CAD Reader vs CAD Viewer
CAD Reader
dwg.fastcadreader.comCAD Viewer
mlightcad.comSide by side
| Figure | CAD Reader | CAD Viewer |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $3.75/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 8 | 1 |
| Spec score · CAD Viewer Software | 9.1 (#2) | 7.6 (#15) |
| Editing | The listed editor tools include creating and recovering DWG files, editing text and layers, and modifying drawing objects. | Write mode supports creating, editing, and deleting drawing entities, with AutoCAD-style drawing and modification commands. |
| Integrations | The pages identify Excel export for measurement data, extracted tables, and search results; no other named integrations are stated. | The maker describes embedding through iframe or npm and lists a Google Drive integration for opening drawings from Drive. |
| Intended users | The product page highlights QS/cost estimators and site inspection engineers as intended users. | The maker presents CAD Viewer as a free browser CAD product and open-source toolkit for people building web editing workflows. |
| Privacy | The privacy policy says it is intended to comply with GDPR principles for customers from Europe. | The product says drawing parsing and rendering happen on the client and drawings are not uploaded, cached, or mirrored to a server. |
| Purpose | CAD Reader is a CAD drawing viewer for viewing, marking up, measuring, and editing DWG and DXF drawings. | CAD Viewer is a browser-based WebGL runtime for viewing and editing DWG/DXF drawings. |
Plans
CAD Reader
- FreeFree
- Professional (1 MONTH VIP)$7 a month
- iOS 1 Month VIP$9 a month
- Professional (6-MONTH VIP)$40 a month
- Professional (1 YEAR VIP)$45 a year
- iOS 1 Year VIP$50 a year
- EnterprisePriced on request
- ProfessionalPriced on request
In their own words
CAD Reader
CAD Reader has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
CAD Viewer
CAD Viewer is a free, open-source browser WebGL runtime for viewing and editing DWG and DXF drawings. It displays model space, layouts, layers, blocks, and external references. Write mode supports creating, editing, and deleting drawing entities with AutoCAD-style commands. Review tools place arrows, text, clouds, rectangles, circles, and callouts over a read-only drawing background. Measurement tools cover distance, area, angle, and arc length, with results exportable as a JSON sidecar file. The product can export a self-contained HTML viewer for offline use with pan, zoom, layers, and distance measurement; exports can be password- and expiry-protected. Full-viewer examples include HTML and PDF export, while the simple viewer offers lazy-loaded HTML, PDF, and SVG plugins. Parsing and rendering occur on the client, and drawings are not uploaded, cached, or mirrored to a server. It can be embedded through iframe or npm, and a Google Drive integration opens drawings from Drive. The responsive interface supports phones, tablets, and desktops, with touch operations documented for mobile. Read-only mode disables markup, drawing, and modification commands.