Drakon vs TiaraCAD

Drakon is jewelry design CAD software that works as a plug-in for Rhino and Grasshopper. Its Jewelry Builders and Interactive Gallery include components such as rings, gems, bands, bezels, prongs, patterns, ornaments, and gem settings. Designers can change settings while working and have the model readjust; logic-based tools record modeling history. Controls cover weight, measurements, gem placement, and sizes. Production tools can generate technical reports and STL meshes for 3D printing, and the product lists photorealistic rendering and manufacturing export. A web viewer lets users open and share 3D models from any device, with cloud and e-commerce integration. Drakon Copilot accepts natural-language instructions to automate Drakon and Rhino tasks, but requires internet access. The software requires Rhino 7 or 8 and supports Windows 10 and 11; Linux is unsupported. Its fully functional 30-day trial leaves only a few tools available afterward. A Drakon license costs 1,995.00 EUR once, with Rhino required separately unless purchased in a bundle. Copilot credits are sold separately.

TiaraCAD is jewellery CAD software for designing rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and custom diamond jewellery. It works as a plugin for Rhino, and Rhino 8 is required to evaluate it. The product describes its design approach as “Stone-First,” building metal around a stone and generating only the metal required by the design. Its tools include gem settings, modular design, detailing, and support for multiple open files. Users can import company gem charts, metal density charts, and setting parameters for default use. TiaraCAD can generate a bill of material report for a quotation in one click, and release notes say version 2.6.5 added JewelCAD file import. It is offered for macOS and Windows; the features page says TiaraCAD 2.0 works natively on macOS. A 15-day evaluation is available, with no free plan. Continuous internet access is not required, though license validation needs an internet connection once, or once every 14 days with Cloud Licensing. Listed one-time plans include TiaraCAD 2 for Rhino 8 users at $995, paid once, and TiaraCAD 2 with Rhino 8 Commercial at $1,990, paid once.