BricsCAD and AutoCAD® feature comparison

The following tables compare BricsCAD features with AutoCAD® features.

Drawings
BricsCAD AutoCAD®
Lite Pro BIM Mechanical Ultimate LT Full
Native DWG file format (thru AutoCAD 2023) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
DWG Password Protection ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
eTransmit ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Sheet Set Manager ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Geographic Location Settings ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Drawing Compare ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Cloud Collaboration ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Interface
BricsCAD AutoCAD®
Lite Pro BIM Mechanical Ultimate LT Full
Dark and Light Color Themes ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Industry standard commands, aliases, and variables ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Click-able Command Line w/Auto Complete

 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Start Tab ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
File (Drawing) tabs ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Model and Layout tabs ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Layout Manager ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Menu Bar ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Toolbars ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Ribbon ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Tool Palettes ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Contextual Right-click Menus ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Contextual Quad Menu ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Status Bar ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Workspaces ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Searchable Settings (SysVar) Dialog Box ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Lockable Interface ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Clean Screen Mode ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Drawing Explorer ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Customizable User Interface (CUI) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Drawing Structure Browser ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Selection, snap & track
BricsCAD AutoCAD®
Lite Pro BIM Mechanical Ultimate LT Full
Selection Filtering (QSELECT) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Add Selected ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Select Similar ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Selection Cycling ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Entity Snaps (OSNAPs) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Polar Tracking ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Z-intersection 3D snap ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Nearest Distance ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Adaptive Grid Snap ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Real-time Boundary Detection ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
2D Dynamic UCS ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
3D Dynamic UCS ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Drawing tools
BricsCAD AutoCAD®
Lite Pro BIM Mechanical Ultimate LT Full
Line, Polyline, 3D Polyline, Spline, Ray, Xline ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Multi-lines and Multi-line Styles ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Circle, Arc, Ellipse, Elliptical Arc ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Polygon, Rectangle, Region, Donut, Point ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Helix ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
2D Parameters & Constraints ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
2D Auto-constrain ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 1 1
Annotation tools
BricsCAD AutoCAD®
Lite Pro BIM Mechanical Ultimate LT Full
Dimensions, Dimension Styles ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Multi-leaders, Multi-leader Styles ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Single and Multi-line text, Text Styles, Text Editor ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Hatches, Gradients, Hatch/Gradient Editor ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Wipeouts ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Revision Clouds ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Attributes, Attribute Editor ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Tables, Table Styles ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Fields ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Data Extraction ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Data Linking ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Annotation Scaling ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Spell Check ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
AutoCAD Mechanical Compatibility: Read, Display, Edit - - - ✓ ✓ - -
Editing tools
BricsCAD AutoCAD®
Lite Pro BIM Mechanical Ultimate LT Full
Move, Copy, Rotate, Scale, Stretch, Mirror, Align ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Trim, Extend, Lengthen, Break, Join ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Fillet, Chamfer ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
CopyGuided ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
MoveGuided ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Grip Editing ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Properties Panel ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Manipulator (3D Gizmo) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Draw Order ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Undo Per Entity (Property History) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Optimize ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Simplify ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Reference tools
BricsCAD AutoCAD®
Lite Pro BIM Mechanical Ultimate LT Full
Blocks, Block Editor ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Dynamic Blocks 2 2 2 2 2 ✓ ✓
Camera-facing Blocks ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Blockify ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Associative Arrays ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
DWG (XREF) Attach, Clip, Bind, & Edit ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
PDF Attach, & Clip ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Image Attach, Clip, & Adjust, with Transparency ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Point Cloud Color-mapping - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Visualization tools
BricsCAD AutoCAD®
Lite Pro BIM Mechanical Ultimate LT Full
Layers & Layer States ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Entity Transparency ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Visual Styles ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
LookFrom (ViewCube) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Match Perspective ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Lights - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Sun Properties - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Materials - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Rendering - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Animation Editor - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Walk-through 3D Navigation - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
ANIPATH command - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Modeling tools
BricsCAD AutoCAD®
Lite Pro BIM Mechanical Ultimate LT Full
ACIS-based Solid Modeling - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Solid and Surface Modeling - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Solid Primitives - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Mesh Primitives - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Polysolids - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Union, Subtract, Intersect, Interfere - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Extrude, Revolve, Loft, Sweep, Thicken - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Twist - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Fillet, Chamfer - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Slice - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Multi-slice - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
T-Connect, L-Connect, & Connect with Nearest Tools - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Extract Edges - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Direct (history-less) Modeling - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Deformable (Free-form) Modeling - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Audit, Simplify ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Stitch - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
3D Parameters & Constraints - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
3D Automatic Parameterization - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
3D Blockify and Parametric Blockify - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
3D Parametric Design Tables - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Section Planes - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Drawing Views: Base, Projected, Section, Detail and Break Views - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
3D Threads - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Point Cloud Align - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Point Cloud Bubble Viewer ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Civil tools
BricsCAD AutoCAD®
Lite Pro BIM Mechanical Ultimate LT Full
TIN Surface Modeling - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Civil Points - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
TIN Volume Surface - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Grading - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Alignments - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Profiles (Vertical Alignments) - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Corridors - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Autodesk Civil 3D Object Enabler ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Boundary Trim - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Building tools
BricsCAD AutoCAD®
Lite Pro BIM Mechanical Ultimate LT Full
CAD-based BIM features - - ✓ - ✓ - -
IFC Import/Export - - ✓ - ✓ - -
RVT/RFA Import - - ✓ - ✓ - -
Structural Modeling Toolset - - ✓ - ✓ - -
Project Database - - ✓ - ✓ - -
Project Browser - - ✓ - ✓ - -
Library Database - - ✓ - ✓ - -
Site, Building and Stories - - ✓ - ✓ - -
Windows and Doors - - ✓ - ✓ - -
Fully Parametric BIM Component Creation - - ✓ - ✓ - -
BOM Manager - - ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
3D Spaces - - ✓ - ✓ - -
Quickwall - - ✓ - ✓ - -
Quickdraw - - ✓ - ✓ - -
Quickbuilding - - ✓ - ✓ - -
Point Cloud Floor Detection - - ✓ - ✓ - -
Point Cloud Projection - - ✓ - ✓ - -
Point Cloud Geometry Detection - - ✓ - ✓ - -
Point Cloud FitPlanar (geometry detection) - - ✓ - ✓ - -
Propagate - - ✓ - ✓ - -
Custom BIM Properties - - ✓ - ✓ - -
Graphical Override - - ✓ - ✓ - -
Drawing Customizations - - ✓ - ✓ - -
BIM Dimensions - - ✓ - ✓ - -
Analytical Models - - ✓ - ✓ - -
Python Scripts (Beta) - - ✓ - ✓ - -
Manufacturing tools
BricsCAD AutoCAD®
Lite Pro BIM Mechanical Ultimate LT Full
Mechanical Browser - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Parts Library ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Piping - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Assembly Modeling - - - ✓ ✓ - -
Exploded Views - - - ✓ ✓ - -
Kinematic Analysis - - - ✓ ✓ - -
Bill of Materials - - - ✓ ✓ - -
Balloons associated with BOM and Drawing Views - - - ✓ ✓ - -
Sheet Metal Design - - - ✓ ✓ - -
3D Solids to Sheet Metal Parts Recognition and Conversion - - - ✓ ✓ - -
Corner Relief for Adjacent Edge Flanges - - - ✓ ✓ - -
Lofted Bends - - - ✓ ✓ - -
Other features: Junctions, Miters, Tabs, Form Features - - - ✓ ✓ - -
Feature Coloring - - - ✓ ✓ - -
Diagnostic & Repair for Sheet Metal Features - - - ✓ ✓ - -
Batch Processing of Sheet Metal Features - - - ✓ ✓ - -
Import, export, output
BricsCAD AutoCAD®
Lite Pro BIM Mechanical Ultimate LT Full
Print/Plot ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Publish/Batch Plot ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
CTB & STB Files ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
PC3 Printer Configuration Files ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Named Page Setups ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
PDF Import, Export ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
DAE Import, Export ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
IFC Import, Export - - ✓ - ✓ - ✓
3DM Import, Export - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
LandXML Import, Export - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Import Autodesk Civil 3D Data - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
RFA Import - - ✓ - ✓ - -
SKP Import - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
DGN Import ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
RVT Import - - ✓ - ✓ - -
DWF Export ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
SVG Export ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
FBX Export ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
STL Export ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Point Cloud Export (available formats below) - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - 3
.LAS - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - 3
.PTS - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - 3
Point Cloud Import (available formats below) - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - 3
.LAS - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - 3
.LAZ - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - 3
.PTS - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - 3
.PTX - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - 3
.e57 - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - 3
.RCS - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
.RCP - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓

Additional file formats accessible via BricsCAD Communicator (available formats below)

 - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - + / -
CATIA V4 4.1.9 − 4.2.4 - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
CATIA V5 V5R8 − V5−6 R2021 - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
IGES up to 5.3 - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Inventor V11 − V2022 - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
JT 8.x, 9.x, 10, 10.2, 10.3, and 10.5 - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
NX 1 − NX 195311 − NX 1953 - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Parasolid 9.0.x − 33.0.x - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Pro/E / Creo 16 − Creo 8.0 - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Solid Edge V18 − SE 2021 - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
SolidWorks 2003 − 2021 - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
STEP AP203, AP214, AP242 - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
STL All (Graphical data only) - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
VDA−FS 1.0 − 2.0 - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
XCGM R2012 − 2021 1.0 - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Programming
BricsCAD AutoCAD®
Lite Pro BIM Mechanical Ultimate LT Full
ActiveX ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Extended Entity Data Editor ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Script Recorder ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Full LISP Support (vl, vlr, vla and vlax) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Solutions Development System (SDS/ADS) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
Dialog Control Language (DCL) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
COM API - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
VBA Project Support - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
.NET - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
BRX (ARX-compatible API) - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓
TX (Teigha eXtensions) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
CUI Menu File Support, with Diesel Expressions ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Licensing
BricsCAD AutoCAD®
Lite Pro BIM Mechanical Ultimate LT Full
Multi-platform Licenses ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Perpetual Licenses ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Perpetual + (Optional) Maintenance ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Subscriptions ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Network Multi-user ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Volume (Perpetual) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ - -
Academic ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

(1) You can automatically apply geometric constraints but you cannot automatically apply a combination of geometric and dimensional constraints.

(2) You can manipulate Dynamic block insertions but you cannot create Dynamic block definitions. You can convert some Dynamic blocks to Parametric blocks that can be further edited. You can also create new Parametric block definitions.

(3) In the Autodesk® product suite, Recap is needed to import non-native point cloud formats and convert to AutoCAD's native rcs/rcp. For las/laz/pts/ptx, Map 3D and/or Civil 3D may be sufficient.