower price than AutoCAD.

3.8/5

See all QCAD alternatives → · Compare all 2D CAD Drafting tools →

QCAD

Rubric Scorecard

Pricing

Evidence

File formats

Integrations

Sources

Alternatives in 2D CAD Drafting

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