Fusion 360 Reviews

I have used a handful of CAM software programs over the past two decades on a daily basis. Fusion 360 has room to grow but that is one of the things that makes it superior to other softwares, they are actively taking customer feedback and implementing improvements that are actually useful. Hands down the price is unbeatable for a powerful CAD/CAM software. There is no other program out there that has such a broad array of tools that all perform well. CAD, CAM, mechanical drawings, PCB design, analysis, generative design, 3D printing integration, cloud collaboration- Fusion 360 is all of this and so much more. Another great thing about Fusion is the vast amount of training available through Autodesk. It’s as if they actually want people to learn how to use this software. I rarely leave product reviews but this one is well deserved.

I think if i was paying for Fusion 360 I would have rated it a 3 star program against other programs like Solidworks or catia, but being free to Hobbyists it is the absolute best package available for this market. It's the first to include CAM, simulation, and sheet metal features all built in at no extra charge, which is amazing! The other reason Im giving it 5 stars is they are actively developing it, and they are willing to listen to user feedback to improve the program. There are certainly some areas where it needs some improvement to really be competitive in a professional setting, but I think its getting there.
The mobile app is also a nice touch. Very useful to be able to show my designs to others to bounce ideas off them.

I’m not an engineer, but I slowly am learning the design process through tutorials. I mainly work with fusion on my Mac, but the mobile app allows me to show customers a design even when I’m away from my office. The realistic renders shows the exactly what their product will look like and when it comes to machining the parts, its just a click of a button. I learned how to design my LED sign cabinet starting with a sketch. After converting the flat pattern file and upload the drawing details, I was able to send that to a machine shop with no questions or errors. I LOVE fusion 360!

Fusion 360 on Mac is fantastic. I use it all the time on my 2015 MacBook Pro and it runs great. With the power of the new iPad Pros outperforming the 2018 MacBook Pros why not bring the full version to iPad? The file system is already cloud based, seems like it would transition nicely. I would love touch control to move models around while drawing with the Pencil. Plus with the keyboard, all the shortcuts we’ve all memorized would transition perfectly. The form factor of iPad seems like the future of computing IMO and like many others have said iOS is lacking pro apps, Fusion 360 would be a welcome surprise. The only thing I ask is, PLEASE don’t make it subscription based. Fusion 360 is the favorite tool of many makers and weekend warriors that just can’t justify a monthly subscription for something they do for fun. Keep Fusion free for the little guy, just like the desktop version.

This product is very powerful if you dig into it, but simple and productive at the start. I’m looking forward to advancing into it, but for now have designed loads of designs that I have produced 3D printed products for various applications. It may take longer initially because of using the fundamental steps, but as I go along, I find either shortcuts or advanced/combined procedures. And? I haven’t even touched the more advanced capabilities either.

I was working with SolidWorks, but found the learning curve much easier with Fusion 360. There ate quite a bit of tutorials on the Internet for this that.

This software works great for viewing designs on the go. If thats what you’re looking for, you have a 5 star product, though cloud integration could be flushed out more.
However, from the industry leader, I expect more. There are other developers who are able to bring a nearly full featured 3D CAD to the iPad. Many people are wanting to transition away from their computers and over to their iPad Pro. I truly wish this app would go all in on the iPad and bring a full or even semi full featured F360 so those that desire it don’t have to bounce and import between different systems.

After using numerous CAD packages through my like, I stumbled onto Fusion. After a very short learning startup, I find myself able to design, program and make just about anything I can image. From 3d printing to 4 axis machining, Fusion has made my ideas real.

Because the package is easy to learn but yet very capable, I am training my grandson through Titans of CNC, to become a machinist. At 13, he has been able to design, program and machine complicated parts without my help!

To Autodesk, thank you for the great product and your generous policies for student and their teachers

The PC software is my first jump into 3D modeling for CNC purposes, and lack of skill aside, it has been a great piece of software. The companion app is great for goofing around with designs on the go. Anytime I get an idea for a tweak or whatever, it's right there thanks to the cloud storage - no messing around with transferring files or anything. As a newbie to it all and an educator, I'm making nowhere near the cap for profits, so it is free to use. You won't find a better chunk of software for under several hundred, and it probably isn't coming with the ability to work from your phone on the go...

I have been using CAD tools for 30 years. Currently I am teaching my kids and developing multi-rotor quads for racing. We have used fusion 360 for every level of the process, Cad for deigns, CAM for G-code to cut parts on our machine, STL for resin based and filament based 3D parts on our printers and FEA to optimize part weight and drawings for patent filings. This tool is the best tool I have ever used and have had a wonderful time teaching it to my seven year old son and fourteen year old son. I am an inventor and would recommend this tool to anyone interested in bringing ideas to life. Thank you Autodesk, Jim Busby

As someone who has been through more than half the certifications for Solidworks in college and has used 3 other CAD/CAM suites, Fusion 360 doesn't have everything I would like. That being said using it for personal projects, I couldn't recommend it more.
Keeping all of my projects up to date across 4 computers that I use throughout the week has saved me more times than I can count and being able to show friends/ family what I am working on without dragging out the laptop is a godsend.

Fusion360 is AWESOME!

You get a lot of functionality with a simplified UI. Often times I find myself in a situation where I want to show someone a model that I'm working on but don't have my computer. Being able to pull up Fusion360 , hand someone my phone, and let them play around with the model to see different aspects of it is super useful.

Thank you Fusion 360 App team!

There is literally nothing you can do worth value in Fusion360 that you can’t do in a browser. Rather it gains I’m sure some access to your device and then try’s to turn all your clients proprietary designs into what appears to be a social media setting. I got Fusion360 because I thought I could do actual work on the go but then realized this isn’t fusion 360 at all and is a false advertisement. If you even can modify a drawing it is not intuitive and the UI is a cheap attempt to mimic a social media platform which has NO useable place in cad/cam which is what this app is supposed to be about. App deleted and if any of my clients designs were posted publicly expect a lawsuit.

As a hobbyist, Fusion360 is really convenient to review designs when not on my computer, or show my girlfriend furniture ideas etc. Syncing quickly to your account is nice and easy.
I'd use Fusion360 10x more though and it'd be on another level if they could implement some augmented reality aspects. Even if just allowing you to manually scale items over the camera view, it'd be an amazing tool to visualize models in rooms.

I love using the fusion app to quickly show coworkers, or friends and family designs I’ve been coming up with. It’s always difficult trying to explain complex geometry without any visuals, especially a custom design no one may have ever seen before.

However I would love the ability to show and hide sectional analysis, or other inspection tools. If Fusion360 had that feature, I’d be 100% satisfied.

All around, it’s a fantastic way to look at designs in a pinch.

I just discovered this is a thing! I have a huge model that brings my PC to its knees to work on, but navigating and showing it off to friends, family, and FB is such a seemless joy in Fusion360!

Now, what would be cool is to select a part and “share as GLTF 2.0 (GLB) to FB” so it comes over as a rotatable object.

But seriously, Fusion360 is now used regularly at night on my phone as I think of changes I might do the next day to my designs.

This is a perfect tool for presenting models to friends or colleagues. You can pan, orbit, zoom, hide components, etc. Beware, larger files take quite some time to load (sometimes 5 minutes for a power wheelchair I’m working on).

My only desire for fusion 360 on IOS and Mac, is that the project and file management wasn’t so glitchy. I’ve tried creating new folders for new projects, and they tend to disappear. This makes organization fairly difficult.

I've been using Fusion 360 to work on some startup ideas after a hiatus from Pro/E, Solidworks for several years. I've been very impressed with F360, and the mobile viewer app is a fantastic bonus. Autodesk is constantly working to improve the product, and the support out there both from the company and from users is way ahead of other competitive products I trialed. I am very impressed with F360, and plan to be using it for a long time.

I switched to Fusion 360 from another CAD / CAM popular with small shops. No words can describe the leap in technology this represented. My design to machine time was reduced dramatically. My work flow and overall shop through put skyrocketed.
Fusion 360 is responsible for allowing my little operation to survive the economic storms of the last year and today. Thank you to everyone involved with making fusion what it is…Awesome!

This program is the best thing that has happen for viewing your work on the go. Easy to use and for showing customers or team members is the way to go. Menus are easy to use and anything that was worked on your desktop/laptop is right there. Hope to have more options in the future for instant renders for customers to see the hi res look in 3D.

Autodesk offers this product at a free (hobbyist) level that is as functional as the real thing! Only in team management and expensive cloud computing or advanced features (which are an add on on any case) do you find limitations.

Product quality has occasional issues but the product as a whole is solid and I found solutions or work arounds on their forums.

Free Autodesk academy and affordable Coursera classes provide ample training to take you from tinkercad to autocad.

I am a retired software manager and just started using Fusion 360 about a year ago. I have to say I am VERY pleased with the functionality. It is awesome software and works very well. I don’t use some of the more advanced features but I have used the designing portion quite a bit to create and modify 3D models for printing. I have also used some of the machining functions on my 3 axis homemade CNC and it works flawlessly. I would like to personally thank the designers and management for allowing hobbyists like myself to use the software free of charge. Because I am retired I would never have been able to afford to purchase this. So THANK YOU VERY MUCH!! I have spoken highly of this software to some of my friends that own their own businesses and they showed a lot of interest. Hopefully they will purchase it. They were quite impressed that I could show them the 3D models I created on my iPhone.