Uses the same CAD kernel as SolidWorks, Siemens NX, and a number of other tools.
Described as “CAD for artists” and seems to be a competitor to Moment of Inspiration and Shapr3D.
Perpetual licensing ($99 and $299), but locked to specific computers (up to 8 transfers w/o contacting support)
The application itself is opensource under the LGPL:
Can’t tell if it is parametric or direct modeling. If it is parametric, that’s great - but if it is like Shapr3D and direct, less interesting. The pricing model is bit odd. If you’re a one person shop then the $99 license is the cheap way to go as even if there IS a major release within 12 months you’re still only at $198 and not $299.
I love this comment on their page: “ Say goodbye to clunky CAD workflows designed for manufacturability. ”
Who cares if you can make it as long as it looks good on the screen 
This looks really nice, but I’m not sure if it will be of any use to us practical folks. It’s not a parametric CAD (a deal-breaker for me, as I continuously re-adjust my designs) and seems to have no dimensions either.
I’m quite happy to see development in the CAD space, though. I would like there to be more competitors to Fusion 360. I had high hopes for Shapr3D, and I really tried to use it, but the lack of parametric modeling made it impossible: I had to re-work huge chunks of my designs in case of minor changes.
Hoping they add CAM at some point
Based on a launch video he did, it sounds like the $99 license barely covers the kernel license fee, with no profit. The $299 version is what would allow him to continue development.
Well, one can export to a 3D format, convert if need be, and then use MeshCAM — that seems on-point here.
Anyway, since the application is opensource, and seems promising, and I would have felt bad about a $99 license, I bought in at $299 — followed up w/ an e-mail asking if they were considering a scripting/block-programming/node-editing interface — if they could do something like to:
https://www.blockscad3d.com/editor/
it would be perfect for me.
Anyway, put in an issue on Github as well:
I am facile with 2D work on my Nomad via SVG import into Carbide Create. I am also experienced with 3D graphics having taught a class using Cinema 4D. But I don’t know the useful connection between them.
Could someone briefly explain how this app would prove useful to CNC work?
It is a full-fledged 3D CAD system with an innovative and simple interface, which is able to make not just the normal blocks and cylinders, but to also fillet and chamfer and sculpt shapes so as to achieve pretty much free-form 3D — maybe it does free-form/sculpting — still experimenting.
You’ll need to export from it, then convert to STL to load it into MeshCAM to make a part from it.
Shapr3D had plenty of functionality (including printable dimensions in 2D views.) I demonstrated 3D drawing to my 7 year old grandson, and he picked it up immediately (unlike his grandfather.)
It has the same $300 annual fee as Plasticity. Here’s what has kept me from subscribing:
Nick Kallen, Plasticity seems to be a self-employed developer from “Paris.”
I sure don’t know which is better yet, but I do think $300 is too much for a product barely out of BETA.
Which makes the pricing in stranger. The pricing he needs to continue development is the least attractive option. That’s actively encouraging people to pay him the lower price and therefore not continue development.
Unless he has a plan to raise the price significantly with 2.X - which maybe that’s the idea, but users tend to revolt when you get them on board at a super low early price and then raise prices steeply in the near future.
Pricing is a tough business for sure, I just don’t think this is a good pricing model in the long run. It has a lot of potential for problems.
The $99 pricing will go up for v2, and the folks who bought in at $99 won’t get free upgrades (but folks who bought in a $299 will, so there’s that).
Unfortunately, I’m not finding it particularly easier to use the Alibre for the sort of things I actually do, so am back to slogging through tutorials for that, and working in OpenSCAD Graph Editor when I have time.
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