Onshape vs ZBrush

Onshape is a browser-accessible 3D CAD platform for parametric modeling of solids, surfaces and sheet metal, with iOS and Android apps also available. It supports assembly design, rendering, simulation, CAM and 3D-print export. Simulation covers linear static and modal analysis for stress, deformation and natural frequencies; CAM supports machining from 2.5-axis through 5-axis machines. Collaboration includes multi-user editing, instant sharing, real-time communication and access controls. Built-in product data management includes edit history, version control, release management, search and design-data sharing. The Free Plan is for non-commercial use, with publicly accessible documents and unlimited public storage. Standard costs $1,500/user/yr; Professional costs $2,500 per year. Qualified professionals may be eligible for a Professional trial of up to six months without a credit card. Enterprise uses custom pricing. Onshape says updates arrive every three weeks without installations or downtime. Listed integrations include Slack, Arena PLM, Altium Designer, FeatureScript, REST API and the App Store.

ZBrush is a 3D sculpting and modeling application with desktop and iPad offerings. Its listed tools include sculpting, parametric modeling, animation, rendering and 3D print export. Desktop is listed for Windows and macOS, while a separate supported-platform list also includes Linux. The desktop plan includes ZBrush for iPad and advanced sculpting, modeling, rendering and export tools. Rendering is described as hybrid, with GPU and animation rendering and denoising. Listed workload areas include CPU and GPU rendering, ray tracing, shader execution and geometry processing. Other listed capabilities include rotoscoping, 3D camera tracking, custom test profiles and CLI or automation support. The listed result export formats are none documented, and results are not saved as a file. Headquarters are listed as both Bad Homburg vor der Höhe and Friedrichsdorf, Germany; the maker is listed as founded in 1986.