PolyWorks|Modeler vs SelfCAD

PolyWorks|Modeler is Windows desktop software that extracts CAD entities from polygonal models of digitized parts. It creates polygonal models from point clouds in real time and repairs geometry by filling holes, smoothing surfaces, cleaning boundaries, recovering sharp edges, and making surfaces watertight. Editing includes boundary extrusion, surface offsetting, fillet reconstruction, and Boolean operations with CAD models. A NURBS workflow combines interactive curve creation with automatic surfacing to produce editable CAD-friendly models. Users can create constrained parametric 2D sketches with arcs, lines, circles, and splines, then use listed import add-ins for CATIA V5-6, NX, Creo, Inventor, and SolidWorks. Supported polygonal formats include POL, PQK, JT, Nastran NAS, OBJ, PLY, STL, and VRML 2.0; CAD formats include IGES and STEP. NURBS surfaces export to IGES, JT, and STEP, while sketches export to PWSF or IGES. Windows 10 Pro or 11 Pro 64-bit is required, with an x64 quad-core CPU, 8 GB RAM, and a professional OpenGL card with 1 GB memory. Pricing is on request; a free demo is available by request.

SelfCAD is a 3D modeling application that covers work from sketching and sculpting through rendering and 3D printing. It runs in a browser without downloads and also has a PC version for offline project work and storage; online and offline projects synchronize. Listed platforms are web, Windows, macOS and Linux. Tools include sculpting, animation, image-to-3D conversion, shape generators and model changes such as extrusion, reshaping and simplification. Designs can be rendered and prepared for printing with a built-in slicer compatible with most FDM 3D printers. The software supports industry-standard 3D formats and includes interactive tutorials, lessons, videos and starter courses. A limited free plan offers basic modeling. Pro plans add full modeling tools, rendering, animation and image-to-3D. A 10-day trial gives access to all products, requires no credit card and can be canceled anytime. Listed prices include $14.99 a month, $139.99 a year and $599, paid once for a perpetual license.